Search results for: cognition movement time

Authors: Mengjiao Fan, Thomson W. L. Wong

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It is unavoidable that older adults may have to deal with aging-related motor problems. Aging is highly likely to affect motor learning and control as well. For example, older adults may suffer from poor motor function and quality of life due to age-related eye changes. These adverse changes in vision results in impairment of movement automaticity. Reaching is a fundamental component of various complex movements, which is therefore beneficial to explore the changes and adaptation in visuomotor behaviors. The current study aims to explore how aging affects visuomotor behaviors by comparing motor performance and gaze behaviors between two age groups (i.e., young and older adults). Visuomotor behaviors in reaching under providing or blocking online visual feedback (simulated visual deficiency) conditions were investigated in 60 healthy young adults (Mean age=24.49 years, SD=2.12) and 37 older adults (Mean age=70.07 years, SD=2.37) with normal or corrected-to-normal vision. Participants in each group were randomly allocated into two subgroups. Subgroup 1 was provided with online visual feedback of the hand-controlled mouse cursor. However, in subgroup 2, visual feedback was blocked to simulate visual deficiency. The experimental task required participants to complete 20 times of reaching to a target by controlling the mouse cursor on the computer screen. Among all the 20 trials, start position was upright in the center of the screen and target appeared at a randomly selected position by the tailor-made computer program. Primary outcomes of motor performance and gaze behaviours data were recorded by the EyeLink II (SR Research, Canada). The results suggested that aging seems to affect the performance of reaching tasks significantly in both visual feedback conditions. In both age groups, blocking online visual feedback of the cursor in reaching resulted in longer hand movement time (p < .001), longer reaching distance away from the target center (p<.001) and poorer reaching motor accuracy (p < .001). Concerning gaze behaviors, blocking online visual feedback increased the first fixation duration time in young adults (p<.001) but decreased it in older adults (p < .001). Besides, under the condition of providing online visual feedback of the cursor, older adults conducted a longer fixation dwell time on target throughout reaching than the young adults (p < .001) although the effect was not significant under blocking online visual feedback condition (p=.215). Therefore, the results suggested that different levels of visual feedback during movement execution can affect gaze behaviors differently in older and young adults. Differential effects by aging on visuomotor behaviors appear on two visual feedback patterns (i.e., blocking or providing online visual feedback of hand-controlled cursor in reaching). Several specific gaze behaviors among the older adults were found, which imply that blocking of visual feedback may act as a stimulus to seduce extra perceptive load in movement execution and age-related visual degeneration might further deteriorate the situation. It indeed provides us with insight for the future development of potential rehabilitative training method (e.g., well-designed errorless training) in enhancing visuomotor adaptation for our aging population in the context of improving their movement automaticity by facilitating their compensation of visual degeneration.

Keywords: aging effect, movement automaticity, reaching, visuomotor behaviors, visual degeneration

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Authors: Shamsul Chowdhury

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The objective of this paper is to present the detailed analysis of the turbulent wave boundary layer produced by progressive finite-amplitude waves theory. Most of the works have done for the mass transport in the turbulent boundary layer assuming the eddy viscosity is not time varying, where the sediment movement is induced by the mean velocity. Near the ocean bottom, the waves produce a thin turbulent boundary layer, where the flow is highly rotational, and shear stress associated with the fluid motion cannot be neglected. The magnitude and the predominant direction of the sediment transport near the bottom are known to be closely related to the flow in the wave induced boundary layer. The magnitude of water particle velocity at the Crest phase differs from the one of the Trough phases due to the non-linearity of the waves, which plays an important role to determine the sediment movement. The non-linearity of the waves become predominant in the surf zone area, where the sediment movement occurs vigorously. Therefore, in order to describe the flow near the bottom and relationship between the flow and the movement of the sediment, the analysis was done using the non-linear boundary layer equation and the finite amplitude wave theory was applied to represent the velocity fields in the turbulent wave boundary layer. At first, the calculation was done for turbulent wave boundary layer by two-dimensional model where throughout the calculation is non-linear. But Stokes second order wave profile is adopted at the upper boundary. The calculated profile was compared with the experimental data. Finally, the calculation is done based on various modes of the velocity and turbulent energy. The mean velocity is found to differ from condition of the relative depth and the roughness. It is also found that due to non-linearity, the absolute value for velocity and turbulent energy as well as Reynolds stress are asymmetric. The mean velocity of the laminar boundary layer is always positive but in the turbulent boundary layer plays a very complicated role.

Keywords: wave boundary, mass transport, mean velocity, shear stress

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Authors: Zohra Aziz Ali Manjiyani, Renju Thomas Jacob, Keerthan Kumar

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This project develops a hand movement monitoring system, which feeds the data into the computer and gives the 3D image rotation according to the direction of the tilt and hence monitoring the movement of the hand in context to its tilt. Advancement of MEMS Technology has enabled us to get very small and low-cost accelerometer ICs which is based on capacitive principle. Accelerometer based Tilt sensor ADXL335 is used in this paper, based on MEMS technology and the project emphasis on the development of the MEMS-based accelerometer to measure the tilt, interfacing the hardware with the LabVIEW and showing the 3D rotation to the user, which is in his understandable form and tilt data can be saved in the computer. It provides an experience of working on emerging technologies like MEMS and design software like LabVIEW.

Keywords: MEMS accelerometer, tilt sensor ADXL335, LabVIEW simulation, 3D animation

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Authors: Dhiraj Dolai, Rupayan Bhattacharya

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In this study, a comparison of Range Of Motion (ROM) of middle and long-distance runners and swimmers has been made. The mobility of the various joints is essential for the quick movement of any sportsman. Knowledge of a ROM helps in preventing injuries, in repeating the movement, and in generating speed and power. ROM varies among individuals, and it is influenced by factors such as gender, age, and whether the motion is performed actively or passively. ROM for running and swimming, both performed with due consideration on speed, plays an important role. The time of generation of speed and mobility of the particular joints are very important for both kinds of athletes. The difficulties that happen during running and swimming in the direction of motion is changed. In this study, data were collected for a total of 102 subjects divided into three groups: control group (22), middle and long-distance runners (40), and swimmers (40), and their ages are between 12 to 18 years. The swimmers have higher ROM in shoulder joint flexion, extension, abduction, and adduction movement. Middle and long-distance runners have significantly greater ROM from Control Group in the left shoulder joint flexion with a 5.82 mean difference. Swimmers have significantly higher ROM from the Control Group in the left shoulder joint flexion with 24.84 mean difference and swimmers have significantly higher ROM from the Middle and Long distance runners in left shoulder flexion with 19.02 mean difference. The picture will be clear after a more detailed investigation.

Keywords: range of motion, runners, swimmers, significance

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Authors: Zhang Tianci, Ding Meng, Zuo Hongfu, Zeng Lina, Sun Zejun

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Automation of airport operations can greatly improve ground movement efficiency. In this paper, we study the speed profile design problem for advanced airport ground movement control and guidance. The problem is constrained by the surface four-dimensional trajectory generated in taxi planning. A decomposed approach of two stages is presented to solve this problem efficiently. In the first stage, speeds are allocated at control points which ensure smooth speed profiles can be found later. In the second stage, detailed speed profiles of each taxi interval are generated according to the allocated control point speeds with the objective of minimizing the overall fuel consumption. We present a swarm intelligence based algorithm for the first-stage problem and a discrete variable driven enumeration method for the second-stage problem since it only has a small set of discrete variables. Experimental results demonstrate the presented methodology performs well on real world speed profile design problems.

Keywords: airport ground movement, fuel consumption, particle swarm optimization, smoothness, speed profile design

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Authors: Abduladim Maitieg, Mark Johnson

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Developing a coastal oil spill management plan for the Misratah coast is the motivating factor for building a database for coastal and marine systems and energy resources. Wind direction and speed, currents, bathymetry, coastal topography and offshore dynamics influence oil spill deposition in coastal water. Therefore, oceanographic and climatological data can be used to understand oil slick movement and potential oil deposits on shoreline area and the behaviour of oil spill trajectories on the sea surface. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of the coastal and marine physical factors under strong wave conditions and various bathymetric and coastal topography gradients in the western coastal area of Libya on the movement of oil slicks. The movement of oil slicks was computed using a GNOME simulation model based on current and wind speed/direction. The results in this paper show that (1) Oil slick might reach the Misratah shoreline area in two days in the summer and winter. Seasons. (2 ) The North coast of Misratah is the potential oil deposit area on the Misratah coast. (3) Tarball pollution was observed along the North coast of Misratah. (4) Two scenarios for the summer and the winter season were run, along the western coast of Libya . (5) The eastern coast is at a lower potential risk due to the influence of wind and current energy in the Gulf of Sidra. (6) The Misratah coastline is more vulnerable to oil spill movement in the summer than in winter seasons. (7) Oil slick takes from 2 to 5 days to reach the saltmarsh in the eastern Misratah coast. (8) Oil slick moves 300 km in 30 days from the spill resource location near the Libyan western border to the Misratah coast.(9) Bathymetric features have a profound effect on oil spill movement. (9)Oil dispersion simulations using GNOME are carried out taking into account high-resolution wind and current data.

Keywords: oil spill movement, coastal and marine physical factors, coast area, Libyan

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Authors: Naser Kazemi Eilaki, Ilona Heldal, Carolyn Ahmer, Bjarne Christian Hagen

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Elderly people and people with disabilities are recognized as at-risk groups when it comes to egress and travel from hazard zone to a safe place. One's disability can negatively influence her or his escape time, and this becomes even more important when people from this target group live alone. While earlier studies have frequently addressed quantitative measurements regarding at-risk groups' physical characteristics (e.g., their speed of travel), this paper considers the influence of at-risk groups’ characteristics on their decision and determining better escape routes. Most of evacuation models are based on mapping people's movement and their behaviour to summation times for common activity types on a timeline. Usually, timeline models estimate required safe egress time (RSET) as a sum of four timespans: detection, alarm, premovement, and movement time, and compare this with the available safe egress time (ASET) to determine what is influencing the margin of safety.This paper presents a cross-sectional study for identifying the most critical items on RSET and people's decision-making and with possibilities to include safety knowledge regarding people with physical or cognitive functional impairments. The result will contribute to increased knowledge on considering at-risk groups and disabilities for designing and developing safe escape routes. The expected results can be an asset to predict the probabilistic behavioural pattern of at-risk groups and necessary components for defining a framework for understanding how stakeholders can consider various disabilities when determining the margin of safety for a safe escape route.

Keywords: fire safety, evacuation, decision-making, at-risk groups

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Authors: Balbasatu Ibrahim

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In the 19th century, Hausaland an Islamic revolution known as the Sokoto Jihad took place that led to the establishment of the Sokoto Caliphate in 1804 under the leadership of the famous Sheik Uthman Bn Fodiye. Before the Jihad movement in Hausaland (now Northern Nigeria), women were left in ignorance and were used and dumped like old kitchen utensils. The sheik and his followers did their best to actualising women’s right to education by using their female family members as role models who were highly educated and renowned scholars. After the Jihad with the establishment of an Islamic state, the women scholars initiated different strategies to teach the generality of the women. The most efficient strategy was the ‘Yantaru Movement founded by Nana Asma’u the daughter of Sheikh Uthman Bn Fodiye in collaboration with her sisters around 1840. The ‘Yantaru movement is a women’s educational movement aimed at enlightening women in rural and urban areas. The move helped in massively mobilizing women for education. In addition to town pupils, women from villages and throughout the nooks and crannies of metropolitan Sokoto participated in the movement in the search for knowledge. Thus, the birth of the ‘Yantaru system of women’s education. The ‘Yantaru operates the three-tier system at village, town and the metropolitan capital of Sokoto. ‘Yantaru functions include imparting knowledge to elderly women and young girls. Step down enlightenment program on returning home. The most effective medium of communication in the ‘Yantaru movement was through poetry where scholars composed educational poems which were memorized by the ‘Yantaru, who on return recite it to fellow women at home. Through this system, many women were educated. This paper translated and examines one of such educative poems written by the second leader of the ‘Yantaru Movement Maryam Bn Uthman Bn Fodiye in 1855.

Keywords: English, Hausa language, public enlightenment, Maryam Bint Uthman Ibn Foduye

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Authors: Diego S. Caetano, Doreen E. Kalz, Louise L. B. Lomardo, Luiz P. Rosa

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The energy consumption in non-residential buildings in Brazil has a great impact on the national infrastructure. The growth of the energy consumption has a special role over the building cooling systems, supported by the increased people's requirements on hygrothermal comfort. This paper presents how the occupants of office buildings notice and evaluate the hygrothermic comfort regarding temperature, humidity, and air movement, considering the cooling systems presented at the buildings studied, analyzed by real occupants in areas of hot and humid climate. The paper presents results collected over a long time from 3 office buildings in the cities of Rio de Janeiro and Niteroi (Brazil) in 2015 and 2016, from daily questionnaires with eight questions answered by 114 people between 3 to 5 weeks per building, twice a day (10 a.m. and 3 p.m.). The paper analyses 6 out of 8 questions, emphasizing on the perception of temperature, humidity, and air movement. Statistics analyses were made crossing participant answers and humidity and temperature data related to time high time resolution time. Analyses were made from regressions comparing: internal and external temperature, and then compared with the answers of the participants. The results were put in graphics combining statistic graphics related to temperature and air humidity with the answers of the real occupants. Analysis related to the perception of the participants to humidity and air movements were also analyzed. The hygrothermal comfort statistic model of the European standard DIN EN 15251 and that from the Brazilian standard NBR 16401 were compared taking into account the perceptions of the hygrothermal comfort of the participants, with emphasis on air humidity, taking basis on prior studies published on this same research. The studies point out a relative tolerance for higher temperatures than the ones determined by the standards, besides a variation on the participants' perception concerning air humidity. The paper presents a group of detailed information that permits to improve the quality of the buildings based on the perception of occupants of the office buildings, contributing to the energy reduction without health damages and demands of necessary hygrothermal comfort, reducing the consumption of electricity on cooling.

Keywords: thermal comfort, energy consumption, energy standards, comfort models

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Authors: V. Diaz, B. Pardo , D. Villegas

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In premature births most babies have complications at birth, these complications can be reduced, if an atmosphere of relaxation is provided and is also similar to intrauterine life, for this, there are programs where their mothers lull and sway them; however, the conditions in which they do so and the way in they do it may not be the indicated. Here we describe an investigation based on the biomimics of the kinematics of human fetal movement, which consists of determining the movements that the fetus experiences and the deformations of the components that surround the fetus during a gentle walk at week 32 of the gestation stage. This research is based on a 3D model that has the anatomical structure of the pelvis, fetus, muscles, uterus and its most important supporting elements (ligaments). Normal load conditions are applied to this model according to the stage of gestation and the kinematics of a gentle walk of a pregnant mother, which focuses on the pelvic bone, this allows to receive a response from the other elements of the model. To accomplish this modeling and subsequent simulation Solidworks software was used. From this analysis, the curves that describe the movement of the fetus at three different points were obtained. Additionally, we could found the deformation of the uterus and the ligaments that support it, showing the characteristics that these tissues can have in the face of the support of the fetus. These data can be used for the construction of artifacts that help the normal development of premature infants.

Keywords: simulation, biomimic, uterine model, fetal movement study

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Authors: Libia Jiménez Chávez

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This is a study of freedom riders and their courageous journey for civil rights, but the year was not 1961. It was 2003. This paper chronicles the emergence of a new civil rights movement for immigrant rights through an oral history of the 2003 U.S. Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride (IWFR). During the height of the post-9/11 immigrant repression, a bloc of organizations inspired by the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s mobilized 900 multinational immigrants and their allies in the fight for legal status, labor protections, family reunification, and civil rights. The activists visited over 100 U.S. cities, met with Congressional leaders in the nation’s capital, and led a rally of over 50,000 people in New York City. This unified effort set the groundwork for the national May Day immigration protests of 2006. Movements can be characterized in two distinct ways: physical movement and social movements. In the past, historians have considered immigrants both as people and as participants in social movements. In contrast, studies of recent migrants tend to say little about their involvement in immigrant political mobilizations. The dominant literature on immigration portrays immigrants as objects of exclusion, border enforcement, detention, and deportation instead of strategic political actors. This paper aims to change this perception. It considers the Freedom Riders both as immigrants who were literally on the move and as participants in a social movement. Through interviews with participants and archival video footage housed at the University of California Los Angeles, it is possible to study this mobile protest as a movement. This contemporary immigrant struggle is an opportunity to explore the makeup and development of a heterogenous immigrant coalition and consider the relationship between population movements and social justice. In addition to oral histories and archival research, the study will utilize social movement literature, U.S. immigration and labor history, and Undocumented Critical Theory to expand the historiography of immigrant social movements in America.

Keywords: civil rights, immigrant social movements, undocumented communities, undocumented critical theory

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Authors: Hsiao-Yung Wang

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This paper aims to elaborate the rhetorical strategies and its inherent dialectical tensions between transgender movement and gay movement in Taiwan; thereby, a radical/populist democratic model will be reproblematized for theorizing the internal dialogicity of the 'umbrella metaphor' of the so-called 'LGBT' label. Firstly, it examined how the representative gay community in Taiwan defined the category of 'LGBT' by its visual rhetoric of pride parade during the last two decades, and how the imaginary of 'transgender' was systematically precluded or even silenced by 'cisgender privilege' or 'cisnormativity' of the gay community in general. Secondly, it employed Laclau & Mouffe’s (1985) perspective of 'empty signifier' which derives from their radical democratic theorization and populist reason, to explore the rhetorical strategies and language tactics on which transgender activists relied for arguing or mapping both the cooperative and competitive relationship with cisgender allies intentionally. Based on research findings, this paper argued that a relationship between rather than an amalgamation of sexual orientation and gender identity should be recognized. Moreover, that resisting defining transgender as other and everyone else as normal could be the critical issue of LGBT community as a whole, especially while it proceeds toward to a radical/populist democracy.

Keywords: empty signifier, LGBT, populist reason, radical democracy, rhetoric, transgender

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Authors: Sílvia tuyà Viñas, Bruno Fernández-Valdés, Carla Pérez-Chirinos, Monica Morral-Yepes, Lucas del Campo Montoliu, Gerard Moras Feliu

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Some researchers stated that whole body vibration (WBV) generates postural destabilization, although there is no extensive research. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze movement variability when performing a half-squat with a different type of ballasts and rhythms with (V) and without (NV) WBV in male athletes using entropy. Twelve experienced in strength training males (age: 21.24  2.35 years, height: 176.83  5.80 cm, body mass: 70.63  8.58 kg) performed a half-squat with weighted vest (WV), dumbbells (D), and a bar with the weights suspended with elastic bands (B), in V and NV at 40 bpm and 60 bpm. Subjects performed one set of twelve repetitions of each situation, composed by the combination of the three factors. The movement variability was analyzed by calculating the Sample Entropy (SampEn) of the total acceleration signal recorded at the waist. In V, significant differences were found between D and WV (p<0.001; ES: 2.87 at 40 bpm; p<0.001; ES: 3.17 at 60 bpm) and between the B and WV at both rhythms (p<0.001; ES: 3.12 at 40 bpm; p<0.001; ES: 2.93 at 60 bpm) and a higher SampEn was obtained at 40 bpm with all ballasts (p<0.001; ES of WV: 1.22; ES of D: 4.49; ES of B: 4.03). No significant differences were found in NV. WBV is a disturbing and destabilizing stimulus. Strength and conditioning coaches should choose the combination of ballast and rhythm of execution according to the level and objectives of each athlete.

Keywords: accelerometry, destabilization, entropy, movement variability, resistance training

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Authors: Ege Can Onal, Enver Ersen, Meltem Elitas

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Laparoscopy is a surgical operation, well known as keyhole surgery. The operation is performed through small holes, hence, scars of a patient become much smaller, patients can recover in a short time and the hospital stay becomes shorter in comparison to an open surgery. Several tools are used at laparoscopic operations; among them, the laparoscope has a crucial role. It provides the vision during the operation, which will be the main focus in here. Since the operation area is very small, motion of the surgical tools might be limited in laparoscopic operations compared to traditional surgeries. To overcome this limitation, most of the laparoscopic tools have become more precise, dexterous, multi-functional or automated. Here, we present a robotic-assisted laparoscope that is controlled with pedals directly by a surgeon. Thus, the movement of the laparoscope might be controlled better, so there will not be a need to calibrate the camera during the operation. The need for an assistant that controls the movement of the laparoscope will be eliminated. The duration of the laparoscopic operation might be shorter since the surgeon will directly operate the camera.

Keywords: laparoscope, laparoscopy, low-cost, minimally invasive surgery, robotic-assisted surgery

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Authors: Rajkumar Ghosh

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Earthquakes are natural disasters that pose a significant risk to human life and infrastructure. Effective earthquake mitigation measures require a thorough understanding of the dynamics of seismic occurrences, including thrust movement. Traditionally, estimating thrust movement has relied on typical techniques that may not capture the full complexity of these events. Therefore, investigating alternative approaches, such as incorporating out-of-sequence thrust movement data, could enhance earthquake mitigation strategies. This review aims to provide an overview of the applications of out-of-sequence thrust movement in earthquake mitigation. By examining existing research and studies, the objective is to understand how precise estimation of thrust movement can contribute to improving structural design, analyzing infrastructure risk, and developing early warning systems. The study demonstrates how to estimate out-of-sequence thrust movement using multiple data sources, including GPS measurements, satellite imagery, and seismic recordings. By analyzing and synthesizing these diverse datasets, researchers can gain a more comprehensive understanding of thrust movement dynamics during seismic occurrences. The review identifies potential advantages of incorporating out-of-sequence data in earthquake mitigation techniques. These include improving the efficiency of structural design, enhancing infrastructure risk analysis, and developing more accurate early warning systems. By considering out-of-sequence thrust movement estimates, researchers and policymakers can make informed decisions to mitigate the impact of earthquakes. This study contributes to the field of seismic monitoring and earthquake risk assessment by highlighting the benefits of incorporating out-of-sequence thrust movement data. By broadening the scope of analysis beyond traditional techniques, researchers can enhance their knowledge of earthquake dynamics and improve the effectiveness of mitigation measures. The study collects data from various sources, including GPS measurements, satellite imagery, and seismic recordings. These datasets are then analyzed using appropriate statistical and computational techniques to estimate out-of-sequence thrust movement. The review integrates findings from multiple studies to provide a comprehensive assessment of the topic. The study concludes that incorporating out-of-sequence thrust movement data can significantly enhance earthquake mitigation measures. By utilizing diverse data sources, researchers and policymakers can gain a more comprehensive understanding of seismic dynamics and make informed decisions. However, challenges exist, such as data quality difficulties, modelling uncertainties, and computational complications. To address these obstacles and improve the accuracy of estimates, further research and advancements in methodology are recommended. Overall, this review serves as a valuable resource for researchers, engineers, and policymakers involved in earthquake mitigation, as it encourages the development of innovative strategies based on a better understanding of thrust movement dynamics.

Keywords: earthquake, out-of-sequence thrust, disaster, human life

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Authors: Esra Güney, Tuba Uçar

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Aim: This study has been conducted for the purpose of determining the effects of fetal movement counting on antenatal maternal attachment. Material and Method: This research was conducted on the basis of the real test model with the pre-test /post-test control groups. The study population consists of pregnant women registered in the six different Family Health Centers located in the central Malatya districts of Yeşilyurt and Battalgazi. When power analysis is done, the sample size was calculated for each group of at least 55 pregnant women (55 tests, 55 controls). The data were collected by using Personal Information Form and MAAS (Maternal Antenatal Attachment Scale) between July 2015-June 2016. Fetal movement counting training was given to pregnant women by researchers in the experimental group after the pre-test data collection. No intervention was applied to the control group. Post-test data for both groups were collected after four weeks. Data were evaluated with percentage, chi-square arithmetic average, chi-square test and as for the dependent and independent group’s t test. Result: In the MAAS, the pre-test average of total scores in the experimental group is 70.78±6.78, control group is also 71.58±7.54 and so there was no significant difference in mean scores between the two groups (p>0.05). MAAS post-test average of total scores in the experimental group is 78.41±6.65, control group is also is 72.25±7.16 and so the mean scores between groups were found to have statistically significant difference (p<0.05). Conclusion: It was determined that fetal movement counting increases the maternal antenatal attachments.

Keywords: antenatal maternal attachment, fetal movement counting, pregnancy, midwifery

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Authors: Ravindra B. Patil, P. Krishnamoorthy, Shriram Sethuraman

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This work proposes a novel Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) based approach for accurate tracking of the arterial wall and subsequent computation of the distension waveform using Radio Frequency (RF) ultrasound signal. The approach was evaluated on ultrasound RF data acquired using a prototype ultrasound system from an artery mimicking flow phantom. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is demonstrated by comparing with existing wall tracking algorithms. The experimental results show that the proposed method provides 20% reduction in the error margin compared to the existing approaches in tracking the arterial wall movement. This approach coupled with ultrasound system can be used to estimate the arterial compliance parameters required for screening of cardiovascular related disorders.

Keywords: distension waveform, Gaussian Mixture Model, RF ultrasound, arterial wall movement

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Authors: Salako Rotimi, Oshungade Stephen, Ojewoye Opeyemi

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The maintenance of price stability is one of the macroeconomic challenges facing Nigeria as a nation. This paper attempts to build a co-integration multivariate time series model for inflation movement in Nigeria using data extracted from the abstract of statistics of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from 2008 to 2017. The Johansen cointegration test suggests at least one co-integration vector describing the long run relationship between Consumer Price Index (CPI), Food Price Index (FPI) and Non-Food Price Index (NFPI). All three series show increasing pattern, which indicates a sign of non-stationary in each of the series. Furthermore, model predictability was established with root-mean-square-error, mean absolute error, mean average percentage error, and Theil’s unbiased statistics for n-step forecasting. The result depicts that the long run coefficient of a consumer price index (CPI) has a positive long-run relationship with the food price index (FPI) and non-food price index (NFPI).

Keywords: economic, inflation, model, series

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Authors: Sanjay Patil, Shakil A. Kagzi, Harit K. Raval

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Tailor Welded Blanks (TWB) are utilized in automotive industries widely because of their advantage of weight and cost reduction and maintaining required strength and structural integrity. TWB consist of two or more sheet having dissimilar or similar material and thickness; welded together to form a single sheet before forming it to desired shape. Forming of the tailor welded blank is affected by ratio of thickness of blanks, ratio of their strength, etc. mainly due to in-homogeneity of material. In the present work the relative effect of these parameters on weld line movement is studied during deep drawing of TWB using FE simulation using HYPERWORKS. The simulation is validated with results from the literature. Simulations were than performed based on Taguchi orthogonal array followed by the ANOVA analysis to determine the significance of these parameters on forming of TWB.

Keywords: ANOVA, deep drawing, Tailor Welded Blank (TWB), weld line movement

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Authors: Elisa Negretto

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Improvisation is a fundamental form of musical practice and an increasing amount of literature shows a particular interest on the consequences it might have in different kinds of social contexts. A relevant aspect of the musical experience is the ability to create expectations, which reflects a basic strategy of the human mind, an intentional movement toward the future which is based on previous experiences. Musical Expectation – an unconscious tendency to project forward in time, to predict future sound events and the ongoing of a musical experience – can be regarded as a process that strongly influences the listeners’ emotional and affective response to music, as well as their social and aesthetic experience. While improvising, composers, interpreters and listeners generate and exchange expectations, thus creating a dynamic dialogue and meaningful relationships. The aim of this paper is to investigate how expectation contributes to the creation of such a dialogue during the unfolding of the musical experience and to what extent it influences the meaning music acquires during the performance. The difference between the ability to create expectations and the anticipation of the future ongoing of music will be questioned. Does it influence in different ways the meaning of music and the kind of dialogical relationship established between musicians and between performers and audience? Such questions will be investigated with reference to recent research in music cognition and the analysis of a particular case: a free jazz performance during which musicians improvise and/or change the location of the sound source. The present paper is an attempt to provide new insights for investigating and understanding the cognitive mechanisms underlying improvisation as a musical and social practice. They contribute to the creation of a model that we can find in many others social practices in which people have to build meaningful relationships and responses to environmental stimuli.

Keywords: anticipation, expectation, improvisation, meaning, musical dialogue

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Authors: Maryam Bakhtyar, Pegah Akrami

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Intuitional insight or mystical cognition is a different insight from common, concrete and intellectual insights. This kind of insight is not achieved by visionary contemplation but by the recitation of God, self-purification, and mystical life. In this insight, there is no distance or medium between the subject of cognition and its object, and they have a sort of unification, unison, and incorporation. As a result, knowledgeable consider this insight as direct, immediate, and personal. The goal of this insight is God, cosmos’ creatures, and the general inner and hidden aspect of the world that is nothing except God’s manifestations in the view of mystics. AS our common cognitions have diversity and stages, intuitional insight also has diversity and levels. As our senses are divided into concrete and rational, mystical discovery is divided into superficial discovery and spiritual one. Based on Islamic mystics, the preferable way to know God and believe in him is intuitional insight. There are two important criteria for evaluating mystical intuition, especially for beginner mystics of intellect and revelation. Indeed, the conclusion and a brief evaluation of Islamic mystics’ viewpoint is the main subject of this paper.

Keywords: intuition, discovery, mystical insight, personal knowledge, superficial discovery, spiritual discovery

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Authors: Dogan Can Hatunoglu, Cengiz Hakan Gurkanlı, Hatice Merve Demirci

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Today, the maker movement is regarded as a socio-cultural movement that represents designing and building objects for innovations. In these creativity-based activities of the movement, individuals from different backgrounds such as; inventors, programmers, craftspeople, DIY’ers, tinkerers, engineers, designers, and hackers, form a community and work collaboratively for mutual, open-source innovations. Today, with the accessibility of recently emerged technologies and digital fabrication tools, the Maker Movement is continuously expanding its scope and has evolved into a new experience, and for many, it is now considered as new kind of industrial revolution. In this new experience, makers create new things within their community by using new digital tools and technologies in spots called makerspaces. In these makerspaces, activities of learning, experience sharing, and mentoring are evolved into maker events. Makers who share common interests in making benefit from makerspaces as meeting and working spots. In literature, there are many sources on Maker Movement, maker communities, and their activities, especially in the field of business administration. However, there is a gap in the literature about the maker communities in Turkey. This research aims to be an information source on the dynamics and process design of “making” activities in Turkish maker communities and also aims to provide insights to sustain and enhance local maker communities in the future. Within this aim, semi-structured interviews were conducted with founders and facilitators from selected Turkish maker communities. (1) The perception towards Maker Movement, makers, activity of making, and current situation of maker communities, (2) motivations of individuals who participate the maker communities, and (3) key drivers (collaboration and decision-making in design processes) of maker activities from the perspectives of main actors (founders, facilitators) are all examined deeply with question on personal experiences and perspectives. After a qualitative approached data analysis concerning the maker communities in Turkey, this research reveals that there are two main conclusions regarding (1) the foundation of the Turkish maker mindset and (2) emergence of self-sustaining communities.

Keywords: Maker Movement, maker community, makerspaces, open-source design, sustainability

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Authors: Rukiye Pinar Boluktas

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According to 2015 statistics, in Turkey, 46% of older people live alone in their homes, 55% have poor health perceptions, 18% face poverty, and 43% are unhappy. Prevalence of depression is between 14% and 20%. In 2013, rate of suicide was 6.5. However, the most of older people prefer to live in their community although they are lonely, they face poverty, and face limitations as a result of chronic diseases and disabilities. Community based care for older people is also encouraged by Ministry of Health as it is more cost-effective. Music therapy is a simple, effective, safe, and nonpharmacologic intervention that may be used to decrease depression and to improve cognition, and health related quality of life (HRQOL). In Turkish culture, music is typically described as ‘food for soul’. This study aimed to investigate the effect of Turkish classical music songs in 32 community dwelling older people. Participants were received interventions two or three times per week, 50-60 min per session, for 8 weeks at a day health center. Each intervention session started listening music for 15-20 min to get remember songs, then followed singing songs as a group. Participants were assessed at baseline (week 0), and two follow-up at month 1 and month 2. Compared to baseline, at two follow-up, we observed that cognition improved, depression decreased, and SF-36 scores, including 8 domains and two summary scores increased. We conclude that an intervention comprising listening and singing Turkish classical music improve cognition, depression and HRQOL in older people.

Keywords: cognitive function, depression, elderly, quality of life, Turkish classical music

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Authors: Hsiu-Hua Cheng, Chi-Wei Chen

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Lurking behaviour is common in information-seeking oriented communities. Transferring users with lurking behaviour to be contributors can assist virtual communities to obtain competitive advantages. Based on the ecological cognition framework, this study proposes a model to examine the antecedents of lurking behaviour in information-seeking oriented virtual communities. This study argues desire for emotional support, desire for information support, desire for performance-approach, desire for performance -avoidance, desire for mastery-approach, desire for mastery-avoidance, desire for ability trust, desire for benevolence trust, and desire for integrity trust effect on lurking behaviour. This study offers an approach to understanding the determinants of lurking behaviour in online contexts.

Keywords: lurking behaviour, the ecological cognition framework, Information-seeking oriented virtual communities, desire

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Authors: Rubina Shakya, Srijana Dangol, Dil Islam Mansur

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The exposure of constant stress stimuli in our daily lives is causing deterioration of neural connectivity in the brain. Interestingly, the improvement in larger-scale neural communication has been argued to rely on brain rhythms, which might be sensitive to binaural beats of particular frequency bands. The theoretical idea behind neural entrainment is that the rhythmic oscillatory activity within and between different brain regions can enhance cognitive function and mood state. So, we aimed to investigate whether the binaural beats of 40 Hz could enhance the cognition and the mood stability of the medical students at Kathmandu University of age 18-25 years old, which possibly, in the long run, might help to enhance their work productivity. The participants were asked to focus on the auditory stimuli of binaural beats with 200 Hz on the right side and 240 Hz on the left side of the headset for 15 minutes, every alternative day of three consecutive weeks. The Stroop’s test and the Brunel Mood Scale (BRUMS) were applied to assess the cognitive function and the mood state, respectively. The binaural beats significantly decreased the reaction time for the incoherent component of Stroop’s test in both male and female participants. For the mood state, scores of all positive emotions except ‘Calmness’ were significantly increased in the case of males. Whereas, scores of all positive emotions except ‘Vigor’ were significantly increased in the case of females. The results suggested that the meditation aided by binaural beats of 40 Hz helps in improving cognition and mood states to some extent.

Keywords: binaural beats, cognitive function, gamma neural oscillation, mood states

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Authors: Noah Odion, Honest Jimu, Blessing Atinuke Afuape

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Introduction: Motor control and gait abnormalities are commonly observed in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), affecting their mobility and coordination. Understanding the underlying neurological and biomechanical factors is essential for designing effective interventions. This study focuses on developing microchip-integrated wearable devices to capture real-time movement data from individuals with autism. By applying computational models to the collected data, we aim to analyze motor control patterns and gait abnormalities, bridging a crucial knowledge gap in autism-related motor dysfunction. Methods: We designed microchip-enabled wearable devices capable of capturing precise kinematic data, including joint angles, acceleration, and velocity during movement. A cross-sectional study was conducted on individuals with ASD and a control group to collect comparative data. Computational modelling was applied using machine learning algorithms to analyse motor control patterns, focusing on gait variability, balance, and coordination. Finite element models were also used to simulate muscle and joint dynamics. The study employed descriptive and analytical methods to interpret the motor data. Results: The wearable devices effectively captured detailed movement data, revealing significant gait variability in the ASD group. For example, gait cycle time was 25% longer, and stride length was reduced by 15% compared to the control group. Motor control analysis showed a 30% reduction in balance stability in individuals with autism. Computational models successfully predicted movement irregularities and helped identify motor control deficits, particularly in the lower limbs. Conclusions: The integration of microchip-based wearable devices with computational models offers a powerful tool for diagnosing and treating motor control deficits in autism. These results have significant implications for patient care, providing objective data to guide personalized therapeutic interventions. The findings also contribute to the broader field of neuroscience by improving our understanding of the motor dysfunctions associated with ASD and other neurodevelopmental disorders.

Keywords: motor control, gait abnormalities, autism, wearable devices, microchips, computational modeling, kinematic analysis, neurodevelopmental disorders

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Authors: Gheida J. Shahrour, Martin J. Russell

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The 3D body movement signals captured during human-human conversation include clues not only to the content of people’s communication but also to their culture and personality. This paper is concerned with automatic extraction of this information from body movement signals. For the purpose of this research, we collected a novel corpus from 27 subjects, arranged them into groups according to their culture. We arranged each group into pairs and each pair communicated with each other about different topics. A state-of-art recognition system is applied to the problems of person, culture, and topic recognition. We borrowed modeling, classification, and normalization techniques from speech recognition. We used Gaussian Mixture Modeling (GMM) as the main technique for building our three systems, obtaining 77.78%, 55.47%, and 39.06% from the person, culture, and topic recognition systems respectively. In addition, we combined the above GMM systems with Support Vector Machines (SVM) to obtain 85.42%, 62.50%, and 40.63% accuracy for person, culture, and topic recognition respectively. Although direct comparison among these three recognition systems is difficult, it seems that our person recognition system performs best for both GMM and GMM-SVM, suggesting that inter-subject differences (i.e. subject’s personality traits) are a major source of variation. When removing these traits from culture and topic recognition systems using the Nuisance Attribute Projection (NAP) and the Intersession Variability Compensation (ISVC) techniques, we obtained 73.44% and 46.09% accuracy from culture and topic recognition systems respectively.

Keywords: person recognition, topic recognition, culture recognition, 3D body movement signals, variability compensation

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Authors: A. S. Gorobtsov, A. S. Polyanina, A. E. Andreev

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The movement of points feet of the anthropomorphous robot in space occurs along some stable trajectory of a known form. A large number of modifications to the methods of control of biped robots indicate the fundamental complexity of the problem of stability of the program trajectory and, consequently, the stability of the control for the deviation for this trajectory. Existing gait generators use piecewise interpolation of program trajectories. This leads to jumps in the acceleration at the boundaries of sites. Another interpolation can be realized using differential equations with fractional derivatives. In work, the approach to synthesis of generators of program trajectories is considered. The resulting system of nonlinear differential equations describes a smooth trajectory of movement having rectilinear sites. The method is based on the theory of an asymptotic stability of invariant sets. The stability of such systems in the area of localization of oscillatory processes is investigated. The boundary of the area is a bounded closed surface. In the corresponding subspaces of the oscillatory circuits, the resulting stable limit cycles are curves having rectilinear sites. The solution of the problem is carried out by means of synthesis of a set of the continuous smooth controls with feedback. The necessary geometry of closed trajectories of movement is obtained due to the introduction of high-order nonlinearities in the control of stabilization systems. The offered method was used for the generation of trajectories of movement of point’s feet of the anthropomorphous robot. The synthesis of the robot's program movement was carried out by means of the inverse method.

Keywords: control, limits cycle, robot, stability

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Authors: Claire Stafford, John Lewis, Ashley Stripling

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The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between both the independent effects and intersection between COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement simultaneously to investigate how the two events have coincided with impacting race-based traumatic stress in Black Americans. Four groups will be surveyed: Black Americans who participated in BLM-related activism, Black Americans who did not participate in BLM-related activism, White Americans who participated in BLM-related activism, and White Americans who did not participate in BLM-related activism. Participants are between the ages of 30 and 50. All participants will be administered a Brief Trauma Questionnaire with an additional question asking whether or not they have ever tested positive for COVID-19. Based on prior findings, it is expected that Black Americans will have significantly higher levels of COVID-19 contraction, with Black Americans who participated in BLM-related activism having the highest levels of contractions. Additionally, Black Americans who participated in BLM-related activism will likely have the highest self-reported rates of traumatic experiences due to the compounding effect of both the pandemic and the BLM movement. With the development of the COVID-19 pandemic, stark racial disparities between Black and White Americans have become more defined. Compared to White Americans, Black Americans have more COVID-19-related cases and hospitalizations. Researchers must investigate and attempt to mitigate these disparities while simultaneously critically questioning the structure of our national health care system and how it serves our marginalized communities. Further, a critical gaze must be directed at the geopolitical climate of the United States in order to holistically look at how both the COVID-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement have interacted and impacted race-based stress and trauma in African Americans.

Keywords: COVID-19, black lives matter movement, race-based traumatic stress, activism

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Authors: Hyo Seon Choi, Ju Sun Kim, DY Kim

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Introduction: This study was aimed to evaluate temporo-spatial patterns during the reach and grasp task in hemiplegic stroke patients and to identify movement pattern according to severity of motor impairment. Method: 29 subacute post-stroke patients were enrolled in this study. The temporo-spatial and kinematic data were obtained during reach and grasp task through 3D motion analysis (VICON). The reach and grasp task was composed of four sub-tasks: reach (T1), transport to mouth (T2), transport back to table (T3) and return (T4). The movement time, joint angle and sum of deviation angles from normative data were compared between affected side and unaffected side. They were also compared between two groups (mild to moderate group: 28~66, severe group: 0~27) divided by upper-Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA) scale. Result: In affected side, total time and durations of all four tasks were significantly longer than those in unaffected side (p < 0.001). The affected side demonstrated significant larger shoulder abduction, shoulder internal rotation, wrist flexion, wrist pronation, thoracic external rotation and smaller shoulder flexion during reach and grasp task (p < 0.05). The significant differences between mild to moderate group and severe group were observed in total duration, durations of T1, T2, and T3 in reach and grasp task (p < 0.01). The severe group showed significant larger shoulder internal rotation during T2 (p < 0.05) and wrist flexion during T2, T3 (p < 0.05) than mild to moderate group. In range of motion during each task, shoulder abduction-adduction during T2 and T3, shoulder internal-external rotation during T2, elbow flexion-extension during T1 showed significant difference between two groups (p < 0.05). The severe group had significant larger total deviation angles in shoulder internal-external rotation and wrist extension-flexion during reach and grasp task (p < 0.05). Conclusion: This study suggests that post-stroke hemiplegic patients have an unique temporo-spatial and kinematic patterns during reach and grasp task, and the movement pattern may be related to affected upper limb severity. These results may be useful to interpret the motion of upper extremity in stroke patients.

Keywords: Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA), motion analysis, reach and grasp, stroke

Procedia PDF Downloads 238