Search results for: ground motion intensity measure

Authors: Sujan Mahamud

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Purpose: A major challenge in radiotherapy treatment is to deliver precise dose of radiation to the tumor with minimum dose to the healthy normal tissues. Recently, gel dosimetry has emerged as a powerful tool to measure three-dimensional (3D) dose distribution for complex delivery verification and quality assurance. These dosimeters act both as a phantom and detector, thus confirming the versatility of dosimetry technique. The aim of the study is to know the application of Gel Dosimeters in Radiotherapy and find out the comparison with 1D and 2D dimensional dosimeters. Methods and Materials: The study is carried out from Gel Dosimeter literatures. Secondary data and images have been collected from different sources such as different guidelines, books, and internet, etc. Result: Analyzing, verifying, and comparing data from treatment planning system (TPS) is determined that gel dosimeter is a very excellent powerful tool to measure three-dimensional (3D) dose distribution. The TPS calculated data were in very good agreement with the dose distribution measured by the ferrous gel. The overall uncertainty in the ferrous-gel dose determination was considerably reduced using an optimized MRI acquisition protocol and a new MRI scanner. The method developed for comparing measuring gel data with calculated treatment plans, the gel dosimetry method, was proven to be a useful for radiation treatment planning verification. In 1D and 2D Film, the depth dose and lateral for RMSD are 1.8% and 2%, and max (Di-Dj) are 2.5% and 8%. Other side 2D+ ( 3D) Film Gel and Plan Gel for RMSDstruct and RMSDstoch are 2.3% & 3.6% and 1% & 1% and system deviation are -0.6% and 2.5%. The study is investigated that the result fined 2D+ (3D) Film Dosimeter is better than the 1D and 2D Dosimeter. Discussion: Gel Dosimeters is quality control and quality assurance tool which will used the future clinical application.

Keywords: gel dosimeters, phantom, rmsd, QC, detector

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Authors: Brooke Sweeney, David White, Felix Amparano, Nick A. Clark, Amy R. Beck, Mathew Lindquist, Lora Edwards, Julie Vandal, Jennifer Lisondra, Katie Cox, Renee Arensberg, Allen Cummins, Jazmine Cedeno, Jason D. Fraser, Kelsey Dean, Helena H. Laroche, Cristina Fernandez

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Background: National organizations call for standardized pre-surgical requirements and education to optimize postoperative outcomes. Since 2017 our surgery program has used defined protocols and educational curricula pre- and post-surgery. In response to patient outcomes, our educational content was refined to include quizzes to assess patient knowledge and surgical preparedness. We aim to optimize adolescent pre-bariatric surgery preparedness by improving overall aggregate pre-surgical assessment performance from 68% to 80% within 12 months. Methods: A multidisciplinary improvement team was developed within the weight management clinic (WMC) of our tertiary care, free-standing children’s hospital. A manual has been utilized since 2017, with limitations in consistent delivery and patient uptake of information. The curriculum has been improved to include quizzes administered during WMC visits prior to bariatric surgery. The initial outcome measure is the pre-surgical quiz score of adolescents preparing for bariatric surgery. Process measure was the number of questions answered correctly to test the questions. Baseline performance was determined by a patient assessment survey of pre-surgical preparedness at patient visits. Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles (PDSA) included: 1) creation and implementation of a refined curriculum, 2) development of 5 new quizzes based upon learning objectives, and 3) improving provider-lead teaching and quiz administration within clinic workflow. Run charts assessed impact over time. Results: A total of 346 quiz questions were administered to 34 adolescents. The outcome measure improved from a baseline mean of 68% to 86% following PDSA 2 cycles, and it was sustained. Conclusion/Implication: Patient/family comprehension of surgical preparedness improved with standardized education via team member-led teaching and assessment using quizzes during pre-surgical clinic visits. The next steps include launching redesigned teaching materials with modules correlated to quizzes and assessment of comprehension and outcomes post-surgically.

Keywords: bariatric surgery, adolescent, clinic, pre-bariatric training

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Authors: S. M. Yasir Arafat

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Driving models are needed by many researchers to improve traffic safety and to advance autonomous vehicle design. To be most useful, a driving model must state specifically what information is needed and how it is processed. So we developed an “Obstacle Avoidance and Detection Autonomous Car” based on sensor application. The ever increasing technological demands of today call for very complex systems, which in turn require highly sophisticated controllers to ensure that high performance can be achieved and maintained under adverse conditions. Based on a developed model of brakes operation, the controller of braking system operation has been designed. It has a task to enable solution to the problem of the better controlling of braking system operation in a more accurate way then it was the case now a day.

Keywords: automobile, obstacle, safety, sensing

Procedia PDF Downloads 346

Authors: Humphrey Agevi, Harrison Tsingalia, Richard Onwonga, Shem Kuyah

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Most of the world ecosystems have been affected by the effects of climate change. Efforts have been made to mitigate against climate change effects. While most studies have been done in forest ecosystems and pure plant plantations, trees on farms including agroforestry have only received attention recently. Agroforestry systems and tree cover on agricultural lands make an important contribution to climate change mitigation but are not systematically accounted for in the global carbon budgets. This study sought to: (i) determine tree diversity in different agroforestry practices; (ii) determine tree biomass in different agroforestry practices. Study area was determined according to the Land degradation surveillance framework (LSDF). Two study sites were established. At each of the site, a 5km x 10km block was established on a map using Google maps and satellite images. Way points were then uploaded in a GPS helped locate the blocks on the ground. In each of the blocks, Nine (8) sentinel clusters measuring 1km x 1km were randomized. Randomization was done in a common spreadsheet program and later be downloaded to a Global Positioning System (GPS) so that during surveys the researchers were able to navigate to the sampling points. In each of the sentinel cluster, two farm boundaries were randomly identified for convenience and to avoid bias. This led to 16 farms in Kakamega South and 16 farms in Kakamega North totalling to 32 farms in Kakamega Site. Species diversity was determined using Shannon wiener index. Tree biomass was determined using allometric equation. Two agroforestry practices were found; homegarden and hedgerow. Species diversity ranged from 0.25-2.7 with a mean of 1.8 ± 0.10. Species diversity in homegarden ranged from 1-2.7 with a mean of 1.98± 0.14. Hedgerow species diversity ranged from 0.25-2.52 with a mean of 1.74± 0.11. Total Aboveground Biomass (AGB) determined was 13.96±0.37 Mgha-1. Homegarden with the highest abundance of trees had higher above ground biomass (AGB) compared to hedgerow agroforestry. This study is timely as carbon budgets in the agroforestry can be incorporated in the global carbon budgets and improve the accuracy of national reporting of greenhouse gases.

Keywords: agroforestry, allometric equations, biomass, climate change

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Authors: A. J. Babajanyan, T. A. Abrahamyan, H. A. Minasyan, K. V. Nerkararyan

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Optical radiation emitted from a metal-coated fiber tip apex at liquid-air interface was measured. The intensity of the output radiation was strongly depending on the relative position of the tip to a liquid-air interface and varied with surface fluctuations. This phenomenon permits in-situ real-time investigation of nano-metric vibrations of the liquid surface and provides a basis for development of various origin ultrasensitive vibration detecting sensors. The described method can be used for detection of week seismic vibrations.

Keywords: fiber-tip, liquid-air interface, nano vibration, opto-mechanical sensor

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Authors: Vikas Teotia, Sanjay Malhotra, Elina Mishra, Prashant Kumar, R. R. Singh, Priti Ukarde, P. P. Marathe, Y. S. Mayya

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Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Trombay is developing low energy high intensity Proton Accelerator (LEHIPA) as pre-injector for 1 GeV proton accelerator for accelerator driven sub-critical reactor system (ADSS). LEHIPA consists of RFQ (Radio Frequency Quadrupole) and DTL (Drift Tube Linac) as major accelerating structures. DTL is RF resonator operating in TM010 mode and provides longitudinal E-field for acceleration of charged particles. The RF design of drift tubes of DTL was carried out to maximize the shunt impedance; this demands the diameter of drift tubes (DTs) to be as low as possible. The width of the DT is however determined by the particle β and trade-off between a transit time factor and effective accelerating voltage in the DT gap. The array of Drift Tubes inside DTL shields the accelerating particle from decelerating RF phase and provides transverse focusing to the charged particles which otherwise tends to diverge due to Columbic repulsions and due to transverse e-field at entry of DTs. The magnetic lenses housed inside DTS controls the transverse emittance of the beam. Quadrupole magnets are preferred over solenoid magnets due to relative high focusing strength of former over later. The availability of small volume inside DTs for housing magnetic quadrupoles has motivated the usage of permanent magnet quadrupoles rather than Electromagnetic Quadrupoles (EMQ). This provides another advantage as joule heating is avoided which would have added thermal loaded in the continuous cycle accelerator. The beam dynamics requires uniformity of integral magnetic gradient to be better than ±0.5% with the nominal value of 2.05 tesla. The paper describes the magnetic design of the PMQ using Sm2Co17 rare earth permanent magnets. The paper discusses the results of five pre-series prototype fabrications and qualification of their prototype permanent magnet quadrupoles and a full scale DT developed with embedded PMQs. The paper discusses the magnetic pole design for optimizing integral Gdl uniformity and the value of higher order multipoles. A novel but simple method of tuning the integral Gdl is discussed.

Keywords: DTL, focusing, PMQ, proton, rate earth magnets

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Authors: A. Sopharak, B. Uyyanonvara, S. Barman

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Diabetic retinopathy is characterized by the development of retinal microaneurysms. The damage can be prevented if disease is treated in its early stages. In this paper, we are comparing Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Naïve Bayes (NB) classifiers for automatic microaneurysm detection in images acquired through non-dilated pupils. The Nearest Neighbor classifier is used as a baseline for comparison. Detected microaneurysms are validated with expert ophthalmologists’ hand-drawn ground-truths. The sensitivity, specificity, precision and accuracy of each method are also compared.

Keywords: diabetic retinopathy, microaneurysm, naive Bayes classifier, SVM classifier

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Authors: Hendrick Maxil Zárate Rocha, Ricardo da Silva Pereira, Manoel Fernandes Martins Nogueira, Carlos R. Pereira Belchior, Maria Emilia de Lima Tostes

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This study investigates experimentally the effects of hydrogen addition in the intake manifold of a diesel generator operating with a 7% biodiesel-diesel oil blend (B7). An experimental apparatus setup was used to conduct performance and emissions tests in a single cylinder, air cooled diesel engine. This setup consisted of a generator set connected to a wirewound resistor load bank that was used to vary engine load. In addition, a flowmeter was used to determine hydrogen volumetric flowrate and a digital anemometer coupled with an air box to measure air flowrate. Furthermore, a digital precision electronic scale was used to measure engine fuel consumption and a gas analyzer was used to determine exhaust gas composition and exhaust gas temperature. A thermopar was installed near the exhaust collection to measure cylinder temperature. In-cylinder pressure was measured using an AVL Indumicro data acquisition system with a piezoelectric pressure sensor. An AVL optical encoder was installed in the crankshaft and synchronized with in-cylinder pressure in real time. The experimental procedure consisted of injecting hydrogen into the engine intake manifold at different mass concentrations of 2,6,8 and 10% of total fuel mass (B7 + hydrogen), which represented energy fractions of 5,15, 20 and 24% of total fuel energy respectively. Due to hydrogen addition, the total amount of fuel energy introduced increased and the generators fuel injection governor prevented any increases of engine speed. Several conclusions can be stated from the test results. A reduction in specific fuel consumption as a function of hydrogen concentration increase was noted. Likewise, carbon dioxide emissions (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO) and unburned hydrocarbons (HC) decreased as hydrogen concentration increased. On the other hand, nitrogen oxides emissions (NOx) increased due to average temperatures inside the cylinder being higher. There was also an increase in peak cylinder pressure and heat release rate inside the cylinder, since the fuel ignition delay was smaller due to hydrogen content increase. All this indicates that hydrogen promotes faster combustion and higher heat release rates and can be an important additive to all kind of fuels used in diesel generators.

Keywords: diesel engine, hydrogen, dual fuel, combustion analysis, performance, emissions

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Authors: Shinji Kajiwara

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The basic ability of a vehicle is the ability to “run”, “turn” and “stop”. The safeness and comfort during a drive on various road surfaces and speed depends on the performance of these basic abilities of the vehicle. Stability and maneuverability of a vehicle is vital in automotive engineering. Stability of a vehicle is the ability of the vehicle to revert back to a stable state during a drive when faced with crosswind and irregular road conditions. Maneuverability of a vehicle is the ability of the vehicle to change direction during a drive swiftly based on the steering of the driver. The stability and maneuverability of a vehicle can also be defined as the driving stability of the vehicle. Since fossil fueled vehicle is the main type of transportation today, the environmental factor in automotive engineering is also vital. By improving the fuel efficiency of the vehicle, the overall carbon emission will be reduced thus reducing the effect of global warming and greenhouse gas on the Earth. Another main focus of the automotive engineering is the safety performance of the vehicle especially with the worrying increase of vehicle collision every day. With better safety performance on a vehicle, every driver will be more confidence driving every day. Next, let us focus on the “turn” ability of a vehicle. By improving this particular ability of the vehicle, the cornering limit of the vehicle can be improved thus increasing the stability and maneuverability factor. In order to improve the cornering limit of the vehicle, a study to find the balance between the steering systems, the stability of the vehicle, higher lateral acceleration and the cornering limit detection must be conducted. The aim of this research is to study and develop a new suspension system that that will boost the lateral acceleration of the vehicle and ultimately improving the cornering limit of the vehicle. This research will also study environmental factor and the stability factor of the new suspension system. The double wishbone suspension system is widely used in four-wheel vehicle especially for high cornering performance sports car and racing car. The double wishbone designs allow the engineer to carefully control the motion of the wheel by controlling such parameters as camber angle, caster angle, toe pattern, roll center height, scrub radius, scuff and more. The development of the new suspension system will focus on the ability of the new suspension system to optimize the camber control and to improve the camber limit during a cornering motion. The research will be carried out using the CAE analysis tool. Using this analysis tool we will develop a JSAE Formula Machine equipped with the double wishbone system and also the new suspension system and conduct simulation and conduct studies on performance of both suspension systems.

Keywords: automobile, camber thrust, cornering force, suspension

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Authors: Amanda Kavner, Richard Lamb

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Faster growth in science and technology of other nations may make staying globally competitive more difficult without shifting focus on how science is taught in US classes. An integral part of learning science involves visual and spatial thinking since complex, and real-world phenomena are often expressed in visual, symbolic, and concrete modes. The primary barrier to spatial thinking and visual literacy in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) fields is representational competence, which includes the ability to generate, transform, analyze and explain representations, as opposed to generic spatial ability. Although the relationship is known between the foundational visual literacy and the domain-specific science literacy, science literacy as a function of science learning is still not well understood. Moreover, the need for a more reliable measure is necessary to design resources which enhance the fundamental visuospatial cognitive processes behind scientific literacy. To support the improvement of students’ representational competence, first visualization skills necessary to process these science representations needed to be identified, which necessitates the development of an instrument to quantitatively measure visual literacy. With such a measure, schools, teachers, and curriculum designers can target the individual skills necessary to improve students’ visual literacy, thereby increasing science achievement. This project details the development of an artificial neural network capable of measuring science literacy using functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIR) data. This data was previously collected by Project LENS standing for Leveraging Expertise in Neurotechnologies, a Science of Learning Collaborative Network (SL-CN) of scholars of STEM Education from three US universities (NSF award 1540888), utilizing mental rotation tasks, to assess student visual literacy. Hemodynamic response data from fNIRsoft was exported as an Excel file, with 80 of both 2D Wedge and Dash models (dash) and 3D Stick and Ball models (BL). Complexity data were in an Excel workbook separated by the participant (ID), containing information for both types of tasks. After changing strings to numbers for analysis, spreadsheets with measurement data and complexity data were uploaded to RapidMiner’s TurboPrep and merged. Using RapidMiner Studio, a Gradient Boosted Trees artificial neural network (ANN) consisting of 140 trees with a maximum depth of 7 branches was developed, and 99.7% of the ANN predictions are accurate. The ANN determined the biggest predictors to a successful mental rotation are the individual problem number, the response time and fNIR optode #16, located along the right prefrontal cortex important in processing visuospatial working memory and episodic memory retrieval; both vital for science literacy. With an unbiased measurement of science literacy provided by psychophysiological measurements with an ANN for analysis, educators and curriculum designers will be able to create targeted classroom resources to help improve student visuospatial literacy, therefore improving science literacy.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, artificial neural network, machine learning, science literacy, neuroscience

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Authors: Toshiyuki Satoh, Hiroki Hara, Naoki Saito, Jun-ya Nagase, Norihiko Saga

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This paper addresses a control system design for a table drive system based on the disturbance observer (DOB)-based predictive functional critical control (PFCC). To empower the previously developed DOB-based PFC to handle constraints on controlled outputs, we propose to take a critical control approach. To this end, we derive the transfer function representation of the PFC controller, and yield a detailed design procedure. The effectiveness of the proposed method is confirmed through an experimental evaluation.

Keywords: critical control, disturbance observer, mechatronics, motion control, predictive functional control, table drive systems

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Authors: Esther Yin-Nei Cho

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There is inconsistency among studies about whether there is an association between poverty and the subjective wellbeing of children. Some have found a positive association, though its magnitude could be limited, others have shown no association. One possible explanation for this inconsistency is that household income, an often-adopted measure of child poverty, may not accurately and stably reflect the actual life experience of children. Some studies have suggested, however, that material deprivation covering various dimensions of children’s lives could be a better measure of child poverty. Another possible explanation for the inconsistency is that the link between poverty and subjective wellbeing of children may not be that straightforward, as there could be underlying mechanisms, such as mediation and moderation, influencing its direction or strength. While a mediator refers to the mechanism through which an independent variable affects a dependent variable, a moderator changes the direction or strength of the relationship between an independent variable and a dependent variable. As suggested by empirical evidence, family relationships and friendships could be potential mediators or moderators of the link between poverty and subjective well-being: poverty affects relationships; relationships are an important element in children’s subjective well-being; and economic status affects child outcomes, though not necessarily subjective wellbeing, through relationships. Since the potential links have not been adequately understood, this study fills this gap by examining the possible role of family relationships and friendships as mediators or moderators between poverty (using child-derived material deprivation as measure) and the subjective wellbeing of children. Improving subjective wellbeing is increasingly considered as a policy goal. The finding of no or a limited association between poverty and subjective wellbeing of children could be a justification for less effort to improve poverty in this regard. But if the observed magnitude of that association is due to some underlying mechanisms at work, the effect of poverty may be underestimated and the potentially useful strategies that take into account both poverty and other mediators or moderators for improving children’s subjective well-being may be overlooked. Multiple mediation, and multiple moderation models, based on regression analyses, are performed to a sample of approximately 1,600 children, who are aged 10 to 15, from the wellbeing survey conducted by The Children’s Society in England from 2010 to 2011. Results show that the effect of children’s material deprivation on their subjective well-being is mediated by their family relationships and friendships. Moreover, family relationships are a significant moderator. It is found that the negative impact of child deprivation on subjective wellbeing could be exacerbated if family relationships are not going well, while good family relationships may prevent the further decline in subjective well-being. Policy implications of the findings are discussed. In particular, policy measures that focus on strengthening the family relationships or nurturing home environment through supporting household’s economic security and parental time with children could promote the subjective wellbeing of children.

Keywords: child poverty, mediation, moderation, subjective well-being of children

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Authors: Dace Grauda, Inta Belogrudova, Alexei Katashev, Linda Lancere, Isaak Rashal

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The goal of study was the elaboration of easy applicable flow cytometry method for detection of influence of abiotic stress factors on plants, which could be useful for detection of environmental stresses in urban areas. The lime tree Tillia vulgaris H. is a popular tree species used for urban landscaping in Europe and is one of the main species of street greenery in Riga, Latvia. Tree decline and low vitality has observed in the central part of Riga. For this reason lime trees were select as a model object for the investigation. During the period of end of June and beginning of July 12 samples from different urban environment locations as well as plant material from a greenhouse were collected. BD FACSJazz® cell sorter (BD Biosciences, USA) with flow cytometer function was used to test viability of plant cells. The method was based on changes of relative fluorescence intensity of cells in blue laser (488 nm) after influence of stress factors. SpheroTM rainbow calibration particles (3.0–3.4 μm, BD Biosciences, USA) in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) were used for calibration of flow cytometer. BD PharmingenTM PBS (BD Biosciences, USA) was used for flow cytometry assays. The mean fluorescence intensity information from the purified cell suspension samples was recorded. Preliminary, multiple gate sizes and shapes were tested to find one with the lowest CV. It was found that low CV can be obtained if only the densest part of plant cells forward scatter/side scatter profile is analysed because in this case plant cells are most similar in size and shape. The young pollen cells in one nucleus stage were found as the best for detection of influence of abiotic stress. For experiments only fresh plant material was used– the buds of Tillia vulgaris with diameter 2 mm. For the cell suspension (in vitro culture) establishment modified protocol of microspore culture was applied. The cells were suspended in the MS (Murashige and Skoog) medium. For imitation of dust of urban area SiO2 nanoparticles with concentration 0.001 g/ml were dissolved in distilled water. Into 10 ml of cell suspension 1 ml of SiO2 nanoparticles suspension was added, then cells were incubated in speed shaking regime for 1 and 3 hours. As a stress factor the irradiation of cells for 20 min by UV was used (Hamamatsu light source L9566-02A, L10852 lamp, A10014-50-0110), maximum relative intensity (100%) at 365 nm and at ~310 nm (75%). Before UV irradiation the suspension of cells were placed onto a thin layer on a filter paper disk (diameter 45 mm) in a Petri dish with solid MS media. Cells without treatment were used as a control. Experiments were performed at room temperature (23-25 °C). Using flow cytometer BS FACS Software cells plot was created to determine the densest part, which was later gated using oval-shaped gate. Gate included from 95 to 99% of all cells. To determine relative fluorescence of cells logarithmic fluorescence scale in arbitrary fluorescence units were used. 3x103 gated cells were analysed from the each sample. The significant differences were found among relative fluorescence of cells from different trees after treatment with SiO2 nanoparticles and UV irradiation in comparison with the control.

Keywords: flow cytometry, fluorescence, SiO2 nanoparticles, UV irradiation

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Authors: Sreevalli Bokka

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Various technologies are emerging to capture or reduce carbon intensity from a gas stream, such as industrial effluent air and atmosphere. Of these technologies, filter membranes are emerging as a key player in carbon sequestering. The key advantages of these membranes are their high surface area and porosity. Fabricating a filter membrane that has high selectivity for carbon sequestration is challenging as material properties and processing parameters affect the membrane properties. In this study, the growth of the filter membranes and the critical material properties that impact carbon sequestration are presented.

Keywords: membranes, filtration, separations, polymers, carbon capture

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Authors: Sheo K. Mishra, Rajneesh K. Srivastava, R. K. Shukla

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In the present work, we report on the optical properties including UV-vis absorption and photoluminescence (PL) of ZnO nanostructures synthesized by sol-gel method. Structural and morphological investigations have been performed by X-ray diffraction method (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The XRD result confirms the formation of hexagonal wurtzite phase of ZnO nanostructures. The presence of various diffraction peaks suggests polycrystalline nature. The XRD pattern exhibits no additional peak due to by-products such as Zn(OH)2. The average crystallite size of prepared ZnO sample corresponding to the maximum intensity peaks is to be ~38.22 nm. The SEM micrograph shows different nanostructures of pure ZnO. Photoluminescence (PL) spectrum shows several emission peaks around 353 nm, 382 nm, 419 nm, 441 nm, 483 nm and 522 nm. The obtained results suggest that the prepared phosphors are quite suitable for optoelectronic applications.

Keywords: ZnO, sol-gel, XRD, PL

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Authors: Stacy Jarvis

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A silent culmination is a musical technique that creates or increases tension in a piece of music. It is a type of cadence in which the music gradually builds to a climax but suddenly stops without any resolution. This technique can create suspense and anticipation in the listener as they wait to find out what will happen next. It can also draw attention to a particular element of the music, such as a particular instrument or vocal line. Silent culminations can evoke a sense of mystery or ambiguity by not resolving the tension created. This technique has been used by composers of all musical genres, from classical to jazz, as well as in film scores. Silent culminations can also make a piece of music more dynamic and exciting. Verdi’s Aida is a classic example of the use of silent culminations to create tension and suspense. Throughout the opera, Verdi uses a technique of gradually building to a climax, only to abruptly stop without any resolution. This technique brings out the story's drama and intensity and creates anticipation for the climactic moments. For example, at the end of the second act, Verdi reaches a crescendo of tension as Aida and Radamès swear their undying love for one another, only to stop with a moment of silence. This technique also helps to draw attention to the important moments in the story, such as the duets between Aida and Radamès. By stopping the music just before it resolves, Verdi can create an atmosphere of anticipation and suspense that carries through to the opera's end. Silent culminations are used greatly in Aida and are integral to Verdi’s dramatic style. In his symphonic poem Mazeppa, Tchaikovsky uses silent culminations to emphasize the piece's drama and powerful emotions. The piece begins with a gentle introduction but quickly builds to a powerful climax. Throughout the piece, Tchaikovsky uses silent culminations to create tension and suspense, drawing the listener in and heightening the intensity of the music 2. The most dramatic moment of the piece comes when the music builds to a frantic climax and then suddenly cuts out, leaving the listener hanging in anticipation of what will happen next. This technique creates an intense atmosphere and leaves the listener eager to hear what comes next. In addition, the use of silent culminations helps to emphasize the strong emotions of the piece, such as fear, horror, and despair. By not resolving the tension with a resolution, the listener is left with a feeling of uneasiness and uncertainty that helps to convey the story of Mazeppa’s tragic fate.

Keywords: Verdi, Tchaikovsky, opera, culmination

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Authors: Indika Fernando, Jiangang Fei, Roger Stanely, Hossein Enshaei

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Ever increasing demand for quality fresh produce by the consumers, had increased the gravity on the post-harvest supply chains in multi-fold in the recent years. Mechanical injury to fresh produce was a critical factor for produce wastage, especially with the expansion of supply chains, physically extending to thousands of miles. The impact of vibration damages in transit was identified as a specific area of focus which results in wastage of significant portion of the fresh produce, at times ranging from 10% to 40% in some countries. Several studies were concentrated on quantifying the impact of vibration to fresh produce, and it was a challenge to collect vibration impact data continuously due to the limitations in battery life or the memory capacity in the devices. Therefore, the study samples were limited to a stretch of the transit passage or a limited time of the journey. This may or may not give an accurate understanding of the vibration impacts encountered throughout the transit passage, which limits the accuracy of the results. Consequently, an approach which can extend the capacity and ability of determining vibration signals in the transit passage would contribute to accurately analyze the vibration damage along the post-harvest supply chain. A mechanism was developed to address this challenge, which is capable of measuring the in transit vibration continuously through the transit passage subject to a minimum acceleration threshold (0.1g). A system, consisting six tri-axel vibration transducers installed in different locations inside the cargo (produce) pallets in the truck, transmits vibration signals through LORA (Long Range Radio) technology to a central device installed inside the container. The central device processes and records the vibration signals transmitted by the portable transducers, along with the GPS location. This method enables to utilize power consumption for the portable transducers to maximize the capability of measuring the vibration impacts in the transit passage extending to days in the distribution process. The trial tests conducted using the approach reveals that it is a reliable method to measure and quantify the in transit vibrations along the supply chain. The GPS capability enables to identify the locations in the supply chain where the significant vibration impacts were encountered. This method contributes to determining the causes, susceptibility and intensity of vibration impact damages to fresh produce in the post-harvest supply chain. Extensively, the approach could be used to determine the vibration impacts not limiting to fresh produce, but for products in supply chains, which may extend from few hours to several days in transit.

Keywords: post-harvest, supply chain, wireless transducers, LORA, fresh produce

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Authors: Samir Lecheb, Ahmed Chellil, Hamza Mechakra, Brahim Safi, Houcine Kebir

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In this paper we studied fracture and dynamic behavior of vertical axis wind turbine blade, the VAWT is a historical machine, it has many properties, structure, advantage, component to be able to produce the electricity. We modeled the blade design then imported to Abaqus software for analysis the modes shapes, frequencies, stress, strain, displacement and stress intensity factor SIF, after comparison we chose the idol material. Finally, the CTS test of glass epoxy reinforced polymer plates to obtain the material fracture toughness Kc.

Keywords: blade, crack, frequency, material, SIF

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Authors: Khaleel Alyahya, Faizah Alotaibi

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The coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused an increase in general fear and anxiety around the globe. With the public health measures, including lockdown and travel restrictions, the COVID-19 period further resulted in a sudden increase in the vulnerability of people too ill mental health. This becomes greater among individuals who have a history of mental illness or are undergoing treatment and do not have easy access to medication and medical consultations. The study aims to measure the impact of COVID-19 and the degree of distress with the DASS scale on the mental health of residents living in Saudi Arabia. The study is a quantitative, observational, and cross-sectional conducted in Saudi Arabia to measure the impact of COVID-19 on the mental health of both citizens and residents of Saudi Arabia during pandemics. The study ran from February 2021 to June 2021, and a validated questionnaire was used. The targeted population of the study was Saudi citizens and non-Saudi residents. A sample size of 800 participants was calculated with a single proportion formula at 95% level of significance and 5% allowable error. The result revealed that participants who were always doing exercise experienced the lowest level of depression, anxiety, and stress. The highest prevalence of severe and extremely severe depression was among participants who sometimes do exercise at 53.2% for each. Similar results were obtained for anxiety and stress, where the extremely severe form was reported by those who sometimes did exercise at 54.8% and 72.2%, respectively. There was an inverse association between physical activity levels and levels of depression, anxiety, and stress during the COVID-19. Similarly, the levels of depression, anxiety, and stress differed significantly according to the exercise frequency during COVID-19.

Keywords: mental, COVID-19, pandemic, lockdown, depression, anxiety, stress

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Authors: Guy Joseph Eyebe, Gambo Betchewe, Alidou Mohamadou, Timoleon Crepin Kofane

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In the present study, the dynamics of nanobeam resting on fractional order softening nonlinear viscoelastic pasternack foundations is studied. The Hamilton principle is used to derive the nonlinear equation of the motion. Approximate analytical solution is obtained by applying the standard averaging method. The Melnikov method is used to investigate the chaotic behaviors of device, the critical curve separating the chaotic and non-chaotic regions are found. It is shown that appearance of chaos in the system depends strongly on the fractional order parameter.

Keywords: chaos, fractional-order, Melnikov method, nanobeam

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Authors: Masaki Ohno, Cervinia Manalo, Tetsuji Okuda, Satoshi Nakai, Wataru Nishijima

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Reverse osmosis (RO) membranes have been widely used for desalination to purify water for drinking and other purposes. Although at present most RO membranes have no resistance to chlorine, chlorine-resistant membranes are being developed. Therefore, direct chlorine treatment or chlorine washing will be an option in preventing biofouling on chlorine-resistant membranes. Furthermore, if particle accumulation control is possible by using chlorine washing, expensive pretreatment for particle removal can be removed or simplified. The objective of this study was to determine the effective hypochlorite washing condition required for controlling biofilm formation and inorganic particle accumulation on RO membrane in a continuous flow channel with RO membrane and spacer. In this study, direct chlorine washing was done by soaking fouled RO membranes in hypochlorite solution and fluorescence intensity was used to quantify biofilm on the membrane surface. After 48 h of soaking the membranes in high fouling potential waters, the fluorescence intensity decreased to 0 from 470 using the following washing conditions: 10 mg/L chlorine concentration, 2 times/d washing interval, and 30 min washing time. The chlorine concentration required to control biofilm formation decreased as the chlorine concentration (0.5–10 mg/L), the washing interval (1–4 times/d), or the washing time (1–30 min) increased. For the sample solutions used in the study, 10 mg/L chlorine concentration with 2 times/d interval, and 5 min washing time was required for biofilm control. The optimum chlorine washing conditions obtained from soaking experiments proved to be applicable also in controlling biofilm formation in continuous flow experiments. Moreover, chlorine washing employed in controlling biofilm with suspended particles resulted in lower amounts of organic (0.03 mg/cm²) and inorganic (0.14 mg/cm²) deposits on the membrane than that for sample water without chlorine washing (0.14 mg/cm² and 0.33 mg/cm², respectively). The amount of biofilm formed was 79% controlled by continuous washing with 10 mg/L of free chlorine concentration, and the inorganic accumulation amount decreased by 58% to levels similar to that of pure water with kaolin (0.17 mg/cm²) as feed water. These results confirmed the acceleration of particle accumulation due to biofilm formation, and that the inhibition of biofilm growth can almost completely reduce further particle accumulation. In addition, effective hypochlorite washing condition which can control both biofilm formation and particle accumulation could be achieved.

Keywords: reverse osmosis, washing condition optimization, hypochlorous acid, biofouling control

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Authors: Kazeem Adesina Dauda, Waheed Babatunde Yahya

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To design a tree that maximizes within-node homogeneity, there is a need for a homogeneity measure that is appropriate for event history data with multiple risks. We consider the use of Deviance and Modified Cox-Snell residuals as a measure of impurity in Classification Regression Tree (CART) and compare our results with the results of Fiona (2008) in which homogeneity measures were based on Martingale Residual. Data structure approach was used to validate the performance of our proposed techniques via simulation and real life data. The results of univariate competing risk revealed that: using Deviance and Cox-Snell residuals as a response in within node homogeneity classification tree perform better than using other residuals irrespective of performance techniques. Bone marrow transplant data and double-blinded randomized clinical trial, conducted in other to compare two treatments for patients with prostate cancer were used to demonstrate the efficiency of our proposed method vis-à-vis the existing ones. Results from empirical studies of the bone marrow transplant data showed that the proposed model with Cox-Snell residual (Deviance=16.6498) performs better than both the Martingale residual (deviance=160.3592) and Deviance residual (Deviance=556.8822) in both event of interest and competing risks. Additionally, results from prostate cancer also reveal the performance of proposed model over the existing one in both causes, interestingly, Cox-Snell residual (MSE=0.01783563) outfit both the Martingale residual (MSE=0.1853148) and Deviance residual (MSE=0.8043366). Moreover, these results validate those obtained from the Monte-Carlo studies.

Keywords: within-node homogeneity, Martingale residual, modified Cox-Snell residual, classification and regression tree

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Authors: Mohamed Abdelmounim Bakkali, Mustapha El Mataouy, Abellatif Aaliti, Mouhamed Khaddor

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In the paper, we study the effects of introducing hafnium oxide on Raman spectra of silica glass planar waveguide activated by 0.3 mol% Er3+ ions. This work compares Raman spectra measured for three thin films deposited on silicon substrate. The films were prepared with different molar ratio of Si/Hf using sol-gel method and deposited by dip coating technique. The effect of hafnium oxide incorporation on the waveguides shows the evolution of the structure of this material. This structural information is useful to understand the luminescence intensity by means of ion–ion interaction mechanisms.

Keywords: optical amplifiers, non-bridging oxygen, erbium, sol-gel, waveguide, silica-hafnia

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Authors: Mohamad Reza Khodabakhsh

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Drug use and addiction are major biological, psychological, and social problems. In drug abuse treatment, it is important to pay attention to personality problems and coping methods of patients. Today, the third-wave treatments in psychotherapy emphasize people's awareness and acceptance of feelings and emotions, cognitions, and behaviors instead of challenging cognitions. For this reason, this research was conducted with the aim of investigating the effectiveness of group therapy based on acceptance and commitment to self-criticism and coping strategies of people with drug use disorder. This research was a quasi-experimental type of research (pre-test-post-test design with an unequal control group), and the statistical population of this research included all men with drug use disorder in Mashhad, 174 of whom among the 75 people eligible for this research, 30 of them were selected by available sampling method and randomly assigned to two experimental and control groups. In this research, Gilbert's self-criticism scale was used to measure self-criticism, and Andler and Barker's coping strategies questionnaire was used to measure coping strategies. Therapeutic intervention (treatment based on acceptance and commitment) was performed on the experimental group for eight sessions of 90 minutes, and then post-tests were taken from both groups, and multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) was used to analyze the data. The results showed that treatment based on acceptance and commitment significantly reduced self-criticism and improved coping strategies used by patients with drug use disorder (p>0.01). Therefore, treatment based on acceptance and commitment has been effective in reducing self-criticism and improving the coping strategies of patients with drug use disorder due to teaching clients to accept thoughts and conditions.

Keywords: treatment based on acceptance and commitment, self-criticism, coping strategies, addiction

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Authors: Prachi Bhatt

Abstract:

Motivated workforce is an important asset of an organisation. Intrinsic motivation is one of the key aspects of people operations and performance. Researches have emphasized the significance of internal factors in individuals’ motivation. In the changing business scenario, it is a challenge for the organizations’ leaders to inspire and motivate their workforce. The present study deals with the intrinsic motivation potential of an individual which govern the innate capability of an individual driving him or her to behave or perform in the changing work environment, tasks, teams. Differences at individual level significantly influence differences in levels of motivation. In the above context, the present research attempts to explore behavioral trait dimensions which influence motivational potential of an individual. The present research emphasizes the significance of intrinsic motivational potential and the significance of exploring the differences in the intrinsic motivational potential levels of individuals at work places. Thus, this paper empirically tests the framework of behavioral traits which affects motivational potential of an individual. With the help of two studies i.e., Study 1 and Study 2, exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis, respectively, indicated a reliable measure assessing intrinsic motivational potential of an individual. Given the variety of challenges of motivating contemporary workforce, and with increasing importance of intrinsic motivation, the paper discusses the relevance of the findings and of the measure assessing intrinsic motivational potential. Assessment of such behavioral traits would assist in the effective realization of intrinsic motivational potential of individuals. Additionally, the paper discusses the practical implications and furnishes scope for future research.

Keywords: behavioral traits, individual differences, intrinsic motivational potential, intrinsic motivation, motivation, workplace motivation

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Authors: Danni Cong, Meiping Wu, Hua Mu, Xiaofeng He, Junxiang Lian, Juliang Cao, Shaokun Cai, Hao Qin

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Gravity field is of great significance in geoscience, national economy and national security, and gravitational gradient measurement has been extensively studied due to its higher accuracy than gravity measurement. Gravity gradient sensor, being one of core devices of the gravity gradient instrument, plays a key role in measuring accuracy. Therefore, this paper starts from analyzing the working principle of the gravity gradient sensor by Newton’s law, and then considers the relative motion between inertial and non-inertial systems to build a relatively adequate mathematical model, laying a foundation for the measurement error calibration, measurement accuracy improvement.

Keywords: gravity gradient, gravity gradient sensor, accelerometer, single-axis rotation modulation

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Authors: Ridha Abdulla Al Hammam

Abstract:

Purpose: to measure the extent of perceived structural empowerment and work commitment the intensive care unit in SMC have in their work place. Background: nurses’ access to power structures (information, recourses, opportunity, and support) directly influences their productivity, retention, and job satisfaction. Exploring nurses’ level and sources of work commitment (affective, normative, and continuance) is very essential to guide nursing leaders making decisions to improve work environment to facilitate effective nursing care. Both concepts (Structural Empowerment and Work Commitment) were never investigated in our critical care unit. Methods: a sample of 50 nurses attained from the Intensive Care Unit (Adult). Conditions for Workplace Effectiveness Questionnaire and Three-Component Model Employee Commitment Survey were used to measure the two concepts respectively. The study is quantitative, descriptive, and correlational in design. Results: the participants reported moderate structural empowerment provided by their work place (M=15 out of 20). The sample perceived high access to opportunity mainly through gaining more skills (M=4.45 out of 5) where the rest power structures were perceived with moderate accessibility. The participants’ affective commitment (M=5.6 out of 7) to work in the ICU overweighed their normative and continuance commitment (M=5.1, M=4.9 out of 7) implying a stronger emotional connection with their unit. Strong positive and significant correlations were observed between the participants’ structural empowerment scores and all work commitment sources. Conclusion: these results provided an insight on aspects of work environment that need to be fostered and improved in our intensive care unit which have a direct linkage to nurses’ work commitment and potentially to their quality of care they provide.

Keywords: structural empowerment, commitment, intensive care, nurses

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Authors: Wei-Kuo Soong

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The forecasting of typhoon tracks remains a formidable challenge, primarily attributable to the paucity of observational data in the open sea and the intricate influence of weather systems at varying scales. This study investigates the case of Typhoon Hinnamnor in 2022, examining its trajectory and intensity fluctuations in relation to the interaction with a concurrent tropical cyclone and sea surface temperatures (SST). Utilizing the Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF), to simulate and analyze the interaction between Typhoon Hinnamnor and its environmental factors, shedding light on the mechanisms driving typhoon development and enhancing forecasting capabilities.

Keywords: typhoon, sea surface temperature, forecasting, WRF

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Authors: Mrinal Kanti Bhowmik, Shawli Bardhan Jr., Debotosh Bhattacharjee

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Human skin containing temperature value more than absolute zero, discharges infrared radiation related to the frequency of the body temperature. The difference in infrared radiation from the skin surface reflects the abnormality present in human body. Considering the difference, detection and forecasting the temperature variation of the skin surface is the main objective of using Medical Infrared Thermography(MIT) as a diagnostic tool for pain detection. Medical Infrared Thermography(MIT) is a non-invasive imaging technique that records and monitors the temperature flow in the body by receiving the infrared radiated from the skin and represent it through thermogram. The intensity of the thermogram measures the inflammation from the skin surface related to pain in human body. Analysis of thermograms provides automated anomaly detection associated with suspicious pain regions by following several image processing steps. The paper represents a rigorous study based survey related to the processing and analysis of thermograms based on the previous works published in the area of infrared thermal imaging for detecting inflammatory pain diseases like arthritis, spondylosis, shoulder impingement, etc. The study also explores the performance analysis of thermogram processing accompanied by thermogram acquisition protocols, thermography camera specification and the types of pain detected by thermography in summarized tabular format. The tabular format provides a clear structural vision of the past works. The major contribution of the paper introduces a new thermogram acquisition standard associated with inflammatory pain detection in human body to enhance the performance rate. The FLIR T650sc infrared camera with high sensitivity and resolution is adopted to increase the accuracy of thermogram acquisition and analysis. The survey of previous research work highlights that intensity distribution based comparison of comparable and symmetric region of interest and their statistical analysis assigns adequate result in case of identifying and detecting physiological disorder related to inflammatory diseases.

Keywords: acquisition protocol, inflammatory pain detection, medical infrared thermography (MIT), statistical analysis

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Authors: Rajinder Kumar Gupta, Rajni Kant Agrawal, Jaganniwas

Abstract:

One of the most frightening phenomena of nature is the occurrence of earthquake as it has terrible and disastrous effects. Many earthquakes occur every day worldwide. There is need to have knowledge regarding the trends in earthquake occurrence worldwide. The recoding and interpretation of data obtained from the establishment of the worldwide system of seismological stations made this possible. From the analysis of recorded earthquake data, the earthquake parameters and source parameters can be computed and the earthquake catalogues can be prepared. These catalogues provide information on origin, time, epicenter locations (in term of latitude and longitudes) focal depths, magnitude and other related details of the recorded earthquakes. Theses catalogues are used for seismic hazard estimation. Manual interpretation and analysis of these data is tedious and time consuming. A geographical information system is a computer based system designed to store, analyzes and display geographic information. The implementation of integrated GIS technology provides an approach which permits rapid evaluation of complex inventor database under a variety of earthquake scenario and allows the user to interactively view results almost immediately. GIS technology provides a powerful tool for displaying outputs and permit to users to see graphical distribution of impacts of different earthquake scenarios and assumptions. An endeavor has been made in present study to compile the earthquake data for the whole world in visual Basic on ARC GIS Plate form so that it can be used easily for further analysis to be carried out by earthquake engineers. The basic data on time of occurrence, location and size of earthquake has been compiled for further querying based on various parameters. A preliminary analysis tool is also provided in the user interface to interpret the earthquake recurrence in region. The user interface also includes the seismic hazard information already worked out under GHSAP program. The seismic hazard in terms of probability of exceedance in definite return periods is provided for the world. The seismic zones of the Indian region are included in the user interface from IS 1893-2002 code on earthquake resistant design of buildings. The City wise satellite images has been inserted in Map and based on actual data the following information could be extracted in real time: • Analysis of soil parameters and its effect • Microzonation information • Seismic hazard and strong ground motion • Soil liquefaction and its effect in surrounding area • Impacts of liquefaction on buildings and infrastructure • Occurrence of earthquake in future and effect on existing soil • Propagation of earth vibration due of occurrence of Earthquake GIS based earthquake information system has been prepared for whole world in Visual Basic on ARC GIS Plate form and further extended micro level based on actual soil parameters. Individual tools has been developed for liquefaction, earthquake frequency etc. All information could be used for development of infrastructure i.e. multi story structure, Irrigation Dam & Its components, Hydro-power etc in real time for present and future.

Keywords: GIS based earthquake information system, microzonation, analysis and real time information about liquefaction, infrastructure development

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