Search results for: plot and visual schemes

Authors: Ali Akyar, Osman Serdar Gedik

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Depth estimation is a challenging computer vision task that involves estimating the distance between objects in a scene and the camera. It predicts how far each pixel in the 2D image is from the capturing point. There are some important Monocular Depth Estimation (MDE) studies that are based on Vision Transformers (ViT). We benchmark three major studies. The first work aims to build a simple and powerful foundation model that deals with any images under any condition. The second work proposes a method by mixing multiple datasets during training and a robust training objective. The third work combines generalization performance and state-of-the-art results on specific datasets. Although there are studies with thermal images too, we wanted to benchmark these three non-thermal, state-of-the-art studies with a hybrid image dataset which is taken by Multi-Spectral Dynamic Imaging (MSX) technology. MSX technology produces detailed thermal images by bringing together the thermal and visual spectrums. Using this technology, our dataset images are not blur and poorly detailed as the normal thermal images. On the other hand, they are not taken at the perfect light conditions as RGB images. We compared three methods under test with our thermal dataset which was not done before. Additionally, we propose an image enhancement deep learning model for thermal data. This model helps extract the features required for monocular depth estimation. The experimental results demonstrate that, after using our proposed model, the performance of these three methods under test increased significantly for thermal image depth prediction.

Keywords: monocular depth estimation, thermal dataset, benchmarking, vision transformers

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Authors: F. S. Irwansyah, I. Farida, Y. Maulana

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Studying chemistry requires the ability to understand three levels of understanding in the form of macroscopic, submicroscopic and symbolic, but the lack of emphasis on the submicroscopic level leads to the understanding of chemical concepts becoming incomplete, due to the limitations of the tools capable of providing visualization of submicroscopic concepts. The purpose of this study describes the stages of making augmented reality learning media on the concept of molecular geometry and analyze the feasibility test result of augmented reality learning media on the concept of molecular geometry. This research uses Research and Development (R & D) method which produces a product of AR learning media on molecular geometry concept and test the effectiveness of the product. Research stages include concept analysis and learning indicators, design development, validation, feasibility, and limited testing. The stages of validation and limited trial are aimed to get feedback in the form of assessment, suggestion and improvement on learning aspect, material substance aspect, visual communication aspect and software engineering aspects and media feasibility in terms of media creation purpose to be used in learning. The results of the overall feasibility test obtained r-calculation 0,7-0,9 with the interpretation of high feasibility value, whereas the result of limited trial got the percentage of eligibility with the average value equal to 70,83-92,5%. This percentage indicates that AR's learning media product on the concept of molecular geometry, deserves to be used as a learning resource.

Keywords: android, augmented reality, chemical learning, geometry

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Authors: Tamar Trop, Boris Portnov

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Public Space Lighting (PSL) of outdoor urban areas promotes comfort, defines spaces and neighborhood identities, enhances perceived safety and security, and contributes to residential satisfaction and wellbeing. However, if excessive or misdirected, PSL leads to unnecessary energy waste and increased greenhouse gas emissions, poses a non-negligible threat to the nocturnal environment, and may become a potential health hazard. At present, PSL is designed according to international, regional, and national standards, which consolidate best practice. Yet, knowledge regarding the optimal light characteristics needed for creating a perception of personal comfort and safety in densely populated residential areas, and the factors associated with this perception, is still scarce. The presented study suggests a paradigm shift in designing PSL towards a user-centered approach, which incorporates pedestrians' perspectives into the process. The study is an ongoing joint research project between China and Israel Ministries of Science and Technology. Its main objectives are to reveal inhabitants' perceptions of and preferences for PSL in different densely populated neighborhoods in China and Israel, and to develop a model that links instrumentally measured parameters of PSL (e.g., intensity, spectra and glare) with its perceived comfort and quality, while controlling for three groups of attributes: locational, temporal, and individual. To investigate measured and perceived PSL, the study employed various research methods and data collection tools, developed a location-based mobile application, and used multiple data sources, such as satellite multi-spectral night-time light imagery, census statistics, and detailed planning schemes. One of the study’s preliminary findings is that higher sense of safety in the investigated neighborhoods is not associated with higher levels of light intensity. This implies potential for energy saving in brightly illuminated residential areas. Study findings might contribute to the design of a smart and adaptive PSL strategy that enhances pedestrians’ perceived safety and comfort while reducing light pollution and energy consumption.

Keywords: energy efficiency, light pollution, public space lighting, PSL, safety perceptions

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Authors: Monika Rani, Claudio Marchesi, Stefania Federici, Laura E. Depero

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Degradation of the aquatic environment by plastic litter, especially microplastics (MPs), i.e., any water-insoluble solid plastic particle with the longest dimension in the range 1µm and 1000 µm (=1 mm) size, is an unfortunate indication of the advancement of the Anthropocene age on Earth. Microplastics formed due to natural weathering processes are termed as secondary microplastics, while when these are synthesized in industries, they are called primary microplastics. Their presence from the highest peaks to the deepest points in oceans explored and their resistance to biological and chemical decay has adversely affected the environment, especially marine life. Even though the presence of MPs in the marine environment is well-reported, a legitimate and authentic analytical technique to sample, analyze, and quantify the MPs is still under progress and testing stages. Among the characterization techniques, vibrational spectroscopic techniques are largely adopted in the field of polymers. And the ongoing miniaturization of these methods is on the way to revolutionize the plastic recycling industry. In this scenario, the capability and the feasibility of a miniaturized near-infrared (MicroNIR) spectroscopy combined with chemometrics tools for qualitative and quantitative analysis of urban plastic waste collected from a recycling plant and microplastic mixture fragmented in the lab were investigated. Based on the Resin Identification Code, 250 plastic samples were used for macroplastic analysis and to set up a library of polymers. Subsequently, MicroNIR spectra were analysed through the application of multivariate modelling. Principal Components Analysis (PCA) was used as an unsupervised tool to find trends within the data. After the exploratory PCA analysis, a supervised classification tool was applied in order to distinguish the different plastic classes, and a database containing the NIR spectra of polymers was made. For the microplastic analysis, the three most abundant polymers in the plastic litter, PE, PP, PS, were mechanically fragmented in the laboratory to micron size. The distinctive arrangement of blends of these three microplastics was prepared in line with a designed ternary composition plot. After the PCA exploratory analysis, a quantitative model Partial Least Squares Regression (PLSR) allowed to predict the percentage of microplastics in the mixtures. With a complete dataset of 63 compositions, PLS was calibrated with 42 data-points. The model was used to predict the composition of 21 unknown mixtures of the test set. The advantage of the consolidated NIR Chemometric approach lies in the quick evaluation of whether the sample is macro or micro, contaminated, coloured or not, and with no sample pre-treatment. The technique can be utilized with bigger example volumes and even considers an on-site evaluation and in this manner satisfies the need for a high-throughput strategy.

Keywords: chemometrics, microNIR, microplastics, urban plastic waste

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Authors: Nattawadee Sinpattanawong

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Oral presentation has been used mostly in business communication. The business presentation is carrying out through an audio and visual presentation material such as statistical documents, projectors, etc. Common examples of business presentation are intra-organization and sales presentations. The study aims at investigating functions, strategies and contents of assessors’ verbal feedback on presenters’ oral presentations and exploring presenters’ learning process and specific views and expectations concerning assessors’ verbal feedback related to the delivery of the oral presentation. This study is designed as a descriptive qualitative research; four master students and one teacher in English for Business and Industry Presentation Techniques class of public university will be selected. The researcher hopes that any understanding how assessors’ verbal feedback on oral presentations and learning process may illuminate issues for other people. The data from this research may help to expand and facilitate the readers’ understanding of assessors’ verbal feedback on oral presentations and learning process in their own situations. The research instruments include an audio recorder, video recorder and an interview. The students will be interviewing in order to ask for their views and expectations concerning assessors’ verbal feedback related to the delivery of the oral presentation. After finishing data collection, the data will be analyzed and transcribed. The findings of this study are significant because it can provide presenters knowledge to enhance their learning process and provide teachers knowledge about providing verbal feedback on student’s oral presentations on a business context.

Keywords: business context, learning process, oral presentation, verbal feedback

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Authors: Blanca Fatela Cantillo, Silvia Iglesias Cerrato, Guadalupe Garrido Ceca

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Purpose: Bleb dysfunction is a late complication following glaucoma filtration surgery. We describe our surgical technique for excision and reconstruction of a hypertrophic bleb complication using bovine pericardium patch graft (Tutopatch®) and amniotic membrane. Material and methods: The case report presents a hypertrophic bleb over the cornea with good intraocular pressure control. The hanging bleb without leak caused dysesthesia and high irregular astigmatism. Bleb reconstruction involved the excision of corneal fibrous material and avascular conjunctiva, preserving the original scleral and tennon. Bovine pericardium patch graft (Tutopatch®) was sited over these with fixed sutures, reinforcing the underlying scleral, and the conjunctiva advanced. The superior epithelium corneal defect was covered using an amniotic membrane. Conclusion: Repair of bleb dysfunction with varied techniques has been reported, including conjunctival advancement, use of scleral patch graft, dural patch graft, or pericardium. Additional use of amniotic membrane promotes epithelialization and exhibits anti-fibrotic and anti-inflammatory features. Reconstruction with bovine pericardium patch graft and amniotic membrane resulted in pain relief, visual rehabilitation, and good aesthetic results, with preservation of bleb function.

Keywords: reconstruction, hypertrophic bleb, bovine pericardium, amniotic membrane, dysesthesia of the bleb

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Authors: Hayder H. Kareem

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Groundwater recharge is a crucial parameter for any groundwater management system. The variability of the recharge rates and the difficulty in estimating this factor in many processes by direct observation leads to the complexity of estimating the recharge value. Various methods are existing to estimate the groundwater recharge, with some limitations for each method to be able for application. This paper focuses particularly on a real study area, Al-Najaf City, Iraq. In this city, there are few groundwater aquifers, but the aquifer which is considered in this study is the closest one to the ground surface, the Dibdibba aquifer. According to the Aridity Index, which is estimated in the paper, Al-Najaf City is classified as a region located in an arid climate, and this identified that the most appropriate method to estimate the groundwater recharge is Thornthwaite's formula or Thornthwaite's method. From the calculations, the estimated average groundwater recharge over the period 1980-2014 for Al-Najaf City is 40.32 mm/year. Groundwater recharge is completely affected the groundwater table level (groundwater head). Therefore, to make sure that this value of recharge is true, the MODFLOW program has been used to apply this value through finding the relationship between the calculated and observed heads where a groundwater model for the Al-Najaf City study area has been built by MODFLOW to simulate this area for different purposes, one of these purposes is to simulate the groundwater recharge. MODFLOW results show that this value of groundwater recharge is extremely high and needs to be reduced. Therefore, a further sensitivity test has been carried out for the Al-Najaf City study area by the MODFLOW program through changing the recharge value and found that the best estimation of groundwater recharge value for this city is 16.5 mm/year where this value gives the best fitting between the calculated and observed heads with minimum values of RMSE % (13.175) and RSS m² (1454).

Keywords: Al-Najaf City, groundwater modelling, recharge estimation, visual MODFLOW

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Authors: Jonny Beirne

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Hydropower developments have come to assume an important role within the Ethiopian government's overall development strategy for the country during the last ten years. The Gilgel Gibe III on the Omo river, due to become operational in September 2014, represents the most ambitious, and controversial, of these projects to date. Further aspects of the government's national development strategy include leasing vast areas of designated 'unused' land for large-scale commercial agricultural projects and 'voluntarily' villagizing scattered, semi-nomadic agro-pastoralist groups to centralized settlements so as to use land and water more efficiently and to better provide essential social services such as education and healthcare. The Lower Omo valley, along the Omo River, is one of the sites of this villagization programme as well as of these large-scale commercial agricultural projects which are made possible owing to the regulation of the river's flow by Gibe III. Though the Ethiopian government cite many positive aspects of these agricultural and hydropower developments there are still expected to be serious regional and transnational effects, including on migration flows, in an area already characterized by increasing climatic vulnerability with attendant population movements and conflicts over scarce resources. The following paper is an attempt to track actual and anticipated migration flows resulting from the construction of Gibe III in the immediate vicinity of the dam, downstream in the Lower Omo Valley and across the border in Kenya around Lake Turkana. In the case of those displaced in the Lower Omo Valley, this will be considered in view of the distinction between voluntary villagization and forced resettlement. The research presented is not primary-source material. Instead, it is drawn from the reports and assessments of the Ethiopian government, rights-based groups, and academic researchers as well as media articles. It is hoped that this will serve to draw greater attention to the issue and encourage further methodological research on the dynamics of dam constructions (and associated large-scale irrigation schemes) on migration flows and on the ultimate experience of displacement and resettlement for environmental migrants in the region.

Keywords: forced displacement, voluntary resettlement, migration, human rights, human security, land grabs, dams, commercial agriculture, pastoralism, ecosystem modification, natural resource conflict, livelihoods, development

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Authors: Pedro J. Rolim-Neto, Leslie R. M. Ferraz, Fabiana L. A. Santos, Pablo A. Ferreira, Ricardo T. L. Maia-Jr., Magaly A. M. Lyra, Danilo A F. Fonte, Salvana P. M. Costa, Amanda C. Q. M. Vieira, Larissa A. Rolim

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Initially developed as an antimalarial agent, hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) sulfate is often used as a slow-acting antirheumatic drug in the treatment of disorders of connective tissue. The United States Pharmacopeia (USP) 37 provides a reversed-phase HPLC method for quantification of HCQ. However, this method was not reproducible, producing asymmetric peaks in a long analysis time. The asymmetry of the peak may cause an incorrect calculation of the concentration of the sample. Furthermore, the analysis time is unacceptable, especially regarding the routine of a pharmaceutical industry. The aiming of this study was to develop a fast, easy and efficient method for quantification of HCQ sulfate by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) based on the Quality by Design (QbD) methodology. This method was optimized in terms of peak symmetry using the surface area graphic as the Design of Experiments (DoE) and the tailing factor (TF) as an indicator to the Design Space (DS). The reference method used was that described at USP 37 to the quantification of the drug. For the optimized method, was proposed a 33 factorial design, based on the QbD concepts. The DS was created with the TF (in a range between 0.98 and 1.2) in order to demonstrate the ideal analytical conditions. Changes were made in the composition of the USP mobile-phase (USP-MP): USP-MP: Methanol (90:10 v/v, 80:20 v/v and 70:30 v/v), in the flow (0.8, 1.0 and 1.2 mL) and in the oven temperature (30, 35, and 40ºC). The USP method allowed the quantification of drug in a long time (40-50 minutes). In addition, the method uses a high flow rate (1,5 mL.min-1) which increases the consumption of expensive solvents HPLC grade. The main problem observed was the TF value (1,8) that would be accepted if the drug was not a racemic mixture, since the co-elution of the isomers can become an unreliable peak integration. Therefore, the optimization was suggested in order to reduce the analysis time, aiming a better peak resolution and TF. For the optimization method, by the analysis of the surface-response plot it was possible to confirm the ideal setting analytical condition: 45 °C, 0,8 mL.min-1 and 80:20 USP-MP: Methanol. The optimized HPLC method enabled the quantification of HCQ sulfate, with a peak of high resolution, showing a TF value of 1,17. This promotes good co-elution of isomers of the HCQ, ensuring an accurate quantification of the raw material as racemic mixture. This method also proved to be 18 times faster, approximately, compared to the reference method, using a lower flow rate, reducing even more the consumption of the solvents and, consequently, the analysis cost. Thus, an analytical method for the quantification of HCQ sulfate was optimized using QbD methodology. This method proved to be faster and more efficient than the USP method, regarding the retention time and, especially, the peak resolution. The higher resolution in the chromatogram peaks supports the implementation of the method for quantification of the drug as racemic mixture, not requiring the separation of isomers.

Keywords: analytical method, hydroxychloroquine sulfate, quality by design, surface area graphic

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Authors: Hossein Edrisi

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To study the impact of the amount and volume of power of isolation transformer on the lamps in airfield Ground Lighting Systems. A test was conducted in Persian Gulf International Airport, This airport is situated in the south of Iran and it is one of the most cutting-edge airports, the same one that owns modern devices. Iran uses materials and auxiliary equipment which are made by ADB Company from Belgium. Airfield ground lighting (AGL) systems are responsible for providing visual issue to aircrafts and helicopters in the runways. In an AGL system a great deal of lamps are connected in serial circuits to each other and each ring has its individual constant current regulators (CCR), which through that provide energy to the lamps. Control of lamps is crucial for maintenance and operation in the AGL systems. Thanks to the Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) that is a cutting-edge technology can help the system to connect the elements from substations and ATC (TOWER). For this purpose, a test in real conditions of the airport done for all element that used in the airport such as isolation transformer in different power capacity and different consuming power and brightness of the lamps. The data were analyzed with Lux meter and Multimeter. The results had shown that the increase in the power of transformer caused a significant increase in brightness. According to the Ohm’s law and voltage division, without changing the characteristics of the light bulb, it is not possible to change the voltage, just need to change the amount of transformer with which it connects to the lamps. When the voltage is increased, the current through the bulb has to increase as well, because of Ohm's law: I=V/R and I=V/R which means that if V increases, so do I increase. The output voltage on the constant current regulator emerges between the lamps and the transformers.

Keywords: AGL, CCR, lamps, transformer, Ohm’s law

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Authors: Mariam Matiashvili

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Argumentation is an integral part of our daily communications - formal or informal. Argumentative reasoning, techniques, and language tools are used both in personal conversations and in the business environment. Verbalization of the opinions requires the use of extraordinary syntactic-pragmatic structural quantities - arguments that add credibility to the statement. The study of argumentative structures allows us to identify the linguistic features that make the text argumentative. Knowing what elements make up an argumentative text in a particular language helps the users of that language improve their skills. Also, natural language processing (NLP) has become especially relevant recently. In this context, one of the main emphases is on the computational processing of argumentative texts, which will enable the automatic recognition and analysis of large volumes of textual data. The research deals with the linguistic analysis of the argumentative structures of Georgian political speeches - particularly the linguistic structure, characteristics, and functions of the parts of the argumentative text - claims, support, and attack statements. The research aims to describe the linguistic cues that give the sentence a judgmental/controversial character and helps to identify reasoning parts of the argumentative text. The empirical data comes from the Georgian Political Corpus, particularly TV debates. Consequently, the texts are of a dialogical nature, representing a discussion between two or more people (most often between a journalist and a politician). The research uses the following approaches to identify and analyze the argumentative structures Lexical Classification & Analysis - Identify lexical items that are relevant in argumentative texts creating process - Creating the lexicon of argumentation (presents groups of words gathered from a semantic point of view); Grammatical Analysis and Classification - means grammatical analysis of the words and phrases identified based on the arguing lexicon. Argumentation Schemas - Describe and identify the Argumentation Schemes that are most likely used in Georgian Political Speeches. As a final step, we analyzed the relations between the above mentioned components. For example, If an identified argument scheme is “Argument from Analogy”, identified lexical items semantically express analogy too, and they are most likely adverbs in Georgian. As a result, we created the lexicon with the words that play a significant role in creating Georgian argumentative structures. Linguistic analysis has shown that verbs play a crucial role in creating argumentative structures.

Keywords: georgian, argumentation schemas, argumentation structures, argumentation lexicon

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Authors: Jamuna Rajeswaran

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In the past two decades, with a population of more than a billion. India is passing through a major socio-demographic and epidemiological transition with consequent changes in health scenario. TBI constitute significant burden on health care resources in India The impact on a person and family can be devastating. Patients with TBI experience persistent cognitive deficits, emotional changes, which contribute to the disruption of life activities. The recovery of TBI would be maximized by appropriate rehabilitation. Neurofeedback is an emerging neuroscience-based clinical application. Sixty patients were recruited for this study after obtaining informed consent. Rivermead Head Injury Follow-up Questionnaire, Rivermead Post Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire and Visual Analog Scale were used to assess the behavioral and symptomotolgy associated with post TBI. Neuropsychological assessment was carried out using NIMHANS neuropsychological battery 2004. The Intervention group received neurofeedback training and the waitlist group did not receive any treatment during this phase. Patients were allocated to intervention and waitlist group at random. There were 30 patients in each group. Patients were given 20 sessions of NFT Patients were trained on the O1 and O2 channels for alpha theta training. Each session was of 40 minutes duration with 5-6 sessions per week. The post-training assessment was carried out for the intervention group after 20 sessions of NFT. The waitlist group underwent assessment after one month. Results showed neurofeedback training is effective in ameliorating deficits in cognitive functions and quality of life in patients with TBI. Improvements were corroborated by the clinical interview with patients and significant others post NFT.

Keywords: assessment, rehabilitation, cognition, EEG neurofeedback

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Authors: Jimoh Olumide Yusuf

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Various factors have continued to bedevil the effective teaching and learning of English Language in Nigeria and prominent among these factors are learners’ characteristics. Unfortunately, these particular factors seem to have recorded paucity of research efforts by scholars and the problem of lack of proficiency in the target language continues to linger. This study therefore investigates the relationship between specific learners’ characteristics and effective teaching of English as a Second Language (ESL) in senior secondary schools in Nigeria. To this end, Self-Determination, and Integrative Motivation Theories were applied to investigate motivation, language learning, learners’ characteristics and its relationship to language proficiency. A survey of 500 students and 100 English Language teachers across 20 schools was conducted. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze the data and findings revealed that; specific learners’ characteristics such as learners’ age, learning style and motivation significantly determine the performance of students in English Language. Specifically, students with appropriate school age, visual learning style and intrinsic motivation, demonstrated English Language proficiency; as they performed better than students with extrinsic motivation, audio and kinaesthetic learning styles. Moreover, teachers related factors such as teaching experience; teaching strategies and teachers’ extrinsic motivation also emerged as essential correlates of effective language teaching. The findings conclude that learning characteristics are significant factors that should be considered by the teachers and education planners for adequate, sequential and effective implementation of the ESL curriculum in Nigeria.

Keywords: senior secondary school, English as a second language, intrinsic motivation, Kinaesthetic learning style

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Authors: Kasbparast Mehdi, Hassani Zainab

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Aim: The purpose of this research was to investigate the effectiveness of therapeutical sensorimotor exercise. The statistical population of women who were diagnosed with patellofemoral pain syndrome by a doctor and were between the ages of 35 and 45 and registered for the first time in a sports club in the 4th district of Tehran, 30 people by random sampling and according to The include and exclude criteria were selected and divided into 2 equal control and experimental and homogeneous groups (in terms of height, weight and BMI).In both control and experimental groups, the pain was measured using a Visual Analog Scale(VAS) functionality was measured using the step-down test and quality of life was measured using a World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale (WHOQOL-BREF) (pre-test). Then, only the experimental group performed sensorimotor exercises for 12 weeks and 3 sessions each week, a total of 24 sessions and each session for 1 hour, and during this period, the control group only continued their daily activities. After the end of the training period, the desired factors were evaluated again (post-test) in the same way as the pre-test was done for them (experimental group and control group), with the same quality. Findings: The statistical results showed that in the experimental group, the amount of pain, function and quality of life had a statistical improvement (P≤0.05). Conclusion: In general conclusion, it can be stated that using sensorimotor exercises not only improved functionality and quality of life but also reduced the amount of pain in people with patellofemoral pain syndrome.

Keywords: pain, PFPS, sensori motor training, functionality

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Authors: Chien-Hung Liu, Yu-Fen Chen

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This study used triangular laser probe and three-axial direction mobile platform for surface measurement, programmed it and applied it to real-time analytic statistics of different measured data. This structure was used to design a system integration program: using triangular laser probe for scattering or reflection non-contact measurement, transferring the captured signals to the computer through RS-232, and using RS-485 to control the three-axis platform for a wide range of measurement. The data captured by the laser probe are formed into a 3D surface. This study constructed an optical measurement application program in the concept of visual programming language. First, the signals are transmitted to the computer through RS-232/RS-485, and then the signals are stored and recorded in graphic interface timely. This programming concept analyzes various messages, and makes proper presentation graphs and data processing to provide the users with friendly graphic interfaces and data processing state monitoring, and identifies whether the present data are normal in graphic concept. The major functions of the measurement system developed by this study are thickness measurement, SPC, surface smoothness analysis, and analytical calculation of trend line. A result report can be made and printed promptly. This study measured different heights and surfaces successfully, performed on-line data analysis and processing effectively, and developed a man-machine interface for users to operate.

Keywords: laser probe, non-contact measurement, triangulation measurement principle, statistical process control, labVIEW

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Authors: Saad M. Darwish, Magda M. Madbouly, Murad B. Khorsheed

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Sign Languages (SL) are the most accomplished forms of gestural communication. Therefore, their automatic analysis is a real challenge, which is interestingly implied to their lexical and syntactic organization levels. Hidden Markov models (HMM’s) have been used prominently and successfully in speech recognition and, more recently, in handwriting recognition. Consequently, they seem ideal for visual recognition of complex, structured hand gestures such as are found in sign language. In this paper, several results concerning static hand gesture recognition using an algorithm based on Type-2 Fuzzy HMM (T2FHMM) are presented. The features used as observables in the training as well as in the recognition phases are based on Singular Value Decomposition (SVD). SVD is an extension of Eigen decomposition to suit non-square matrices to reduce multi attribute hand gesture data to feature vectors. SVD optimally exposes the geometric structure of a matrix. In our approach, we replace the basic HMM arithmetic operators by some adequate Type-2 fuzzy operators that permits us to relax the additive constraint of probability measures. Therefore, T2FHMMs are able to handle both random and fuzzy uncertainties existing universally in the sequential data. Experimental results show that T2FHMMs can effectively handle noise and dialect uncertainties in hand signals besides a better classification performance than the classical HMMs. The recognition rate of the proposed system is 100% for uniform hand images and 86.21% for cluttered hand images.

Keywords: hand gesture recognition, hand detection, type-2 fuzzy logic, hidden Markov Model

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Authors: P. Serrano-Pérez, M. C. Rodríguez-Molina, C. Palo, E. Palo, A. Lacasa

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Phytophthora nicotianae is the principal causal agent of root and crown rot disease of red pepper plants in Extremadura (Western Spain). There is a need to develop a biologically-based method of soil disinfestation that facilitates profitable and sustainable production without the use of chemical fumigants. Anaerobic Soil Disinfestation (ASD), as well know as biodisinfestation, has been shown to control a wide range of soil-borne pathogens and nematodes in numerous crop production systems. This method implies soil wetting, incorporation of a easily decomposable carbon-rich organic amendment and covering with plastic film for several weeks. ASD with rapeseed cake (var. Tocatta, a glucosinolates-free variety) used as C-source was assayed in spring 2014, before the pepper crop establishment. The field experiment was conducted at the Agricultural Research Centre Finca La Orden (Southwestern Spain) and the treatments were: rapeseed cake (RCP); rapeseed cake without plastic cover (RC); control non-amendment (CP) and control non-amendment without plastic cover (C). The experimental design was a randomized complete block design with four replicates and a plot size of 5 x 5 m. On 26 March, rapeseed cake (1 kg·m-2) was incorporated into the soil with a rotovator. Biological probes with the inoculum were buried at 15 and 30-cm depth (biological probes were previously prepared with 100 g of disinfected soil inoculated with chlamydospores (chlam) of P. nicotianae P13 isolate [100 chlam·g-1 of soil] and wrapped in agryl cloth). Sprinkler irrigation was run until field capacity and the corresponding plots were covered with transparent plastic (PE 0.05 mm). On 6 May plastics were removed, the biological probes were dug out and a bioassay was established. One pepper seedling at the 2 to 4 true-leaves stage was transplanted in the soil from each biological probe. Plants were grown in a climatic chamber and disease symptoms were recorded every week during 2 months. Fragments of roots and crown of symptomatic plants were analyzed on NARPH media and soil from rizospheres was analyzed using carnation petals as baits. Results of “survival” were expressed as the percentage of soil samples where P. nicotianae was detected and results of “infectivity” were expressed as the percentage of diseased plants. No differences were detected in deep effect. Infectivity of P. nicotianae chlamydospores was successfully reduced in RCP treatment (4.2% of infectivity) compared with the controls (41.7% of infectivity). The pattern of survival was similar to infectivity observed by the bioassay: 21% of survival in RCP; 79% in CP; 83% in C and 87% in RC. Although ASD may be an effective alternative to chemical fumigants to pest management, more research is necessary to show their impact on the microbial community and chemistry of the soil.

Keywords: biodisinfestation, BSD, soil fumigant alternatives, organic amendments

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Authors: Marilou Cadatal-Raduban, Minh Hong Pham, Duong Van Pham, Tu Nguyen Xuan, Mui Viet Luong, Kohei Yamanoi, Toshihiko Shimizu, Nobuhiko Sarukura, Hung Dai Nguyen

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There is a great deal of interest in developing all-solid-state tunable ultrashort pulsed lasers emitting in the ultraviolet (UV) region for applications such as micromachining, investigation of charge carrier relaxation in conductors, and probing of ultrafast chemical processes. However, direct short-pulse generation is not as straight forward in solid-state gain media as it is for near-IR tunable solid-state lasers such as Ti:sapphire due to the difficulty of obtaining continuous wave laser operation, which is required for Kerr lens mode-locking schemes utilizing spatial or temporal Kerr type nonlinearity. In this work, the transient cavity method, which was reported to generate ultrashort laser pulses in dye lasers, is extended to a solid-state gain medium. Ce:LiCAF was chosen among the rare-earth-doped fluoride laser crystals emitting in the UV region because of its broad tunability (from 280 to 325 nm) and enough bandwidth to generate 3-fs pulses, sufficiently large effective gain cross section (6.0 x10⁻¹⁸ cm²) favorable for oscillators, and a high saturation fluence (115 mJ/cm²). Numerical simulations are performed to investigate the spectro-temporal evolution of the broadband UV laser emission from Ce:LiCAF, represented as a system of two homogeneous broadened singlet states, by solving the rate equations extended to multiple wavelengths. The goal is to find the appropriate cavity length and Q-factor to achieve the optimal photon cavity decay time and pumping energy for resonator transients that will lead to ps UV laser emission from a Ce:LiCAF crystal pumped by the fourth harmonics (266nm) of a Nd:YAG laser. Results show that a single ps pulse can be generated from a 1-mm, 1 mol% Ce³⁺-doped LiCAF crystal using an output coupler with 10% reflectivity (low-Q) and an oscillator cavity that is 2-mm long (short cavity). This technique can be extended to other fluoride-based solid-state laser gain media.

Keywords: rare-earth-doped fluoride gain medium, transient cavity, ultrashort laser, ultraviolet laser

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Authors: Mirzashahi Babak, Mansouri Pejman, Najafi Arvin, Farzan Mahmoud

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Introduction: There are several surgical treatment choices for cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM). The aim of this study is to evaluate clinical outcomes and surgical complications in patients with cervical disk degeneration (CDD) undergoing either anterior cervical discectomy with or without fusion or cervical laminectomy and fusion. Methods: This prospective case series study included 45 consecutive patients with cervical spondylotic myelopathy between January 2010 and November 2014. There were 28 males and 17 females, with a mean age of 47 (range 37-68) years. The mean clinical follow-up was 14 months (range 3-24 months). The Neck Disability Index (NDI), visual analog scale (VAS) neck and arm pain, Short Form-36 (SF-36) were used as the functional outcome measurements. All of the complications in our patients were recorded. Results: In our study group, 26 patients underwent only one or two level anterior cervical discectomy. Ten patients underwent anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) and nine cases underwent posterior laminectomy and fusion. We have found a statistically significant improvement between mean preoperative (29, range 19-43) and postoperative (7, range 0-12) NDI scores following surgery (P < 0.05). Also, there was a statistically significant difference between pre and post-operative VAS and SF-36 score (p < 0.05). There was a 7% overall complication rate (n = 3). The only complication in our patients was surgical site cellulitis which has been managed with oral antibiotic therapy. Conclusion: Both anterior cervical discectomy with or without fusion or posterior laminectomy and fusion are safe and efficacious treatment options for the management of CSM. The clinical outcomes seem to be fairly reproducible.

Keywords: cervical, myelopathy, discectomy, fusion, laminectomy

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Authors: Sarakorn Sukaviriya

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This paper describes the inspection procedure, root cause analysis, the rectification of crack, and how to apply the procedure with other similar plants. During the operation of the steam turbine (620MW), instruments such as speed sensor of steam turbine, the servo valve of main stop valve and electrical wires were malfunction caused by leakage steam from main steam governing valve. Therefore, the power plant decided to shutdown steam turbines for figuring out the cause of leakage steam. Inspection techniques to be applied in this problem were microstructure testing (SEM), pipe stress analysis (FEM) and non-destructive testing. The crack was initially found on main governing valve’s weldment by visual inspection. To analyze more precisely, pipe stress analysis and microstructure testing were applied and results indicated that the crack was intergranular and originated from the weld defect. This weld defect caused the notch with high-stress concentration which created crack and then propagated to steam leakage. The major root cause of this problem was an inappropriate welding process, which created a weld defect. To repair this joint from damage, we used a welding technique by producing refinement of coarse grain HAZ and eliminating stress concentration. After the weldment was completely repaired, other adjacent weldments still had risk. Hence, to prevent any future cracks, non-destructive testing (NDT) shall be applied to all joints in order to ensure that there will be no indication of crack.

Keywords: steam-pipe leakage, steam leakage, weld crack analysis, weld defect

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Authors: Christos Theoharatos, Dimitris Tsourounis, Spiros Oikonomou, Andreas Makedonas

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This paper focuses on the problem of visually inspecting and recognizing the road conditions in front of moving vehicles, targeting automotive scenarios. The goal of road inspection is to identify whether the road is slippery or not, as well as to detect possible anomalies on the road surface like potholes or body bumps/humps. Our work is based on an artificial intelligence methodology for real-time monitoring of road conditions in autonomous driving scenarios, using state-of-the-art deep convolutional neural network (CNN) techniques. Initially, the road and ego lane are segmented within the field of view of the camera that is integrated into the front part of the vehicle. A novel classification CNN is utilized to identify among plain and slippery road textures (e.g., wet, snow, etc.). Simultaneously, a robust detection CNN identifies severe surface anomalies within the ego lane, such as potholes and speed bumps/humps, within a distance of 5 to 25 meters. The overall methodology is illustrated under the scope of an integrated application (or system), which can be integrated into complete Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems (ADAS) systems that provide a full range of functionalities. The outcome of the proposed techniques present state-of-the-art detection and classification results and real-time performance running on AI accelerator devices like Intel’s Myriad 2/X Vision Processing Unit (VPU).

Keywords: deep learning, convolutional neural networks, road condition classification, embedded systems

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Authors: Lavina N. Bhaskar, Ashima Tiwari

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In the endeavour of connecting culture to stories, textile to narratives and people to material, authors analyse the impact of narratives in two popular Indian textiles namely - Mata Ni Pachedi and Pabuji Ki Phad. These textiles narrate people’s tale or Folk tale. Each textile has a style or format in which the story is told (and it is visual). Mata Ni Pachedi, when translated into the English language literally means behind the mother goddess. Mata Ni Pachedi is an Indian textile from the province of Gujarat which constitutes an entire temple of the goddess, with the idol herself in it. On the other hand, Pabuji ki Phad is scroll painting of folk deities of Rajasthan, narrated by Bhopas (the Priest singers of Rajasthan). These textiles narrate stories of ordinary people with extraordinary courage, of social reform, and people’s belief in the divine. Authors take to task their years of craft-cluster study conducted in the past and use existing literature to map their journey in the preliminary phase of research. And then carried out an ethnographic study by visiting the origins of these textiles in Rajasthan and Gujrat (in India), met artisans and their families who are still practicing these dying art form, in order to understand the format and impact of textile story-telling. This research paper talks about the narrative in Indian textiles; the stories in them, artisans and their life as metaphorical representations of the People in Mata Ni Pachedi and Pabuji Ki Phad.

Keywords: cultural derivatives, folk-tale, Indo-Narratives, Indology

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Authors: Michael Flannery, Annie ó Breacháin

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Teaching the creative arts in preservice teacher education can be challenging. Some students find artistic self-expression and its related creative processes overwhelming. Low creative self-efficacy levels and creative habits of mind can impede their levels of motivation, engagement and persistence. For some, creative arts engagement can induce a state of anxiety and distress as opposed to flow. Flow theory posits that learners are happiest when they are learning in a state of flow. During the flow state, students feel, think and perform their best. They become so involved in the learning experience that nothing else seems to matter. The creative flow state is a crucial conduit of artistic processes to enable learners to explore and produce their best work. Despite the research conducted on flow state across several contexts, the phenomenon of personal flow state remains quite elusive. While some research has examined flow in relation to characteristics, conditions and personality traits, no research has investigated individuals' personal experiences of flow in a visual and tangible manner nor explored a relationship between flow state and teachers’ artistic development. This explorative case study explores preservice teachers’ impressions of flow using an arts-based approach. It identifies, categorizes and discusses patterns of commonality and difference. Grounded by theory concerning flow, self-efficacy and creative habits, this study ponders how emerging findings regarding flow impressions might aid teacher arts educators in helping preservice teachers who struggle with creative self-expression.

Keywords: creative arts, flow theory, presence, self-efficacy, teacher education

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Authors: Byeongcheol Kang, Junyi Kim, Hyungsik Jung, Hyungjun Yang, Jaewoo An, Jonggeun Choe

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It is important to figure out reservoir properties for better production management. Due to the limited information, there are geological uncertainties on very heterogeneous or channel reservoir. One of the solutions is to generate multiple equi-probable realizations using geostatistical methods. However, some models have wrong properties, which need to be excluded for simulation efficiency and reliability. We propose a novel method of model selection scheme, based on distance-based clustering for reliable application of production optimization algorithm. Distance is defined as a degree of dissimilarity between the data. We calculate Hausdorff distance to classify the models based on their similarity. Hausdorff distance is useful for shape matching of the reservoir models. We use multi-dimensional scaling (MDS) to describe the models on two dimensional space and group them by K-means clustering. Rather than simulating all models, we choose one representative model from each cluster and find out the best model, which has the similar production rates with the true values. From the process, we can select good reservoir models near the best model with high confidence. We make 100 channel reservoir models using single normal equation simulation (SNESIM). Since oil and gas prefer to flow through the sand facies, it is critical to characterize pattern and connectivity of the channels in the reservoir. After calculating Hausdorff distances and projecting the models by MDS, we can see that the models assemble depending on their channel patterns. These channel distributions affect operation controls of each production well so that the model selection scheme improves management optimization process. We use one of useful global search algorithms, particle swarm optimization (PSO), for our production optimization. PSO is good to find global optimum of objective function, but it takes too much time due to its usage of many particles and iterations. In addition, if we use multiple reservoir models, the simulation time for PSO will be soared. By using the proposed method, we can select good and reliable models that already matches production data. Considering geological uncertainty of the reservoir, we can get well-optimized production controls for maximum net present value. The proposed method shows one of novel solutions to select good cases among the various probabilities. The model selection schemes can be applied to not only production optimization but also history matching or other ensemble-based methods for efficient simulations.

Keywords: distance-based clustering, geological uncertainty, particle swarm optimization (PSO), production optimization

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Authors: M. Rodionov, Z. Dedovets

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The article describes the theoretical concept of teaching secondary school students proof demonstration skills in mathematics. It describes in detail different levels of mastery of the concept of proof-which correspond to Piaget’s idea of there being three distinct and progressively more complex stages in the development of human reflection. Lessons for each level contain a specific combination of the visual-figurative components and deductive reasoning. It is vital at the transition point between levels to carefully and rigorously recalibrate teaching to reflect the development of more complex reflective understanding. This can apply even within the same age range, since students will develop at different speeds and to different potential. The authors argue that this requires an aware and adaptive approach to lessons to reflect this complexity and variation. The authors also contend that effective teaching which enables students to properly understand the implementation of proof arguments must develop specific competences. These are: understanding of the importance of completeness and generality in making a valid argument; being task focused; having an internalised locus of control and being flexible in approach and evaluation. These criteria must be correlated with the systematic application of corresponding methodologies which are best likely to achieve success. The particular pedagogical decisions which are made to deliver this objective are illustrated by concrete examples from the existing secondary school mathematics courses. The proposed theoretical concept formed the basis of the development of methodological materials which have been tested in 47 secondary schools.

Keywords: education, teaching of mathematics, proof, deductive reasoning, secondary school

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Authors: Samuel Carpintero

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Public-private partnerships (PPP) arrangements have emerged all around the world as a response to infrastructure deficits and the need to refurbish existing infrastructure. The motivations of governments for embarking on PPPs for the delivery of public infrastructure are manifold, and include on-time and on-budget delivery as well as access to private project management expertise. The PPP formula has been used by some State governments in United States and Canada, where the participation of private companies in financing and managing infrastructure projects has increased significantly in the last decade, particularly in the transport sector. On the one hand, this paper examines the various ways used in these two countries in the implementation of PPP arrangements, with a particular focus on risk transfer. The examination of risk transfer in this paper is carried out with reference to the following key PPP risk categories: construction risk, revenue risk, operating risk and availability risk. The main difference between both countries is that in Canada the demand risk remains usually within the public sector whereas in the United States this risk is usually transferred to the private concessionaire. The aim is to explore which lessons can be learnt from both models than might be useful for other countries. On the other hand, the paper also analyzes why the Spanish companies have been so successful in winning PPP contracts in North America during the past decade. Contrary to the Latin American PPP market, the Spanish companies do not have any cultural advantage in the case of the United States and Canada. Arguably, some relevant reasons for the success of the Spanish groups are their extensive experience in PPP projects (that dates back to the late 1960s in some cases), their high technical level (that allows them to be aggressive in their bids), and their good position and track-record in the financial markets. The article’s empirical base consists of data provided by official sources of both countries as well as information collected through face-to-face interviews with public and private representatives of the stakeholders participating in some of the PPP schemes. Interviewees include private project managers of the concessionaires, representatives of banks involved as financiers in the projects, and experts in the PPP industry with close knowledge of the North American market. Unstructured in-depth interviews have been adopted as a means of investigation for this study because of its powers to achieve honest and robust responses and to ensure realism in the collection of an overall impression of stakeholders’ perspectives.

Keywords: PPP, concession, infrastructure, construction

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Authors: Bharathadas Sandhya

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Janamaithri Suraksha Project is the community policing project of Kerala police, fully sponsored by the Government of Kerala and in vogue in Kerala for the last ten years. The socio-economically weaker areas in the hilly terrains consisting of tribal hamlets are given special importance under the project. These hamlets are visited by the beat police officers, and they intervene in various issues in the hamlets. This study is based on data collected from 350 respondents living in the tribal hamlets of the Nilambur area in the District of Malappuram. The respondents were personally interviewed by the research team using a questionnaire consisting of 183 questions, seeking the details regarding their interaction with beat police officers, their ability to prevent or detect crimes, the menace of Maoists (extremist) presence, their interventions in other socio-economic problems like alcoholism, school dropout issues, lack of facilities for preparation for competitive examinations for educated youth, etc. The perception of the tribal population regarding the effectiveness of police intervention in their criminal justice complaints, the attitude of the police officers towards the tribal population when they approach the police station with a criminal complaint, are also studied. The general socio-economic problems of the tribal population as perceived by them are also brought out. Being the visible agency of the government, the police person coming on beat duty to the hamlet is generally seen by the tribal population as a representative to whom they can communicate the issues, even if it’s solution rests with another department like the forest or agriculture. The analysis of the primary data is carried out using computer applications. The amount of social justice benefits the tribal hamlets received through various government schemes, and their deficiencies are brought out in the study. From the conclusions of the study, certain suggestions for positive criminal justice and social justice intervention strategies are made out. The need for various government departments to work in tandem with each other so as to bring out more effectiveness in the socio-economic projects is evident from the study. Whether it is the need to obtain a transport to go to school or problem of drinking water or even opening a bank account, at least occasionally, the visiting beat police officer is of help to the tribal population. Mostly the tribal population feels free to approach the police with a criminal complaint without any inhibitions.

Keywords: community policing, beat police officer, criminal justice, social justice

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Authors: R. Christopher, C. Brandt, N. Damons

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Background: The sequence of prevention model states that by constant assessment of injury, injury mechanisms and risk factors are identified, highlighting that collecting and recording of data is a core approach for preventing injuries. Several screening tools are available for use in the clinical setting. These screening techniques only recently received research attention, hence there is a dearth of inconsistent and controversial data regarding their applicability, validity, and reliability. Several systematic reviews related to common soccer injuries have been conducted; however, none of them addressed the screening tools for common soccer injuries. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to conduct a review of screening tools and their accuracy for common injuries in soccer. Methods: A systematic scoping review was performed based on the Joanna Briggs Institute procedure for conducting systematic reviews. Databases such as SPORT Discus, Cinahl, Medline, Science Direct, PubMed, and grey literature were used to access suitable studies. Some of the key search terms included: injury screening, screening, screening tool accuracy, injury prevalence, injury prediction, accuracy, validity, specificity, reliability, sensitivity. All types of English studies dating back to the year 2000 were included. Two blind independent reviewers selected and appraised articles on a 9-point scale for inclusion as well as for the risk of bias with the ACROBAT-NRSI tool. Data were extracted and summarized in tables. Plot data analysis was done, and sensitivity and specificity were analyzed with their respective 95% confidence intervals. I² statistic was used to determine the proportion of variation across studies. Results: The initial search yielded 95 studies, of which 21 were duplicates, and 54 excluded. A total of 10 observational studies were included for the analysis: 3 studies were analysed quantitatively while the remaining 7 were analysed qualitatively. Seven studies were graded low and three studies high risk of bias. Only high methodological studies (score > 9) were included for analysis. The pooled studies investigated tools such as the Functional Movement Screening (FMS™), the Landing Error Scoring System (LESS), the Tuck Jump Assessment, the Soccer Injury Movement Screening (SIMS), and the conventional hamstrings to quadriceps ratio. The accuracy of screening tools was of high reliability, sensitivity and specificity (calculated as ICC 0.68, 95% CI: 52-0.84; and 0.64, 95% CI: 0.61-0.66 respectively; I² = 13.2%, P=0.316). Conclusion: Based on the pooled results from the included studies, the FMS™ has a good inter-rater and intra-rater reliability. FMS™ is a screening tool capable of screening for common soccer injuries, and individual FMS™ scores are a better determinant of performance in comparison with the overall FMS™ score. Although meta-analysis could not be done for all the included screening tools, qualitative analysis also indicated good sensitivity and specificity of the individual tools. Higher levels of evidence are, however, needed for implication in evidence-based practice.

Keywords: accuracy, screening tools, sensitivity, soccer injuries, specificity

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Authors: Humara Bano, Nyla Anjum

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Disability in any form has great impact not only for the person facing it but also for its family members too. This effect may be so severe that may lead to mal adjustment of any member of the family in society as well. This impact has also been multiplied due to negative attitudes of the society, unawareness about the needs of special needs and no legislation for the parents of children with special needs. As a result not only the separations among the parents have been reported but also the normal siblings in the home are also badly affected in their daily lives. The situation is more challenging when more than one child with disability is present in the family. The main objectives of this paper are to unfold the relationship of variety of disabilities (hearing, visual or physical impairment, mental retardation, speech impairment) in i) developing depression in home setting, ii) social exclusion, iii) anxiety and aggression and iv) development of insecure feelings among family members of the persons with disabilities, as well as, v) to identify coping strategies to manage the special needs by family members too. To reach on conclusion about fifty families (having any sort of disability in their homes) have been interviewed on basis of convenient sampling. Correlation, ANOVA and different analysis have been used to identify the relationship of disability in developing depression among family members in line of above mentioned problems. Results revealed that depression due to disability among families is a common phenomenon and adversely have affected their lives in daily routines as well as in following their life achievements. Coping with the situation and recommending various remedies by parents is the positive reflection of this study too that can help to families in managing their mental health.

Keywords: depression, anxiety and aggression, social exclusion, parents of children with special needs

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Authors: Asma Mehan

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Under the thrust of technological changes, population growth and vehicular traffic, Iranian historical squares have lost their significance and they are no longer the main social nodes of the society. This research focuses on how historical public squares can inspire designers to enhance social interactions among citizens in Iranian urban context. Moreover, the recent master plan of Tehran demonstrates the lack of public spaces designed for the purpose of people’s social gatherings. For filling this gap, first the current situation of 7 selected primary historical public squares in Tehran including Sabze Meydan, Arg, Topkhaneh, Baherstan, Mokhber-al-dole, Rah Ahan and Hassan Abad have been compared. Later, the influencing elements on social interactions of the public squares such as subjective factors (human relationships and memories) and objective factors (natural and built environment) have been investigated. As a conclusion, some strategies are proposed for improving social interactions in historical public squares like; holding cultural, national, athletic and religious events, defining different and new functions in public squares’ surrounding, increasing pedestrian routs, reviving the collective memory, demonstrating the historical importance of square, eliminating visual obstacles across the square, organization the natural elements of the square, appropriate pavement for social activities. Finally, it is argued that the combination of all influencing factors which are: human interactions, natural elements and built environment criteria will lead to enhance the historical public squares’ potential for social interaction.

Keywords: historical square, Iranian public square, social interaction, Tehran

Procedia PDF Downloads 398