Search results for: chronic health problems
3132 Magneto-Thermo-Mechanical Analysis of Electromagnetic Devices Using the Finite Element Method
Authors: Michael G. Pantelyat
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Fundamental basics of pure and applied research in the area of magneto-thermo-mechanical numerical analysis and design of innovative electromagnetic devices (modern induction heaters, novel thermoelastic actuators, rotating electrical machines, induction cookers, electrophysical devices) are elaborated. Thus, mathematical models of magneto-thermo-mechanical processes in electromagnetic devices taking into account main interactions of interrelated phenomena are developed. In addition, graphical representation of coupled (multiphysics) phenomena under consideration is proposed. Besides, numerical techniques for nonlinear problems solution are developed. On this base, effective numerical algorithms for solution of actual problems of practical interest are proposed, validated and implemented in applied 2D and 3D computer codes developed. Many applied problems of practical interest regarding modern electrical engineering devices are numerically solved. Investigations of the influences of various interrelated physical phenomena (temperature dependences of material properties, thermal radiation, conditions of convective heat transfer, contact phenomena, etc.) on the accuracy of the electromagnetic, thermal and structural analyses are conducted. Important practical recommendations on the choice of rational structures, materials and operation modes of electromagnetic devices under consideration are proposed and implemented in industry.Keywords: Electromagnetic devices, multiphysics, numerical analysis, simulation and design.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17213131 A Hybridization of Constructive Beam Search with Local Search for Far From Most Strings Problem
Authors: Sayyed R Mousavi
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The Far From Most Strings Problem (FFMSP) is to obtain a string which is far from as many as possible of a given set of strings. All the input and the output strings are of the same length, and two strings are said to be far if their hamming distance is greater than or equal to a given positive integer. FFMSP belongs to the class of sequences consensus problems which have applications in molecular biology. The problem is NP-hard; it does not admit a constant-ratio approximation either, unless P = NP. Therefore, in addition to exact and approximate algorithms, (meta)heuristic algorithms have been proposed for the problem in recent years. On the other hand, in the recent years, hybrid algorithms have been proposed and successfully used for many hard problems in a variety of domains. In this paper, a new metaheuristic algorithm, called Constructive Beam and Local Search (CBLS), is investigated for the problem, which is a hybridization of constructive beam search and local search algorithms. More specifically, the proposed algorithm consists of two phases, the first phase is to obtain several candidate solutions via the constructive beam search and the second phase is to apply local search to the candidate solutions obtained by the first phase. The best solution found is returned as the final solution to the problem. The proposed algorithm is also similar to memetic algorithms in the sense that both use local search to further improve individual solutions. The CBLS algorithm is compared with the most recent published algorithm for the problem, GRASP, with significantly positive results; the improvement is by order of magnitudes in most cases.
Keywords: Bioinformatics, Far From Most Strings Problem, Hybrid metaheuristics, Matheuristics, Sequences consensus problems.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17433130 Simulation of Dynamics of a Permanent Magnet Linear Actuator
Authors: Ivan Yatchev, Ewen Ritchie
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Comparison of two approaches for the simulation of the dynamic behaviour of a permanent magnet linear actuator is presented. These are full coupled model, where the electromagnetic field, electric circuit and mechanical motion problems are solved simultaneously, and decoupled model, where first a set of static magnetic filed analysis is carried out and then the electric circuit and mechanical motion equations are solved employing bi-cubic spline approximations of the field analysis results. The results show that the proposed decoupled model is of satisfactory accuracy and gives more flexibility when the actuator response is required to be estimated for different external conditions, e.g. external circuit parameters or mechanical loads.Keywords: Coupled problems, dynamic models, finite elementanalysis, linear actuators, permanent magnets.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 27633129 Scope and Application of Collaborative Tools and Digital Manufacturing in Dentistry
Authors: S. Mohan Kumar, Rajashekar Patil, Tanuja Ajit Desphande
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It is necessary to incorporate technological advances achieved in the field of engineering into dentistry in order to enhance the process of diagnosis, treatment planning and enable the doctors to render better treatment to their patients. To achieve this ultimate goal long distance collaborations are often necessary. This paper discusses the various collaborative tools and their applications to solve a few burning problems confronted by the dentists. Customization is often the solution to most of the problems. But rapid designing, development and cost effective manufacturing is a difficult task to achieve. This problem can be solved using the technique of digital manufacturing. Cases from 6 major branches of dentistry have been discussed and possible solutions with the help of state of art technology using rapid digital manufacturing have been proposed in the present paper. The paper also entails the usage of existing tools in collaborative and digital manufacturing area.Keywords: Customisation, collaborative tools, dentistry, digital manufacturing.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 18653128 Comparison of Different Data Acquisition Techniques for Shape Optimization Problems
Authors: Attila Vámosi, Tamás Mankovits, Dávid Huri, Imre Kocsis, Tamás Szabó
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Non-linear FEM calculations are indispensable when important technical information like operating performance of a rubber component is desired. For example rubber bumpers built into air-spring structures may undergo large deformations under load, which in itself shows non-linear behavior. The changing contact range between the parts and the incompressibility of the rubber increases this non-linear behavior further. The material characterization of an elastomeric component is also a demanding engineering task. The shape optimization problem of rubber parts led to the study of FEM based calculation processes. This type of problems was posed and investigated by several authors. In this paper the time demand of certain calculation methods are studied and the possibilities of time reduction is presented.
Keywords: Rubber bumper, data acquisition, finite element analysis, support vector regression.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 21483127 Some Pertinent Issues and Considerations on CBSE
Authors: Anil Kumar Tripathi, Ratneshwer
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All the software engineering researches and best industry practices aim at providing software products with high degree of quality and functionality at low cost and less time. These requirements are addressed by the Component Based Software Engineering (CBSE) as well. CBSE, which deals with the software construction by components’ assembly, is a revolutionary extension of Software Engineering. CBSE must define and describe processes to assure timely completion of high quality software systems that are composed of a variety of pre built software components. Though these features provide distinct and visible benefits in software design and programming, they also raise some challenging problems. The aim of this work is to summarize the pertinent issues and considerations in CBSE to make an understanding in forms of concepts and observations that may lead to development of newer ways of dealing with the problems and challenges in CBSE.
Keywords: Software Component, Component Based Software Engineering, Software Process, Testing, Maintenance.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 18303126 Management Pattern for Lodging Business in Bang Khonthi Samut Songkram with Sufficient Economy Approach
Authors: Krisada Sungkhamanee
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The objectives of this research are to search the management pattern of Bang Khonthi lodging entrepreneurs for sufficient economy ways, to know the threat that affects this sector and design fit arrangement model to sustain their business with Samut Songkram style. What will happen if they do not use this approach? Will they have a financial crisis? The data and information are collected by informal discussions with 8 managers and 400 questionnaires. A mixed methods of both qualitative research and quantitative research are used. Bent Flyvbjerg-s phronesis is utilized for this analysis. Our research will prove that sufficient economy can help small business firms to solve their problems. We think that the results of our research will be a financial model to solve many problems of the entrepreneurs and this way will can be a model for other provinces of Thailand.Keywords: Bang Khonthi, Lodging Business, Sufficient Economy.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 37233125 Evaluating New Service Development Performance Based on Multigranular Linguistic Assessment
Authors: Wen-Pai Wang, Mei-Ching Tang
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The service sector continues to grow and the percentage of GDP accounted for by service industries keeps increasing. The growth and importance of service to an economy is not just a phenomenon of advanced economies, service is now a majority of the world gross domestic products. However, the performance evaluation process of new service development problems generally involves uncertain and imprecise data. This paper presents a 2-tuple fuzzy linguistic computing approach to dealing with heterogeneous information and information loss problems while the processes of subjective evaluation integration. The proposed method based on group decision-making scenario to assist business managers in measuring performance of new service development manipulates the heterogeneity integration processes and avoids the information loss effectively.Keywords: Heterogeneity, Multigranular linguistic computing, New service development, Performance evaluation.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15443124 Design, Development and Analysis of Automated Storage and Retrieval System with Single and Dual Command Dispatching using MATLAB
Authors: M. Aslam, Farrukh, A. R. Gardezi, Nasir Hayat
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Automated material handling is given prime importance in the semi automated and automated facilities since it provides solution to the gigantic problems related to inventory and also support the latest philosophies like just in time production JIT and lean production. Automated storage and retrieval system is an antidote (if designed properly) to the facility sufferings like getting the right material , materials getting perished, long cycle times or many other similar kind of problems. A working model of automated storage and retrieval system (AS/RS) is designed and developed under the design parameters specified by Material Handling Industry of America (MHIA). Later on analysis was carried out to calculate the throughput and size of the machine. The possible implementation of this technology in local scenario is also discussed in this paper.Keywords: Automated storage and retrieval system (AS/RS), Material handling, Computer integrated manufacturing (CIM), Lightdependent resistor (LDR)
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 34303123 Grounded Theory of Consumer Loyalty, a Perspective through Video Game Addiction
Authors: Bassam Shaikh, R. S. A. Jumain
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Game addiction has become an extremely important topic in psychology researchers, particularly in understanding and explaining why individuals become addicted (to video games). In previous studies, effect of online game addiction on social responsibilities, health problems, government action, and the behaviors of individuals to purchase and the causes of making individuals addicted on the video games has been discussed. Extending these concepts in marketing, it could be argued than the phenomenon could enlighten and extending our understanding on consumer loyalty. This study took the Grounded Theory approach, and found that motivation, satisfaction, fulfillments, exploration and achievements to be part of the important elements that builds consumer loyalty.
Keywords: Consumer Loyalty, Video Games Addiction, Video Games, Grounded Theory.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 26883122 Hypertension and Its Association with Oral Health Status in Adults: A Pilot Study in Padusunan Adults Community
Authors: Murniwati, Nurul Khairiyah, Putri Ovieza Maizar
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The association between general and oral health is clearly important, particularly in adults with medical conditions. Many of the medical systemic conditions are either caused or aggravated by poor oral hygiene and vice versa. Hypertension is one of common medical systemic problem which has been a public health concern worldwide due to its known consequences. Those consequences must be related to oral health status as well, whether it may cause or worsen the oral health conditions. The objective of this study was to find out the association between hypertension and oral health status in adults. This study was an analytical observational study by using cross-sectional method. A total of 42 adults both male and female in Padusunan Village, Pariaman, West Sumatra, Indonesia were selected as subjects by using purposive sampling. Manual sphygmomanometer was used to measure blood pressure and dental examination was performed to calculate the decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT) scores in order to represent oral health status. The data obtained was analyzed statistically using One Way ANOVA to determine the association between hypertensive adults and their oral health status. The result showed that majority age of the subjects was ranging from 51-70 years (40.5%). Based on blood pressure examination, 57.1% of subjects were classified to prehypertension. Overall, the mean of DMFT score calculated in normal, prehypertension and hypertension group was not considered statistically significant. There was no significant association (p>0.05) between hypertension and oral health status in adults.Keywords: Blood pressure, hypertension, DMFT, oral health status.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17733121 Internet of Health Things as a Win-Win Solution for Mitigating the Paradigm Shift inside Senior Patient-Physician Shared Health Management
Authors: Marilena Ianculescu, Adriana Alexandru
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Internet of Health Things (IoHT) has already proved to be a persuasive means to support a proper assessment of the living conditions by collecting a huge variety of data. For a customized health management of a senior patient, IoHT provides the capacity to build a dynamic solution for sustaining the shift inside the patient-physician relationship by allowing a real-time and continuous remote monitoring of the health status, well-being, safety and activities of the senior, especially in a non-clinical environment. Thus, is created a win-win solution in which both the patient and the physician enhance their involvement and shared decision-making, with significant outcomes. Health monitoring systems in smart environments are becoming a viable alternative to traditional healthcare solutions. The ongoing “Non-invasive monitoring and health assessment of the elderly in a smart environment (RO-SmartAgeing)” project aims to demonstrate that the existence of complete and accurate information is critical for assessing the health condition of the seniors, improving wellbeing and quality of life in relation to health. The researches performed inside the project aim to highlight how the management of IoHT devices connected to the RO-SmartAgeing platform in a secure way by using a role-based access control system, can allow the physicians to provide health services at a high level of efficiency and accessibility, which were previously only available in hospitals. The project aims to identify deficient aspects in the provision of health services tailored to a senior patient’s specificity and to offer a more comprehensive perspective of proactive and preventive medical acts.Keywords: Health management, Internet of Health Things, remote monitoring, senior patient.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 6373120 A Review of Genetic Algorithm Optimization: Operations and Applications to Water Pipeline Systems
Authors: I. Abuiziah, N. Shakarneh
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Genetic Algorithm (GA) is a powerful technique for solving optimization problems. It follows the idea of survival of the fittest - Better and better solutions evolve from previous generations until a near optimal solution is obtained. GA uses the main three operations, the selection, crossover and mutation to produce new generations from the old ones. GA has been widely used to solve optimization problems in many applications such as traveling salesman problem, airport traffic control, information retrieval (IR), reactive power optimization, job shop scheduling, and hydraulics systems such as water pipeline systems. In water pipeline systems we need to achieve some goals optimally such as minimum cost of construction, minimum length of pipes and diameters, and the place of protection devices. GA shows high performance over the other optimization techniques, moreover, it is easy to implement and use. Also, it searches a limited number of solutions.
Keywords: Genetic Algorithm, optimization, pipeline systems, selection, cross over.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 51003119 Content Analysis and Attitude of Thai Students towards Thai Series “Hormones: Season 2”
Authors: Siriporn Meenanan
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The objective of this study is to investigate the attitude of Thai students towards the Thai series "Hormones the Series Season 2". This study was conducted in the quantitative research, and the questionnaires were used to collect data from 400 people of the sample group. Descriptive statistics were used in data analysis. The findings reveal that most participants have positive comments regarding the series. They strongly agreed that the series reflects on the way of life and problems of teenagers in Thailand. Hence, the participants believe that if adults have a chance to watch the series, they will have the better understanding of the teenagers. In addition, the participants also agreed that the contents of the play are appropriate and satisfiable as the contents of “Hormones the Series Season 2” will raise awareness among the teens and use it as a guide to prevent problems that might happen during their teenage life.
Keywords: Content analysis, attitude, Thai series, Hormones the series.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 9583118 Cubic Trigonometric B-spline Approach to Numerical Solution of Wave Equation
Authors: Shazalina Mat Zin, Ahmad Abd. Majid, Ahmad Izani Md. Ismail, Muhammad Abbas
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The generalized wave equation models various problems in sciences and engineering. In this paper, a new three-time level implicit approach based on cubic trigonometric B-spline for the approximate solution of wave equation is developed. The usual finite difference approach is used to discretize the time derivative while cubic trigonometric B-spline is applied as an interpolating function in the space dimension. Von Neumann stability analysis is used to analyze the proposed method. Two problems are discussed to exhibit the feasibility and capability of the method. The absolute errors and maximum error are computed to assess the performance of the proposed method. The results were found to be in good agreement with known solutions and with existing schemes in literature.
Keywords: Collocation method, Cubic trigonometric B-spline, Finite difference, Wave equation.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 26033117 Knowledge Audit Model for Requirement Elicitation Process
Authors: Laleh Taheri, Noraini C. Pa., Rusli Abdullah, Salfarina Abdullah
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Knowledge plays an important role to the success of any organization. Software development organizations are highly knowledge-intensive organizations especially in their requirement elicitation process (REP). There are several problems regarding communicating and using the knowledge in REP such as misunderstanding, being out of scope, conflicting information and changes of requirements. All of these problems occurred in transmitting the requirements knowledge during REP. Several researches have been done in REP in order to solve the problem towards requirements. Knowledge Audit (KA) approaches were proposed in order to solve managing knowledge in human resources, financial and manufacturing. There is lack of study applying the KA in requirements elicitation process. Therefore, this paper proposes a KA model for REP in supporting to acquire good requirements.
Keywords: Knowledge Audit, Requirement Elicitation Process, KA Model, Knowledge in Requirement Elicitation.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 29013116 Evaluating and Selecting Optimization Software Packages: A Framework for Business Applications
Authors: Waleed Abohamad, Amr Arisha
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Owing the fact that optimization of business process is a crucial requirement to navigate, survive and even thrive in today-s volatile business environment, this paper presents a framework for selecting a best-fit optimization package for solving complex business problems. Complexity level of the problem and/or using incorrect optimization software can lead to biased solutions of the optimization problem. Accordingly, the proposed framework identifies a number of relevant factors (e.g. decision variables, objective functions, and modeling approach) to be considered during the evaluation and selection process. Application domain, problem specifications, and available accredited optimization approaches are also to be regarded. A recommendation of one or two optimization software is the output of the framework which is believed to provide the best results of the underlying problem. In addition to a set of guidelines and recommendations on how managers can conduct an effective optimization exercise is discussed.Keywords: Complex Business Problems, Optimization, Selection Criteria, Software Evaluation.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 29103115 Problem Solving Techniques with Extensive Computational Network and Applying in an Educational Software
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Knowledge bases are basic components of expert systems or intelligent computational programs. Knowledge bases provide knowledge, events that serve deduction activity, computation and control. Therefore, researching and developing of models for knowledge representation play an important role in computer science, especially in Artificial Intelligence Science and intelligent educational software. In this paper, the extensive deduction computational model is proposed to design knowledge bases whose attributes are able to be real values or functional values. The system can also solve problems based on knowledge bases. Moreover, the models and algorithms are applied to produce the educational software for solving alternating current problems or solving set of equations automatically.Keywords: Educational software, artificial intelligence, knowledge base systems, knowledge representation.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15933114 ME/CFS Health Outcomes: The Interaction of Mode of Illness Onset and Psychiatric Comorbidity
Authors: Mary Gloria C. Njoku, Leonard A. Jason, Nicole Porter, Molly Brown
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The objective of this study was to examine the interaction between mode of illness onset and psychiatric comorbidity on the health outcomes of persons with ME/CFS. A total of 114 individuals with ME/CFS participated in this study. Individuals completed a battery of baseline measures including the fatigue severity scale and measures of disability. Findings indicated that those with sudden illness onset had more impaired physical health functioning. In addition, among individuals with sudden onset, those without psychiatric comorbidity had greater fatigue severity and lower overall physical health than those with psychiatric comordibity. In contrast, among individuals with gradual illness onset, those with psychiatric comorbity had higher fatigue severity than those without comorbid psychiatric disorders. The health outcomes of individuals who have ME/CFS with or without psychiatric comorbidity are impacted by the mode of illness onset and this suggest that it is important to examine these factors in future research.Keywords: Health Outcomes, ME/CFS, Mode of Illness Onset, Psychiatric Comorbidity.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 20133113 Alternative Convergence Analysis for a Kind of Singularly Perturbed Boundary Value Problems
Authors: Jiming Yang
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A kind of singularly perturbed boundary value problems is under consideration. In order to obtain its approximation, simple upwind difference discretization is applied. We use a moving mesh iterative algorithm based on equi-distributing of the arc-length function of the current computed piecewise linear solution. First, a maximum norm a posteriori error estimate on an arbitrary mesh is derived using a different method from the one carried out by Chen [Advances in Computational Mathematics, 24(1-4) (2006), 197-212.]. Then, basing on the properties of discrete Green-s function and the presented posteriori error estimate, we theoretically prove that the discrete solutions computed by the algorithm are first-order uniformly convergent with respect to the perturbation parameter ε.
Keywords: Convergence analysis, green's function, singularly perturbed, equi-distribution, moving mesh.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16963112 The Application of an Ensemble of Boosted Elman Networks to Time Series Prediction: A Benchmark Study
Authors: Chee Peng Lim, Wei Yee Goh
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In this paper, the application of multiple Elman neural networks to time series data regression problems is studied. An ensemble of Elman networks is formed by boosting to enhance the performance of the individual networks. A modified version of the AdaBoost algorithm is employed to integrate the predictions from multiple networks. Two benchmark time series data sets, i.e., the Sunspot and Box-Jenkins gas furnace problems, are used to assess the effectiveness of the proposed system. The simulation results reveal that an ensemble of boosted Elman networks can achieve a higher degree of generalization as well as performance than that of the individual networks. The results are compared with those from other learning systems, and implications of the performance are discussed.
Keywords: AdaBoost, Elman network, neural network ensemble, time series regression.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16913111 Some Immunological Characteristics of Tick- Borne Encephalitis in Perm Region
Authors: Some Immunological Characteristics of Tick- Borne Encephalitis in Perm Region
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It is shown that the relationship of tick-borne encephalitis virus with the human body comes in two ways, the development of acute infection with the outcome in convalescence and long stay by the virus in the body, its persistence in the nervous tissue with periodic reactivation and prolonged circulating immunoglobulin M. In spite of the fact that tick-borne encephalitis virus has a tropism for nerve tissue, involvement in the process of blood cells is an integral component of the infection. Comprehensive study of the relation of factors of innate and adaptive immunity in the tick-borne encephalitis providing insight into the features of chronic disease.Keywords: Tick-borne encephalitis, phagocytic activity, a progressive.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 14613110 The Effects of Pilates and McKenzie Exercises on Quality of Life and Lumbar Spine Position Sense in Patients with Low Back Pain: A Comparative Study with a 4-Week Follow-Up
Authors: Vahid Mazloum, Mansour Sahebozamani, Amirhossein Barati, Nouzar Nakhaee, Pouya Rabiei
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Non-specific chronic low back pain (NSCLBP) is a common condition with no exact diagnosis and mechanism for its occurrence. Recently, different therapeutic exercises have taken into account to manage NSCLBP. So, the aim of this study has mainly been placed on comparing the effects of Pilates and Mackenzie exercises on quality of life (QOL) lumbar spine position sense (LSPS) in patients with NSCLBP. In this randomized clinical trial, 47 patients with NSCLBP were voluntarily divided into three groups of Pilates (n=16) (with mean age 37.1 ± 9.5 years, height 168.9 ± 7.4 cm, body mass 76.1 ± 5.9 k), McKenzie (n=15) (with mean age 42.7 ± 8.1 years, height 165.7 ± 6.8, body mass 74.1 ± 4.8 kg) and control (n=16) (with mean age 39.3 ± 9.8 years, height 168.1 ± 8.1 cm, body mass 74.2 ± 5.8 kg). Primary outcome included QOL and secondary was LSPS. Both variables were assessed by the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaires and electrogoniameter, respectively. The measurements were performed at baseline, following a 6-week intervention, and after a 4-week follow-up. The ANCOVA test at P < 0.05 was administrated to analyze the collected data using SPSS software. There was a statistically significant difference between experimental groups and the control group to improve QOL. But, no difference was seen regarding the effects of two exercises on LSPS (p < 0.05). Both Pilates and Mackenzie exercises demonstrated improvement in QOL after 6-week intervention and a 4-week follow-up while none of them considerably affected LSPS. Further studies are required to establish a supporting evidence for the effectiveness of two exercises on NSCLBP.
Keywords: Pilates, Mackenzie, proprioception, low back pain, physical health.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 14353109 A Multi-Criteria Evaluation Incorporating Linguistic Computing for Service Innovation Performance
Authors: Wen-Pai Wang
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The growing influence of service industries has prompted greater attention being paid to service operations management. However, service managers often have difficulty articulating the veritable effects of their service innovation. Especially, the performance evaluation process of service innovation problems generally involves uncertain and imprecise data. This paper presents a 2-tuple fuzzy linguistic computing approach to dealing with heterogeneous information and information loss problems while the processes of subjective evaluation integration. The proposed method based on group decision-making scenario to assist business managers in measuring performance of service innovation manipulates the heterogeneity integration processes and avoids the information loss effectively.Keywords: Group decision-making, Heterogeneity, Linguisticcomputing, Multi-criteria, Service innovation
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15703108 Using Thinking Blocks to Encourage the Use of Higher Order Thinking Skills among Students When Solving Problems on Fractions
Authors: Abdul Halim Abdullah, Nur Liyana Zainal Abidin, Mahani Mokhtar
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Problem-solving is an activity which can encourage students to use Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS). Learning fractions can be challenging for students since empirical evidence shows that students experience difficulties in solving the fraction problems. However, visual methods can help students to overcome the difficulties since the methods help students to make meaningful visual representations and link abstract concepts in Mathematics. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate whether there were any changes in students’ HOTS at the four highest levels when learning the fractions by using Thinking Blocks. 54 students participated in a quasi-experiment using pre-tests and post-tests. Students were divided into two groups. The experimental group (n=32) received a treatment to improve the students’ HOTS and the other group acted as the control group (n=22) which used a traditional method. Data were analysed by using Mann-Whitney test. The results indicated that during post-test, students who used Thinking Blocks showed significant improvement in their HOTS level (p=0.000). In addition, the results of post-test also showed that the students’ performance improved significantly at the four highest levels of HOTS; namely, application (p=0.001), analyse (p=0.000), evaluate (p=0.000), and create (p=0.000). Therefore, it can be concluded that Thinking Blocks can effectively encourage students to use the four highest levels of HOTS which consequently enable them to solve fractions problems successfully.Keywords: Thinking blocks, higher order thinking skills, fractions, problem solving.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 13573107 District Selection for Geotechnical Settlement Suitability Using GIS and Multi Criteria Decision Analysis: A Case Study in Denizli, Turkey
Authors: Erdal Akyol, Mutlu Alkan, Ali Aydin
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Multi criteria decision analysis (MDCA) covers both data and experience. It is very common to solve the problems with many parameters and uncertainties. GIS supported solutions improve and speed up the decision process. Weighted grading as a MDCA method is employed for solving the geotechnical problems. In this study, geotechnical parameters namely soil type; SPT (N) blow number, shear wave velocity (Vs) and depth of underground water level (DUWL) have been engaged in MDCA and GIS. In terms of geotechnical aspects, the settlement suitability of the municipal area was analyzed by the method. MDCA results were compatible with the geotechnical observations and experience. The method can be employed in geotechnical oriented microzoning studies if the criteria are well evaluated.
Keywords: GIS, spatial analysis, multi criteria decision analysis, geotechnics.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 22193106 Comparative study of the Genetic Algorithms and Hessians Method for Minimization of the Electric Power Production Cost
Authors: L. Abdelmalek, M. Zerikat, M. Rahli
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In this paper, we present a comparative study of the genetic algorithms and Hessian-s methods for optimal research of the active powers in an electric network of power. The objective function which is the performance index of production of electrical energy is minimized by satisfying the constraints of the equality type and inequality type initially by the Hessian-s methods and in the second time by the genetic Algorithms. The results found by the application of AG for the minimization of the electric production costs of power are very encouraging. The algorithms seem to be an effective technique to solve a great number of problems and which are in constant evolution. Nevertheless it should be specified that the traditional binary representation used for the genetic algorithms creates problems of optimization of management of the large-sized networks with high numerical precision.Keywords: Genetic algorithm, Flow of optimum loadimpedances, Hessians method, Optimal distribution.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 12903105 Professionals’ Collaboration on Strengthening the Teaching of History
Authors: L. B. Ni, N. S. Bt Rohadi, H. Bt Alfana, A. S. Bin Ali Hassan, J. Bin Karim, C. Bt Rasin
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This paper discusses the shared effort of teaching history in K-12 schools, community colleges, four-year colleges and universities to develop students' understanding of the history and habits of thought history. This study presents and discusses the problems of K-12 schools in colleges and universities, and the establishment of secondary school principals. This study also shows that the changing nature of practice can define new trends and affect the history professional in the classroom. There are many problems that historians and teachers of college faculty share in the history of high school teachers. History teachers can and should do better to get students in the classroom. History provides valuable insights into the information and embedded solid-state analysis models that are conflicting on the planet and are quickly changing exceptionally valuable. The survey results can reflect the history teaching in Malaysia.Keywords: History issue, history teaching, school-university collaboration, history profession.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 11023104 A Laplace Transform Dual-Reciprocity Boundary Element Method for Axisymmetric Elastodynamic Problems
Authors: B. I. Yun
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A dual-reciprocity boundary element method is presented for the numerical solution of a class of axisymmetric elastodynamic problems. The domain integrals that arise in the integrodifferential formulation are converted to line integrals by using the dual-reciprocity method together suitably constructed interpolating functions. The second order time derivatives of the displacement in the governing partial differential equations are suppressed by using Laplace transformation. In the Laplace transform domain, the problem under consideration is eventually reduced to solving a system of linear algebraic equations. Once the linear algebraic equations are solved, the displacement and stress fields in the physical domain can be recovered by using a numerical technique for inverting Laplace transforms.Keywords: Axisymmetric elasticity, boundary element method, dual-reciprocity method, Laplace transform.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16713103 Optimization Using Simulation of the Vehicle Routing Problem
Authors: Nayera E. El-Gharably, Khaled S. El-Kilany, Aziz E. El-Sayed
Abstract:
A key element of many distribution systems is the routing and scheduling of vehicles servicing a set of customers. A wide variety of exact and approximate algorithms have been proposed for solving the vehicle routing problems (VRP). Exact algorithms can only solve relatively small problems of VRP, which is classified as NP-Hard. Several approximate algorithms have proven successful in finding a feasible solution not necessarily optimum. Although different parts of the problem are stochastic in nature; yet, limited work relevant to the application of discrete event system simulation has addressed the problem. Presented here is optimization using simulation of VRP; where, a simplified problem has been developed in the ExtendSimTM simulation environment; where, ExtendSimTM evolutionary optimizer is used to minimize the total transportation cost of the problem. Results obtained from the model are very satisfactory. Further complexities of the problem are proposed for consideration in the future.Keywords: Discrete event system simulation, optimization using simulation, vehicle routing problem.
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