Search results for: health monitoring
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 1978

Search results for: health monitoring

1468 Addressing Global Trauma: Somatic Interventions in PTSD Treatment and Clinician Burnout Prevention

Authors: Nina Kaufmans

Abstract:

Traditional treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that rely primarily on oral narratives are partially insufficient to prevent PTSD symptoms from recurrence. As a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic, war conflicts, and economic crises, a rising proportion of users of mental health services express somatically based distress in addition to their existing mental health symptoms. Furthermore, the rapid increase in demand for mental health services has resulted in substantial burnout among mental health professionals, which may further impact the quality of services provided and the sustainability of professional life-work balance. This article examines the implications of current developments and challenges in mental health services demand and subsequent responses, as well as the effects of those responses on mental health professionals. The article examines the neurobiological mechanisms underlying traumatic experiences, then discusses the premises for "bottom-up," or somatically oriented, psychotherapy approaches, and concludes with suggestions for clinical skills and interventions to be used by practitioners who work with clients diagnosed with PTSD. In addition, we examine how somatically based psychotherapy interventions performed in sessions might reduce clinician burnout and improve their well-being. We examine how incorporating somatically based therapies into counseling will boost the efficacy of mental health recovery and maintain remission while providing mental health practitioners with chances for self-care.

Keywords: Somatic psychotherapy interventions, trauma counseling, preventing and treating burnout, adults with PTSD, bottom-up skills, the effectiveness of trauma treatment.

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1467 Review of Strategies for Hybrid Energy Storage Management System in Electric Vehicle Application

Authors: Kayode A. Olaniyi, Adeola A. Ogunleye, Tola M. Osifeko

Abstract:

Electric Vehicles (EV) appear to be gaining increasing patronage as a feasible alternative to Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles (ICEVs) for having low emission and high operation efficiency. The EV energy storage systems are required to handle high energy and power density capacity constrained by limited space, operating temperature, weight and cost. The choice of strategies for energy storage evaluation, monitoring and control remains a challenging task. This paper presents review of various energy storage technologies and recent researches in battery evaluation techniques used in EV applications. It also underscores strategies for the hybrid energy storage management and control schemes for the improvement of EV stability and reliability. The study reveals that despite the advances recorded in battery technologies there is still no cell which possess both the optimum power and energy densities among other requirements, for EV application. However combination of two or more energy storages as hybrid and allowing the advantageous attributes from each device to be utilized is a promising solution. The review also reveals that State-of-Charge (SoC) is the most crucial method for battery estimation. The conventional method of SoC measurement is however questioned in the literature and adaptive algorithms that include all model of disturbances are being proposed. The review further suggests that heuristic-based approach is commonly adopted in the development of strategies for hybrid energy storage system management. The alternative approach which is optimization-based is found to be more accurate but is memory and computational intensive and as such not recommended in most real-time applications.

Keywords: Hybrid electric vehicle, hybrid energy storage, battery state estimation, ate of charge, state of health.

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1466 Valuation on MEMS Pressure Sensors and Device Applications

Authors: Nurul Amziah Md Yunus, Izhal Abdul Halin, Nasri Sulaiman, Noor Faezah Ismail, Ong Kai Sheng

Abstract:

The MEMS pressure sensor has been introduced and presented in this paper. The types of pressure sensor and its theory of operation are also included. The latest MEMS technology, the fabrication processes of pressure sensor are explored and discussed. Besides, various device applications of pressure sensor such as tire pressure-monitoring system, diesel particulate filter and others are explained. Due to further miniaturization of the device nowadays, the pressure sensor with nanotechnology (NEMS) is also reviewed. The NEMS pressure sensor is expected to have better performance as well as lower in its cost. It has gained an excellent popularity in many applications.

Keywords: Pressure sensor, diaphragm, MEMS, automotive application, biomedical application, NEMS.

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1465 A Sociological Study of Rural Women Attitudes toward Education, Health and Work outside Home in Beheira Governorate, Egypt

Authors: A. A. Betah

Abstract:

This research was performed to evaluate the attitudes of rural women towards education, health and work outside the home. The study was based on a random sample of 147 rural women, Kafr-Rahmaniyah village was chosen for the study because its life expectancy at birth for females, education and percentage of females in the labor force, were the highest in the district. The study data were collected from rural female respondents, using a face-to-face questionnaire. In addition, the study estimated several factors like age, main occupation, family size, monthly household income, geographic cosmopolites, and degree of social participation for rural women respondents. Using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), data were analyzed by non-parametric statistical methods. The main finding in this study was a significant relationship between each of the previous variables and each of rural women’s attitudes toward education, health, and work outside home. The study concluded with some recommendations. The most important element is ensuring attention to rural women’s needs, requirements and rights via raising their health awareness, education and their contributions in their society.

Keywords: Attitudes, education, health, rural women, work outside the home.

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1464 Pushing the Limits of Address Based Authentication: How to Avoid MAC Address Spoofing in Wireless LANs

Authors: Kemal Bicakci, Yusuf Uzunay

Abstract:

It is well-known that in wireless local area networks, authenticating nodes by their MAC addresses is not secure since it is very easy for an attacker to learn one of the authorized addresses and change his MAC address accordingly. In this paper, in order to prevent MAC address spoofing attacks, we propose to use dynamically changing MAC addresses and make each address usable for only one session. The scheme we propose does not require any change in 802.11 protocols and incurs only a small performance overhead. One of the nice features of our new scheme is that no third party can link different communication sessions of the same user by monitoring MAC addresses therefore our scheme is preferable also with respect to user privacy.

Keywords: Authentication, MAC address spoofing, security, wireless networks.

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1463 Achievements of Healthcare Services Vis-À-Vis the Millennium Development Goals Targets: Evidence from Pakistan

Authors: Saeeda Batool, Ather Maqsood Ahmed

Abstract:

This study investigates the impact of public healthcare facilities and socio-economic circumstances on the status of child health in Pakistan. The complete analysis is carried out in correspondence with fourth and sixth millennium development goals. Further, the health variables chosen are also inherited from targeted indicators of the mentioned goals (MDGs). Trends in the Human Opportunity Index (HOI) for both health inequalities and coverage are analyzed using the Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement (PLSM) data set for 2001-02 to 2012-13 at the national and provincial level. To reveal the relative importance of each circumstance in achieving the targeted values for child health, Shorrocks decomposition is applied on HOI. The annual point average growth rate of HOI is used to simulate the time period for the achievement of target set by MDGs and universal access also. The results indicate an improvement in HOI for a reduction in child mortality rates from 52.1% in 2001-02 to 67.3% in 2012-13, which confirms the availability of healthcare opportunities to a larger segment of society. Similarly, immunization against measles and other diseases such as Diphtheria, Polio, Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG), and Hepatitis has also registered an improvement from 51.6% to 69.9% during the period of study at the national level. On a positive note, no gender disparity has been found for child health indicators and that health outcome is mostly affected by the parental and geographical features and availability of health infrastructure. However, the study finds that this achievement has been uneven across provinces. Pakistan is not only lagging behind in achieving its health goals, disappointingly with the current rate of health care provision, but it will take many additional years to achieve its targets.

Keywords: Socio-economic circumstances, unmet MDGs, public healthcare services, child and infant mortality.

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1462 Processing Web-Cam Images by a Neuro-Fuzzy Approach for Vehicular Traffic Monitoring

Authors: A. Faro, D. Giordano, C. Spampinato

Abstract:

Traffic management in an urban area is highly facilitated by the knowledge of the traffic conditions in every street or highway involved in the vehicular mobility system. Aim of the paper is to propose a neuro-fuzzy approach able to compute the main parameters of a traffic system, i.e., car density, velocity and flow, by using the images collected by the web-cams located at the crossroads of the traffic network. The performances of this approach encourage its application when the traffic system is far from the saturation. A fuzzy model is also outlined to evaluate when it is suitable to use more accurate, even if more time consuming, algorithms for measuring traffic conditions near to saturation.

Keywords: Neuro-fuzzy networks, computer vision, Fuzzy systems, intelligent transportation system.

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1461 Security Model of a Unified Communications and Integrated Collaborations System in the Health Sector Environment of Developing Countries: A Case of Uganda

Authors: Excellence Favor, Bakari M. M. Mwinyiwiwa

Abstract:

Access to information holds the key to the empowerment of everybody despite where they are living. This research has been carried out in respect of the people living in developing countries, considering their plight and complex geographical, demographic, social-economic conditions surrounding the areas they live, which hinder access to information and of professionals providing services such as medical workers, which has led to high death rates and development stagnation. Research on Unified Communications and Integrated Collaborations (UCIC) system in the health sector of developing countries aims at creating a possible solution of bridging the digital canyon among the communities. The system is meant to deliver services in a seamless manner to assist health workers situated anywhere to be accessed easily and access information which will enhance service delivery. The proposed UCIC provides the most immersive telepresence experience for one-to-one or many-to-many meetings. Extending to locations anywhere in the world, the transformative platform delivers Ultra-low operating costs through the use of general purpose networks and using special lenses and track systems. The essence of this study is to create a security model for the deployment of the UCIC system in the health sector of developing countries. The model approach used for building the UCIC system security carefully considers the specific requirements for the health sector environment organization such as data centre, national, regional and district hospitals, and health centers IV, III, II and I and then builds the single best possible secure network to meet their needs. The security model demonstrates on how the components of the UCIC system will be protected physically and logically in the health sector environment. The UCIC system once adopted and implemented correctly will bring enhancement to the speed and quality of services offered by health workers. The capacities of UCIC will help health workers shorten decision cycles, accelerate service delivery and save lives by speeding access to information and by making it possible for all health workers and patients to collaborate ubiquitously.

Keywords: Developing Countries, Health Sector Environment, Security, Unified Communications and Integrated Collaborations.

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1460 Dynamic Simulation of IC Engine Bearings for Fault Detection and Wear Prediction

Authors: M. D. Haneef, R. B. Randall, Z. Peng

Abstract:

Journal bearings used in IC engines are prone to premature failures and are likely to fail earlier than the rated life due to highly impulsive and unstable operating conditions and frequent starts/stops. Vibration signature extraction and wear debris analysis techniques are prevalent in industry for condition monitoring of rotary machinery. However, both techniques involve a great deal of technical expertise, time, and cost. Limited literature is available on the application of these techniques for fault detection in reciprocating machinery, due to the complex nature of impact forces that confounds the extraction of fault signals for vibration-based analysis and wear prediction. In present study, a simulation model was developed to investigate the bearing wear behaviour, resulting because of different operating conditions, to complement the vibration analysis. In current simulation, the dynamics of the engine was established first, based on which the hydrodynamic journal bearing forces were evaluated by numerical solution of the Reynold’s equation. In addition, the essential outputs of interest in this study, critical to determine wear rates are the tangential velocity and oil film thickness between the journals and bearing sleeve, which if not maintained appropriately, have a detrimental effect on the bearing performance. Archard’s wear prediction model was used in the simulation to calculate the wear rate of bearings with specific location information as all determinative parameters were obtained with reference to crank rotation. Oil film thickness obtained from the model was used as a criterion to determine if the lubrication is sufficient to prevent contact between the journal and bearing thus causing accelerated wear. A limiting value of 1 μm was used as the minimum oil film thickness needed to prevent contact. The increased wear rate with growing severity of operating conditions is analogous and comparable to the rise in amplitude of the squared envelope of the referenced vibration signals. Thus on one hand, the developed model demonstrated its capability to explain wear behaviour and on the other hand it also helps to establish a co-relation between wear based and vibration based analysis. Therefore, the model provides a cost effective and quick approach to predict the impending wear in IC engine bearings under various operating conditions.

Keywords: Condition monitoring, IC engine, journal bearings, vibration analysis, wear prediction.

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1459 Changes in Fine PM Pollution Levels with Tightening of Regulations on Vehicle Emissions

Authors: Akihiro Iijima, Kimiyo Kumagai

Abstract:

A long-term campaign for monitoring the concentration of atmospheric Particulate Matter (PM) was conducted at multiple sites located in the center and suburbs of the Tokyo Metropolitan Area in Japan. The concentration of fine PM has shown a declining trend over the last two decades. A positive matrix factorization model elucidated that the contribution of combustion sources was drastically reduced. In Japan, the regulations on vehicle exhaust emissions were phased in and gradually tightened over the last two decades, which has triggered a notable reduction in PM emissions from automobiles and has contributed to the mitigation of the problem of fine PM pollution.

Keywords: Air pollution, Diesel-powered vehicle, Positive matrix factorization, Receptor modeling.

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1458 A Pre-Assessment Questionnaire to Identify Healthcare Professionals’ Perception on Information Technology Implementation

Authors: Y. Atilgan Şengül

Abstract:

Health information technologies promise higher quality, safer care and much more for both patients and professionals. Despite their promise, they are costly to develop and difficult to implement. On the other hand, user acceptance and usage determine the success of implemented information technology in healthcare. This study provides a model to understand health professionals’ perception and expectation of health information technology. Extensive literature review has been conducted to determine the main factors to be measured. A questionnaire has been designed as a measurement model and submitted to the personnel of an in vitro fertilization clinic. The respondents’ degree of agreement according to five-point Likert scale was 72% for convenient access to data and 69.4% for the importance of data security. There was a significant difference in acceptance of electronic data storage for female respondents. Also, other significant differences between professions were obtained.

Keywords: Healthcare, health informatics, medical record system, questionnaire.

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1457 Moving Vehicles Detection Using Automatic Background Extraction

Authors: Saad M. Al-Garni, Adel A. Abdennour

Abstract:

Vehicle detection is the critical step for highway monitoring. In this paper we propose background subtraction and edge detection technique for vehicle detection. This technique uses the advantages of both approaches. The practical applications approved the effectiveness of this method. This method consists of two procedures: First, automatic background extraction procedure, in which the background is extracted automatically from the successive frames; Second vehicles detection procedure, which depend on edge detection and background subtraction. Experimental results show the effective application of this algorithm. Vehicles detection rate was higher than 91%.

Keywords: Image processing, Automatic background extraction, Moving vehicle detection.

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1456 Artificial Intelligent in Optimization of Steel Moment Frame Structures: A Review

Authors: Mohsen Soori, Fooad Karimi Ghaleh Jough

Abstract:

The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques in the optimization of steel moment frame structures represents a transformative approach to enhance the design, analysis, and performance of these critical engineering systems. The review encompasses a wide spectrum of AI methods, including machine learning algorithms, evolutionary algorithms, neural networks, and optimization techniques, applied to address various challenges in the field. The synthesis of research findings highlights the interdisciplinary nature of AI applications in structural engineering, emphasizing the synergy between domain expertise and advanced computational methodologies. This synthesis aims to serve as a valuable resource for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers seeking a comprehensive understanding of the state-of-the-art in AI-driven optimization for steel moment frame structures. The paper commences with an overview of the fundamental principles governing steel moment frame structures and identifies the key optimization objectives, such as efficiency of structures. Subsequently, it delves into the application of AI in the conceptual design phase, where algorithms aid in generating innovative structural configurations and optimizing material utilization. The review also explores the use of AI for real-time structural health monitoring and predictive maintenance, contributing to the long-term sustainability and reliability of steel moment frame structures. Furthermore, the paper investigates how AI-driven algorithms facilitate the calibration of structural models, enabling accurate prediction of dynamic responses and seismic performance. Thus, by reviewing and analyzing the recent achievements in applications artificial intelligent in optimization of steel moment frame structures, the process of designing, analysis, and performance of the structures can be analyzed and modified.

Keywords: Artificial Intelligent, optimization process, steel moment frame, structural engineering.

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1455 B-VIS Service-oriented Middleware for RFID Sensor Network

Authors: Wiroon Sriborrirux, Sorakrai Kraipui, Nakorn Indra-Payoong

Abstract:

One of the most importance of intelligence in-car and roadside systems is the cooperative vehicle-infrastructure system. In Thailand, ITS technologies are rapidly growing and real-time vehicle information is considerably needed for ITS applications; for example, vehicle fleet tracking and control and road traffic monitoring systems. This paper defines the communication protocols and software design for middleware components of B-VIS (Burapha Vehicle-Infrastructure System). The proposed B-VIS middleware architecture serves the needs of a distributed RFID sensor network and simplifies some intricate details of several communication standards.

Keywords: Middleware, RFID sensor network, Cooperativevehicle-infrastructure system, Enterprise Java Bean.

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1454 Tritium Determination in Danube River Water in Serbia by Liquid Scintillation Counter

Authors: S. Forkapic, J. Nikolov, N. Todorovic, D. Mrdja, I. Bikit

Abstract:

Tritium activity concentration in Danube river water in Serbia has been determinate using a liquid scintillation counter Quantulus 1220. During December 2010, water samples were taken along the entire course of Danube through Serbia, from Hungarian- Serbian to Romanian-Serbian border. This investigation is very important because of the nearness of nuclear reactor Paks in Hungary. Sample preparation was performed by standard test method using Optiphase HiSafe 3 scintillation cocktail. We used a rapid method for the preparation of environmental samples, without electrolytic enrichment.

Keywords: detection limit, liquid scintillation counter, low-leveltritium analysis, monitoring.

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1453 Design and Layout of a X-Band MMIC Power Amplifier in a Phemt Technology

Authors: Renbin Dai, Rana Arslan Ali Khan

Abstract:

The design of Class A and Class AB 2-stage X band Power Amplifier is described in this report. This power amplifier is part of a transceiver used in radar for monitoring iron characteristics in a blast furnace. The circuit was designed using foundry WIN Semiconductors. The specification requires 15dB gain in the linear region, VSWR nearly 1 at input as well as at the output, an output power of 10 dBm and good stable performance in the band 10.9-12.2 GHz. The design was implemented by using inter-stage configuration, the Class A amplifier was chosen for driver stage i.e. the first amplifier focusing on the gain and the output amplifier conducted at Class AB with more emphasis on output power.

Keywords: Power amplifier, Class AB, Class A, MMIC, 2-stage, X band.

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1452 Water Quality Trading with Equitable Total Maximum Daily Loads

Authors: S. Jamshidi, E. Feizi Ashtiani, M. Ardestani

Abstract:

Waste Load Allocation (WLA) strategies usually intend to find economic policies for water resource management. Water quality trading (WQT) is an approach that uses discharge permit market to reduce total environmental protection costs. This primarily requires assigning discharge limits known as total maximum daily loads (TMDLs). These are determined by monitoring organizations with respect to the receiving water quality and remediation capabilities. The purpose of this study is to compare two approaches of TMDL assignment for WQT policy in small catchment area of Haraz River, in north of Iran. At first, TMDLs are assigned uniformly for the whole point sources to keep the concentrations of BOD and dissolved oxygen (DO) at the standard level at checkpoint (terminus point). This was simply simulated and controlled by Qual2kw software. In the second scenario, TMDLs are assigned using multi objective particle swarm optimization (MOPSO) method in which the environmental violation at river basin and total treatment costs are minimized simultaneously. In both scenarios, the equity index and the WLA based on trading discharge permits (TDP) are calculated. The comparative results showed that using economically optimized TMDLs (2nd scenario) has slightly more cost savings rather than uniform TMDL approach (1st scenario). The former annually costs about 1 M$ while the latter is 1.15 M$. WQT can decrease these annual costs to 0.9 and 1.1 M$, respectively. In other word, these approaches may save 35 and 45% economically in comparison with command and control policy. It means that using multi objective decision support systems (DSS) may find more economical WLA, however its outcome is not necessarily significant in comparison with uniform TMDLs. This may be due to the similar impact factors of dischargers in small catchments. Conversely, using uniform TMDLs for WQT brings more equity that makes stakeholders not feel that much envious of difference between TMDL and WQT allocation. In addition, for this case, determination of TMDLs uniformly would be much easier for monitoring. Consequently, uniform TMDL for TDP market is recommended as a sustainable approach. However, economical TMDLs can be used for larger watersheds.

Keywords: Waste load allocation (WLA), Water quality trading (WQT), Total maximum daily loads (TMDLs), Haraz River, Multi objective particle swarm optimization (MOPSO), Equity.

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1451 Multi-Channel Information Fusion in C-OTDR Monitoring Systems: Various Approaches to Classify of Targeted Events

Authors: Andrey V. Timofeev

Abstract:

The paper presents new results concerning selection of optimal information fusion formula for ensembles of C-OTDR channels. The goal of information fusion is to create an integral classificator designed for effective classification of seismoacoustic target events. The LPBoost (LP-β and LP-B variants), the Multiple Kernel Learning, and Weighing of Inversely as Lipschitz Constants (WILC) approaches were compared. The WILC is a brand new approach to optimal fusion of Lipschitz Classifiers Ensembles. Results of practical usage are presented.

Keywords: Lipschitz Classifier, Classifiers Ensembles, LPBoost, C-OTDR systems, ν-OTDR systems.

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1450 A Follow up Study on the Elderly Survivors - Mental Health Two Years after the Wenchuan Earthquake

Authors: Ting Wang, Huiqin Yang, Buxin Han

Abstract:

Background: This investigated the mental health of the elderly survivors six months, ten months and two years after the “5.12 Wenchuan" earthquake. Methods: Two hundred and thirty-two physically healthy older survivors from earthquake-affected Mianyang County were interviewed. The measures included the Revised Impact of Event Scale (IES-R, Chinese version, for PTSD) and a Chinese Mental Health Inventory for the Elderly (MHIE). A repeated measures ANOVA test was used for statistical analysis. Results: The follow-up group had a statistically significant lower IES-R score and lower MHIE score than the initial group ten months after the earthquake. Two years later, the score of IES-R in follow-up group were still lower than that of non-follow-up group, but no differences were significant on the score of MHIE between groups. Furthermore, a negative relationship was found between scores of IES-R and MHIE. Conclusion: The earthquake has had a persistent negative impact on older survivors- mental health within the two-year period and that although the PTSD level declined significantly with time, it did not disappear completely.

Keywords: Elderly survivors, follow-up, mental health, post-Wenchuan earthquake.

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1449 Body Mass Index for Australian Athletes Participating in Rugby Union, Soccer and Touch Football at the World Masters Games

Authors: Walsh Joe, Climstein Mike, Heazlewood Ian Timothy, Burke Stephen, Kettunen Jyrki, Adams Kent, DeBeliso Mark

Abstract:

Whilst there is growing evidence that activity across the lifespan is beneficial for improved health, there are also many changes involved with the aging process and subsequently the potential for reduced indices of health. Data gathered on a subsample of 535 football code athletes, aged 31-72 yrs ( = 47.4, s = ±7.1), competing at the Sydney World Masters Games (2009) demonstrated a significantly (p < 0.001), reduced classification of obesity using Body Mass Index (BMI) when compared to the general Australian population. This evidence of improved classification in one index of health (BMI < 30) for master athletes (when compared to the general population) implies there are either improved levels of this index of health due to adherence to sport or possibly the reduced BMI is advantageous and contributes to this cohort adhering (or being attracted) to masters sport. Demonstration of this proportionately under-investigated World Masters Games population having improved health over the general population is of particular interest.

Keywords: BMI, masters athlete, rugby union, soccer, touch football.

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1448 Performance of Nine Different Types of PV Modules in the Tropical Region

Authors: Jiang Fan

Abstract:

With growth of PV market in tropical region, it is necessary to investigate the performance of different types of PV technology under the tropical weather conditions. Singapore Polytechnic was funded by Economic Development Board (EDB) to set up a solar PV test-bed for the research on performance of different types of PV modules in the country. The PV test-bed installed the nine different types of PV systems that are integrated to power utility grid for monitoring and analyzing their operating performances. This paper presents the 12 months operational data of nine different PV systems and analyses on performances of installed PV systems using energy yield and performance ratio. The nine types of PV systems under test have shown their energy yields ranging from 2.67 to 3.36 kWh/kWp and their performance ratios (PRs) ranging from 70% to 88%.

Keywords: Monocrystalline, Multicrystalline, Amorphous Silicon, Cadmium Telluride and thin film PV.

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1447 An Overview of Energy Efficient Routing Protocols for Acoustic Sensor Network

Authors: V. P. Dhivya, R. Arthi

Abstract:

Underwater acoustic network is one of the rapidly growing areas of research and finds different applications for monitoring and collecting various data for environmental studies. The communication among dynamic nodes and high error probability in an acoustic medium forced to maximize energy consumption in Underwater Sensor Networks (USN) than in traditional sensor networks. Developing energy-efficient routing protocol is the fundamental and a curb challenge because all the sensor nodes are powered by batteries, and they cannot be easily replaced in UWSNs. This paper surveys the various recent routing techniques that mainly focus on energy efficiency.

Keywords: Acoustic channels, Energy efficiency, Routing in sensor networks, Underwater Sensor Network.

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1446 Index t-SNE: Tracking Dynamics of High-Dimensional Datasets with Coherent Embeddings

Authors: G. Candel, D. Naccache

Abstract:

t-SNE is an embedding method that the data science community has widely used. It helps two main tasks: to display results by coloring items according to the item class or feature value; and for forensic, giving a first overview of the dataset distribution. Two interesting characteristics of t-SNE are the structure preservation property and the answer to the crowding problem, where all neighbors in high dimensional space cannot be represented correctly in low dimensional space. t-SNE preserves the local neighborhood, and similar items are nicely spaced by adjusting to the local density. These two characteristics produce a meaningful representation, where the cluster area is proportional to its size in number, and relationships between clusters are materialized by closeness on the embedding. This algorithm is non-parametric. The transformation from a high to low dimensional space is described but not learned. Two initializations of the algorithm would lead to two different embedding. In a forensic approach, analysts would like to compare two or more datasets using their embedding. A naive approach would be to embed all datasets together. However, this process is costly as the complexity of t-SNE is quadratic, and would be infeasible for too many datasets. Another approach would be to learn a parametric model over an embedding built with a subset of data. While this approach is highly scalable, points could be mapped at the same exact position, making them indistinguishable. This type of model would be unable to adapt to new outliers nor concept drift. This paper presents a methodology to reuse an embedding to create a new one, where cluster positions are preserved. The optimization process minimizes two costs, one relative to the embedding shape and the second relative to the support embedding’ match. The embedding with the support process can be repeated more than once, with the newly obtained embedding. The successive embedding can be used to study the impact of one variable over the dataset distribution or monitor changes over time. This method has the same complexity as t-SNE per embedding, and memory requirements are only doubled. For a dataset of n elements sorted and split into k subsets, the total embedding complexity would be reduced from O(n2) to O(n2/k), and the memory requirement from n2 to 2(n/k)2 which enables computation on recent laptops. The method showed promising results on a real-world dataset, allowing to observe the birth, evolution and death of clusters. The proposed approach facilitates identifying significant trends and changes, which empowers the monitoring high dimensional datasets’ dynamics.

Keywords: Concept drift, data visualization, dimension reduction, embedding, monitoring, reusability, t-SNE, unsupervised learning.

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1445 Critical Issues of Inclusion of Aviation in EU Emissions Trading System

Authors: Jakub Hospodka

Abstract:

This paper dissertates about issues which may occur after next year will be major part of civil aviation in EU included into system of Emission trading. This system should help to fight against global warming and to fulfill Kyoto Protocol commitments of European countries. Main issues mentioned in this paper are connected with problem of radiative forcing from emissions and lack of their monitoring and charging in EU legislative. There are mentioned main differences between industrial emissions and emissions form aviation with notification about possible negative impacts of neglecting these differences. Special attention is dedicated to risk of possible reverse effect of inclusion aviation in EU ETS, which may theoretically occur.

Keywords: EU ETS, radiative forcing, aviation, emissiontrading.

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1444 Health Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals in Clarias gariepinus (Burchell, 1822) from Fish Mongers within Akure Metropolis, Ondo State, Nigeria

Authors: O. O. Olawusi-Peters, K. I. Adejugbagbe

Abstract:

The concentration of heavy metal (Cd, Pb, Fe, Zn, Cu) in Clarias gariepinus collected from fish markets; Fanibi (Station I) and Fiwasaye (Station II) in Akure metropolis, Ondo state, Nigeria were investigated to ascertain the safety for the consumers. 60 samples were collected from the two markets in three batches (I, II, III) for a period of six months and analyzed for heavy metals in the gills and muscles of the fish. Also, the Health Risk Index (HRI) was used to determine the health risk of these metals to the consumer. The results showed that the investigated metal concentration was higher in station I than station II, except Pb having higher concentration in station II than station I. In both stations, the highest concentration of Fe was recorded in the gills (12.60 ± 1.51; 6.94 ± 1.38) and muscles (3.72 ± 0.09; 3.86 ± 0.33) of samples in batch I. Also, the HRI revealed that consumption of Clarias gariepinus from these study areas did not pose any health risk (HRI < 1). In addition, concentrations of the heavy metals were all below the permissible limits recommended by FAO/WHO.

Keywords: Health risk index, heavy metals, Clarias gariepinus, Akure metropolis, fish monger.

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1443 Data Integrity: Challenges in Health Information Systems in South Africa

Authors: T. Thulare, M. Herselman, A. Botha

Abstract:

Poor system use, including inappropriate design of health information systems, causes difficulties in communication with patients and increased time spent by healthcare professionals in recording the necessary health information for medical records. System features like pop-up reminders, complex menus, and poor user interfaces can make medical records far more time consuming than paper cards as well as affect decision-making processes. Although errors associated with health information and their real and likely effect on the quality of care and patient safety have been documented for many years, more research is needed to measure the occurrence of these errors and determine the causes to implement solutions. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to identify data integrity challenges in hospital information systems through a scoping review and based on the results provide recommendations on how to manage these. Only 34 papers were found to be most suitable out of 297 publications initially identified in the field. The results indicated that human and computerized systems are the most common challenges associated with data integrity and factors such as policy, environment, health workforce, and lack of awareness attribute to these challenges but if measures are taken the data integrity challenges can be managed.

Keywords: Data integrity, data integrity challenges, hospital information systems, South Africa.

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1442 Concept of Automation in Management of Electric Power Systems

Authors: Richard Joseph, Nerey Mvungi

Abstract:

An electric power system includes a generating, a transmission, a distribution, and consumers subsystems. An electrical power network in Tanzania keeps growing larger by the day and become more complex so that, most utilities have long wished for real-time monitoring and remote control of electrical power system elements such as substations, intelligent devices, power lines, capacitor banks, feeder switches, fault analyzers and other physical facilities. In this paper, the concept of automation of management of power systems from generation level to end user levels was determined by using Power System Simulator for Engineering (PSS/E) version 30.3.2.

Keywords: Automation, Distribution subsystem, Generating subsystem, PSS/E, TANESCO, Transmission subsystem.

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1441 Radioactivity of the Agricultural Soil in Northern Province of Serbia, Vojvodina

Authors: I. Bikit, S. Forkapic, J. Nikolov, N. Todorovic, D. Mrdja

Abstract:

During the year 1999, Serbia (ex Yugoslavia) and their northern province, Vojvodina, has been bombarded. Because of that general public believe is that this region was contaminated by depleted uranium and that there is a potential contaminant of agricultural products due to soil radioactivity. This paper presents the repeated analysis of agricultural soil samples in Vojvodina. The same investigation was carried out during the year 2001, and it was concluded that, based on the gamma-spectrometric analysis of 50 soil samples taken from the region of Vojvodina, there haven-t been registered any increase of radioactivity that could endanger the food production. We continue with the monitoring of this region. The comparison between those two sets of results is presented.

Keywords: gamma spectrometry analysis, radioactivity of theagricultural soil.

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1440 A Centralized Architecture for Cooperative Air-Sea Vehicles Using UAV-USV

Authors: Salima Bella, Assia Belbachir, Ghalem Belalem

Abstract:

This paper deals with the problem of monitoring and cleaning dirty zones of oceans using unmanned vehicles. We present a centralized cooperative architecture for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to monitor ocean regions and clean dirty zones with the help of unmanned surface vehicles (USVs). Due to the rapid deployment of these unmanned vehicles, it is convenient to use them in oceanic regions where the water pollution zones are generally unknown. In order to optimize this process, our solution aims to detect and reduce the pollution level of the ocean zones while taking into account the problem of fault tolerance related to these vehicles.

Keywords: Centralized architecture, fault tolerance, UAV, USV.

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1439 Improving the Optoacoustic Signal by Monitoring the Changes of Coupling Medium

Authors: P. Prasannakumar, L. Myoung Young, G. Seung Kye, P. Sang Hun, S. Chul Gyu

Abstract:

In this paper, we discussed the coupling medium in the optoacoustic imaging. The coupling medium is placed between the scanned object and the ultrasound transducers. Water with varying temperature was used as the coupling medium. The water temperature is gradually varied between 25 to 40 degrees. This heating process is taken with care in order to avoid the bubble formation. Rise in the photoacoustic signal is noted through an unfocused transducer with frequency of 2.25 MHz as the temperature increases. The temperature rise is monitored using a NTC thermistor and the values in degrees are calculated using an embedded evaluation kit. Also the temperature is transmitted to PC through a serial communication. All these processes are synchronized using a trigger signal from the laser source.

Keywords: Embedded, optoacoustic, ultrasound, unfocused transducer.

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