Search results for: Student attitudes towards evidence based treatments.

Authors: Tsu-Wang Shen, Shan-Chun Chang, Chih-Hsien Wang, Te-Chao Fang

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For electrocardiogram (ECG) biometrics system, it is a tedious process to pre-install user’s high-intensity heart rate (HR) templates in ECG biometric systems. Based on only resting enrollment templates, it is a challenge to identify human by using ECG with the high-intensity HR caused from exercises and stress. This research provides a heartbeat segment method with slope-oriented neural networks against the ECG morphology changes due to high intensity HRs. The method has overall system accuracy at 97.73% which includes six levels of HR intensities. A cumulative match characteristic curve is also used to compare with other traditional ECG biometric methods.

Keywords: High-intensity heart rate, heart rate resistant, ECG human identification, decision based artificial neural network.

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Authors: Manikandakumar Shunmugavel, Ashwin Polishetty, Moshe Goldberg, Junior Nomani, Guy Littlefair

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Selective laser melting (SLM), a promising additive manufacturing (AM) technology, has a huge potential in the fabrication of Ti-6Al-4V near-net shape components. However, poor surface finish of the components fabricated from this technology requires secondary machining to achieve the desired accuracy and tolerance. Therefore, a systematic understanding of the machinability of SLM fabricated Ti-6Al-4V components is paramount to improve the productivity and product quality. Considering the significance of machining in SLM fabricated Ti-6Al-4V components, this research aim is to study the influence of build orientation on machinability characteristics by performing low speed orthogonal cutting tests. In addition, the machinability of SLM fabricated Ti-6Al-4V is compared with conventionally produced wrought Ti-6Al-4V to understand the influence of SLM technology on machining. This paper is an attempt to provide evidence to the hypothesis associated that build orientation influences cutting forces, chip formation and surface integrity during orthogonal cutting of SLM Ti-6Al-4V samples. Results obtained from the low speed orthogonal cutting tests highlight the practical importance of microstructure and build orientation on machinability of SLM Ti-6Al-4V.

Keywords: Additive manufacturing, build orientation, machinability, titanium alloys (Ti-6Al-4V).

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Authors: Chengjie Wang, Li Yin, Chuanmin Wang

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This paper presents a physics-based model for the high-voltage fast recovery diodes. The model provides a good trade-off between reverse recovery time and forward voltage drop realized through a combination of lifetime control and emitter efficiency reduction techniques. The minority carrier lifetime can be extracted from the reverse recovery transient response and forward characteristics. This paper also shows that decreasing the amount of the excess carriers stored in the drift region will result in softer characteristics which can be achieved using a lower doping level. The developed model is verified by experiment and the measurement data agrees well with the model.

Keywords: Emitter efficiency, lifetime control, P-i-N diode, physics-based model

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Authors: Ezenwa Chinenye Amanamba

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There is a call to ensure that the issues of safety and efficient throughput are considered during design; the solutions to these issues can also be retrofitted at locations where they were not captured during design, but have become problems to road users over time. This paper adopts several methods to analyze the performance of an intersection which was formerly a ‘priority-controlled’ intersection, but has now been converted to a ‘signal-controlled’ intersection. Extensive review of literature helped form the basis for result analysis and discussion. The Ikot-Ekpene/Anagha-Ezikpe intersection, located at the heart of Umuahia was adopted as case study; considering the high traffic volume on the route. Anecdotal evidence revealed that traffic signals imposed enormous delays at the intersection, especially for traffic on the major road. The major road has arrival flow which surpasses the saturation flow obtained from modelling of the isolated signalized intersection. Similarly, there were several geometric elements that did not agree with the specific function of the road. A roundabout, particularly flower roundabout was recommended as a better traffic control measure.

Keywords: Highway function, level of service, roundabout, traffic delays, Umuahia.

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Authors: Jyh J. Chen, Fu H. Yang, Ming H. Liao

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This study describes a capillary-based device integrated with the heating and cooling modules for polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The device consists of the reaction polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) capillary, the aluminum blocks, and is equipped with two cartridge heaters, a thermoelectric (TE) cooler, a fan, and some thermocouples for temperature control. The cartridge heaters are placed into the heating blocks and maintained at two different temperatures to achieve the denaturation and the extension step. Some thermocouples inserted into the capillary are used to obtain the transient temperature profiles of the reaction sample during thermal cycles. A 483-bp DNA template is amplified successfully in the designed system and the traditional thermal cycler. This work should be interesting to persons involved in the high-temperature based reactions and genomics or cell analysis.

Keywords: Polymerase chain reaction, thermal cycles, capillary, TE cooler.

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Authors: Chowdhury Dilruba Shoma

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Gender is about equal rights that both males and females having access to responsibilities and opportunities in decision making is a fundamental human right. It is also a precondition for, and a mark of, sustainable people-oriented development. In Bangladesh, women have fewer opportunities than men do to access credit from banks and financial institutions. Entrenched patriarchal attitudes, unequal inheritance rights, and male-dominated hierarchies in the financial system, plus high interest rates and a lack of security/collateral, make it harder for women to obtain bank loans. Limited access to institutional credit is a serious restraint on the productivity and income of women entrepreneurs, (and the wider economy). These gender-biased and structural barriers inhibit women’s access to fundamental economic rights. Using a liberal feminist theoretical lens, this study provides some useful insights into the relationship between gender inequality and entrepreneurship, leading to a better understanding of women’s entrepreneurship development in Bangladesh. Recently, the Bangladesh Government, the United Nations Capital Development Fund, and Bangladesh Bank opened up the Women Entrepreneur Support Fund (WESF) ‒ Credit Guarantee Scheme (CGS) pilot project to cover collateral shortfalls for women entrepreneurs in the small and medium enterprise sector. The aim is to improve gender equality and advance women’s rights in relation to receiving credit. This article examines the challenges and prospects of the WESF-CGS, and suggests that implementation of measures in WESF-CGS policymaking, coupled with a combination of legislatory and regulatory reforms that implement the fundamental tenets of liberal feminism, can lead to a comprehensive and effective credit policy to boost women’s agency and economic empowerment. This may ultimately lead to more sustainable development in Bangladesh.

Keywords: Bangladesh, CGS, liberal feminist theory, women entrepreneur support fund.

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Authors: Randa M. Ali, Naguiba F. Loutfy, Osama M. Awad

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Leishmaniasis is the collective name for a number of diseases caused by protozoan flagellates of the genus Leishmania, which is transmitted by Phlebotomine sandfly, the disease has diverse clinical manifestations and found in many areas of the world, particularly in Africa, Latin America, South and Central Asia, the Mediterranean basin and the Middle East. This study was done to assess primary health care physicians’ knowledge (PHP) and attitude about leishmaniasis and to assess awareness of local inhabitants about the disease and its vector in four areas in west Alexandria, Egypt. It is a cross sectional survey that was conducted in four PHC units in west Alexandria. All physicians currently working in these units during the study period were invited to participate in the study; only 20 PHP completed the questionnaire. 60 local inhabitants were selected randomly from the four areas of the study, 15 from each area; Data was collected through two different specially designed questionnaires. Results showed that 11 (55%) percent of the physicians had satisfactory knowledge; they answered more than 9 (60%) questions out of a total 14 questions about leishmaniasis and sandfly. On the other hand when attitude of the primary health care physicians about leishmaniasis was measured, results showed that 17 (85%) had good attitude and 3 (15%) had poor attitude. The second questionnaire showed that the awareness of local inhabitants about leishmaniasis and sandfly as a vector of the disease is poor and needs to be corrected. (90%) of the interviewed inhabitants had not heard about leishmaniasis, Only 3 (5%) of them said they know sandfly and its role in transmission of leishmaniasis. Thus we conclude that knowledge and attitudes of physicians are acceptable. However, there is, room for improvement and could be done through formal training courses and distribution of guidelines. In addition to raising the awareness of primary health care physicians about the importance of early detection and notification of cases of leishmaniasis, health education for raising awareness of the public regarding the vector and the disease is necessary because related studies have demonstrated that for inhabitants to take enough protective measures against the vector, they should perceive that it is responsible for causing a disease.

Keywords: Attitude, knowledge, PHP, leishmaniasis, sandfly, local inhabitants, inside and outside housing conditions.

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Authors: May A. Massoud

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The availability of water in adequate quantity and quality is imperative for sustainable development. Worldwide, significant imbalance exists with regards to sustainable development particularly from a water and sanitation perspective. Water is a critical component of public health, and failure to supply safe water will place a heavy burden on the entire population. Although the 21st century has witnessed wealth and advanced development, it has not been realized everywhere. Billions of people are still striving to access the most basic human needs which are food, shelter, safe drinking water and adequate sanitation. The global picture conceals various inequalities particularly with regards to sanitation coverage in rural and urban areas. Currently, water scarcity and in particular water governance is the main challenge which will cause a threat to sustainable development goals. Within the context of water, sanitation and health, sustainable development is a confusing concept primarily when examined from the viewpoint of policy options for developing countries. This perspective paper aims to summarize and critically evaluate evidence of published studies in relation to water, sanitation and health and to identify relevant solutions to reduce public health impacts. Evidently, improving water and sanitation services will result in significant and lasting gains in health and economic development.

Keywords: developing countries, health, sanitation, sustainability, water

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Authors: Jheng-Long Wu, Pei-Chann Chang, Yi-Fang Pan

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This research focus on developing a new segmentation method for improving forecasting model which is call trend based segmentation method (TBSM). Generally, the piece-wise linear representation (PLR) can finds some of pair of trading points is well for time series data, but in the complicated stock environment it is not well for stock forecasting because of the stock has more trends of trading. If we consider the trends of trading in stock price for the trading signal which it will improve the precision of forecasting model. Therefore, a TBSM with SVR model used to detect the trading points for various stocks of Taiwanese and America under different trend tendencies. The experimental results show our trading system is more profitable and can be implemented in real time of stock market

Keywords: Trend based segmentation method, support vector machine, turning detection, stock forecasting.

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Authors: C. J. W. Habets, D. J. Peters, J. G. de Gijt, A. V. Metrikine, S. N. Jonkman

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Conventional seismic designs of quay walls in ports are mostly based on pseudo-static analysis. A more advanced alternative is the Performance-Based Design (PBD) method, which evaluates permanent deformations and amounts of (repairable) damage under seismic loading. The aim of this study is to investigate the suitability of this method for anchored sheet pile quay walls that were not purposely designed for seismic loads. A research methodology is developed in which pseudo-static, permanent-displacement and finite element analysis are employed, calibrated with an experimental reference case that considers a typical anchored sheet pile wall. A reduction factor that accounts for deformation behaviour is determined for pseudo-static analysis. A model to apply traditional permanent displacement analysis on anchored sheet pile walls is proposed. Dynamic analysis is successfully carried out. From the research it is concluded that PBD evaluation can effectively be used for seismic analysis and design of this type of structure.

Keywords: Anchored sheet pile quay wall, simplified dynamic analysis, performance-based design, pseudo-static analysis.

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Authors: Anjushi Verma, Tirthankar Gayen

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Although, reliability is an important attribute of quality, especially for mission critical systems, yet, there does not exist any versatile model even today for the reliability assessment of component-based software. The existing Black Box models are found to make various assumptions which may not always be realistic and may be quite contrary to the actual behaviour of software. They focus on observing the manner in which the system behaves without considering the structure of the system, the components composing the system, their interconnections, dependencies, usage frequencies, etc.As a result, the entropy (uncertainty) in assessment using these models is much high.Though, there are some models based on operation profile yet sometimes it becomes extremely difficult to obtain the exact operation profile concerned with a given operation. This paper discusses the drawbacks, deficiencies and limitations of Black Box approaches from the perspective of various authors and finally proposes a conceptual model for the reliability assessment of software.

Keywords: Black Box, faults, failure, software reliability.

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Authors: Muthu Solayappan, Kien Ming Ng, Kim Leng Poh

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This paper presents a perturbation based search method to solve the unconstrained binary quadratic programming problem. The proposed algorithm was tested with some of the standard test problems and the results are reported for 10 instances of 50, 100, 250, & 500 variable problems. A comparison of the performance of the proposed algorithm with other heuristics and optimization software is made. Based on the results, it was found that the proposed algorithm is computationally inexpensive and the solutions obtained match the best known solutions for smaller sized problems. For larger instances, the algorithm is capable of finding a solution within 0.11% of the best known solution. Apart from being used as a stand-alone method, this algorithm could also be incorporated with other heuristics to find better solutions.

Keywords: unconstrained binary quadratic programming, perturbation, interior point methods

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Authors: Ki-Sung Park, Dae-Hee Lee, Dae-Ho Won, Yeon-Mo Yang

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Solar power plants(SPPs) have shown a lot of good outcomes in providing a various functions depending on industrial expectations by deploying ad-hoc networking with helps of light loaded and battery powered sensor nodes. In particular, it is strongly requested to develop an algorithm to deriver the sensing data from the end node of solar power plants to the sink node on time. In this paper, based on the above observation we have proposed an IEEE802.15.4 based self routing scheme for solar power plants. The proposed beacon based priority routing Algorithm (BPRA) scheme utilizes beacon periods in sending message with embedding the high priority data and thus provides high quality of service(QoS) in the given criteria. The performance measures are the packet Throughput, delivery, latency, total energy consumption. Simulation results under TinyOS Simulator(TOSSIM) have shown the proposed scheme outcome the conventional Ad hoc On-Demand Distance Vector(AODV) Routing in solar power plants.

Keywords: Solar Power Plants(SPPs), Self routing, Quality of Service(QoS), WPANs, WSNs, TinyOS, TOSSIM, IEEE802.15.4

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Authors: Harri Jalonen

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Faced with social and health system capacity constraints and rising and changing demand for welfare services, governments and welfare providers are increasingly relying on innovation to help support and enhance services. However, the evidence reported by several studies indicates that the realization of that potential is not an easy task. Innovations can be deemed inherently complex to implement and operate, because many of them involve a combination of technological and organizational renewal within an environment featuring a diversity of stakeholders. Many public welfare service innovations are markedly systemic in their nature, which means that they emerge from, and must address, the complex interplay between political, administrative, technological, institutional and legal issues. This paper suggests that stakeholders dealing with systemic innovation in welfare services must deal with ambiguous and incomplete information in circumstances of uncertainty. Employing a literature review methodology and case study, this paper identifies, categorizes and discusses different aspects of the uncertainty of systemic innovation in public welfare services, and argues that uncertainty can be classified into eight categories: technological uncertainty, market uncertainty, regulatory/institutional uncertainty, social/political uncertainty, acceptance/legitimacy uncertainty, managerial uncertainty, timing uncertainty and consequence uncertainty.

Keywords: Systemic innovation, uncertainty, welfare services

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Authors: Antonino Greco, Nadia Mammone, Francesco Carlo Morabito, Mario Versaci

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Artifact rejection plays a key role in many signal processing applications. The artifacts are disturbance that can occur during the signal acquisition and that can alter the analysis of the signals themselves. Our aim is to automatically remove the artifacts, in particular from the Electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings. A technique for the automatic artifact rejection, based on the Independent Component Analysis (ICA) for the artifact extraction and on some high order statistics such as kurtosis and Shannon-s entropy, was proposed some years ago in literature. In this paper we try to enhance this technique proposing a new method based on the Renyi-s entropy. The performance of our method was tested and compared to the performance of the method in literature and the former proved to outperform the latter.

Keywords: Artifact, EEG, Renyi's entropy, kurtosis, independent component analysis.

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Authors: Kamolrat Turner, Somporn Rakkwamsuk, Ladda Leungratanamart

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The aim of this descriptive study was to determine the perception of 21^st century skills among nursing professors and nursing students at Boromarajonani College of Nursing, Chonburi. A total of 38 nursing professors and 75 second year nursing students took part in the study. Data were collected by 21^st century skills questionnaires comprised of 63 items. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the findings. The results have shown that the overall mean scores of the perception of nursing professors on 21^st century skills were at a high level. The highest mean scores were recorded for computing and ICT literacy, and career and leaning skills. The lowest mean scores were recorded for reading and writing and mathematics. The overall mean scores on perception of nursing students on 21^st century skills were at a high level. The highest mean scores were recorded for computer and ICT literacy, for which the highest item mean scores were recorded for competency on computer programs. The lowest mean scores were recorded for the reading, writing, and mathematics components, in which the highest item mean score was reading Thai correctly, and the lowest item mean score was English reading and translate to other correctly. The findings from this study have shown that the perceptions of nursing professors were consistent with those of nursing students. Moreover, any activities aiming to raise capacity on English reading and translate information to others should be taken into the consideration.

Keywords: 21st century skills, perception, nursing instructor, nursing student.

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Authors: Bruno Trstenjak, Dzenana Donko

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Data mining and classification of objects is the process of data analysis, using various machine learning techniques, which is used today in various fields of research. This paper presents a concept of hybrid classification model improved with the expert knowledge. The hybrid model in its algorithm has integrated several machine learning techniques (Information Gain, K-means, and Case-Based Reasoning) and the expert’s knowledge into one. The knowledge of experts is used to determine the importance of features. The paper presents the model algorithm and the results of the case study in which the emphasis was put on achieving the maximum classification accuracy without reducing the number of features.

Keywords: Case based reasoning, classification, expert's knowledge, hybrid model.

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Authors: Herdina Indrijati

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This research aims to describe teenager delinquency behavior (Juvenile Delinquency) of senior high school students in Surabaya, Indonesia. Juvenile Delinquency is a broad range of behaviors start from socially unacceptable behavior (overreact in school), violation (escape from home) to crimes (like stealing). This research uses quantitative descriptive method using 498 students who come from 8 different schools in Surabaya as subjects. Juvenile Delinquency behavior form questionnaire has been completed by subjects and was used to measure and describe the behavior. The result of this research is presented in statistic descriptive forms. Result shows that 169 subjects skip school, 55 subjects get out of home without parent’s permission, 110 subjects engage in smoking behavior, 74 subjects damage other people properties, 32 subjects steal, 16 subjects exploit others and 7 subjects engage in drug abuse. Frequency of the top five mentioned behavior are 1-10 times. It is also found that subject’s peers are most likely to be the victim of Juvenile Delinquency. The reasons teenagers engage in Juvenile Delinquency include (1) feeling tired, bored or lazy – that contributes to their skip school behavior (2) Having a lot of problem with parents - contrives them to run away from home, (3) accidentally damage other people’s properties, (4) financial problems – force them to steal and exploit, (5) feeling like having a lot of life problems – that makes them do drugs (6) trying smoking for experience.

Keywords: Juvenile delinquency, senior high school, student.

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Authors: Nikolay P. Brayanov, Anna V. Stoynova

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Model-based development approach is gaining more support and acceptance. Its higher abstraction level brings simplification of systems’ description that allows domain experts to do their best without particular knowledge in programming. The different levels of simulation support the rapid prototyping, verifying and validating the product even before it exists physically. Nowadays model-based approach is beneficial for modelling of complex embedded systems as well as a generation of code for many different hardware platforms. Moreover, it is possible to be applied in safety-relevant industries like automotive, which brings extra automation of the expensive device certification process and especially in the software qualification. Using it, some companies report about cost savings and quality improvements, but there are others claiming no major changes or even about cost increases. This publication demonstrates the level of maturity and autonomy of model-based approach for code generation. It is based on a real live automotive seat heater (ASH) module, developed using The Mathworks, Inc. tools. The model, created with Simulink, Stateflow and Matlab is used for automatic generation of C code with Embedded Coder. To prove the maturity of the process, Code generation advisor is used for automatic configuration. All additional configuration parameters are set to auto, when applicable, leaving the generation process to function autonomously. As a result of the investigation, the publication compares the quality of generated embedded code and a manually developed one. The measurements show that generally, the code generated by automatic approach is not worse than the manual one. A deeper analysis of the technical parameters enumerates the disadvantages, part of them identified as topics for our future work.

Keywords: Embedded code generation, embedded C code quality, embedded systems, model-based development.

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Authors: Soo-Yeon Lee, Seung-Min Song, Moon-Kyu Song, Woo-Geun Lee, Kap-Soo Yoon, Jang-Yeon Kwon, Min-Koo Han

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We fabricated the inverted-staggered etch stopper structure oxide-based TFT and investigated the characteristics of oxide TFT under the 400 nm wavelength light illumination. When 400 nm light was illuminated, the threshold voltage (Vth) decreased and subthreshold slope (SS) increased at forward sweep, while Vth and SS were not altered when larger wavelength lights, such as 650 nm, 550 nm and 450 nm, were illuminated. At reverse sweep, the transfer curve barely changed even under 400 nm light. Our experimental results support that photo-induced hole carriers are captured by donor-like interface trap and it caused the decrease of Vth and increase of SS. We investigated the interface trap density increases proportionally to the photo-induced hole concentration at active layer.

Keywords: thin film transistor, oxide-based semiconductor, lightresponse

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Authors: Tanya N. Beran, Michelle A. Drefs, Ghazwan Altabbaa, Nouf Al Harbi, Noof Al Baz, Elizabeth Oddone Paolucci

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Although interprofessional practice is a collaborative approach for problem solving among health professionals, its implementation can present challenges to its team members. In particular, they may feel pressured to agree with or conform to other members who share information that is contrary to their own understanding. Obtaining evidence of this phenomenon is challenging, as team members may underreport their conformity behaviors due to reasons such as social desirability. In this paper, a series of studies are reviewed in which several approaches to assessing conformity in the health care professions are tested. Simulations, questionnaires, and behavior checklists can be used to measure conformity behaviors. Insights from these studies show that a significant proportion of people conform either in the presence or absence of others, express a variety of verbal and nonverbal behaviors when considering whether to conform to others, may shift between conforming and moments later not conforming (and vice versa), and may not accurately report whether they conformed. A method of measuring conformity using the implicit bias test is also discussed. People at all levels in the healthcare system are encouraged to develop both formal and informal strategies to manage the conformity pressures that people face.

Keywords: Conformity, decision-making, interprofessional teams, medical simulation.

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Authors: Nigina Toktasynova, Sholpan Sagyndykova, Zhanat Kenzhebayeva, Maksat Kalimoldayev, Mariya Ishimova, Irbulat Utepbergenov

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To solve these problems, we investigated the management system of heating enterprise, including strategic planning based on the balanced scorecard (BSC), quality management in accordance with the standards of the Quality Management System (QMS) ISO 9001 and analysis of the system based on expert judgment using fuzzy inference. To carry out our work we used the theory of fuzzy sets, the QMS in accordance with ISO 9001, BSC, method of construction of business processes according to the notation IDEF0, theory of modeling using Matlab software simulation tools and graphical programming LabVIEW. The results of the work are as follows: We determined possibilities of improving the management of heat-supply plant-based on QMS; after the justification and adaptation of software tool it has been used to automate a series of functions for the management and reduction of resources and for the maintenance of the system up to date; an application for the analysis of the QMS based on fuzzy inference has been created with novel organization of communication software with the application enabling the analysis of relevant data of enterprise management system. 

Keywords: Balanced scorecard, heat supply, quality management system, the theory of fuzzy sets.

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Authors: Wahiba Mohguen, Raïs El’hadi Bekka

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This paper presents a denoising method called EMD-Custom that was based on Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) and the modified Customized Thresholding Function (Custom) algorithms. EMD was applied to decompose adaptively a noisy signal into intrinsic mode functions (IMFs). Then, all the noisy IMFs got threshold by applying the presented thresholding function to suppress noise and to improve the signal to noise ratio (SNR). The method was tested on simulated data and real ECG signal, and the results were compared to the EMD-Based signal denoising methods using the soft and hard thresholding. The results showed the superior performance of the proposed EMD-Custom denoising over the traditional approach. The performances were evaluated in terms of SNR in dB, and Mean Square Error (MSE).

Keywords: Customized thresholding, ECG signal, EMD, hard thresholding, Soft-thresholding.

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Authors: László L. Lippai

Abstract:

In addition to the fact that mental health bears great significance to a particular individual, it can also be regarded as an organizational, community and societal resource. Within the Szeged Health Promotion Research Group, we conducted mental health surveys on two levels: The inhabitants of a medium-sized Hungarian town and students of a Hungarian university with a relatively big headcount were requested to participate in surveys whose goals were to define local government priorities and organization-level health promotion programmes, respectively. To facilitate professional decision-making, we defined three, pragmatically relevant, groups of the target population: the mentally healthy, the vulnerable and the endangered. In order to determine which group a person actually belongs to, we designed a simple and quick measurement tool, which could even be utilised as a smoothing method, the Mental State Questionnaire validity of the above three categories was verified by analysis of variance against psychological quality of life variables. We demonstrate the pragmatic significance of our method via the analyses of the scores of our two mental health surveys. On town level, during our representative survey in Hódmezővásárhely (N=1839), we found that 38.7% of the participants was mentally healthy, 35.3% was vulnerable, while 16.3% was considered as endangered. We were able to identify groups that were in a dramatic state in terms of mental health. For example, such a group consisted of men aged 45 to 64 with only primary education qualification and the ratios of the mentally healthy, vulnerable and endangered were 4.5, 45.5 and 50%, respectively. It was also astonishing to see to what a little extent qualification prevailed as a protective factor in the case of women. Based on our data, the female group aged 18 to 44 with primary education—of whom 20.3% was mentally healthy, 42.4% vulnerable and 37.3% was endangered—as well as the female group aged 45 to 64 with university or college degree—of whom 25% was mentally healthy, 51.3 vulnerable and 23.8% endangered—are to be handled as priority intervention target groups in a similarly difficult position. On organizational level, our survey involving the students of the University of Szeged, N=1565, provided data to prepare a strategy of mental health promotion for a university with a headcount exceeding 20,000. When developing an organizational strategy, it was important to gather information to estimate the proportions of target groups in which mental health promotion methods; for example, life management skills development, detection, psychological consultancy, psychotherapy, would be applied. Our scores show that 46.8% of the student participants were mentally healthy, 42.1% were vulnerable and 11.1% were endangered. These data convey relevant information as to the allocation of organizational resources within a university with a considerable headcount. In conclusion, The Mental State Questionnaire, as a valid smoothing method, is adequate to describe a community in a plain and informative way in the terms of mental health. The application of the method can promote the preparation, design and implementation of mental health promotion interventions. 

Keywords: Health promotion, mental health promotion, mental state questionnaire, psychological well-being.

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Authors: Sanghoon Kim, Sun-Tae Chung, Souhwan Jung, Seoungseon Jeon, Jaemin Kim, Seongwon Cho

Abstract:

In this paper, we propose a face recognition algorithm using AAM and Gabor features. Gabor feature vectors which are well known to be robust with respect to small variations of shape, scaling, rotation, distortion, illumination and poses in images are popularly employed for feature vectors for many object detection and recognition algorithms. EBGM, which is prominent among face recognition algorithms employing Gabor feature vectors, requires localization of facial feature points where Gabor feature vectors are extracted. However, localization method employed in EBGM is based on Gabor jet similarity and is sensitive to initial values. Wrong localization of facial feature points affects face recognition rate. AAM is known to be successfully applied to localization of facial feature points. In this paper, we devise a facial feature point localization method which first roughly estimate facial feature points using AAM and refine facial feature points using Gabor jet similarity-based facial feature localization method with initial points set by the rough facial feature points obtained from AAM, and propose a face recognition algorithm using the devised localization method for facial feature localization and Gabor feature vectors. It is observed through experiments that such a cascaded localization method based on both AAM and Gabor jet similarity is more robust than the localization method based on only Gabor jet similarity. Also, it is shown that the proposed face recognition algorithm using this devised localization method and Gabor feature vectors performs better than the conventional face recognition algorithm using Gabor jet similarity-based localization method and Gabor feature vectors like EBGM.

Keywords: Face Recognition, AAM, Gabor features, EBGM.

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Authors: M.M. Namazi, S.M. Saghaiannejad, A. Rashidi

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In this paper by using the port-controlled Hamiltonian (PCH) systems theory, a full-order nonlinear controlled model is first developed. Then a nonlinear passivity-based robust adaptive control (PBRAC) of switched reluctance motor in the presence of external disturbances for the purpose of torque ripple reduction and characteristic improvement is presented. The proposed controller design is separated into the inner loop and the outer loop controller. In the inner loop, passivity-based control is employed by using energy shaping techniques to produce the proper switching function. The outer loop control is employed by robust adaptive controller to determine the appropriate Torque command. It can also overcome the inherent nonlinear characteristics of the system and make the whole system robust to uncertainties and bounded disturbances. A 4KW 8/6 SRM with experimental characteristics that takes magnetic saturation into account is modeled, simulation results show that the proposed scheme has good performance and practical application prospects.

Keywords: Switched Reluctance Motor, Port HamiltonianSystem, Passivity-Based Control, Torque Ripple Minimization

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Authors: Mohammad Bakhshandeh

Abstract:

Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) is a crucial and necessary practice that plays a vital role in ensuring the safety and integrity of critical structures, and in particular, bridges. The continuous monitoring of bridges for signs of damage or degradation through Bridge Health Monitoring (BHM) enables early detection of potential problems, allowing for prompt corrective action to be taken before significant damage occurs. Although all monitoring techniques aim to provide accurate and decisive information regarding the remaining useful life, safety, integrity, and serviceability of bridges, understanding the development and propagation of damage is vital for maintaining uninterrupted bridge operation. Over the years, extensive research has been conducted on BHM methods, and experts in the field have increasingly adopted new methodologies. In this article, we provide a comprehensive exploration of the various BHM approaches, including sensor-based, non-destructive testing (NDT), model-based, and artificial intelligence (AI)-based methods. We also discuss the challenges associated with BHM, including sensor placement and data acquisition, data analysis and interpretation, cost and complexity, and environmental effects, through an extensive review of relevant literature and research studies. Additionally, we examine potential solutions to these challenges and propose future research ideas to address critical gaps in BHM.

Keywords: Structural health monitoring, bridge health monitoring, sensor-based methods, machine-learning algorithms, model-based techniques, sensor placement, data acquisition, data analysis.

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Authors: Sharil Tumin, Sylvia Encheva

Abstract:

Centrally controlled authentication and authorization services can provide enterprise with an increase in security, more flexible access control solutions and an increased users' trust. By using redirections, users of all Web-based applications within an organization are authenticated at a single well known and secure Web site and using secure communication protocol. Users are first authenticated at the central server using their domain wide credentials before being redirected to a particular Web-based application. The central authentication server will then provide others with pertinence authorization related particulars and credentials of the authenticated user to the specific application. The trust between the clients and the server hosts is established by secure session keys exchange. Case- studies are provided to demonstrate the usefulness and flexibility of the proposed solution.

Keywords: Authentication, Authorization, Security, Protected Web-based Applications

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Authors: A. Kourou, A. Ioakeimidou, E. Bafa, C. Fassoulas, M. Panoutsopoulou

Abstract:

The role of volunteers in disaster management is of decisive importance and the need of their involvement is well recognized, both for prevention measures and for disaster management. During major catastrophes, whereas professional personnel are outsourced, the role of volunteers is crucial. In Greece experience has shown that various groups operating in the civil protection mechanism like local administration staff or volunteers, in many cases do not have the necessary knowledge and information on best practices to act against natural disasters. One of the major problems is the lack of volunteers’ education and training. In the above given framework, this paper presents the results of a survey aimed to identify the level of education and preparedness of civil protection volunteers in Greece. Furthermore, the implementation of earthquake protection measures at individual, family and working level, are explored. More specifically, the survey questionnaire investigates issues regarding pre-earthquake protection actions, appropriate attitudes and behaviors during an earthquake and existence of contingency plans in the workplace. The questionnaires were administered to citizens from different regions of the country and who attend the civil protection training program: “Protect Myself and Others”. A closed-form questionnaire was developed for the survey, which contained questions regarding the following: a) knowledge of self-protective actions; b) existence of emergency planning at home; c) existence of emergency planning at workplace (hazard mitigation actions, evacuation plan, and performance of drills); and, d) respondents` perception about their level of earthquake preparedness. The results revealed a serious lack of knowledge and preparedness among respondents. Taking into consideration the aforementioned gap and in order to raise awareness and improve preparedness and effective response of volunteers acting in civil protection, the EVANDE project was submitted and approved by the European Commission (EC). The aim of that project is to educate and train civil protection volunteers on the most serious natural disasters, such as forest fires, floods, and earthquakes, and thus, increase their performance.

Keywords: Civil protection, earthquake preparedness, volunteers.

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Authors: Sawsan J. Al-Husseini, Talib A. Dosa

Abstract:

Transformational leadership has been identified as the most important factor affecting innovation and knowledge sharing; it leads to increased goal-directed behavior exhibited by followers and thus to enhanced performance and innovation for the organization. However, there is a lack of models linking transformational leadership, knowledge sharing, and process innovation within higher education (HE) institutions in general within developing countries, particularly in Iraq. This research aims to examine the mediating role of knowledge sharing in the transformational leadership and process innovation relationship. A quantitative approach was taken and 254 usable questionnaires were collected from public HE institutions in Iraq. Structural equation modelling with AMOS 22 was used to analyze the causal relationships among factors. The research found that knowledge sharing plays a pivotal role in the relationship between transformational leadership and process innovation, and that transformational leadership would be ideal in an educational context, promoting knowledge sharing activities and influencing process innovation in the public HE in Iraq. The research has developed some guidelines for researchers as well as leaders and provided evidence to support the use of TL to increase process innovation within HE environment in developing countries, particularly in Iraq.

Keywords: Transformational leadership, knowledge sharing, process innovation, structural equation modelling, developing countries.

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