Search results for: Human action

Authors: Cheng Fang, Lingwei Quan, Cunyue Lu

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Human pose estimation and tracking are to accurately identify and locate the positions of human joints in the video. It is a computer vision task which is of great significance for human motion recognition, behavior understanding and scene analysis. There has been remarkable progress on human pose estimation in recent years. However, more researches are needed for human pose tracking especially for online tracking. In this paper, a framework, called PoseSRPN, is proposed for online single-person pose estimation and tracking. We use Siamese network attaching a pose estimation branch to incorporate Single-person Pose Tracking (SPT) and Visual Object Tracking (VOT) into one framework. The pose estimation branch has a simple network structure that replaces the complex upsampling and convolution network structure with deconvolution. By augmenting the loss of fully convolutional Siamese network with the pose estimation task, pose estimation and tracking can be trained in one stage. Once trained, PoseSRPN only relies on a single bounding box initialization and producing human joints location. The experimental results show that while maintaining the good accuracy of pose estimation on COCO and PoseTrack datasets, the proposed method achieves a speed of 59 frame/s, which is superior to other pose tracking frameworks.

Keywords: Computer vision, Siamese network, pose estimation, pose tracking.

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Authors: A. R. Vazifedoost, M. Rahgozar, F. Oroumchian

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Knowledge discovery from text and ontology learning are relatively new fields. However their usage is extended in many fields like Information Retrieval (IR) and its related domains. Human Plausible Reasoning based (HPR) IR systems for example need a knowledge base as their underlying system which is currently made by hand. In this paper we propose an architecture based on ontology learning methods to automatically generate the needed HPR knowledge base.

Keywords: Ontology Learning, Human Plausible Reasoning, knowledge extraction, knowledge representation.

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Authors: Sanpachai Huvanandana

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A human verification system is presented in this paper. The system consists of several steps: background subtraction, thresholding, line connection, region growing, morphlogy, star skelatonization, feature extraction, feature matching, and decision making. The proposed system combines an advantage of star skeletonization and simple statistic features. A correlation matching and probability voting have been used for verification, followed by a logical operation in a decision making stage. The proposed system uses small number of features and the system reliability is convincing.

Keywords: Human verification, object recognition, videounderstanding, segmentation.

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Authors: Pearl K. Atuhaire, Sylvia Kaye

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While the need for equal access to civil, political as well as economic, social and cultural rights is clear under the international law, the adoption of the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against women in 1979 made this even clearer. Despite this positive progress, the abuse of refugee women's rights is one of the basic underlying root causes of their marginalisation and violence in their countries of asylum. This paper presents a critical review on the development of refugee women's rights at the international levels and national levels. It provides an array of scholarly literature on this issue and examines the measures taken by the international community to curb the problem of violence against women in their various provisions through the instruments set. It is cognizant of the fact that even if conflict affects both refugee women and men, the effects on women refugees are deep-reaching, due to the cultural strongholds they face. An important aspect of this paper is that it is conceptualised against the fact that refugee women face the problem of sexual and gender based first as refugees and second as women, yet, their rights are stumbled upon. Often times they have been rendered "worthless victims" who are only in need of humanitarian assistance than active participants committed to change their plight through their participation in political, economic and social participation in their societies. Scholars have taken notice of the fact that women's rights in refugee settings have been marginalized and call for a need to incorporate their perspectives in the planning and management of refugee settings in which they live. Underpinning this discussion is feminism theory which gives a clear understanding of the root cause of refugee women's problems. Finally, this paper suggests that these policies should be translated into action at local, national international and regional levels to ensure sustainable peace.

Keywords: Feminism theory, human rights, refugee women, sexual and gender based violence.

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Authors: Yeung C.L., Cheung C.F., Wang W.M., Tsui E.

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Narratives are invaluable assets of human lives. Due to the distinct features of narratives, they are useful for supporting human reasoning processes. However, many useful narratives become residuals in organizations or human minds nowadays. Researchers have contributed effort to investigate and improve narrative generation processes. This paper attempts to contemplate essential components in narratives and explore a computational approach to acquire and extract knowledge to generate narratives. The methodology and significant benefit for decision support are presented.

Keywords: Decision Support, Knowledge Management, Knowledge-based Systems, Narrative Generation

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Authors: Insaf Ajili, Malik Mallem, Jean-Yves Didier

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Motion recognition from videos is actually a very complex task due to the high variability of motions. This paper describes the challenges of human motion recognition, especially motion representation step with relevant features. Our descriptor vector is inspired from Laban Movement Analysis method. We propose discriminative features using the Random Forest algorithm in order to remove redundant features and make learning algorithms operate faster and more effectively. We validate our method on MSRC-12 and UTKinect datasets.

Keywords: Human motion recognition, Discriminative LMA features, random forest, features reduction.

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Authors: Qiong Huang, Satish Chand

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This paper uses a primary data from 670 Chinese manufacturing firms, together with the newly introduced regressionbased inequality decomposition method, to study the effect of openness on wage inequality. We find that openness leads to a positive industry wage premium, but its contribution to firm-level wage inequality is relatively small, only 4.69%. The major contributor to wage inequality is human capital, which could explain 14.3% of wage inequality across sample firms.  

Keywords: Openness, human capital, wage inequality, decomposition; China.

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Authors: Rania Rushdy Moussa

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Public parks are placed high on the research agenda, with many studies addressing their social, economic and environment influences in different countries around the world. They have been recognized as contributors to the physical quality of urban environments. Recently, a broader view of public parks has emerged. This view goes well beyond the traditional value of parks as places for more recreation and visual delight, to depict them as valuable contributors to broader strategic objectives, such as property values, place attractiveness, job opportunities, social belonging, public health, tourist development, and improving the overall quality of life. This research examines the role of public parks in enhancing the quality of human life in Egyptian environment. It measures 'quality of life' in terms of 'human needs' and 'well-being'. This should open ways for policymakers, practitioners, researchers and the public to realize the potentials of public parks towards improving the quality of life.

Keywords: Elements of Parks, Human Needs, Quality of Life (QOL), Subjective Well-Being.

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Authors: Wuttigrai Ngamsirijit

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Talent management in today’s modern organizations has become data-driven due to a demand for objective human resource decision making and development of analytics technologies. HR managers have been faced with some obstacles in exploiting data and information to obtain their effective talent management decisions. These include process-based data and records; insufficient human capital-related measures and metrics; lack of capabilities in data modeling in strategic manners; and, time consuming to add up numbers and make decisions. This paper proposes a framework of talent management through integration of talent value chain and human capital analytics approaches. It encompasses key data, measures, and metrics regarding strategic talent management decisions along the organizational and talent value chain. Moreover, specific predictive and prescriptive models incorporating these data and information are recommended to help managers in understanding the state of talent, gaps in managing talent and the organization, and the ways to develop optimized talent strategies.    

Keywords: Decision making, human capital analytics, talent management, talent value chain.

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Authors: Carlos H. Cuadra

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The present report describes the characteristics of damages and behavior of reinforced concrete buildings during the tsunami action. The discussion is based on the field damage survey in selected cities located on the coast of the zone affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011. This earthquake is the most powerful know earthquake that has hit Japan with a magnitude 9.0 and with epicenter located at 129 km of Sendai city (off the coast). The earthquake triggered a destructive tsunami with run up height of up to 40 meters that mainly affect cities located on the Pacific Ocean coast of the Tohoku region (north-east region of Japan). Reinforced concrete buildings in general resist the tsunami without collapse however the non-structural elements like panels and ceilings were severely damaged. The analysis of damages has permitted to understand the behavior of RC buildings under tsunami attack, and has also permitted to establish recommendations for their use to take refuge from tsunami in places where natural topography makes impossible to reach hilltops or other safer places.

Keywords: tsunami, RC buildings, East Japan Earthquake, seismic damage

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Authors: D. Koutny, D. Palousek, T. Koutecky, A. Zatocilova, J. Rosicky, M. Janda

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The motivation of this work was to find a suitable 3D scanner for human body parts digitalization in the field of prosthetics and orthotics. The main project objective is to compare the three hand-held portable scanners (two optical and one laser) and two optical tripod scanners. The comparison was made with respect of scanning detail, simplicity of operation and ability to scan directly on the human body. Testing was carried out on a plaster cast of the upper limb and directly on a few volunteers. The objective monitored parameters were time of digitizing and post-processing of 3D data and resulting visual data quality. Subjectively, it was considered level of usage and handling of the scanner. The new tripod was developed to improve the face scanning conditions. The results provide an overview of the suitability of different types of scanners.

Keywords: 3D digitization, prosthetics and orthotics, human body digitization.

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Authors: Shyue-Ran Li, Kuohsiang Chen

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The study explored varied types of human smiles and extracted most of the key factors affecting the smiles. These key factors then were converted into a set of control points which could serve to satisfy the needs for creation of facial expression for 3D animators and be further applied to the face simulation for robots in the future. First, hundreds of human smile pictures were collected and analyzed to identify the key factors for face expression. Then, the factors were converted into a set of control points and sizing parameters calculated proportionally. Finally, two different faces were constructed for validating the parameters via the process of simulating smiles of the same type as the original one.

Keywords: 3D animation, facial expression, numerical, robot, smile parameter.

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Authors: Elisa Orofino

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Islamism is a very debated topic in the West but almost exclusively explored in its violent forms. Nevertheless, a number of “vocal radical Islamist” groups exist in the West and legally operate because of their non-violent nature. Vocal radicals continually inspire individuals and lead them towards specific goals and priorities, sometimes even towards violence. This paper uses the long-living group Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT) to explore the elements that make the organization appealing to segments of Muslim community in the West. This paper uses three agency variables - reflexive monitoring, the rationalization of action and the motivations for actions – to analyze HT’s appeal vis-à-vis two other Islamist groups, Ikhwan al-Muslimun and Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI), having similar goals and the same high international profile. This paper concludes that HT’s uniqueness is given by its method, detailed vision of the caliphate, consistency over time and the emphasis placed on the caliphate as the leading force of HT’s unchanged motivation for action.

Keywords: Agency, Caliphate, Radicalization, Vocal Radicals.

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Authors: Abalaka, M. E., Daniyan, S. Y., Adeyemo, S. O.

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Studies were carried out to determine the in vitro susceptibility of the typhoid pathogens to combined action of Euphorbia hirta, Euphorbia heterophylla and Phyllanthus niruri. Clinical isolates of the typhoid bacilli were subjected to susceptibility testing using agar diffusion technique and the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) determined with tube dilution technique. These isolates, when challenged with doses of the extracts from the three medicinal plants showed zones of inhibition as wide as 26±0.2mm, 22±0.1mm and 18±0.0mm respectively. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) revealed organisms inhibited at varying concentrations of extracts: E. hirta (S. typhi 0.250mg/ml, S. paratyphi A 0.125mg/ml, S. paratyphi B 0.185mg/ml and S. paratyphi C 0.225mg/ml), E. heterophylla (S. typhi 0.280mg/ml, S. paratyphi A 0.150mg/ml, S. paratyphi B 0.200mg/ml and S. paratyphi C 0.250mg/ml) and P. niruri (S. typhi 0.150mg/ml, S. paratyphi A 0.100mg/ml, S. paratyphi B 0.115mg/ml and S. paratyphi C 0.125mg/ml). The results of the synergy between the three plants in the ration of 1:1:1 showed very low MICs for the test pathogens as follows S. typhi 0.025mg/ml, S. paratyphi A 0.080mg/ml, S. paratyphi B 0.015mg/ml and S. paratyphi C 0.10mg/ml with the diameter zone of inhibition (DZI) ranging from 35±0.2mm, 28±0.4mm, 20±0.1mm and 32±0.3mm respectively. The secondary metabolites were identified using simple methods and HPLC. Organic components such as anthroquinones, different alkaloids, tannins, 6-ethoxy-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-2,2,4-trimethyl and steroids were identified. The prevalence of Salmonellae, a deadly infectious disease, is still very high in parts of Nigeria. The synergistic action of these three plants is very high. It is concluded that pharmaceutical companies should take advantage of these findings to develop new anti-typhoid drugs from these plants.

Keywords: A Prevalence, Susceptibility, Synergistic, Typhoid pathogens.

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Authors: E. Heikkilä

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The paper discusses European Lifelong Learning policy in the European enlargement to the Balkan. The European Lifelong Learning policy with Human Capital approach is researched in the country case of Macedonia. The paper argues that Human Capital approach focusing on instrumental and economic importance of learning for employability and economic growth needs to be complemented with Capability Approach for intrinsic and noneconomic needs of learning among the ethnic minorities. The paper identifies two dimensions of importance – minority languages and civic education – that the Capability Approach may develop to guarantee equal opportunities to all to benefit from European educational and lifelong learning development and to build an inclusive and socially just democracy in Macedonia.

Keywords: Capability approach, European lifelong learning, human capital theory.

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Authors: Hosein Falahaty, Hitoshi Gotoh, Abbas Khayyer

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Performance of a Hamiltonian based particle method in simulation of nonlinear structural dynamics is subjected to investigation in terms of stability and accuracy. The governing equation of motion is derived based on Hamilton's principle of least action, while the deformation gradient is obtained according to Weighted Least Square method. The hyper-elasticity models of Saint Venant-Kirchhoff and a compressible version similar to Mooney- Rivlin are engaged for the calculation of second Piola-Kirchhoff stress tensor, respectively. Stability along with accuracy of numerical model is verified by reproducing critical stress fields in static and dynamic responses. As the results, although performance of Hamiltonian based model is evaluated as being acceptable in dealing with intense extensional stress fields, however kinds of instabilities reveal in the case of violent collision which can be most likely attributed to zero energy singular modes.

Keywords: Hamilton's principle of least action, particle based method, hyper-elasticity, analysis of stability.

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Authors: Samar Raffoul, Martin Heywood, Dimitrios Moutaftsis, Michael Rowell

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This paper comprises an experimental investigation into the structural performance of cold formed steel (CFS) and timber board composite floor systems. The tests include a series of small-scale pushout tests and full-scale bending tests carried out using a refined loading system to simulate uniformly distributed constant load. The influence of connection details (screw spacing and adhesives) on floor performance was investigated. The results are then compared to predictions from relevant existing models for composite floor systems. The results of this research demonstrate the significant benefits of considering the composite action of the boards in floor design. Depending on connection detail, an increase in flexural stiffness of up to 40% was observed in the floor system, when compared to designing joists individually.

Keywords: Cold formed steel joists, composite action, flooring systems, shear connection.

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Authors: Iliana Marinova, Valentin Mateev

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For investigations of electromagnetic field distributions in biological structures by Finite Element Method (FEM), a method for automatic 3D model building of human anatomical objects is developed. Models are made by meshed structures and specific electromagnetic material properties for each tissue type. Mesh is built according to specific FEM criteria for achieving good solution accuracy. Several FEM models of anatomical objects are built. Formulation using magnetic vector potential and scalar electric potential (A-V, A) is used for modeling of electromagnetic fields in human tissue objects. The developed models are suitable for investigations of electromagnetic field distributions in human tissues exposed in external fields during magnetic stimulation, defibrillation, impedance tomography etc.

Keywords: electromagnetic field, finite element method, humantissue.

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Authors: Chih-I. Tsai, Yu-Chien. Lin

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Through experiences of clinical practices, it is discovered that locations on the body at a level of four fingerbreadth above and below the joints are the points at which muscles connect to tendons, and since the muscles and tendons possess opposite characteristics, muscles are full of blood but lack qi, while tendons are full of qi but lack blood, these points on our body become easily blocked. It is proposed that through doing acupuncture or creating localized pressure to the areas four fingerbreadths above and below our joints, with an elastic bandage, we could help the energy, also known as qi, to flow smoothly in our body and further improve our health. Based on the Four Fingers Theory, we understand that human height is 22 four fingerbreadths. In addition, qi and blood travel through 24 meridians, 50 times each day, and they flow through 6 cun with every human breath. We can also understand the average number of human heartbeats is 75 times per minute. And the function of qi-blood circulation system in Traditional Chinese Medicine is the same as the blood circulation in Western Medical Science. Informed by Four Fingers Theory, this study further examined its applications in acupuncture practices. The research question is how Four Fingers Theory proves what has been mentioned in Nei Jing that there are 66 acupoints under a human’s elbow and knee. In responding to the research question, there are 66 acupoints under a human’s elbow and knee. Four Fingers Theory facilitated the creation of the acupuncture naming and teaching system. It is expected to serve as an approachable and effective way to deliver knowledge of acupuncture to the public worldwide.

Keywords: Four Fingers theory, Meridians circulation, 66 Acupoints under a human’s elbow and knee, acupuncture.

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Authors: Ian A. McCulloh, Madelaine Zinser, Jesse Patsolic, Michael Ramos

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Recommender systems are a common artificial intelligence (AI) application. For any given input, a search system will return a rank-ordered list of similar items. As users review returned items, they must decide when to halt the search and either revise search terms or conclude their requirement is novel with no similar items in the database. We present a statistically designed experiment that investigates the impact of similarity ratings on human judgement to conclude a search item is novel and halt the search. In the study, 450 participants were recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk to render judgement across 12 decision tasks. We find the inclusion of ratings increases the human perception that items are novel. Percent similarity increases novelty discernment when compared with star-rated similarity or the absence of a rating. Ratings reduce the time to decide and improve decision confidence. This suggests that the inclusion of similarity ratings can aid human decision-makers in knowledge search tasks.

Keywords: Ratings, rankings, crowdsourcing, empirical studies, user studies, similarity measures, human-centered computing, novelty in information retrieval.

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Authors: Pirada Techaratpong

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This qualitative research has 2 objectives: to study marketing management of the cultural learning center in Suansunandha Rajabhat University and to suggest guidelines to improve its marketing management. This research is based on a case study of the Arts and Culture Office in Suansunandha Rajabhat University, Bangkok. This research found the Art and Culture Office has no formal marketing management. However, the marketing management is partly covered in the overall business plan, strategic plan, and action plan. The process can be divided into 5 stages. The marketing concept has long been introduced to its policy but not apparently put into action due to inflexible system. Some gaps are found in the process. The research suggests the Art and Culture Office implement the concept of marketing orientation, meeting the needs and wants of its target customers and adapt to the changing situation. Minor guidelines for improvement are provided.

Keywords: Marketing, management, museum, cultural learning center.

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Authors: J. Kala, V. Salajka, P. Hradil

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Many footbridges have natural frequencies that coincide with the dominant frequencies of the pedestrian-induced load and therefore they have a potential to suffer excessive vibrations under dynamic loads induced by pedestrians. Some of the design standards introduce load models for pedestrian loads applicable for simple structures. Load modeling for more complex structures, on the other hand, is most often left to the designer. The main focus of this paper is on the human induced forces transmitted to a footbridge and on the ways these loads can be modeled to be used in the dynamic design of footbridges. Also design criteria and load models proposed by widely used standards were introduced and a comparison was made. The dynamic analysis of the suspension bridge in Kolin in the Czech Republic was performed on detailed FEM model using the ANSYS program system. An attempt to model the load imposed by a single person and a crowd of pedestrians resulted in displacements and accelerations that are compared with serviceability criteria.

Keywords: Footbridge, Serviceability, Pedestrian action, Numerical analysis.

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Authors: D. Farsi, Gh. Dokhtvasi, S. Abbasi, S. Shafiee Ardestani, E. Payani

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Background and aim: It has not been well studied whether fentanyl-thiopental (FT) is effective and safe for PSA in orthopedic procedures in Emergency Department (ED). The aim of this trial was to evaluate the effectiveness of intravenous FT versus fentanyl-midazolam (FM) in patients who suffered from shoulder dislocation or distal radial fracture-dislocation. Methods: In this randomized double-blinded study, Seventy-six eligible patients were entered the study and randomly received intravenous FT or FM. The success rate, onset of action and recovery time, pain score, physicians’ satisfaction and adverse events were assessed and recorded by treating emergency physicians. The statistical analysis was intention to treat. Results: The success rate after administrating loading dose in FT group was significantly higher than FM group (71.7% vs. 48.9%, p=0.04); however, the ultimate unsuccessful rate after 3 doses of drugs in the FT group was higher than the FM group (3 to 1) but it did not reach to significant level (p=0.61). Despite near equal onset of action time in two study group (P=0.464), the recovery period in patients receiving FT was markedly shorter than FM group (P<0.001). The occurrence of adverse effects was low in both groups (p=0.31). Conclusion: PSA using FT is effective and appears to be safe for orthopedic procedures in the ED. Therefore, regarding the prompt onset of action, short recovery period of thiopental, it seems that this combination can be considered more for performing PSA in orthopedic procedures in ED.

Keywords: Procedural Sedation and Analgesia, Thiopental, Fentanyl, Midazolam, Orthopedic Procedure, Emergency Department, Pain.

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Authors: M.V. Shyla, K.B. Naidu

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The objective of this paper is to develop a computational model of human nasal cavity from computed tomography (CT) scans using MIMICS software. Computational fluid dynamic techniques were employed to understand nasal airflow. Gambit and Fluent software was used to perform CFD simulation. Velocity profiles, iteration plots, pressure distribution, streamline and pathline patterns for steady, laminar airflow inside the human nasal cavity of healthy and also infected persons are presented in detail. The implications for olfaction are visualized. Results are validated with the available numerical and experimental data. The graphs reveal that airflow varies with different anatomical nasal structures and only fraction of the inspired air reaches the olfactory region. The Deviations in the results suggest that the treatment of infected volunteers will improve the olfactory function.

Keywords: CFD techniques, Finite Volume Method, Fluid dynamic sniffing, Human nasal cavity.

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Authors: D. Mokhtari

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Any variation in environmental characteristics of geomorphosites would lead to destabilisation of their geotouristic values all around the planet. The Urmia lake, with an area of approximately 5,500 km2 and a catchment area of 51,876 km2, and to which various reasons over time, especially in the last fifty years have seen a sharp decline and have decreased by about 93 % in two recent decades. These variations are not only driving significant changes in the morphology and ecology of the present lake landscape, but at the same time are shaping newly formed morphologies, which vanished some valuable geomorphosites or develop into smaller geomorphosites with significant value from a scientific and cultural point of view. This paper analyses and discusses features and evolution in several representative coastal and island geomorphosites. For this purpose, a total of 23 geomorphosites were studied in two data series (1963 and 2015) and the respective data were compared and analysed. The results showed, the total loss in geomorphosites area in a half century amounted to a loss of more than 90% of the valuable geomorphosites. Moreover, the comparison between the mean yearly value of coastal area lost over the entire period and the yearly average calculated for the shorter period (1998- 2014) clearly indicates a pattern of acceleration. This acceleration in the rate of reduction in lake area was seen in most of the southern half of the lake. In the region as well, the general water-level falling is not only causing the loss of a significant water resource, which is followed by major impact on regional ecosystems, but is also driving the most marked recent (last century) changes in the geotouristic landscapes. In fact, the disappearance of geomorphosites means the loss of tourism phenomenon. In this context attention must be paid to the question of conservation. The action needed to safeguard geomorphosites includes: 1) Preventive action, 2) Corrective action, and 3) Sharing knowledge.

Keywords: Changing lake, environmental changes, geomorphosite, northwest of Iran, Urmia lake.

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Authors: Hideyuki Shintani, Ichiro Koshijima

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In Cyber Physical System (CPS), if there are a large number of persons in the process, a role of person in CPS might be different comparing with the one-man system. It is also necessary to consider how Human-in-The-Loop Cyber Physical Systems (HiTLCPS) ensure safety of each person in the loop process. In this paper, the authors discuss a system safety framework with an illustrative example with STAMP model to clarify what point for safety should be considered and what role of person in the should have.

Keywords: Cyber Physical System, Human-in-The-Loop, Safety, STAMP model.

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Authors: D. Gouwanda, S. M. N. A. Senanayake

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This paper presents a real time force sensing instrument that is designed for human gait analysis purposes. It is capable of recording and monitoring ground reaction forces exerted by human foot during various activities such as walking, running and jumping in real time. In overall, force sensing mat mainly consists of three elements: the force sensing mat, signal conditioning circuit and data acquisition device. Force sensing mat is the mat that contains an array of force sensing elements. To control and process the incoming signal from the force sensing mat, Force-Logger and Force-Reloader are developed using National Instrument Labview. This paper describes the architecture of the force sensing mat, signal conditioning circuit and the real time streaming of the incoming data from the force sensing mat. Additionally, a preliminary experiment dataset is presented in this paper.

Keywords: Force platform, force sensing resistor, human gait analysis.

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Authors: Ketan Naik, P. H. Bhathawala

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The purpose of this work is to develop a mathematical model of Human Cardiovascular System using lumped parameter method. The model is divided in three parts: Systemic Circulation, Pulmonary Circulation and the Heart. The established mathematical model has been simulated by MATLAB software. The innovation of this study is in describing the system based on the vessel diameters and simulating mathematical equations with active electrical elements. Terminology of human physical body and required physical data like vessel’s radius, thickness etc., which are required to calculate circuit parameters like resistance, inductance and capacitance, are proceeds from well-known medical books. The developed model is useful to understand the anatomic of human cardiovascular system and related syndromes. The model is deal with vessel’s pressure and blood flow at certain time.

Keywords: Cardiovascular system, lumped parameter method, mathematical modeling, simulation.

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Authors: Raed Abendeh, Mousa Bani Baker, Zaydoun Abu Salem, Heham Ahmad

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The using of waste materials in the construction industry can reduce the dependence on the natural aggregates which are going at the end to deplete. The glass waste is generated in a huge amount which can make one of its disposals in concrete industry effective not only as a green solution but also as an advantage to enhance the performance of mechanical properties and durability of concrete. This article reports the performance of concrete specimens containing different percentages of milled glass waste as a partial replacement of cement (Powder), when they are subject to cycles of freezing and thawing. The tests were conducted on 75-mm cubes and 75 x 75 x 300-mm prisms. Compressive strength based on laboratory testing and non-destructive ultrasonic pulse velocity test were performed during the action of freezing-thawing cycles (F/T). The results revealed that the incorporation of glass waste in concrete mixtures is not only feasible but also showed generally better strength and durability performance than control concrete mixture. It may be said that the recycling of waste glass in concrete mixes is not only a disposal way, but also it can be an exploitation in concrete industry.

Keywords: Durability, glass waste, freeze-thaw cycles, nondestructive test.

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Authors: Päivi J. Tossavainen , Leena Alakoski, Katri Ojasalo

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Building a service-centric business model requires new knowledge and capabilities in companies. This paper enlightens the challenges small and medium sized firms (SMEs) face when developing their service-centric business models. This paper examines the premise for knowledge transfer and capability development required. The objective of this paper is to increase knowledge about SME-s transformation to service-centric business models.This paper reports an action research based case study. The paper provides empirical evidence from three case companies. The empirical data was collected through multiple methods. The findings of the paper are: First, the developed model to analyze the current state in companies. Second, the process of building the service – centric business models. Third, the selection of suitable service development methods. The lack of a holistic understanding on service logic suggests that SMEs need practical and easy to use methods to improve their business

Keywords: service-centric business model, service development, action research, case study

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