Search results for: health index.

Authors: Yuan-Lin Chen

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This paper presents an approaching forward collision probability index (AFCPI) for alerting and assisting driver in keeping safety distance to avoid the forward collision accident in highway driving. The time to collision (TTC) and time headway (TH) are used to evaluate the TTC forward collision probability index (TFCPI) and the TH forward collision probability index (HFCPI), respectively. The Mamdani fuzzy inference algorithm is presented combining TFCPI and HFCPI to calculate the approaching collision probability index of the vehicle. The AFCPI is easier to understand for the driver who did not even have any professional knowledge in vehicle professional field. At the same time, the driver’s behavior is taken into account for suiting each driver. For the approaching index, the value 0 is indicating the 0% probability of forward collision, and the values 0.5 and 1 are indicating the 50% and 100% probabilities of forward collision, respectively. The AFCPI is useful and easy-to-understand for alerting driver to avoid the forward collision accidents when driving in highway.

Keywords: Approaching index, forward collision probability, time to collision, time headway.

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Authors: Mustafa M. Donma, Orkide Donma

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Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a disease associated with obesity. It is a complicated clinical problem possibly affecting body composition as well as macrominerals. These parameters gain further attention particularly in pediatric population. The aim of this study is to investigate the amount of discrete body composition fractions in groups that differ in the severity of obesity. Also, the possible associations with calcium (Ca), phosphorus (P), magnesium (Mg) will be examined. The study population was divided into four groups. 28, 29, 34 and 34 children were involved in Group 1 (healthy), Group 2 (obese), Group 3 (morbid obese) and Group 4 (MetS), respectively. Institutional Ethical Committee approved the study protocol. Informed consent forms were obtained from the parents of the participants. The classification of obese groups was performed based upon the recommendations of World Health Organization. MetS components were defined. Serum Ca, P, Mg concentrations were measured. Within the scope of body composition, fat mass, fat-free mass, protein mass, mineral mass were determined by body composition monitor using bioelectrical impedance analysis technology. Weight, height, waist circumference, hip circumference, head circumference and neck circumference values were recorded. Body mass index, diagnostic obesity notation model assessment index, fat mass index and fat-free mass index values were calculated. Data were statistically evaluated and interpreted. There was no statistically significant difference among the groups in terms of Ca and P concentrations. Magnesium concentrations differed between Group 1 and Group 4. Strong negative correlations were detected between P as well as Mg and fat mass index as well as diagnostic obesity notation model assessment index in Group 4, which comprised morbid obese children with MetS. This study emphasized unique associations of P and Mg minerals with diagnostic obesity notation model assessment index and fat mass index during the evaluation of morbid obese children with MetS. It was also concluded that diagnostic obesity notation model assessment index and fat mass index were more proper indices in comparison with body mass index and fat-free mass index for the purpose of defining body composition in children.

Keywords: Children, fat mass, fat-free mass, macrominerals, obesity.

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Authors: Chiung-Ju Huang, Yuan-Hong Ho

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This paper develops the fiscal health index of 21 local governments in Taiwan over the 1984 to 2010 period. A quantile regression analysis was used to explore the extent that economic variables, political budget cycles, and legislative checks and balances, impact different quantiles of fiscal health index for a country over a sample period of time. Our findings suggest that local governments at the lower quantile are significantly benefited from political budget cycles and the increase in central government revenues, while legislative effective checks and balances and the increase in central government expenditures have a significantly negative effect on local fiscal health. When local governments are in the upper tail of the distribution, legislative checks and balances and growth in macroeconomics have significant and adverse effects on the fiscal health of local governments. However, increases in central government revenues have significant and positive effects on the health status of local government in Taiwan.

Keywords: Fiscal health, political budget cycles, legislative checks and balances, quantile regression.

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Authors: N.A.M. Yahya, W.H. Lim, S.W. Phang, H. Ahmad, R. Zakaria, F.R. Mahamd Adikan

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Refractive index control of benzocyclobutene (BCB 4024-40) is achieved by facilitating different conditions during the thermal curing of BCB film. Refractive index (RI) change of 1.49% is obtained with curing of BCB film using an oven, while the RI change is 0.1% when the BCB is cured using a hotplate. The two different curing methods exhibit a temperature dependent refractive index change of the BCB photosensitive polymer. By carefully controlling the curing conditions, multiple layers of BCB with different RI can be fabricated, which can then be applied in the fabrication of optical waveguides.

Keywords: BCB 4024-40, curing method, multiple refractiveindex, polymers.

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Authors: Crt Gerlec, Marjan Hericko

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The aim of every software product is to achieve an appropriate level of software quality. Developers and designers are trying to produce readable, reliable, maintainable, reusable and testable code. To help achieve these goals, several approaches have been utilized. In this paper, refactoring technique was used to evaluate software quality with a quality index. It is composed of different metric sets which describes various quality aspects.

Keywords: Refactoring, Software Metrics, Software Quality, Quality Index, Agile methodologies

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

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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. The nexus between health, physical activity and aging is complex and has raised much interest in recent times due to the realization that a multifaceted approached is necessary in order to counteract a growing obesity epidemic. By investigating age based trends within a population adhering to competitive sport at older ages, further insight might be gleaned to assist in understanding one of many factors influencing this relationship. BMI was derived using data gathered on a total of 6,071 masters athletes (51.9% male, 48.1% female) aged 25 to 91 years ( =51.5, s =±9.7), competing at the Sydney World Masters Games (2009). Using linear and loess regression it was demonstrated that the usual tendency for prevalence of higher BMI increasing with age was reversed in the sample. This trend in reversal was repeated for both male and female only sub-sets of the sample participants, indicating the possibility of improved prevalence of BMI with increasing age for both the sample as a whole and these individual subgroups. This evidence of improved classification in one index of health (reduced BMI) for masters athletes (when compared to the general population) implies there are either improved levels of this index of health with aging due to adherence to sport or possibly the reduced BMI is advantageous and contributes to this cohort adhering (or being attracted) to masters sport at older ages. Demonstration of this proportionately under-investigated World Masters Games population having an improved relationship between BMI and increasing age over the general population is of particular interest in the context of the measures being taken globally to curb an obesity epidemic.

Keywords: Aging, masters athlete, Quetelet Index, sport.

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Authors: Leo Galambos

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The majority of today's IR systems base the IR task on two main processes: indexing and searching. There exists a special group of dynamic IR systems where both processes (indexing and searching) happen simultaneously; such a system discards obsolete information, simultaneously dealing with the insertion of new in¬formation, while still answering user queries. In these dynamic, time critical text document databases, it is often important to modify index structures quickly, as documents arrive. This paper presents a method for dynamization which may be used for this task. Experimental results show that the dynamization process is possible and that it guarantees the response time for the query operation and index actualization.

Keywords: Search engine, inverted file, index management.

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Authors: Changju Lee, Seungmo Ku, Sondo Kim, Woojin Chang

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How to detecting financial bubble? Addressing this simple question has been the focus of a vast amount of empirical research spanning almost half a century. However, financial bubble is hard to observe and varying over the time; there needs to be more research on this area. In this paper, we used abnormal difference between common stocks price and those preferred stocks price to explain financial bubble. First, we proposed the ‘W-index’ which indicates spread between common stocks and those preferred stocks in stock market. Second, to prove that this ‘W-index’ is valid for measuring financial bubble, we showed that there is an inverse relationship between this ‘W-index’ and S&P500 rate of return. Specifically, our hypothesis is that when ‘W-index’ is comparably higher than other periods, financial bubbles are added up in stock market and vice versa; according to our hypothesis, if investors made long term investments when ‘W-index’ is high, they would have negative rate of return; however, if investors made long term investments when ‘W-index’ is low, they would have positive rate of return. By comparing correlation values and adjusted R-squared values of between W-index and S&P500 return, VIX index and S&P500 return, and TED index and S&P500 return, we showed only W-index has significant relationship between S&P500 rate of return. In addition, we figured out how long investors should hold their investment position regard the effect of financial bubble. Using this W-index, investors could measure financial bubble in the market and invest with low risk.

Keywords: Financial bubbles, detection, preferred stocks, pairs trading, future return, forecast.

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Authors: Dongseok Cho, Mitchell Driedger, Sera Han, Noman Khan, Mohammed Elmorsy, Mohamad El-Hajj

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Since the approval of the COVID-19 vaccine in late 2020, vaccination rates have varied around the globe. Access to a vaccine supply, mandated vaccination policy, and vaccine hesitancy contribute to these rates. This study used COVID-19 vaccination data from Our World in Data and the Multilateral Leaders Task Force on COVID-19 to create two COVID-19 vaccination indices. The first index is the Vaccine Utilization Index (VUI), which measures how effectively each country has utilized its vaccine supply to doubly vaccinate its population. The second index is the Vaccination Acceleration Index (VAI), which evaluates how efficiently each country vaccinated their populations within their first 150 days. Pearson correlations were created between these indices and country indicators obtained from the World Bank. Results of these correlations identify countries with stronger Health indicators such as lower mortality rates, lower age-dependency ratios, and higher rates of immunization to other diseases display higher VUI and VAI scores than countries with lesser values. VAI scores are also positively correlated to Governance and Economic indicators, such as regulatory quality, control of corruption, and GDP per capita. As represented by the VUI, proper utilization of the COVID-19 vaccine supply by country is observed in countries that display excellence in health practices. A country’s motivation to accelerate its vaccination rates within the first 150 days of vaccinating, as represented by the VAI, was largely a product of the governing body’s effectiveness and economic status, as well as overall excellence in health practises.

Keywords: Data mining, Pearson Correlation, COVID-19, vaccination rates, hesitancy.

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Authors: Takeru YOKOI, Hidekazu YANAGIMOTO, Sigeru OMATU

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We have proposed an information filtering system using index word selection from a document set based on the topics included in a set of documents. This method narrows down the particularly characteristic words in a document set and the topics are obtained by Sparse Non-negative Matrix Factorization. In information filtering, a document is often represented with the vector in which the elements correspond to the weight of the index words, and the dimension of the vector becomes larger as the number of documents is increased. Therefore, it is possible that useless words as index words for the information filtering are included. In order to address the problem, the dimension needs to be reduced. Our proposal reduces the dimension by selecting index words based on the topics included in a document set. We have applied the Sparse Non-negative Matrix Factorization to the document set to obtain these topics. The filtering is carried out based on a centroid of the learning document set. The centroid is regarded as the user-s interest. In addition, the centroid is represented with a document vector whose elements consist of the weight of the selected index words. Using the English test collection MEDLINE, thus, we confirm the effectiveness of our proposal. Hence, our proposed selection can confirm the improvement of the recommendation accuracy from the other previous methods when selecting the appropriate number of index words. In addition, we discussed the selected index words by our proposal and we found our proposal was able to select the index words covered some minor topics included in the document set.

Keywords: Information Filtering, Sparse NMF, Index wordSelection, User Profile, Chi-squared Measure

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Authors: Yingjie Zhang, Ming Li, Ying Zhang, Jing Zhang, Zuolei Hu

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In the actual start-up process of DC motors, the DC drive system often faces a conflict between energy consumption and acceleration performance. To resolve the conflict, this paper proposes a comprehensive performance index that energy consumption index is added on the basis of classical control performance index in the DC motor starting process. Taking the comprehensive performance index as the cost function, particle swarm optimization algorithm is designed to optimize the comprehensive performance. Then it conducts simulations on the optimization of the comprehensive performance of the DC motor on condition that the weight coefficient of the energy consumption index should be properly designed. The simulation results show that as the weight of energy consumption increased, the energy efficiency was significantly improved at the expense of a slight sacrifice of fastness indicators with the comprehensive performance index method. The energy efficiency was increased from 63.18% to 68.48% and the response time reduced from 0.2875s to 0.1736s simultaneously compared with traditional proportion integrals differential controller in energy saving.

Keywords: Comprehensive performance index, energy consumption, acceleration performance, particle swarm optimal control.

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Authors: S. Al-Sowayan

Abstract:

The impact of selective excitation of circular helical modes of graded-index fibers on its capacity is analyzed using a model for propagation delay variation with launch offset and angle that resulted from misalignment of source and fiber axis. Results show promising technique to improve graded-index fiber capacities.

Keywords: Fiber measurements, Fiber optic communications.

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Authors: Dongjoo Kim, Chang-Sik Son, Won-Seok Kang

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Adequate sleep affects various parts of one’s overall physical and mental life. As one of the methods in determining the appropriate amount of sleep, this research presents a heart rate based sleep quality index. In order to evaluate sleep quality using the heart rate, sleep data from 280 subjects taken over one month are used. Their sleep data are categorized by a three-part heart rate range. After categorizing, some features are extracted, and the statistical significances are verified for these features. The results show that some features of this sleep quality index model have statistical significance. Thus, this heart rate based sleep quality index may be a useful discriminator of sleep.

Keywords: Sleep, sleep quality, heart rate, statistical analysis.

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Authors: Mustafa M. Donma, Orkide Donma

Abstract:

Vitamin deficiencies are common in obese individuals. Particularly, the status of vitamin B12 and its association with vitamin B9 (folate) and vitamin D is under investigation in recent time. Vitamin B12 is closely related to many vital processes in the body. In clinical studies, its involvement in fat metabolism draws attention from the obesity point of view. Obesity, in its advanced stages and in combination with metabolic syndrome (MetS) findings, may be a life-threatening health problem. Pediatric obesity is particularly important, because it may be a predictor of the severe chronic diseases during adulthood period of the child. Due to its role in fat metabolism, vitamin B12 deficiency may disrupt metabolic pathways of the lipid and energy metabolisms in the body. The association of low B12 levels with obesity degree may be an interesting topic to be investigated. Obesity indices may be helpful at this point. Weight- and fat-based indices are available. Of them, body mass index (BMI) is in the first group. Fat mass index (FMI), fat-free mass index (FFMI) and diagnostic obesity notation model assessment-II (D2I) index lie in the latter group. The aim of this study is to clarify possible associations between vitamin B12 status and obesity indices in pediatric population. The study comprises a total of 122 children. 32 children were included in the normal-body mass index (N-BMI) group. 46 and 44 children constitute groups with morbid obese children without MetS and with MetS, respectively. Informed consent forms and the approval of the institutional ethics committee were obtained. Tables prepared for obesity classification by World Health Organization were used. MetS criteria were defined. Anthropometric and blood pressure measurements were taken. BMI, FMI, FFMI, D2I were calculated. Routine laboratory tests were performed. Vitamin B9, B12, D concentrations were determined. Statistical evaluation of the study data was performed. Vitamin B9 and vitamin D levels were reduced in MetS group compared to children with N-BMI (p > 0.05). Significantly lower values were observed in vitamin B12 concentrations of MetS group (p < 0.01). Upon evaluation of blood pressure as well as triglyceride levels, there exist significant increases in morbid obese children. Significantly decreased concentrations of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol were observed. All of the obesity indices and insulin resistance index exhibit increasing tendency with the severity of obesity. Inverse correlations were calculated between vitamin D and insulin resistance index as well as vitamin B12 and D2I in morbid obese groups. In conclusion, a fat-based index, D2I, was the most prominent body index, which shows strong correlation with vitamin B12 concentrations in the late stage of obesity in children. A negative correlation between these two parameters was a confirmative finding related to the association between vitamin B12 and obesity degree. 

Keywords: Body mass index, children, D2I index, fat mass index, obesity.

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Authors: E. Bene

Abstract:

Our sowing date experiment took place in the Demonstration Garden of Institution of Plant Sciences, Centre for Agricultural Sciences of University of Debrecen, in 2012-2014. The paper contains data of test year 2014. Our purpose, besides several other examinations, was to observe how sowing date influences the leaf area index and the activity of photosynthesis of maize hybrids, and how those factors affect fruiting. In the experiment we monitored the change of the leaf area index and the photosynthesis of hybrids with four different growing seasons. The results obtained confirm that not only the environmental and agricultural factors in the growing season have effect on the yield, but also other factors like the leaf area index and the photosynthesis are determinative parameters, and all those factors together, modifying the effects of each other, develop average yields.

Keywords: Sowing date, hybrid, leaf area index, photosynthetic capacity.

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Authors: Amol Lanke, Hadi Hoseinie, Behzad Ghodrati

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OEE has been used in many industries as measure of performance. However due to limitations of original OEE, it has been modified by various researchers. OEE for mining application is special version of classic equation, carries these limitation over. In this paper it has been aimed to modify the OEE for mining application by introducing the weights to the elements of it and termed as Mine Production index (MPi). As a special application of new index MPishovel has been developed by authors. This can be used for evaluating the shovel effectiveness. Based on analysis, utilization followed by performance and availability were ranked in this order. To check the applicability of this index, a case study was done on four electrical and one hydraulic shovel in a Swedish mine. The results shows that MPishovel can evaluate production effectiveness of shovels and can determine effectiveness values in optimistic view compared to OEE. MPi with calculation not only give the effectiveness but also can predict which elements should be focused for improving the productivity.

Keywords: Mining, Overall equipment efficiency (OEE), Mine Production index, Shovels.

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Authors: V. Zamora, Z. Zhang, A. Meldrum

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The compatibility of optical resonators with microfluidic systems may be relevant for chemical and biological applications. Here, a fluorescent-core microcavity (FCM) is investigated as a refractometric sensor for heavy oils. A high-index film of silicon quantum dots (QDs) was formed inside the capillary, supporting cylindrical fluorescence whispering gallery modes (WGMs). A set of standard refractive index oils was injected into a capillary, causing a shift of the WGM resonances toward longer wavelengths. A maximum sensitivity of 240 nm/RIU (refractive index unit) was found for a nominal oil index of 1.74. As well, a sensitivity of 22 nm/RIU was obtained for a lower index of 1.48, more typical of fuel hydrocarbons. Furthermore, the observed spectra and sensitivities were compared to theoretical predictions and reproduced via FDTD simulations, showing in general an excellent agreement. This work demonstrates the potential use of FCMs for oil sensing applications and the more generally for detecting liquid solutions with a high refractive index or high viscosity.

Keywords: Oils, optical resonators, sensing applications, whispering gallery modes.

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Authors: Arie Pujiwati, Kengo Nakamura, Noriaki Watanabe, Takeshi Komai

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Coal mining is well known to cause considerable environmental impacts, including trace element contamination of soil. This study aimed to assess the trace element (As, Cd, Co, Cu, Ni, Pb, Sb, and Zn) contamination of soil in the vicinity of coal mining activities, using the case study of Asam-asam River basin, South Kalimantan, Indonesia, and to assess the human health risk, incorporating total and bioavailable (water-leachable and acid-leachable) concentrations. The results show the enrichment of As and Co in soil, surpassing the background soil value. Contamination was evaluated based on the index of geo-accumulation, I_geo and the pollution index, PI. I_geo values showed that the soil was generally uncontaminated (I_geo ≤ 0), except for elevated As and Co. Mean PI for Ni and Cu indicated slight contamination. Regarding the assessment of health risks, the Hazard Index, HI showed adverse risks (HI > 1) for Ni, Co, and As. Further, Ni and As were found to pose unacceptable carcinogenic risk (risk > 1.10^-5). Farming, settlement, and plantation were found to present greater risk than coal mines. These results show that coal mining activity in the study area contaminates the soils by particular elements and may pose potential human health risk in its surrounding area. This study is important for setting appropriate countermeasure actions and improving basic coal mining management in Indonesia.

Keywords: Coal mine, risk, soil, trace elements.

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

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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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Authors: E. Vári, K. Máriás

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The research focused on the effects of previous cropping and fertilizers on the LAI, rhythm of the dry matter, leaf disease intensity and amount of yield. Long term field experiments’ results proved that the previous crop fundamentally determines size, rate and dynamics of the dry matter formation in the spring time vegetation period. The LAI index and crop results of winter wheat can be influenced mainly by raising the fertilizer amount. N fertilization has an outstanding role in the changes in leaf area index (LAI), weight of dry matter and yield of winter wheat. According to our results, the interaction effect of leaf area index, weight of dry matter and fertilization resulted in the maximum yield in biculture and triculture.

Keywords: Crop rotation, Leaf Area Index, leaf disease of winter wheat.

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Authors: Hoda Zolfagharnejad, Behnam Kamkar, Omid Abdi

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Crop coefficient (Kc) is an important factor contributing to estimation of evapotranspiration, and is also used to determine the irrigation schedule. This study investigated and determined the monthly Kc of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) using five vegetation indices (VIs): Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Difference Vegetation Index (DVI), Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index (SAVI), Infrared Percentage Vegetation Index (IPVI), and Ratio Vegetation Index (RVI) of four basins in Golestan province, Iran. 14 Landsat-8 images according to crop growth stage were used to estimate monthly Kc of wheat. VIs were calculated based on infrared and near infrared bands of Landsat 8 images using Geographical Information System (GIS) software. The best VIs were chosen after establishing a regression relationship among these VIs with FAO Kc and Kc that was modified for the study area by the previous research based on R² and Root Mean Square Error (RMSE). The result showed that local modified SAVI with R²= 0.767 and RMSE= 0.174 was the best index to produce monthly wheat Kc maps.

Keywords: Crop coefficient, remote sensing, vegetation indices, wheat.

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Authors: A. Zeynolabedin, M. A. Olyaei, B. Ghiasi

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Drought is an inevitable part of the earth’s climate. It occurs regularly with no clear warning and without recognizing borders. In addition, its impact is cumulative and not immediately discernible. Iran is located in a semi-arid region where droughts occur periodically as natural hazard. Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), Surface Water Supply Index (SWSI), and Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) are three well-known indices which describe drought severity; each has its own advantages and disadvantages and can be used for specific types of drought. These indices take into account some factors such as precipitation, reservoir storage and discharge, temperature, and potential evapotranspiration in determining drought severity. In this paper, first all three indices are calculated in Aharchay river watershed located in northwestern part of Iran in East Azarbaijan province. Next, based on two other important parameters which are groundwater level and solar radiation, two new indices are defined. Finally, considering all five aforementioned indices, a combined drought index (CDI) is presented and calculated for the region. This combined index is based on all the meteorological, hydrological, and agricultural features of the region. The results show that the most severe drought condition in Aharchay watershed happened in Jun, 2004. The result of this study can be used for monitoring drought and prepare for the drought mitigation planning.

Keywords: Drought, index variation, regional assessment, monitoring.

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Authors: Ti-An Tsai, Chun-Chih Wang, Hung-Wen Wang, I-Ling Chang, Lien-Wen Chen

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In this study, we demonstrate a high-resolution refractive index sensor based on a Magnetic Photonic Crystal (MPC) composed of a triangular lattice array of air holes embedded in Si matrix. A microcavity is created by changing the radius of an air hole in the middle of the photonic crystal. The cavity filled with gyrotropic materials can serve as a refractive index sensor. The shift of the resonant frequency of the sensor is obtained numerically using finite difference time domain method under different ambient conditions having refractive index from n = 1.0 to n = 1.1. The numerical results show that a tiny change in refractive index of  Δn = 0.0001 is distinguishable. In addition, the spectral response of the MPC sensor is studied while an external magnetic field is present. The results show that the MPC sensor exhibits a dramatic improvement in resolution.

Keywords: Magnetic photonic crystal, refractive index sensor, sensitivity, high-resolution.

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Authors: Hanan A. M. Abd Alla, Lilac A. E. Al-Safadi

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In this paper, a novel multi join algorithm to join multiple relations will be introduced. The novel algorithm is based on a hashed-based join algorithm of two relations to produce a double index. This is done by scanning the two relations once. But instead of moving the records into buckets, a double index will be built. This will eliminate the collision that can happen from a complete hash algorithm. The double index will be divided into join buckets of similar categories from the two relations. The algorithm then joins buckets with similar keys to produce joined buckets. This will lead at the end to a complete join index of the two relations. without actually joining the actual relations. The time complexity required to build the join index of two categories is Om log m where m is the size of each category. Totaling time complexity to O n log m for all buckets. The join index will be used to materialize the joined relation if required. Otherwise, it will be used along with other join indices of other relations to build a lattice to be used in multi-join operations with minimal I/O requirements. The lattice of the join indices can be fitted into the main memory to reduce time complexity of the multi join algorithm.

Keywords: Multi join, Relation, Lattice, Join indices.

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Authors: Siti Khairunniza-Bejo, Yusnida Yusoff, Nik Salwani Nik Yusoff, Idris Abu Seman, Mohamad Izzuddin Anuar

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Most of the oil palm plantations have been threatened by Basal Stem Rot (BSR) disease which causes serious economic impact. This study was conducted to identify the healthy and BSRinfected oil palm tree using thirteen color indices. Multispectral and thermal camera was used to capture 216 images of the leaves taken from frond number 1, 9 and 17. Indices of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), red (R), green (G), blue (B), near infrared (NIR), green – blue (GB), green/blue (G/B), green – red (GR), green/red (G/R), hue (H), saturation (S), intensity (I) and thermal index (T) were used. From this study, it can be concluded that G index taken from frond number 9 is the best index to differentiate between the healthy and BSR-infected oil palm trees. It not only gave high value of correlation coefficient (R=-0.962), but also high value of separation between healthy and BSR-infected oil palm tree. Furthermore, power and S model developed using G index gave the highest R2 value which is 0.985.

Keywords: Oil palm, image processing, disease, leaves.

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Authors: Federica Cornali

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Does education matter to the quality of our life? The results of extensive studies offer an affirmative answer to this question: high education levels are positively associated with higher income, with more highly qualified professions, with lower risk of unemployment, with better physical health and also, it is said, with more happiness. However, exploring these relationships is far from straightforward. Aside from educational credentials, what properties distinguish functionally literate individuals? How can their personal level of satisfaction be measured? What are the social mechanisms whereby education affects well-being?Using a literacy index and several measures for well-being developed by secondary analysis of the Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey database, this investigation examined the relationship between literacy skills and subjective wellbeing in several OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries. Special attention was been addressed to Italy, and in particular to two regions representing territorial differences in this country: Piedmont and Campania.

Keywords: Cultural Divide, Literacy Index, Life Satisfaction, Subjective Well-being Index

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Authors: Mustafa M. Donma, Orkide Donma

Abstract:

The number of indices developed for the evaluation of obesity and metabolic syndrome (MetS) both in adults and pediatric population is ever increasing. These indices can be weight-dependent or weight–independent. Some are extremely sophisticated equations and their clinical utility is questionable in routine clinical practice. The aim of this study was to compare presently available obesity indices and find the most practical one. Their associations with MetS components were also investigated to determine their capacities in differential diagnosis of morbid obesity with and without MetS. Children with normal body mass index (N-BMI) and morbid obesity were recruited for this study. Three groups were constituted. Age- and sex-dependent BMI percentiles for morbid obese (MO) children were above 99 according to World Health Organization tables. Of them, those with MetS findings were evaluated as MetS group. Children, whose values were between 85 and 15, were included in N-BMI group. The study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of Tekirdag Namik Kemal University, Faculty of Medicine. Parents filled out informed consent forms to participate in the study. Anthropometric measurements and blood pressure values were recorded. BMI, hip index (HI), conicity index (CI), triponderal mass index (TPMI), body adiposity index (BAI), body shape index (BSI), body roundness index (BRI), abdominal volume index (AVI), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and [waist circumference (WC) + hip circumference (HC)]/2 were the formulas examined in this study. Routine biochemical tests including fasting blood glucose (FBG), insulin (INS), blood lipids were performed. Statistical program SPSS was used for the evaluation of study data; p < 0.05 was accepted as the statistical significance degree. HI did not differ among the groups. A statistically significant difference was noted between N-BMI and MetS groups in terms of ABSI. All the other indices were capable of making discrimination between N-BMI-MO, N-BMI- MetS and MO-MetS groups. No correlation was found between FBG and any obesity indices in any groups. The same was true for INS in N-BMI group. Insulin was correlated with BAI, TPMI, CI, BRI, AVI and (WC+HC)/2 in MO group without MetS findings. In the MetS group, the only index, which was correlated with INS, was (WC+HC)/2. These findings have pointed out that complicated formulas may not be required for the evaluation of the alterations among N-BMI and various obesity groups including MetS. The simple easily computable weight-independent index, (WC+HC)/2, was unique, because it was the only index, which exhibits a valuable association with INS in MetS group. It did not exhibit any correlation with other obesity indices showing associations with INS in MO group. It was concluded that (WC+HC)/2 was pretty valuable practicable index for the discrimination of MO children with and without MetS findings.

Keywords: Fasting blood glucose, insulin, metabolic syndrome, obesity indices.

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Authors: Satjaporn Tungsong, Gun Srijuntongsiri

Abstract:

This research seeks to investigate the frequency and profitability of index arbitrage opportunities involving the SET50 futures, SET50 component stocks, and the ThaiDEX SET50 ETF (ticker symbol: TDEX). In particular, the frequency and profit of arbitrage are measured in the following three arbitrage tests: (1) SET50 futures vs. ThaiDEX SET50 ETF, (2) SET50 futures vs. SET50 component stocks, and (3) ThaiDEX SET50 ETF vs. SET50 component stocks are investigated. For tests (2) and (3), the problems involve conic optimization and quadratic programming as subproblems. This research is first to apply conic optimization and quadratic programming techniques in the context of index arbitrage and is first to investigate such index arbitrage in the Thai equity and derivatives markets. Thus, the contribution of this study is twofold. First, its results would help understand the contribution of the derivatives securities to the efficiency of the Thai markets. Second, the methodology employed in this study can be applied to other geographical markets, with minor adjustments.

Keywords: Conic optimization, Equity index arbitrage, Executionlags, Quadratic programming, SET50 index futures, ThaiDEX SET50ETF, Transaction costs

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Authors: Manish Pal, Rumi Sutradhar

Abstract:

Pavement surface unevenness plays a pivotal role on roughness index of road which affects on riding comfort ability. Comfort ability refers to the degree of protection offered to vehicle occupants from uneven elements in the road surface. So, it is preferable to have a lower roughness index value for a better riding quality of road users. Roughness is generally defined as an expression of irregularities in the pavement surface which can be measured using different equipments like MERLIN, Bump integrator, Profilometer etc. Among them Bump Integrator is quite simple and less time consuming in case of long road sections. A case study is conducted on low volume roads in West District in Tripura to determine roughness index (RI) using Bump Integrator at the standard speed of 32 km/h. But it becomes too tough to maintain the requisite standard speed throughout the road section. The speed of Bump Integrator (BI) has to lower or higher in some distinctive situations. So, it becomes necessary to convert these roughness index values of other speeds to the standard speed of 32 km/h. This paper highlights on that roughness index conversional model. Using SPSS (Statistical Package of Social Sciences) software a generalized equation is derived among the RI value at standard speed of 32 km/h and RI value at other speed conditions.

Keywords: Bump Integrator, Pavement Distresses, Roughness Index, SPSS.

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Authors: Le Xuan Cau

Abstract:

Flash flood is occurred in short time rainfall interval: from 1 hour to 12 hours in small and medium basins. Flash floods typically have two characteristics: large water flow and big flow velocity. Flash flood is occurred at hill valley site (strip of lowland of terrain) in a catchment with large enough distribution area, steep basin slope, and heavy rainfall. The risk of flash floods is determined through Gridded Basin Flash Flood Potential Index (GBFFPI). Flash Flood Potential Index (FFPI) is determined through terrain slope flash flood index, soil erosion flash flood index, land cover flash floods index, land use flash flood index, rainfall flash flood index. Determining GBFFPI, each cell in a map can be considered as outlet of a water accumulation basin. GBFFPI of the cell is determined as basin average value of FFPI of the corresponding water accumulation basin. Based on GIS, a tool is developed to compute GBFFPI using ArcObjects SDK for .NET. The maps of GBFFPI are built in two types: GBFFPI including rainfall flash flood index (real time flash flood warning) or GBFFPI excluding rainfall flash flood index. GBFFPI Tool can be used to determine a high flash flood potential site in a large region as quick as possible. The GBFFPI is improved from conventional FFPI. The advantage of GBFFPI is that GBFFPI is taking into account the basin response (interaction of cells) and determines more true flash flood site (strip of lowland of terrain) while conventional FFPI is taking into account single cell and does not consider the interaction between cells. The GBFFPI Map of QuangNam, QuangNgai, DaNang, Hue is built and exported to Google Earth. The obtained map proves scientific basis of GBFFPI.

Keywords: ArcObjects SDK for .NET, Basin average value of FFPI, Gridded basin flash flood potential index, GBFFPI map.

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