Abstract: Neuromuscular control of posture as understood
through studies of responses to mechanical sudden acceleration
automatically has been previously demonstrated in individuals with
chronic ankle instability (CAI), but the presence of acute condition
has not been previously explored specially in a sudden acceleration.
The aim of this study was to determine neuromuscular control pattern
in those with and without unilateral acute ankle sprains. Design: Case
- control. Setting: University research laboratory. The sinker–card
protocol with surface translation was be used as a sudden acceleration
protocol with study of EMG upon 4 posture stabilizer muscles in two
sides of the body in response to sudden acceleration in forward and
backward directions. 20 young adult women in two groups (10 LAS;
23.9 ± 2.03 yrs and 10 normal; 26.4 ± 3.2 yrs). The data of EMG
were assessed by using multivariate test and one-way repeated
measures 2×2×4 ANOVA (P< 0.05). The results showed a significant
muscle by direction interaction. Higher TA activity of left and right
side in LAS group than normal group in forward direction
significantly be showed. Higher MGR activity in normal group than
LAS group in backward direction significantly showed. These
findings suggest that compared two sides of the body in two
directions for 4 muscles EMG activities between and within group for
neuromuscular control of posture in avoiding fall. EMG activations
of two sides of the body in lateral ankle sprain (LAS) patients were
symmetric significantly. Acute ankle instability following once ankle
sprains caused to coordinated temporal spatial patterns and strategy
selection.
Abstract: In this paper, we propose an improved face recognition algorithm using histogram-based features in spatial and frequency domains. For adding spatial information of the face to improve recognition performance, a region-division (RD) method is utilized. The facial area is firstly divided into several regions, then feature vectors of each facial part are generated by Binary Vector Quantization (BVQ) histogram using DCT coefficients in low frequency domains, as well as Local Binary Pattern (LBP) histogram in spatial domain. Recognition results with different regions are first obtained separately and then fused by weighted averaging. Publicly available ORL database is used for the evaluation of our proposed algorithm, which is consisted of 40 subjects with 10 images per subject containing variations in lighting, posing, and expressions. It is demonstrated that face recognition using RD method can achieve much higher recognition rate.
Abstract: Evolutionary Fuzzy PID Speed Controller for Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor (PMSM) is developed to achieve the Speed control of PMSM in Closed Loop operation and to deal with the existence of transients. Consider a Fuzzy PID control design problem, based on common control Engineering Knowledge. If the transient error is big, that Good transient performance can be obtained by increasing the P and I gains and decreasing the D gains. To autotune the control parameters of the Fuzzy PID controller, the Evolutionary Algorithms (EA) are developed. EA based Fuzzy PID controller provides better speed control and guarantees the closed loop stability. The Evolutionary Fuzzy PID controller can be implemented in real time Applications without any concern about instabilities that leads to system failure or damage.
Abstract: Traditional Malay performances are carried out for both entertainment and curing purposes. In curing rituals, the men and women serving as shamans, communicates with the spirits and beings from the nether world to facilitate the curing process. The dependency on engaging with these other-worldly beings however, have raised religious issues of being syirik, namely practicing in rituals which are religiously forbidden. This study aims to observe how ritual leaders attempt to negotiate the fine balance between what has been religiously forbidden and the psychological and sociological needs of the patient. Two curing rituals, the main peteri and the malibobou were chosen to exemplify the communication between the physical and spiritual realities. In both rituals, the healers engaged in procedures of curing as they attempted to diagnose sicknesses and proffer cures with the help of the spirits. The main peteri was conducted by a male shaman, the tuk teri whereas the malibobou was conducted by a female ritual specialist, the bobohizan. Main peteri and the malibobou both ended with ritually thanking and sending off the spirits back to their nether, invisible domains. These curing rituals heal not only the sick individual, but by extension, the village community. Therefore, there is a need to reconcile these rituals with religious tenets, beliefs and sociological-political-cultural dimensions.
Abstract: The aim of this study is to present the results of a retrospective survey on the foreign matter found in foods analyzed at the Adolfo Lutz Institute, from July 2001 to July 2015. All the analyses were conducted according to the official methods described on Association of Official Agricultural Chemists (AOAC) for the micro analytical procedures and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the macro analytical procedures. The results showed flours, cereals and derivatives such as baking and pasta products were the types of food where foreign matters were found more frequently followed by condiments and teas. Fragments of stored grains insects, its larvae, nets, excrement, dead mites and rodent excrement were the most foreign matter found in food. Besides, foreign matters that can cause a physical risk to the consumer’s health such as metal, stones, glass, wood were found but rarely. Miscellaneous (shell, sand, dirt and seeds) were also reported. There are a lot of extraneous materials that are considered unavoidable since are something inherent to the product itself, such as insect fragments in grains. In contrast, there are avoidable extraneous materials that are less tolerated because it is preventable with the Good Manufacturing Practice. The conclusion of this work is that although most extraneous materials found in food are considered unavoidable it is necessary to keep the Good Manufacturing Practice throughout the food processing as well as maintaining a constant surveillance of the production process in order to avoid accidents that may lead to occurrence of these extraneous materials in food.
Abstract: Climate change and sea level rise is one of the greatest challenges facing human beings in the 21st century. Because of sea level rise, several low-lying coastal areas around the globe are at risk of being completely submerged, disappearing under water. Particularly in Viet Nam, the rise in sea level is predicted to result in more frequent and even permanently inundated coastal plains. As a result, land reserving fund of coastal cities is going to be narrowed in near future, while construction ground is becoming increasingly limited due to a rapid growth in population. Faced with this reality, the solutions are being discussed not only in tradition view such as accommodation is raised or moved to higher areas, or “living with the water”, but also forwards to “living on the water”. Therefore, the concept of a sustainable floating community with floating houses based on the precious value of long term historical tradition of water dwellings in Viet Nam would be a sustainable solution for adaptation of climate change and sea level rise in the coastal areas. The sustainable floating community is comprised of sustainability in four components: architecture, environment, socio-economic and living quality. This research paper is focused on sustainability in architectural component of floating community. Through detailed architectural analysis of current floating houses and floating communities in Viet Nam, this research not only accumulates precious values of traditional architecture that need to be preserved and developed in the proposed concept, but also illustrates its weaknesses that need to address for optimal design of the future sustainable floating communities. Based on these studies the research would provide guidelines with appropriate architectural solutions for the concept of sustainable floating community with floating housing units that are adapted to climate change and sea level rise in Viet Nam.
Abstract: Background: Plantar pressure measurement is an effective method for assessing plantar loading and can be applied to evaluating movement performance of the foot. The purpose of this study is to explore the sprint athletes’ plantar loading characteristics and pain profiles in static standing. Methods: Experiments were undertaken on 80 first-division college sprint athletes and 85 healthy non-sprinters. ‘JC Mat’, the optical plantar pressure measurement was applied to examining the differences between both groups in the arch index (AI), three regional and six distinct sub-regional plantar pressure distributions (PPD), and footprint characteristics. Pain assessment and self-reported health status in sprint athletes were examined for evaluating their common pain areas. Results: Findings from the control group, the males’ AI fell into the normal range. Yet, the females’ AI was classified as the high-arch type. AI values of the sprint group were found to be significantly lower than the control group. PPD were higher at the medial metatarsal bone of both feet and the lateral heel of the right foot in the sprint group, the males in particular, whereas lower at the medial and lateral longitudinal arches of both feet. Footprint characteristics tended to support the results of the AI and PPD, and this reflected the corresponding pressure profiles. For the sprint athletes, the lateral knee joint and biceps femoris were the most common musculoskeletal pains. Conclusions: The sprint athletes’ AI were generally classified as high arches, and that their PPD were categorized between the features of runners and high-arched runners. These findings also correspond to the profiles of patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS)-related plantar pressure. The pain profiles appeared to correspond to the symptoms of high-arched runners and PFPS. The findings reflected upon the possible link between high arches and PFPS. The correlation between high-arched runners and PFPS development is worth further studies.
Abstract: In this study, the butt welding of the commercial AZ31 magnesium alloy sheets have been carried out by using Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) welding process with alternative and pulsed current. Welded samples were examined with regards to hardness and microstructure. Despite some recent developments in welding of magnesium alloys, they have some problems such as porosity, hot cracking, oxide formation and so on. Samples of the welded parts have undergone metallographic and mechanical examination. Porosities and homogeneous micron grain oxides were rarely observed. Orientations of the weld microstructure in terms of heat transfer also were rarely observed and equiaxed grain morphology was dominant grain structure as in the base metal. As results, fusion zone and few locations of the HAZ of the welded samples have shown twin’s grains. Hot cracking was not observed for any samples. Weld bead geometry of the welded samples were evaluated as normal according to welding parameters. In the results, conditions of alternative and pulsed current and the samples were compared to each other with regards to microstructure and hardness.
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.
Abstract: The source of the jet noise is generated by rocket exhaust plume during rocket engine testing. A domain decomposition approach is applied to the jet noise prediction in this paper. The aerodynamic noise coupling is based on the splitting into acoustic sources generation and sound propagation in separate physical domains. Large Eddy Simulation (LES) is used to simulate the supersonic jet flow. Based on the simulation results of the flow-fields, the jet noise distribution of the sound pressure level is obtained by applying the Ffowcs Williams-Hawkings (FW-H) acoustics equation and Fourier transform. The calculation results show that the complex structures of expansion waves, compression waves and the turbulent boundary layer could occur due to the strong interaction between the gas jet and the ambient air. In addition, the jet core region, the shock cell and the sound pressure level of the gas jet increase with the nozzle size increasing. Importantly, the numerical simulation results of the far-field sound are in good agreement with the experimental measurements in directivity.
Abstract: Landfill leachates contain a number of persistent pollutants, including heavy metals. They have the ability to spread in ecosystems and accumulate in fish which most of them are classified as top-consumers of trophic chains. Fish are freely swimming organisms; but perhaps, due to their species-specific ecological and behavioral properties, they often prefer the most suitable biotopes and therefore, did not avoid harmful substances or environments. That is why it is necessary to evaluate the persistent pollutant dispersion in hydroecosystem using fish tissue metal concentration. In hydroecosystems of hybrid type (e.g. river-pond-river) the distance from the pollution source could be a perfect indicator of such a kind of metal distribution. The studies were carried out in the Kairiai landfill neighboring hybrid-type ecosystem which is located 5 km east of the Šiauliai City. Fish tissue (gills, liver, and muscle) metal concentration measurements were performed on two types of ecologically-different fishes according to their feeding characteristics: benthophagous (Gibel carp, roach) and predatory (Northern pike, perch). A number of mathematical models (linear, non-linear, using log and other transformations) have been applied in order to identify the most satisfactorily description of the interdependence between fish tissue metal concentration and the distance from the pollution source. However, the only one log-multiple regression model revealed the pattern that the distance from the pollution source is closely and positively correlated with metal concentration in all predatory fish tissues studied (gills, liver, and muscle).
Abstract: The nutritional composition and hypoglycaemic effect
of crackers produced from blend of sprouted pigeon pea, unripe
plantain and brewers’ spent grain and fed to Alloxan induced diabetic
rat was investigated. Crackers were produced from different blends of
sprouted pigeon pea, unripe plantain and brewers’ spent grain. The
crackers were evaluated for proximate composition, amino acid
profile and antinutritional factors. Blood glucose levels of normal and
diabetic rats fed with the control sample and different formulations of
cracker were measured. The protein content of the samples were
significantly different (p
Abstract: The social logic of 'Sequina' slum area in Alexandria details the integral measure of space syntax at the room-level of twenty-building samples. The essence of spatial structure integrates the central 'visitor' domain with the 'living' frontage of the 'children' zone against the segregated privacy of the opposite 'parent' depth. Meanwhile, the multifunctioning of shallow rooms optimizes the integral 'visitor' structure through graph and visibility dimensions in contrast to the 'inhabitant' structure of graph-tails out of sight. Common theme of the layout integrity increases in compensation to the decrease of room visibility. Despite the 'pheno-type' of collective integration, the individual layouts observe 'geno-type' structure of spatial diversity per room adjoins. In this regard, the layout integrity alternates the cross-correlation of the 'kitchen & living' rooms with the 'inhabitant & visitor' domains of 'motherhood' dynamic structure. Moreover, the added 'grandparent' restructures the integral measure to become the deepest space, but opens to the 'living' of 'household' integrity. Some isomorphic layouts change the integral structure just through the 'balcony' extension of access, visual or ignored 'ringiness' of space syntax. However, the most integrated or segregated layouts invert the 'geno-type' into a shallow 'inhabitant' centrality versus the remote 'visitor' structure. Overview of the multivariate social logic of spatial integrity could never clarify without the micro-data analysis.
Abstract: The purpose of this study is to analyze the temporal
and spatial variability of thermal conditions in the Republic of
Armenia. The paper describes annual fluctuations in air temperature.
Research has been focused on case study region of Armenia and
surrounding areas, where long–term measurements and observations
of weather conditions have been performed within the National
Meteorological Service of Armenia and its surrounding areas. The
study contains yearly air temperature data recorded between 1961-
2012. Mann-Kendal test and the autocorrelation function were
applied to detect the change trend of annual mean temperature, as
well as other parametric and non-parametric tests searching to find
the presence of some breaks in the long term evolution of
temperature. The analysis of all records reveals a tendency mostly
towards warmer years, with increased temperatures especially in
valleys and inner basins. The maximum temperature increase is up to
1,5°C. Negative results have not been observed in Armenia. The
patterns of temperature change have been observed since the 1990’s
over much of the Armenian territory. The climate in Armenia was
influenced by global change in the last 2 decades, as results from the
methods employed within the study.
Abstract: Customer’ needs, quality, and value creation while
reducing costs through supply chain management provides challenges
and opportunities for companies and researchers. In the light of these
challenges, modern ideas must contribute to counter these challenges
and exploit opportunities. Therefore, this paper discusses the impact
of the quality cost on revenue sharing as a most important incentive
to configure business networks. This paper develops the quality cost approach to align with the
modern era. It develops a model to measure quality costs which
might enable firms to manage revenue sharing in a supply chain. The
developed model includes five categories; besides the well-known
four categories (namely prevention costs, appraisal costs, internal
failure costs, and external failure costs), a new category has been
developed in this research as a new vision of the relationship between
quality costs and innovations in industry. This new category is
Recycle Cost. This paper also examines whether such quality costs in
supply chains influence the revenue sharing between partners. Using the author's quality cost model, the relationship between
quality costs and revenue sharing among partners is examined using a
case study in an Egyptian manufacturing company which is a part of
a supply chain. This paper argues that the revenue-sharing proportion
allocated to supplier increases as the recycle cost of supplier
increases, and the revenue-sharing proportion allocated to
manufacturer increases as the prevention and appraisal costs increase,
as well as the failure costs, the recycle costs of manufacturer, and the
recycle costs of suppliers decrease. However, the results present
surprising findings. The purposes of this study are developing quality cost approach
and understanding the relationships between quality costs and
revenue sharing in supply chains. Therefore, the present study
contributes to theory and practice by explaining how the cost of
recycling can be combined in quality cost model to better
understanding the revenue sharing among partners in supply chains.
Abstract: Selenium is an-antioxidant which is important for
human health enters food chain through crops. In Kenya Zea mays is
consumed by 96% of population hence is a cheap and convenient
method to provide selenium to large number of population. Several
soil factors are known to have antagonistic effects on selenium
speciation hence the uptake by Zea mays. There are no studies in
Kenya that has been done to determine the effects of soil
characteristics (pH, Tcarbon, CEC, Eh) affect accumulation of
selenium in Zea mays grains in Maize Belt in Kenya. About 100 Zea mays grain samples together with 100 soil samples
were collected from the study site put in separate labeled Ziplocs and
were transported to laboratories at room temperature for analysis.
Maize grains were analyzed for selenium while soil samples were
analyzed for pH, Cat Ion Exchange Capacity, total carbon, and
electrical conductivity. The mean selenium in Zea mays grains varied from 1.82 ± 0.76
mg/Kg to 11±0.86 mg/Kg. There was no significant difference
between selenium levels between different grain batches {χ (Df =76)
= 26.04 P= 1.00} The pH levels varied from 5.43± 0.58 to 5.85±
0.32. No significant correlations between selenium in grains and soil
pH (Pearson’s correlations = - 0.143), and between selenium levels in
grains and the four (pH, Tcarbon, CEC, Eh) soil chemical
characteristics {F (4,91) = 0.721 p = 0.579} was observed. It can be concluded that the soil chemical characteristics in the
study site did not significantly affect the accumulation of native
selenium in Zea mays grains.
Abstract: Background: Breast milk may impact early brain
development, with potentially important biological, medical and
social implications. There is an important discussion on which is the
adequate breastfeeding extension to the development consolidation
and how the children breastfeeding affects their psychomotor
development, in the first year of life, and in following periods as
well. Some special fats (LC PUFA) contained in breast milk play a
key role in the brain’s maturation and cognitive development or
social skills. These capacities created during breastfeeding time
would be unfolded throughout all lifespan. Aim of the study: In our research, we have studied the effect of
breastfeeding in preschooler's psychomotor assessment.
Method: This study was conducted in a sample of 158 preschool
children in Vlorë, Albania. We have measured the psychometric
parameters of preschoolers with ASQ-3 (Age&Stage Questionnaires-
3). The studied sample was divided in three groups according to their
breastfeeding duration (3, 6 and 12 months). Results: Children breastfed for only 3 months have definitely
lower psychometric scores compared to the ones with 6 or more
months of breastfeeding (respectively 217 to 239 ASQ-3 scores). Six
and twelvemonth breastfed children have progressively more odds to
have high levels of psychomotor development comparing to those
with only 3 months of breastfeeding. The most affected psychometric
domains by shortness of breastfeeding are Communication and
Global motor. Conclusion: This leads to conclusion that to ensure high
psychomotor parameters during childhood is necessary breastfeeding
for at least 6 months.
Abstract: In the vicinity of red sea about 15 fungi species were
isolated from oil contaminated sites. On the basis of aptitude to
degrade the crude oil and DCPIP assay, two fungal isolates were
selected amongst 15 oil degrading strains. Analysis of ITS-1, ITS-2
and amplicon pyrosequencing studies of fungal diversity revealed
that these strains belong to Penicillium and Aspergillus species. Two
strains that proved to be the most efficient in degrading crude oil was
Aspergillus niger (54%) and Penicillium commune (48%) Subsequent
to two weeks of cultivation in BHS medium the degradation rate
were recorded by using spectrophotometer and GC-MS. Hence, it is
cleared that these fungal strains has capability of degradation and can
be utilize for cleaning the Saudi Arabian environment.
Abstract: The effects of the contact ball-lens on the soda lime
glass in laser thermal cleavage with a cw Nd-YAG laser were
investigated in this study. A contact ball-lens was adopted to generate
a bending force on the crack formation of the soda-lime glass in the
laser cutting process. The Nd-YAG laser beam (wavelength of 1064
nm) was focused through the ball-lens and transmitted to the soda-lime
glass, which was coated with a carbon film on the surface with a
bending force from a ball-lens to generate a tensile stress state on the
surface cracking. The fracture was controlled by the contact ball-lens
and a straight cutting was tested to demonstrate the feasibility.
Experimental observations on the crack propagation from the leading
edge, main section and trailing edge of the glass sheet were compared
with various mechanical and thermal loadings. Further analyses on the
stress under various laser powers and contact ball loadings were made
to characterize the innovative technology. The results show that the distributions of the side crack at the
leading and trailing edges are mainly dependent on the boundary
condition, contact force, cutting speed and laser power. With the
increase of the mechanical and thermal loadings, the region of the side
cracks might be dramatically reduced with proper selection of the
geometrical constrains. Therefore the application of the contact
ball-lens is a possible way to control the fracture in laser cleavage with
improved cutting qualities.
Abstract: Pure nickel coatings have been successfully
electrodeposited on copper substrates by the pulse plating technique.
The influence of current density, duty cycle and pulse frequency on
the surface morphology, crystal orientation, and microhardness was
determined. It was found that the crystallite size of the deposit
increases with increasing current density and duty cycle. The crystal
orientation progressively changed from a random texture at 1 A/dm2
to (200) texture at 10 A/dm2. Increasing pulse frequency resulted in
increased texture coefficient and peak intensity of (111) reflection.
An increase in duty cycle resulted in considerable increase in texture
coefficient and peak intensity of (311) reflection. Coatings obtained
at high current densities and duty cycle present a mixed morphology
of small and large grains. Maximum microhardness of 193 Hv was
achieved at 4 A/dm2, 10 Hz and duty cycle of 50%. Nickel coatings
with (200) texture are ductile while (111) texture improves the
microhardness of the coatings.