Abstract: Social cognitive theory explains the power to inaugurate change is determined by the mutual influence of personal proclivity and social factors which will shape ones- motivations and expectations. In construction industry, green concept offers an opportunity to leave a lighter footprint on the environment. This opportunity, however, has not been fully grasped by many countries. As such, venturing into green construction for many practitioners would be their maiden experience. Decision to venture into new practice such as green construction will be influenced by certain drivers. This paper explores these drivers which is further expanded into motivational factors and later becomes the platform upon which expectation for green construction stands. This theoretical concept of motivation and expectations, which is adapted from social cognitive theory, focus on developers- view because of their crucial role in green application. This conceptual framework, which serves as the basis for further research, will benefit the industry as it elucidate cognitive angles to attract more new entrants to green business.
Abstract: The aim of this paper is the analysis and preservation of lime kilns, focusing on the structure, construction, and functionality of vertical shaft lime kilns of the Cap Corse in Corsica. Plans and sections of two lime kilns are presented in detail, providing an overall picture of this specific industrial heritage. The potential damage areas are identified performing structural analysis of a lime kiln using the finite element method. A restoration and strengthening technique that satisfies the directions of the Charter of Venice is presented using post-tensioning tendons. Recommendations are given to preserve and promote these important historical structures integrating them into the custom footpath.
Abstract: Many studies have emphasized the importance of
resistive exercise to maintain a healthy human body, particular in
prevention of weakening of physical strength. Recently, some studies
advocated that an application of vibration as a supplementary means in
a regular training was effective in encouraging physical strength. Aim
of the current study was, therefore, to identify if an application of
vibration in a resistive exercise was effective in encouraging physical
strength as that in a regular training. A 3-dimensional virtual lower
extremity model for a healthy male and virtual leg-press model were
generated and synchronized. Dynamic leg-press exercises on a slide
machine with/without extra load and on a footboard with vibration as
well as on a slide machine with extra load were analyzed. The results
of the current indicated that the application of the vibration on the
dynamic leg-press exercise might be not greatly effective in
encouraging physical strength, compared with the dynamic leg press
exercise with extra load. It was, however, thought that the application
of the vibration might be helpful to elderly individuals because the
reduced maximum muscle strength appeared by the effect of the
vibration may avoid a muscular spasm, which can be driven from a
high muscle strength sometimes produced during the leg-press
exercise with extra load.
Abstract: It is established that the instantaneous heart rate (HR) of healthy humans keeps on changing. Analysis of heart rate variability (HRV) has become a popular non invasive tool for assessing the activities of autonomic nervous system. Depressed HRV has been found in several disorders, like diabetes mellitus (DM) and coronary artery disease, characterised by autonomic nervous dysfunction. A new technique, which searches for pattern repeatability in a time series, is proposed specifically for the analysis of heart rate data. These set of indices, which are termed as pattern repeatability measure and pattern repeatability ratio are compared with approximate entropy and sample entropy. In our analysis, based on the method developed, it is observed that heart rate variability is significantly different for DM patients, particularly for patients with diabetic foot ulcer.
Abstract: Recently, the health of retired National Football
League players, particularly lineman has been investigated. A
number of studies have reported increased cardiometabolic risk,
premature cardiovascular disease and incidence of type 2 diabetes.
Rugby union players have somatotypes very similar to National
Football League players which suggests that rugby players may have
similar health risks. The International Golden Oldies World Rugby
Festival (GORF) provided a unique opportunity to investigate the
demographics of veteran rugby players. METHODOLOGIES: A
cross-sectional, observational study was completed using an online
web-based questionnaire that consisted of medical history and
physiological measures. Data analysis was completed using a one
sample t-test (50yrs) and Chi-square test. RESULTS:
A total of 216 veteran rugby competitors (response rate = 6.8%)
representing 10 countries, aged 35-72 yrs (mean 51.2, S.D. ±8.0),
participated in the online survey. As a group, the incidence of current
smokers was low at 8.8% (avg 72.4 cigs/wk) whilst the percentage
consuming alcohol was high (93.1% (avg 11.2 drinks/wk).
Competitors reported the following top six chronic
diseases/disorders; hypertension (18.6%), arthritis (OA/RA, 11.5%),
asthma (9.3%), hyperlipidemia (8.2%), diabetes (all types, 7.5%) and
gout (6%), there were significant differences between groups with
regard to cancer (all types) and migraines. When compared to the
Australian general population (Australian Bureau of Statistics data,
n=18,000), GORF competitors had a significantly lower incidence of
anxiety (p
Abstract: The influence of physical (external added weight) and
neurophysiological (fatigue) factors on static and dynamic balance in
sport related activities was typified statically by the Romberg test
(one foot flat, eyes open) and dynamically by jumping and hopping
in both horizontal and vertical directions. Twenty healthy males were
participated in this study. In Static condition, added weight increased
body-s inertia and therefore decreased body sway in AP direction
though not significantly. Dynamically, added weight significantly
increased body sway in both ML and AP directions, indicating
instability, and the use of the counter rotating segments mechanism to
maintain balance was demonstrated. Fatigue on the other hand
significantly increased body sway during static balance as a
neurophysiological adaptation primarily to the inverted pendulum
mechanism. Dynamically, fatigue significantly increased body sway
in both ML and AP directions again indicating instability but with a
greater use of counter rotating segments mechanism. Differential
adaptations for each of the two balance mechanisms (inverted
pendulum and counter rotating segments) were found between one
foot flat and two feet flat dynamic conditions, as participants relied
more heavily on the first in the one foot flat conditions and relied
more on the second in the two feet flat conditions.
Abstract: The paper deals with the analysis of the dynamic
response of footbridges under human - induced dynamic loads.
This is a frequently occurring and often dominant load for
footbridges as it stems from the very purpose of a footbridge - to
convey pedestrian. Due to the emergence of new materials and
advanced engineering technology, slender footbridges are
increasingly becoming popular to satisfy the modern transportation
needs and the aesthetical requirements of the society. These
structures however are always lively with low stiffness, low mass,
low damping and low natural frequencies. As a consequence, they are
prone to vibration induced by human activities and can suffer severe
vibration serviceability problems, particularly in the lateral direction.
Pedestrian bridges are designed according to first and second limit
states, these are the criteria involved in response to static design load.
However, it is necessary to assess the dynamic response of bridge
design load on pedestrians and assess it impact on the comfort of the
user movement. Usually the load is considered a person or a small
group which can be assumed in perfect motion synchronization.
Already one person or small group can excite significant vibration of
the deck. In order to calculate the dynamic response to the movement
of people, designer needs available and suitable computational model
and criteria. For the calculation program ANSYS based on finite
element method was used.
Abstract: Some theoretical and experimental aspects related to
the conceptual analyses concerning the direct correspondence
identification between the shape, area and orientation of plantar
pressure and obtaining adequate corrective insoles by rapid
prototyping are presented in this paper. In the first part of the paper
there is the theoretical-correlative concept, which is the fundament of
correspondence deduction between plantar surface characteristics and
respectively corrective insoles. In the second part of the paper the
experimental equipment used to analyze and perform the
correspondence stages and then the integral ones between the
analyzed foot shapes and the ones with corrective insoles is
presented. In the final parte the results used to adapt the insoles
obtained by rapid prototyping but also some specific aspects and
conclusions of the conceptual analysis of direct and rapid
correspondence are shown.
Abstract: Over the past decades, automatic face recognition has become a highly active research area, mainly due to the countless application possibilities in both the private as well as the public sector. Numerous algorithms have been proposed in the literature to cope with the problem of face recognition, nevertheless, a group of methods commonly referred to as appearance based have emerged as the dominant solution to the face recognition problem. Many comparative studies concerned with the performance of appearance based methods have already been presented in the literature, not rarely with inconclusive and often with contradictory results. No consent has been reached within the scientific community regarding the relative ranking of the efficiency of appearance based methods for the face recognition task, let alone regarding their susceptibility to appearance changes induced by various environmental factors. To tackle these open issues, this paper assess the performance of the three dominant appearance based methods: principal component analysis, linear discriminant analysis and independent component analysis, and compares them on equal footing (i.e., with the same preprocessing procedure, with optimized parameters for the best possible performance, etc.) in face verification experiments on the publicly available XM2VTS database. In addition to the comparative analysis on the XM2VTS database, ten degraded versions of the database are also employed in the experiments to evaluate the susceptibility of the appearance based methods on various image degradations which can occur in "real-life" operating conditions. Our experimental results suggest that linear discriminant analysis ensures the most consistent verification rates across the tested databases.
Abstract: The objective of the research was to study of foot
anthropometry of children aged 7-12 years in the South of Thailand Thirty-three dimensions were measured on 305 male and 295 female
subjects with 3 age ranges (7-12 years old). The instrumentation consists of four types of anthropometer, digital vernier caliper, digital
height gauge and measuring tape. The mean values and standard
deviations of average age, height, and weight of the male subjects were 9.52(±1.70) years, 137.80(±11.55) cm, and 37.57(±11.65) kg.
Female average age, height, and weight subjects were 9.53(±1.70) years, 137.88(±11.55) cm, and 34.90(±11.57) kg respectively. The
comparison of the 33 comparison measured anthropometric. Between
male and female subjects were sexual differences in size on women in almost all areas of significance (p
Abstract: Electronics Products that achieve high levels of integrated communications, computing and entertainment, multimedia features in small, stylish and robust new form factors are winning in the market place. Due to the high costs that an industry may undergo and how a high yield is directly proportional to high profits, IC (Integrated Circuit) manufacturers struggle to maximize yield, but today-s customers demand miniaturization, low costs, high performance and excellent reliability making the yield maximization a never ending research of an enhanced assembly process. With factors such as minimum tolerances, tighter parameter variations a systematic approach is needed in order to predict the assembly process. In order to evaluate the quality of upcoming circuits, yield models are used which not only predict manufacturing costs but also provide vital information in order to ease the process of correction when the yields fall below expectations. For an IC manufacturer to obtain higher assembly yields all factors such as boards, placement, components, the material from which the components are made of and processes must be taken into consideration. Effective placement yield depends heavily on machine accuracy and the vision of the system which needs the ability to recognize the features on the board and component to place the device accurately on the pads and bumps of the PCB. There are currently two methods for accurate positioning, using the edge of the package and using solder ball locations also called footprints. The only assumption that a yield model makes is that all boards and devices are completely functional. This paper will focus on the Monte Carlo method which consists in a class of computational algorithms (information processed algorithms) which depends on repeated random samplings in order to compute the results. This method utilized in order to recreate the simulation of placement and assembly processes within a production line.
Abstract: This document details the process of developing a
wireless device that captures the basic movements of the foot (plantar
flexion, dorsal flexion, abduction, adduction.), and the knee
movement (flexion). It implements a motion capture system by using
a hardware based on optical fiber sensors, due to the advantages in
terms of scope, noise immunity and speed of data transmission and
reception. The operating principle used by this system is the detection
and transmission of joint movement by mechanical elements and
their respective measurement by optical ones (in this case infrared).
Likewise, Visual Basic software is used for reception, analysis and
signal processing of data acquired by the device, generating a 3D
graphical representation in real time of each movement. The result is
a boot in charge of capturing the movement, a transmission module
(Implementing Xbee Technology) and a receiver module for
receiving information and sending it to the PC for their respective
processing.
The main idea with this device is to help on topics such as
bioengineering and medicine, by helping to improve the quality of
life and movement analysis.
Abstract: During recent years, attention in 'Green Computing'
has moved research into energy-saving techniques for home
computers to enterprise systems' Client and Server machines. Saving
energy or reduction of carbon footprints is one of the aspects of
Green Computing. The research in the direction of Green Computing
is more than just saving energy and reducing carbon foot prints. This
study provides a brief account of Green Computing. The emphasis of
this study is on current trends in Green Computing; challenges in the
field of Green Computing and the future trends of Green Computing.
Abstract: In this paper, a novel system
recognition of human faces without using face
different color photographs is proposed. It mainly in
face detection, normalization and recognition. Foot
method of combination of Haar-like face determined
segmentation and region-based histogram stretchi
(RHST) is proposed to achieve more accurate perf
using Haar. Apart from an effective angle norm
side-face (pose) normalization, which is almost a might be important and beneficial for the prepr
introduced. Then histogram-based and photom
normalization methods are investigated and ada
retinex (ASR) is selected for its satisfactory illumin
Finally, weighted multi-block local binary pattern
with 3 distance measures is applied for pair-mat
Experimental results show its advantageous perfo
with PCA and multi-block LBP, based on a principle.
Abstract: Recently, the health of retired National Football
League players, particularly lineman has been investigated. A number of studies have reported increased cardiometabolic risk, premature ardiovascular disease and incidence of type 2 diabetes. Rugby union players have somatotypes very similar
to National Football league players which suggest that rugby players may have similar health risks. The International Golden Oldies World Rugby Festival (GORF) provided a
unique opportunity to investigate the demographics of veteran rugby players. METHODOLOGIES: A cross-sectional, observational study was completed using an online web-based
questionnaire that consisted of medical history and
physiological measures. Data analysis was completed using a one sample t-test (50yrs) and Chi-square test. RESULTS: A total of 216 veteran rugby competitors
(response rate = 6.8%) representing 10 countries, aged 35-72 yrs (mean 51.2, S.D. ±8.0), participated in the online survey. As a group, the incidence of current smokers was low at 8.8%
(avg 72.4 cigs/wk) whilst the percentage consuming alcohol
was high (93.1% (avg 11.2 drinks/wk). Competitors reported
the following top six chronic diseases/disorders; hypertension
(18.6%), arthritis (OA/RA, 11.5%), asthma (9.3%),
hyperlipidemia (8.2%), diabetes (all types, 7.5%) and gout (6%), there were significant differences between groups with
regard to cancer (all types) and migraines. When compared to
the Australian general population (Australian Bureau of Statistics data, n=18,000), GORF competitors had a
Climstein Mike, Walsh Joe (corresponding author) and Burke Stephen
School of Exercise Science, Australian Catholic University, 25A Barker Road,
Strathfield, Sydney, NSW, 2016, Australia (e-mail:
[email protected], [email protected],
[email protected]).
John Best is with Orthosports, 160 Belmore Rd., Randwick, Sydney,NSW
2031, Australia (e-mail: [email protected]).
Heazlewood, Ian Timothy is with School of Environmental and Life
Sciences, Faculty Education, Health and Science, Charles Darwin University,
Precinct Yellow Building 2, Charles Darwin University, NT 0909, Australia
(e-mail: [email protected]).
Kettunen Jyrki Arcada University of Applied Sciences, Jan-Magnus
Janssonin aukio 1, FI-00550, Helsinki, Finland (e-mail:
[email protected]).
Adams Kent is with California State University Monterey Bay, Kinesiology Department, 100 Campus Center, Seaside, CA., 93955, USA (email: [email protected]).
DeBeliso Mark is with Department of Physical Education and Human
Performance, Southern Utah University, 351 West University Blvd, Cedar
City, Utah, USA (e-mail: [email protected]).
significantly lower incidence of anxiety (p
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine and
compare physical fitness values of students engaged in different team
sport branches Totally 60 female, and 60 male athletes, that 20
athletes in each branch which are volleyball, basketball and football
participated the study as a volunteer. The mean ages of female and
male athletes were 21.20 ±1.87 and 21.61 ± 1.61 respectively. Age,
height, body weight, body mass index, flexibility, body fat
percentage, 30m sprint, maximum oxygen consumption capacity
(MaxVO2) and drop jump values were measured. As a result of
measurements, significant differences were found in height, weight,
MaxVO2, shuttle run speed between different sports branches in
female athletes. In male athletes, height, body weight, flexibility,
30m split speed and drop jump values were found significantly
different between sports branches.
As a conclusion and as a literature, it can be said that structure of
body has to be appropriate with the engaged sports branch. Physical
fitness values that required the sports branches can be expressed
clearly by increasing the number of subjects.
Abstract: The Combination of path planning and path following is the main purpose of this paper. This paper describes the developed practical approach to motion control of the MRL small size robots. An intelligent controller is applied to control omni-directional robots motion in simulation and real environment respectively. The Brain Emotional Learning Based Intelligent Controller (BELBIC), based on LQR control is adopted for the omni-directional robots. The contribution of BELBIC in improving the control system performance is shown as application of the emotional learning in a real world problem. Optimizing of the control effort can be achieved in this method too. Next the implicit communication method is used to determine the high level strategies and coordination of the robots. Some simple rules besides using the environment as a memory to improve the coordination between agents make the robots' decision making system. With this simple algorithm our team manifests a desirable cooperation.
Abstract: In spite of the advent of new materials, clay bricks
remain, arguably, the most popular construction materials today.
Nevertheless the low cost and versatility of clay bricks cannot always
be associated with high environmental and sustainable values,
especially in terms of raw material sources and manufacturing
processes. At the same time, the worldwide agricultural footprint is
fast growing, with vast agricultural land cultivation and active
expansion of the agro-based industry. The resulting large quantities of
agricultural wastes, unfortunately, are not always well managed or
utilised. These wastes can be recycled, such as by retrieving fibres
from disposed leaves and fruit bunches, and then incorporated in
brick-making. This way the clay bricks are made a 'greener' building
material and the discarded natural wastes can be reutilised, avoiding
otherwise wasteful landfill and harmful open incineration. This study
examined the physical and mechanical properties of clay bricks made
by adding two natural fibres to a clay-water mixture, with baked and
non-baked conditions. The fibres were sourced from pineapple leaves
(PF) and oil palm fruit bunch (OF), and added within the range of
0.25-0.75 %. Cement was added as a binder to the mixture at 5-15 %.
Although the two fibres had different effects on the bricks produced,
cement appeared to dominate the compressive strength. The
non-baked bricks disintegrated when submerged in water, while the
baked ones displayed cement-dependent characteristics in
water-absorption and density changes. Interestingly, further increase
in fibre content did not cause significant density decrease in both the
baked and non-baked bricks.
Abstract: This paper discusses the applicability of the Data
Distribution Service (DDS) for the development of automated and modular manufacturing systems which require a flexible and robust
communication infrastructure. DDS is an emergent standard for datacentric publish/subscribe middleware systems that provides an
infrastructure for platform-independent many-to-many
communication. It particularly addresses the needs of real-time systems that require deterministic data transfer, have low memory
footprints and high robustness requirements. After an overview of the
standard, several aspects of DDS are related to current challenges for the development of modern manufacturing systems with distributed architectures. Finally, an example application is presented based on a modular active fixturing system to illustrate the described aspects.
Abstract: Unified Modeling Language (UML) extensions for real time embedded systems (RTES) co-design, are taking a growing interest by a great number of industrial and research communities. The extension mechanism is provided by UML profiles for RTES. It aims at improving an easily-understood method of system design for non-experts. On the other hand, one of the key items of the co- design methods is the Hardware/Software partitioning and scheduling tasks. Indeed, it is mandatory to define where and when tasks are implemented and run. Unfortunately the main goals of co-design are not included in the usual practice of UML profiles. So, there exists a need for mapping used models to an execution platform for both schedulability test and HW/SW partitioning. In the present work, test schedulability and design space exploration are performed at an early stage. The proposed approach adopts Model Driven Engineering MDE. It starts from UML specification annotated with the recent profile for the Modeling and Analysis of Real Time Embedded systems MARTE. Following refinement strategy, transformation rules allow to find a feasible schedule that satisfies timing constraints and to define where tasks will be implemented. The overall approach is experimented for the design of a football player robot application.