bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A preliminary study on design of rehabilitation game for children with autism spectrum disorder
Authors: Reisi Dehkordi Sara , Ismail Marina , Mat Diah Norizan
Published: March 2020

This research presented a preliminary study on designing a rehabilitation game for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. It has been proved that children with Autism are not interested in attending traditional rehabilitation treatments. Existing researches have shown that games and their usage in the rehabilitation area are growing fast. However, there is less research used to design a rehabilitation game ensuring that the proposed design criteria are based on the preference and requirements of users in order to maximize the engagement rate of the game. In this research, one-month observation sessions were conducted with five autistic participants with no design expertise in order to collect essential design considerations for a rehabilitation game. This paper proposed design considerations, which can be helpful to design a rehabilitation game to promote user engagement by addressing game mechanics and behavioral techniques according to the result of our observations.
Substitution-based linguistic steganography based on antonyms
Authors: Zamir Mansor Fawwaz , Ismail Azizan , Din Roshidi , Mustapha Aida , Azah Samsudin Noor
Published: March 2020

The study of steganography focuses on strengthening the security in protecting content message by hiding the true intention behind the texts. However, existing linguistic steganography approach especially in synonym-based substitution is prone to attack. In this paper, a new substitution-based approach for linguistic steganography is proposed using antonyms. The antonym-based stego-text generation algorithm is implemented in a tool called the Antonym Substitution-based (ASb). Evaluation of ASb was carried out via veriﬁcation and validation. The results showed highly favorable performance of this approach.
Unit commitment based reliability analysis with contingency constraint
Authors: Syed Raheema , Varma P. Srinivasa , Prakash R. B. R , Reddy Ch. Rami
Published: March 2020

Unit commitment state’s the strategic choice to be prepared in order to define which of the accessible power plants should be taken into account to supply power. It permits utilities to reduce generation price of power. In this paper, the unit commitment problem is elucidated by taking N-1-1 contingency as a foremost constraint. The standard N-1-1 contingency takes the loss of sequential two components in the network having intervening interval for network modifications in the middle of two losses. The crucial objective to carry out contingency constrictions is to make certain that the operations of power system are adequately strong to unexpected losses of the components of the network. The optimal scheduling/allocation of the generating units is resolved by taking into account the N-1-1 criterion of contingency. By considering the N-1-1 criterion of contingency, the problem results to give an optimised model which is a linear model of mixed integer form. The linear program of mixed integer is a technique of an operational assessment in which restriction is imposed on few variables to be integers. Primarily benders decomposition was considered but for the improvement of results, the algorithm of branch and cut is presented. IEEE 30 bus system is taken into consideration and widespread analysis is accomplished to associate performance of the system under N-1-1 criterion contingency. The computational outcomes determine the value for taking into concern the intervening interval for the adjustments of the system with respect to the cost and robustness of the system. Later to the above model reliability assessment is proposed to calculate the Loss Of Load Expected (LOLE). This model is solved using MATLAB/MATPOWER software.
Projective synchronization for a cass of 6-D hyperchaotic lorenz system
Authors: Al-Obeidi Ahmed S. , AL-Azzawi Saad Fawzi
Published: March 2020

This paper is concerned with the projective synchronization problem for a class of 6-D nonlinear dynamical system which is called hyperchaotic Lorenz system when the parameters of this system are unknown. Based on scaling factor  which belong to above strategy, four controller are proposed to achieve projective synchronization between two identical systems via using Lyapunov's direct method and nonlinear control strategy.  These scaling factor  taken the values ,     and 2  for each control respectively. A numerical simulations are used to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed controller.
Analysis of attribute domain for geometrical gesture performed by arm movements
Authors: Khairunizam Wan , Ikram Khairul , Halim Hafiz , Aziz Azri , Zunaidi I. , Bakar S.A , W. Mustafa W. Azani
Published: March 2020

Hand gesture recognition commonly uses a camera to track hand movements and transformed into gesture database by using various computational approaches. Motion tracking utilized to map coordinate point of the subject movement, either in skeletal model or marker tracing. Data from motion trackers usually contains massive coordinate sequences of marker movement. A reliable method is required to select best features and analyze these data. However, the current issue whether the selected features and data presentation are significant for the research or not. This research brings the concept of ontology design for arm gesture recognition systems by utilizing the motion capture system. Ontology is the conceptual structure mainly used to retrieve information by establishing relation in complex data model. The proposed ontology framework is divided into three domains which are knowledge domain, attribute domain and process domain. Knowledge domain holds pre-processed gestural data from motion capture. The attribute domain is that the level where all the attribute elements were presented. This paper shows the analysis of the datasets in attribute domain. The analysis is divided into two parts which is precision measure and ANOVA test. Both analyses are to prove the reliability of datasets in attribute domain. The precision measure is used to remove all the common data for all gesture. A statistical analysis of p-value is lower than 0.01 which means the gestural data are statistically significant to be used for the similarity measure.
Voiced and unvoiced separation in malay speech using zero crossing rate and energy
Authors: Mohd Hanifa Rafizah , Isa Khalid , Mohamad Shamsul , Mohd Shah Shaharil , Soosay Nathan Shelena , Ramle Rosni , Berahim Mazniha
Published: March 2020

This paper contributes to the literature on voice-recognition in the context of non-English language. Specifically, it aims to validate the techniques used to present the basic characteristics of speech, viz. voiced and unvoiced, that need to be evaluated when analysing speech signals. Zero Crossing Rate (ZCR) and Short Time Energy (STE) are used in this paper to perform signal pre-processing of continuous Malay speech to separate the voiced and unvoiced parts. The study is based on non-real time data which was developed from a collection of audio speeches. The signal is assessed using ZCR and STE for comparison purposes. The results revealed that ZCR are low for voiced part and high for unvoiced part whereas the STE is high for voiced part and low for unvoiced part. Thus, these two techniques can be used effectively for separating voiced and unvoiced for continuous Malay speech.
Heuristic based model for groceries shopping navigator
Authors: Bin Peeyee Muhammad Wardi , Abdul-Rahman Shuzlina , Abdul Hamid Nurzeatul Hamimah , Zaki Zakaria Mohd
Published: March 2020

This paper presents a heuristic based model for groceries shopping navigator that attempts to improve the navigation problem that usually face by customers while doing their shopping. A system known as Shopping Navigator or shortly SHoNa was developed to give the optimal sequence of shelves to be visited by the customer and the total estimated shopping time so that the user can plan their shopping task earlier. Genetic algorithm was employed and implemented in a web-based platform that is compatible with other devices such as smartphones and tablets. SHoNA can minimize the shopping time by identifying the most optimal order of shelves inside the supermarket that needs to be visited by the customer. A series of experimental was performed in producing the optimum model. Our findings showed that the combination of order one crossover and inverse mutation produced a better optimal performance, which is the minimum total amount of groceries shopping time.  SHoNA can be further enhanced with visualization features for a better shopping experience.
Time performance analysis of advanced encryption standard and data encryption standard in data security transaction
Authors: Kasiran Zolidah , Farah Ali Hikma , Mohamed Noor Noorhayati
Published: March 2020

The advancement of the data communication technologies has increased the traffic of data exchange over the internet and at the same time created the opportunity of data attack by various party.  This paper present  Time Performance Analysis Of Advanced Encryption Standard And Data Encryption Standard  in Data Security Transaction. In this study we proposed an AES algorithm with  different key size, and different file format. Our aim is to safely to transfer the file for using the AES algorithm. Proposed algorithm has done by analyzing the different time taken for both AES and DES, experiments were done by three different file  format which were text, image, and voice. Each file format type was tested with five different file sizes. The result of each experiments were analysed and it was confirmed that  the AES algorithm have better performance in term of time taken as compared to DES.
Optimal volt/var control of distribution system using MOPSO
Authors: M Ramesh Babu , Kumar C. Venkatesh , Sreekanth R.
Published: March 2020

This paper presents a novel method for solving multi-objective Volt/Var control of radial distribution system. The Volt/Var control is formulated as a multi-objective optimization problem which consists of the following objectives: minimization of real power loss, minimization of total voltage deviation and minimization of number of OLTC’s and capacitor operation and voltage fluctuations for a day-a-head in Distribution system.The Proposed MOPSO Algorithm is used to find the optimal settings of control variables such as On-Load tap changer (OLTC) and Shunt Capacitor. The proposed MOPSO algorithm is tested on a standard IEEE33-bus and 69-bus distribution system.
A leakage current estimation based on thermal image of polymer insulator
Authors: Darwison Darwison , Arief Syukri , Abral Hairul , Hazmi Ariadi , H. Ahmad M. , Putra Waldi Eka , Fernandez Rudy
Published: March 2020

Polymer insulators tend to fail because of the climatic and environmental conditions. The failure occurs when the surface of insulator is contaminated by sea salt or cement dust which lead to partial discharge (PD). Leakage currents will increase by PD that causes deterioration of insulation. To predict the insulation failures, an  adaptive neurofuzzy inference system (ANFIS) method using initial color detection processes are proposed to estimate the leakage currents based on the polymer insulator thermal images (infrared signature). In this study, the sodium chloride and kaolin are used as pollutants of the polymer insulator according to IEC 60507 standards. Then, the insulator is tested in the laboratory using AC high voltage applied at 18 kV where the temperature detection is controlled at 26° C and 70% RH (relative humidity). The percentage of colors (Red, Yellow, and Blue) from the thermal image is measured using the color detection method. Correspond to the color percentage, the ANFIS method predicts leakage currents from polymer insulators. Furthermore, this system interprets measured data from insulators that need to be categorized as Safe, Need Maintenance or Harmful. The final application of the system can be a non-contact tool to predict the polymer insulators used by technicians in the field.
Power quality analysis based on simulation and MATLAB/Simulink
Authors: Hussein Ahmed Salam , Hawas Majli Nema
Published: March 2020

This paper in existence a complete system connected to all situations power quality event, which has been achieved using MATLAB/SIMULINK and utilizing parametric equations. In electrical energy allocation system, the disturbances of power quality have emerged as an important matter for usefulness and customers. This design incorporates distribution two capacitor bank, line fault, starting of induction motor, non-linear load and transformer energizing that are usage to simulate diverse kind of voltage sag. In simulate voltage provisional through distribution network produced as a result of effect capacitor bank switching version in the general model. For clarity, this model is advanced with an integrated block and setting in which all event situations are organized for energy quality without scarifying the gist it. This model Integrated is too beneficial to simulate different energy quality waveforms. The performance of the brand new automated categorization algorithms received are appropriate for checking waveforms of power quality.
Robust optmized control of multi levels STATCOM
Authors: Hamza Tedjini , Zahra Messaoud Fatima , Boufeldja Kadri
Published: March 2020

Reactive power compensation is an essential part of a power system and the static synchronous compensator (STATCOM) plays an important role in controlling the reactive power flow over the transmission line. The basic building block of the STATCOM is a voltage source inverter (VSI) that generates a synchronous sinusoidal voltage and because of the high MVA ratings, it would be expensive to provide independent, equal, regulated dc voltage sources to power the multilevel converters which are presently proposed for STATCOMs. Dc voltage sources can be derived from the dc link capacitances which are charged by the rectified ac power. In this paper a new stronger control combined of nonlinear control based Lyapunov’s theorem and Ant Colony Algorithm (ACA) to maintain stability of multilevel STATCOM and the utility.
Speed control of DC motor using conventional and adaptive PID controllers
Authors: Al-Bargothi Sarah N. , M. Qaryouti Ghazi , Jaber Qazem M.
Published: March 2020

Proportional Integral Derivative (PID) controllers are extensively used in practical industries to control the speed of DC Motors. The single weakness of PID controllers is their sensitivity to variation in parameters and operating conditions; thus, tuning the controller gains to adapt with these variations presents a practical challenge. In this paper, an adaptive mechanism that utilizes a Recursive Least Square (RLS) algorithm, with rate limiters, is implemented to perform an online self-adjusting of each of the PID gains in order to achieve Adaptive PID (APID) controller that will accommodate to system variations. MATLAB/ Simulink software is used to implement and simulate APID control of a Chopper-Fed DC motor. A conventional PID control system is also designed and simulated to obtain results that can be used to judge the performance of the APID controller. Results proved that the APID controller forced the motor speed to track the reference input with insignificant tracking error, and also managed to attain the motor speed at its desired value, regardless of the load changes inflected on the motor. This enhances both transient and steady-state speed responses.
LQR control of interleaved double dual boost converter for electrical vehicles and renewable energy conversion
Authors: V. Siva Kumar J. S. , Mallikarjunarao P.
Published: March 2020

The automobile industry is one of the major industries that are having its new innovations at a great pace according to the requirements of the day-to-day life. Due to the usage of conventional vehicles on a large scale which usually use petroleum products as fuel, is leading to a vast environmental effect, mainly due to the emission of greenhouse gases. So in order to reduce the ill effects of the greenhouse gas emissions great efforts are being put in   manufacturing of electrical vehicles. Among the currently available greenhouse technologies the fuel cell provides high energy density in spite of its expenses. So, in this aspect a required mechanism has to be adopted to make it energy efficient and affordable. In order to overcome the drawback of fuel cell i.e. low output voltage, the boost converters are to be used and to be more precise Non-isolated Interleaved Double Dual Boost (IDDB) converters are recommended which makes it efficient and also the reduction of overall vehicle weight can be achieved. The LQR control technique is applied in this work to make the transient response of the fuel cell powered IDDB converter for various load conditions effective. The verification of results is done with simulation techniques using MATLAB/Simulink.
3D modeling of multimode and single mode fiber
Authors: Kassim Murizah , Zaid Ahmad Syahir Arif Mohd , Idris Azlina , Shahbudin Shahrani , Mohamad Roslina , Yahaya Cik Ku Haroswati Che Ku
Published: March 2020

This paper presents a design of 3D modeling of Multimode and Single Mode Fiber using SolidWorks. Fiber technology is essential that presents optical fiber is the fastest optical cable laid by Internet Service Providers in network communication. The current design of both fibers has less detail animation on technical specifications of light propagations and cladding. Thus, characterization difficulties occur between this two fiber optics cables. It also has less promotion in media publications such as 3D model design as guidance to users. This paper presents details on 3D modeling of multimode mode and single mode fiber specifications held in the industry market.  A 3D design with SolidWorks and comparison of both fiber characteristics are presented. Based on the 3D designed model, users are analyzed on their perspective and searching information which benefits telecommunication’s company. Technical calculations like core-cladding diameter ratio in microns are animated. The propagation of light in 3D single mode and multimode fiber is simulated using SolidWorks animator that presents it real fiber conditions. Result presents 10 most country searching used of both fiber cables and the difference in users search for both cables. A number of user’s search presents 3% more of multimode than single mode fiber search cases. This research is significant in presenting an animator of single and multimode fiber to users of network infrastructure development especially network developers and Telecommunications Company which can present it lively with animator transitions.
Modeling collaborative practical work processes in an E-learning context of engineering electric education
Authors: Ouatik Fahd , Raoufi Mustapha , El Mohadab Mohamed , Ouatik Farouk , Bouikhalene Belaid , Skouri Mohammed
Published: March 2020

This work deals with the modeling  the processes of the collaboration in practical work of electronics in a context of e-learning and the remote laboratory which is a new technology allows students to manipulate the practical experience the electronics by controlling all equipments  and instruments of a laboratory via the web without moving to t laboratory. That is for to solve the problems of overcrowding students in universities and the restriction of  time and places and the lack of some instrument in laboratory.  Even this new project will allow the sharing all  instruments and equipments between  universities in the world for to have a cooperation in scientific learning. In this work we are interested to modeling the processes of collaborative electronics practical work, whose actors are :   tutor,  member,  coordinator and the secretary and collaborative tools. Two models have been developed: a tutor-student model showing the activities of the learner and  tutor, and  moderating-member-secretary model that focuses more specifically on the roles of the moderator (coordinator) and the secretary (reporter). This modelling has made it possible to better understand the processes considered and to detect the various problems that may arise during an online particle work collaborative process.
Generating RDF resources from web open data portals
Authors: Saleh Aloufi Khalid
Published: March 2020

Open data are available from various private and public institutions in different resource formats. There are already great number of open data that are published using open data portals, where datasets and resources are mainly presented in tabular or sheet formats. However, such formats have some barriers with application developments and web standards. One of the web recommenced standards for semantic web application is RDF. There are various research efforts have been focused on presenting open data in RDF formats. However, no framework has transformed tabular open data into RDFs considering the HTML tags and properties of the resources and datasets. Therefore, a methodology is required to generate RDF resources from this type of open data resources. This methodology applies data transformations of open data from a tabular format to RDF files for the Saudi Open Data Portal. The methodology successfully transforms open data resources in sheet format into RDF resources. Recommendations and future work are given to enhance the development of building open data.
Perceived Stress and Depressive Symptoms as Predictors of Decisional Conflict in Dyads Considering a Left Ventricular Assist Device
Authors: McIlvennan Colleen K. , Matlock Daniel D. , Allen Larry A. , Thompson Jocelyn S. , Ranby Krista W. , Sannes Timothy S.
Published: March 2020

Background:

The decision to pursue a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) commits loved ones to major caregiving responsibilities and, often, medical decision-making. How emotional domains overlap within patients and their caregivers and contribute to conflict around the decision to pursue LVAD remains largely unexplored.

Methods and Results:

The associations within and between individuals in patient-caregiver dyads considering LVAD were estimated in a specific type of structural equation model known as the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model. This model tested whether each person’s depression and stress predicted their own decisional conflict (actor effects), as well as their partner’s decisional conflict (partner effects). At the time of study enrollment when a formal LVAD evaluation was initiated, 162 patient-caregiver dyads completed assessments of decisional conflict using the Decisional Conflict Scale, depressive symptoms using the Patient Health Questionnaire-2, and stress using the Perceived Stress Scale. Across both models, decisional conflict was significantly correlated within patient-caregiver dyads (β=0.47 and 0.44, for depression and perceived stress models, respectively,
P
<0.001). Greater perceived stress in both the patient (β=0.18;
P<
0.05) and caregiver (β=0.28;
P<
0.001) was significantly related to greater decisional conflict (both actor effects). Greater patient depressive symptoms were related to greater patient decisional conflict (β=0.16;
P<
0.05), whereas caregiver depression symptoms was not related to their own decisional conflict (β=0.07;
P
=0.37). There were no partner effects identified between decisional conflict and perceived stress or depressive symptoms.

Conclusions:

Patient and caregiver conflict over the decision to pursue an LVAD was highly correlated in this sample, with greater perceived stress significantly predicting greater decisional conflict in both patients and caregivers. Depressive symptoms in patients also predicted greater patient decisional conflict. No partner effects were identified in predicting decisional conflict. These results contribute to a larger body of work acknowledging the importance of patient-caregiver well-being in serious illness.

Registration:

URL:
https://www.clinicaltrials.gov
; Unique identifier: NCT02344576.
A further contribution to the knowledge of Uroleucon species (Hemiptera, Aphididae) living on Adesmia (Fabaceae) in southern South America, with description of a new species from Chile
Authors: DURANTE M. PILAR MIER , ORTEGO JAIME , VON DOHLEN CAROL D. , NAFRÍA JUAN MANUEL NIETO
Published: March 2020

Uroleucon (Hemiptera, Aphididae, Macrosiphini) is a highly diverse and widely distributed genus. Most of its species are hosted by plants of the Asteraceae or Campanulaceae, but three species from the southern end of South America have specialized to live on plants of the genus Adesmia (Fabaceae). New morphological and chorological data are provided for U. adesmiae Mier Durante and Ortego and U. naheulhuapense Nieto Nafría & von Dohlen, with a description of the alate viviparous female of the latter species. U. australe Nieto Nafría & Mier Durante, sp. n. is described from apterous viviparous females, oviparous females and males from four localities in the Chilean regions of Aysén and Magallanes; it is very close to U. nahuelhuapense, both morphologically and genetically. Contrary to what is typical for aphids, the males of U. australe have a greater number of distinguishing characters than are found in viviparous females. A modification of the identification key to the apterous viviparous females of the known Uroleucon species in South America by Nieto Nafría et al. (2019) is presented.
Complex Meteorology over a Complex Mining Facility: Assessment of Topography, Land Use, and Grid Spacing Modifications in WRF
Authors: Nahian Md. Rafsan , Nazem Amir , Nambiar Manoj K. , Byerlay Ryan , Mahmud Shohel , Seguin Alison M. , Robe Françoise R. , Ravenhill James , Aliabadi Amir A.
Published: March 2020

The performance of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model is evaluated in predicting the meteorological conditions over a complex open-pit mining facility in northern Canada in support of more accurate operational reporting of area-fugitive greenhouse gas emission fluxes from such facilities. WRF is studied in a series of sensitivity tests by varying topography, land use, and horizontal and vertical grid spacings to arrive at optimum configurations for reducing modeling biases in comparison with field meteorological observations. Overall, WRF shows a better performance when accounting for the mine topography and modified land use. As a result, the model biases reduce from 1.10 to 0.08 m s−1, from 1.04 to 0.50 m s−1, from 0.98 to 0.32 K, and from 45.7 to 17.3 W m−2, for near-surface wind speed, boundary layer wind speed, near-surface potential temperature, and turbulent sensible heat flux, respectively. Refining the model horizontal and vertical grid spacings results in bias reductions from 3.31 to 0.08 and from 0.80 to −0.11 m s−1 for near-surface and boundary layer wind speeds, respectively. The simulation results also agree with previous observations of meteorological effects on enclosed Earth depressions, characterized by formation of a cool pool of air, reduced wind speeds, and horizontal wind circulations at the bottom of the depression under thermally stable conditions. The results suggest that such configurations for WRF are necessary to arrive at more accurate meteorological predictions over complex open-pit mining terrains with similar features.
Atmospheric Boundary Layer Turbulence in the Presence of Swell: Turbulent Kinetic Energy Budget, Monin–Obukhov Similarity Theory, and Inertial Dissipation Method
Authors: Zou Zhongshui , Li Shuiqing , Huang Jian , Li Peiliang , Song Jinbao , Zhang Jun A. , Wan Zhanhong
Published: March 2020

Turbulence over the mobile ocean surface has distinct properties compared to turbulence over land. Thus, findings that are based on the turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) budget and Monin–Obukhov similarity theory (MOST) over land may not be applicable to conditions over ocean partly because of the existence of a wave boundary layer (the lower part of atmospheric boundary layer including effects of surface waves; we used the term “WBL” in this article for convenience), where the total stress can be separated into turbulent stress and wave coherent stress. Here the turbulent stress is defined as the stress generated by wind shear and buoyancy, while the wave coherent stress accounts for the momentum transfer between ocean waves and atmosphere. In this study, applicability of the turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) budget and the inertial dissipation method (IDM) in the context of the MOST within the WBL are examined. It was found that turbulent transport terms in the TKE budget should not be neglected when calculating the total stress under swell conditions. This was confirmed by observations made on a fixed platform. The results also suggested that turbulent stress, rather than total stress, should be used when applying the MOST within the WBL. By combining the TKE budget and MOST, our study showed that the stress computed by the traditional IDM corresponds to the turbulent stress rather than the total stress. The swell wave coherent stress should be considered when applying the IDM to calculate the stress in the WBL.
Performance of the HWRF Rapid Intensification Analog Ensemble (HWRF RI-AnEn) during the 2017 and 2018 HFIP Real-Time Demonstrations
Authors: Lewis William E. , Rozoff Christopher , Alessandrini Stefano , Delle Monache Luca
Published: March 2020

The performance of the Hurricane Weather Research and Forecasting (HWRF) Model Rapid Intensification Analog Ensemble (RI-AnEn) is evaluated for real-time forecasts made during the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s 2018 Hurricane Forecast Improvement Program (HFIP) demonstration. Using a variety of assessment tools (Brier skill score, reliability diagrams, ROC curves, ROC skill scores), RI-AnEn is shown to perform competitively compared to both the deterministic HWRF and current operational probabilistic RI forecast aids. The assessment is extended to include forecasts from the 2017 HFIP demonstration and shows that RI-AnEn is the only model with significant RI forecast skill at all lead times in the Atlantic and eastern Pacific basins. Though RI-AnEn is overconfident in its RI forecasts, it is generally well calibrated for all lead times. Furthermore, significance testing indicates that for the 2017–18 Atlantic and eastern Pacific sample, RI-AnEn is more skillful than HWRF at all lead times and better than most of the other probabilistic guidance at 48 and 72 h. ROC curves reveal that RI-AnEn offers a good combination of sensitivity and specificity, performing comparably to SHIPS-RII at all lead times in both basins. With respect to specific high-impact cases from the 2018 Atlantic season, performance of RI-AnEn ranges from excellent (Hurricane Michael) to poor (Hurricane Florence). The multiyear assessment and results for two high-impact case studies from 2018 indicate that, while promising, RI-AnEn requires further work to refine its performance as well as to accurately situate its effectiveness relative to other RI forecasts aids.
A Meta-Analysis of the Relationship Between Internalized Racial Oppression and Health-Related Outcomes
Authors: Gale Michael M. , Pieterse Alex L. , Lee Debbiesiu L. , Huynh Kiet , Powell Shantel , Kirkinis Katherine
Published: March 2020

Internalized racism represents a critical component of the system of racial oppression wherein People of Color adopt the negative beliefs about their race held by members of the White majority group. In this meta-analysis, the authors reviewed 29 studies (32 effect sizes) on the relationships between internalized racism and negative physical and mental health outcomes published between 1999 and 2015 and tested for literature-driven moderator effects using subgroup analyses. Results suggested that the direct overall relation between internalized racism and health was strongest for negative mental health outcomes ( r = .26), followed by negative physical health outcomes ( r = .11). Significant moderator effects were found for scale of measurement, country of sample (United States vs. international), and sampling method. Moderator effects of gender, publication type, year, and sample setting were not statistically significant. These findings are discussed and their implications for practice, advocacy, education/training, and research are described.
US college students’ perceptions of social determinants of health, health equity and racial health disparities
Authors: Rich Rebecca , Paschal Angelia
Published: March 2020

Objective:

Healthy equity (HE) implies the highest possible standard of health for all people while giving special attention to the needs of those at greatest risk of poor health, based on social conditions. The social determinants of health (SDH) are conditions within the environment in which people live that shape their opportunity to attain good health. Despite efforts to promote HE and address SDH, there is limited research on college students’ perceptions of these concepts. The purpose of this study was to understand college students’ perceptions, awareness and education on HE and SDH with a specific focus on racial health disparities.

Methods:

A 28-item questionnaire was distributed electronically to a cross-sectional, campus-wide convenience sample of undergraduates at a large public university in the southeast USA.

Results:

While many students reported having knowledge or understanding about HE, SDH and related concepts, most had negative attitudes and beliefs about them. Students reported good understanding of these terms, but also believed that health disparities were due to individual behaviours.

Conclusion:

The contradiction in results show that while college students may think they have a good understanding of HE and SDH, their education on the topics could be improved. Study findings should encourage health education specialists to shift their focus from merely providing information to promoting the application of that knowledge. By so doing, students may be able to bridge the gap between understanding health equity and applying their knowledge in everyday life.
Effects of Mobile Computer Terminal Configuration and Level of Driving Control on Police Officers’ Performance and Workload
Authors: Shupsky Taylor , Lyman Adriana , He Jibo , Zahabi Maryam
Published: March 2020

Objective

The objective of this study was to assess police officers’ performance and workload in using two mobile computer terminal (MCT) configurations under operational and tactical driving conditions.

Background

Crash reports have identified in-vehicle distraction to be a major cause of law enforcement vehicle crashes. The MCT has been found to be the most frequently used in-vehicle technology and the main source of police in-vehicle distraction.

Method

Twenty police officers participated in a driving simulator-based assessment of driving behavior, task completion time, and perceived workload with two MCT configurations under operational and tactical levels of driving.

Results

The findings revealed that using the MCT configuration with speech-based data entry and head-up display location while driving improved driving performance, decreased task completion time, and reduced police officers’ workload as compared to the current MCT configuration used by police departments. Officers had better driving but worse secondary task performance under the operational driving as compared to the tactical driving condition.

Conclusion

This study provided an empirical support for use of an enhanced MCT configuration in police vehicles to improve police officers’ safety and performance. In addition, the findings emphasize the need for more training to improve officers’ tactical driving skills and multitasking behavior.

Application

The findings provide guidelines for vehicle manufacturers, MCT developers, and police agencies to improve the design and implementation of MCTs in police vehicles considering input modality and display eccentricity, which are expected to increase officer and civilian safety.
A Methodology for the Marginalised: Surviving Oppression and Traumatic Fieldwork in the Neoliberal Academy
Authors: Pearce Ruth
Published: March 2020

This article proposes that survival may be considered a research method for social researchers, especially if they are undertaking fieldwork within marginalised communities of which they are a part. Drawing on an autoethnographic account of conducting research while trans, it shows how marginalised researchers may encounter both challenges common within the neoliberal university, and troubles specific to the researcher’s social identity, touching on experiences of casualisation, distressing fieldwork, trauma, and suicide. The article concludes that marginalised researchers should not be held individually responsible for their own survival; rather, they require the active support of research communities and institutional frameworks.
The Lambeth Conference, gender and sexuality
Authors: Methuen Charlotte
Published: March 2020

On the basis of the Lambeth Conference resolutions, this article traces discussions of marriage and divorce, polygamy, contraception and sexual relationships, the role of women and homosexuality and same-sex relationships at the Lambeth Conferences from 1888 to 1998. It demonstrates a growing awareness among the Anglican bishops of the role of culture in defining approaches to human sexuality and marriage, and of the complex reality of human relationships. As the bishops’ understanding changed and developed, they sometimes confirmed, but often amended, the responses of Lambeth Conferences.
Difficult texts: Ecclesiastes 12..12 compared with John 21.25: what does a canon theologian do?
Authors: Francis Leslie
Published: March 2020

Ecclesiastes 12.12 and John 21.25 appear to offer starkly contrasting perspectives on the relationship between Church and Academy. Taken together, they prompt reflection on the role of a canon theologian within a cathedral.
Management of digital records in selected financial services parastatals in Zimbabwe
Authors: Chikomba Alfred , Rodrigues Antonio , Ngoepe Mpho
Published: March 2020

In recent years, there has been a surge of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the conduct of business. Public sector institutions in Zimbabwe have also embraced ICTs with an objective of promoting accountability, transparency and service delivery. This has increased the generation of digital records which are key in day-to-day business activities. However, the management of such records has been a challenge for most public sector institutions in most countries including Zimbabwe. Despite embracing ICTs, there have not been many changes to create a favourable environment for managing the resultant digital records. The findings reported in this research article were part of a broader study on the management of digital records in selected financial services parastatals in Zimbabwe. The study utilised the digital curation centre (DCC) curation lifecycle model as the theoretical framework of the study. This multiple case study research adopted a qualitative research approach to collect data from four purposively selected financial services parastatals in Zimbabwe using interviews, document analysis and observation as data collection tools. The study established that the financial services parastatals under investigation still lack requisite tools such as policies, guidelines and standards, adequate infrastructure and skilled manpower for effective and efficient management of digital records. In addition, the National Archives of Zimbabwe (NAZ), which has the legal mandate of regulating records management, has not been sufficiently involved in the management of digital records due to the lack of a legal and professional framework. Therefore, the study recommends the crafting of in-house policies and guidelines for managing digital records, procurement of adequate infrastructure and the recruitment of skilled and experienced manpower, if an enabling environment for the effective and efficient management of digital records is to be created.
Prevalence and Correlates of Sexual Revictimization in Middle and High School Youth
Authors: Edwards Katie M. , Banyard Victoria L.
Published: March 2020

Research consistently shows that individuals who experience a sexual assault are at an increased risk to experience a subsequent sexual assault, a phenomenon known as sexual revictimization. However, little research has used a longitudinal methodology to examine rates and correlates of peer-to-peer sexual revictimization in middle and high school youth. The purpose of this study was to address this gap in the literature. Participants were 1,706 youth in Grades 7 to 10 (51.3% female) who completed surveys at the beginning and end of an academic year, approximately 6 months apart. Results showed that the vast majority ( n = 1561, 90.4%) of youth reported no sexual victimization at either time point, 125 youth (7.2%) reported sexual victimization at one time point, and 40 youth (2.3%) reported sexual victimization at two time points. Among victims ( n = 165), about one quarter ( n = 40, 24.2%) were victimized at both time points. Binge drinking, depression, and suicidal thoughts were all higher among multiple and singular victims compared with nonvictims and among multiple victims compared with singular victims. Girls and sexual minorities were more likely to be multiple and singular victims compared with nonvictims and multiple victims compared with singular victims. Older youth were more likely to be multiple and singular victims compared with nonvictims. These data underscore the need for programming that concurrently focuses on mental health and sexual assault risk reduction, especially among high-risk youth.
The morphology of experimentally produced charcoal distinguishes fuel types in the Arctic tundra
Authors: Pereboom Eleanor MB , Vachula Richard S , Huang Yongsong , Russell James
Published: March 2020

Wildfires in the Arctic tundra have become increasingly frequent in recent years and have important implications for tundra ecosystems and for the global carbon cycle. Lake sediment–based records are the primary means of understanding the climatic influences on tundra fires. Sedimentary charcoal has been used to infer climate-driven changes in tundra fire frequency but thus far cannot differentiate characteristics of the vegetation burnt during fire events. In forested ecosystems, charcoal morphologies have been used to distinguish changes in fuel type consumed by wildfires of the past; however, no such approach has been developed for tundra ecosystems. We show experimentally that charcoal morphologies can be used to differentiate graminoid (mean = 6.77; standard deviation (SD) = 0.23) and shrub (mean = 2.42; SD = 1.86) biomass burnt in tundra fire records. This study is a first step needed to construct more nuanced tundra wildfire histories and to understand how wildfire will impact the region as vegetation and fire change in the future.
Mass density effect on vibration of zigzag and chiral SWCNTs: A theoretical study
Authors: Hussain Muzamal , Naeem Muhammad Nawaz
Published: March 2020

Carbon nanotubes fascinate new materials with astonishing mechanical, optical, and electrical properties. In fact, carbon nanotubes are kinds of rolled graphene sheets, and the rolling manner shows the basic properties of the tube, and that is actually the main reason for the extraordinary feature of the carbon nanotubes. This paper aims to presents formulation of Love’s shell theory for single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) using Galerkin’s method. For this system, the governing equation is developed with proposed method. It is assumed that C–C and C–F support conditions are applied on the edge of carbon nanotube. Zigzag and chiral structures are considered for the vibrational analysis to investigate the effect of different mode and in-plane rigidity with end conditions. Moreover, the influence of mass density per unit lateral area on the same structure is also developed. It is also concluded that the fundamental frequencies of chiral tubes are lower than that of zigzag tubes frequencies. By increasing values of in-plane rigidity, resulting frequencies also increase and frequencies decrease on increasing mass density per unit lateral area. Though the trends of frequency values of both mass density per unit lateral area and in-plane rigidity are converse to each other. It is shown that variation in mass density has a significant effect on the vibration of SWCNTs. To generate the fundamental natural frequencies and for better accuracy and effectiveness, the computer software MATLAB is used. Tube dynamical equations for the present problem are taken in the integral form energy expressions for a carbon nanotube. The axial modal deformations are approximated by making use of the beam functions. The proposed model is continuum-model for getting the dynamic character of SWCNTs and to validate the results by earlier methods.
Localising ‘radicalisation’: Risk assessment practices in Greece and the United Kingdom
Authors: Skleparis Dimitris , Augestad Knudsen Rita
Published: March 2020

This article juxtaposes anti-radicalisation policy in the United Kingdom, one of the pioneers in the field, with Greece, one of the latecomers. Drawing on localisation theory, our aim is to understand how ‘common knowledge’ of radicalisation and counter-radicalisation has materialised in the United Kingdom and Greece by exploring the development and use of radicalisation-related risk and vulnerability assessment tools. We argue that the radicalisation ‘knowledge’ was localised more seamlessly in the United Kingdom, which can be attributed to the country’s ‘norm producer’ status on the field of European counter-radicalisation. By contrast, the ‘knowledge’ was subjected to significant ‘re-framing’ and ‘stretching’ to fit with the Greek context. This is associated with the country’s ‘norm adopter’ status on the field of European counter-radicalisation, as well as with a ‘spill-over effect’ from a national context of deeply polarising and contentious counter-terrorism policies. We maintain that these localisation processes reveal two distinct assemblages of governing radicalisation.
Maternal alcohol intakes before and during pregnancy: Impact on the mother and infant outcome to 18 months
Authors: McDonald Barry William , Watson Patricia Ellyett
Published: March 2020

Aim:

To investigate maternal alcohol intakes before and during pregnancy, their impact on mothers and infants to 18 months.

Method:

Prospective study of 504 New Zealand volunteers visited in months 4 and 7 of pregnancy, measurements taken, lifestyle details recorded including alcohol intake before and during pregnancy. Eighteen months after birth, 370 infants were measured, and infant development recorded.

Results:

Nineteen per cent of mothers never drank, 53% stopped when they knew they were pregnant, 29% continued to drink. Twenty-two per cent of drinkers binge drank (over 50 g alcohol per session) before pregnancy and 10% during pregnancy. Daily drinking was associated with increased obesity in mothers. Alcohol consumption before or during pregnancy was not associated with infant motor development, had a slight negative effect on growth, and a significant association with vocal ability to 18 months. Energy intake appeared to partially moderate this effect.

Conclusion:

Maternal alcohol consumption exceeding 50 g per session both before and during pregnancy was associated with decreasing vocal ability in the 18-month old infant.