bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Seismic Responses of the Supporting Structure of FAST under Multiple-Support Excitations
Authors: Fan F. , Li Y.G. , Qian H.L. , Zhu E.C.
Published: June 2015

Seismic ground motions are spatial incoherent partly due to uncertainty in fault mechanism and wave propagation. The spatial coherency and its effect can be important and need to be investigated for multiple-support structures. In this study, an investigation of seismic responses of a five-hundred-meter aperture spherical telescope (FAST) is investigated. The structure is a cable net structure with multiple supports. For the structural analysis, parameters of an existing coherency model for excitations along the same orientation but considering the multi-component excitations and spatially separated locations are developed using the records from Taiwan. This coherency model together with adopted target power spectral density function and phase difference spectrum model are used to simulate multi-component seismic ground motions at 338 grid points covering the FAST. The simulated records are used as the basis to interpolate the time history of the ground motions at 2395 supports for the considered structure. The time-history responses of the structure under incoherent multiple-support excitations are evaluated and compared to that under uniform excitations. The results show that the influence of coherency on the supporting structure of the FAST in three excitation directions differs. The analysis results show that as compared to uniform excitations, the consideration of the seismic coherency in seismic excitations leads to, on average, 87% of increase in stress for 94% of the main cables, and 22% of increase in stress for 44% of the tie-down cables. It was also noted that the maximum tensile stress of the cable by considering the coherency is 835 MPa while that under uniform excitations is 671 MPa. In both cases, they are smaller than the characteristic tensile strength of the cables used for design and construction of the FAST.
Behavior of Hollow and Concrete-Filled FRP-HSC and FRP-HSC-Steel Composite Columns Subjected to Concentric Compression
Authors: Fanggi B.A. Louk , Ozbakkaloglu T.
Published: June 2015

This paper presents an experimental study that was undertaken to investigate the effects of key parameters on the compressive behavior of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP)-concrete-steel composite columns that were manufactured with S-Glass FRP tubes. A total of 24 hollow and concrete-filled double-skin tubular columns (DSTCs), two concrete-filled FRP tubes (CFFTs), and six CFFTs with inner voids (H-CFFTs) were prepared and tested. The parameters examined included the inner steel tube diameter, influence of concrete-filling the inner steel tube, and the loading pattern. The results indicate that concrete-filling the inner steel tubes of DSTCs results in an increase in the compressive strength of confined concrete in DSTCs, compared to that of the companion specimens with hollow inner steel tubes. It was observed that cyclically loaded DSTCs exhibited slightly higher strength and strain enhancements compared to their monotonically loaded counterparts. The results also indicate that H-CFFTs perform significantly worse than DSTCs and CFFTs and their performance further degrades with an increase in the diameter of inner void. Comparison of the results from DSTCs and CFFTs indicate that both hollow and concrete-filled DSTCs exhibit improved compressive behavior compared to those of the companion CFFTs.
Test Study and Numerical Simulation of Deflation Process of an Air-Supported Membrane Structure
Authors: Qing Qiang , Gong Jinghai
Published: June 2015

Assessment of the deflation behavior and duration of an air-supported membrane structure is of great importance for making the plan of safety evacuation in the emergence situations but has received few studies. To gain insight into the deflation behavior and duration, field deflation tests of a real air-supported structure were performed, whereby the relationship between the inner air pressure and the duration was determined. Based on the nonlinear finite element (FE) method and the Nozzle theory defining the relationship between air loss and the dimensions of entrances, holes and seams, a simple numerical method is proposed to simulate the deflation process and predict the deflation duration. Factors affecting deflation duration like leakage area and uniform load on membrane surface are given detailed analyses. Through the comparison between the test data and the simulation results, the equivalent leakage area and the uniformly distributed load of the membrane surface are determined to facilitate the assessment of the deflation behavior and duration of the real structure. The method can efficiently analyze the deflation process and predict the deflation duration easily, and the present study is valuable in making plans for dealing with occupants' emergency evacuation and controlled deflations.
Dynamic Impact Factors for Simply-Supported Bridges Due to Vehicle Braking
Authors: Deng Lu , Wang Fang , He Wei
Published: June 2015

Previous studies have shown that the dynamic impact factors of bridges caused by vehicle braking may exceed those prescribed in the bridge design codes. While simple vehicle and bridge models were used in most of the previous studies, a three-dimensional vehicle-bridge coupled model was developed in this paper to study the dynamic impact factors for bridges due to vehicle braking. This model is able to deal with more complex bridge structures than most of the existing models in the literature and can produce more reasonable results. Considerable dynamic effects were observed on the bridge responses as well as on the contact forces between the bridge and the vehicle due to vehicle braking. The effects of several important parameters, including the vehicle braking position, deceleration rate, initial vehicle speed, and road surface condition, on the dynamic impact factors were studied. In addition, a comparison was made between the dynamic impact factors caused by vehicle braking and acceleration.
Constant-Damage Yield Strength Spectra for RC Structures Using Modified Park-Ang Damage Model
Authors: Jiang Huanjun , Fu Bo , Chen Linzhi
Published: June 2015

In this study, constant-damage yield strength spectrum (CDYSS), which is defined as the yield strength demand of a single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) system of varying natural vibration period with the target constant damage index and specified ductility capacity, is derived by averaging the nonlinear time-history analysis results of a SDOF system under different earthquake ground motions. A modified Park-Ang damage model proposed by the authors, eliminating its non-convergence problem both at upper and lower limits with higher precision and smaller scatter, is adopted to calculate the damage index of the SDOF system. In the construction of CDYSS, 641 sets of earthquake ground motion records are adopted and classified into 12 groups in line with Chinese code for seismic design of buildings. The yield strength demands of SDOF systems with given ductility capacity are obtained through trial and error method. Then, the mean CDYSS and the corresponding coefficient of variation for different group of site soil conditions are calculated. The effects of ductility capacity and local site soil conditions on CDYSS are discussed. Lastly, the empirical formulas of CDYSS are developed by multivariable nonlinear regression analysis and compared with actual CDYSS.
Pulp and paper making potentials of elaeis guineensis (oil palm) grown in south east, Nigeria
Authors: Onuorah E.O. , Nwabanne J.T. , Nnabuife E.L.C.
Published: June 2015

The objective of this study was to determine the pulping and paper making potentials of oil palm (E guineensis). Fibrous material from the whole trunk (WT), empty fruit bunch (EFB, fronds (FDS) and depithed trunk (DT) were evaluated using proximate chemical analysis, fiber morphological and related characteristics. Effect of active alkali (AA) % as Na2O on kraft pulping properties and the handsheet paper propertie was studied. Proximate chemical analysis reveal acceptable cellulose content for EFB (43.51%), FDS (51.13%) and DT (53.80%) while WT (32.44) is unacceptable. Low lignin content obtained (17.8−21.8%) suggests easier pulping characteristics. The high % NaOH solubility of WT (26.05%) and FDS (32.1%) suggest potential of high effluent loads. Fiber morphological studies revealed that approximately 83% of fibers are ≤ 1.5 mm in length thus putting oil palm as a short fiber source. The slenderness ratio ranges from 33.44 to 82.80; Runkelratio from 0.40 to 0.63; flexibility co-efficient from 57.20 to 71.46 and rigidity co-efficient from 0.29 to 0.43. Studies of pulping properties reveal that as active alkali % was increased the percentage total pulp yield, % screened pulp yield, % screened rejects, pulp kappa number, klason lignin and tear index of resultant pulp/handsheet all/each decreased. Conversely, as active alkali % was increased the Brust index, double fold number, breaking length, tensile index of paper handsheets and pulp brightness were each enhanced. It was concluded that in pulping of WT AA% should be < 14 and EFB pulping should be ≤ 14 in order to have acceptable yield. Also in order to have acceptable tear index, AA% should be ≤ 16. It is being recommended that trunks should be depithed in order to have acceptable yield. The fibrous material from oil palm make acceptable raw material for paper making and are good hardwood substitutes. Paper produced when bleached can be used for printing and writing papers while the unbleached grades can be used for wrapping and package papers and for corrugated boards.
Investigations of strength properties of sandstone rock
Authors: Boutrid Abdelaziz , Chettibi M. , Yahyaoui S. , Talhi K
Published: June 2015

This research aim to assess the effect of absorption on the mechanical properties of sandstone rocks using a servo-controlled testing machine, stress-strain curves were obtained from which the uni-axial compressive strength, Young’s modulus and the brittleness index were measured for specimens prepared from a single block of Sandstone from the Hassi Messaoud site investigation, Algeria. To see how the strength properties were affected by changes in absorption content such as are likely to occur on site, the specimens were divided into three groups which were prepared for testing under different conditions of absorption equilibrium.
Modeling and analysis of impact energy absorber by using ls dyna
Authors: Yadao Adik , Hingole R. S.
Published: June 2015

Today’s car is one of the most important things in everyone’s life .Every person wants to have his or her own car but the question that arises in each buyer’s mind is whether the vehicle is safe enough to spend so much of money so it is the responsibility of an mechanical engineer to make the vehical comfortable and at the Same time safer. Now a days automakers are coming with various energy absorbing devices such as crush box, door beams etc. this energy absorbing device s prove to be very useful in reducing the amount force that is being transmitted to the occupant. In this we are using impact energy absorber in efficient manner as compare to earlier. The various steps involved in this project starting from developing the cad model of this inner impact energy absorber using the CAD software CATIA V5 R19. Then pre-processing is carried out in HYPERMESH 11.0 which includes assigning material, properties, boundary conditions such as contacts, constraints etc. LS-DYNA971 is used as a solver and LS-POST is used for the post processing and results obtained are compared to the standards. By carrying out this idea it has been observed that there is a considerable amount of energy that is being absorbed by this energy-absorbing device. Along with this energy absorption, the intrusion in passenger compartment is also reduced by considerable amount. So for safer and comfortable car with inner impact energy absorber is one of the best options available. This will get implement by this research work.
Design & optimization of a small wind turbine blade for operation at low wind speed
Authors: Chaudhary Manoj Kumar , Roy Anindita
Published: June 2015

A small wind turbine blade was designed and optimized in this research paper. The blade plays an important role, because it is the most important part of the energy absorption system. Consequently, the blade has to be designed carefully to enable to absorb energy with its greatest efficiency. The main objective of this paper is to optimized blade number and selection of tip speed ratio corresponding to the solidity. The power performance of small horizontal axis wind turbines was simulated in detail using blade element momentum methods (BEM). In this paper for wind blade design various factors such as tip loss, hub loss, drag coefficient, and wake were considered. The design process includes the selection of the wind turbine type and the determination of the blade airfoil, twist angle distribution along the radius, and chord length distribution along the radius. A parametric study that will determine if the optimized values of blade twist angle and chord length create the most efficient blade geometry. The 3-bladed, 5-bladed and 7-bladed rotor achieved maximum values of Cp 0.46, 0.5 and 0.48 at the tip speed ratio 7, 5 and 4 respectively. It was observed that using BEM theory, maximum Cp varied with strongly solidity and weakly with the blade number. The studies showed that the power coefficient increases upto blade number B = 5, while the blade number if increased above 5 then the power coefficient decreases at operating pitch angle equal to 3°. Highest Cp would have solidity between 4% to 6% for number of blade 3 and design point tip speed ratio of about "7". Highest Cp would have solidity ranging from 5% to 10% for number of blade 5 and 7 and design point tip speed ratio of about 5 and 4 respectively.
Go-water nanofluid inside semi porous channel: analytical investigation
Authors: Azimi M. , Riazi R.
Published: June 2015

This paper concerns the analytical investigation of the GO-water nanofluid flow in a semi-porous channel. The Similarity Berman’s transformation is employed to convert the governing partial differential equations of a steady laminar flow of an electrically conducting fluid in a two dimensional channel. Reconstruction of Variational Iteration Method (RVIM) has been used to obtain the expressions for velocity fields.

Graphs are sketched and discussed for various parameters, especially the effect of the expansion ratio on velocity fields. The results indicated that the Reynolds number, Hartmann number and solid volume fraction have strong effect on velocity boundary layer thickness.
Utilization of airborne gamma ray spectrometric data for geological mapping and radioactive mineral exploration of Gabel Umm Tineidba area, south eastern desert, Egypt
Authors: Hafeez Tharwat H. Abdel , Youssef Mohamed A. S. , Mohamed Waheed H.
Published: June 2015

The present work utilizes airborne gamma ray spectrometric data in a trial to refine surface geology of igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks, detect any radioactive mineralization at Gabel Umm Tineidba area South Eastern Desert, Egypt. The study area is covered by rock exposures ranging in age from the Precambrian to Quaternary. Airborne gamma ray spectrometry can be very helpful in mapping surface geology. This provides estimates of the apparent surface concentrations of the most common naturally occurring radioactive elements, such as potassium (K), equivalent uranium (eU) and equivalent thorium (eTh). This is based on the assumption that, the absolute and relative concentrations of these radioelements vary measurably and significantly with lithology. The composite image technique is used to display simultaneously three parameters of the three radioelement concentrations and their three binary ratios on one image. The technique offers much in terms of lithological discrimination, based on color differences and showed efficiency in defining areas, where different lithofacies occur within areas mapped as one continuous lithology. The integration between surface geological information and geophysical data led to detailing the surface geology and the contacts between different rock units. Significant locations or favourable areas for uranium exploration are defined, where the measurements exceed (X+2S), taking X as the arithmetic mean of eU, eU/eTh and eU/K measurements and S as the standard deviation corresponding to each variables. The study area shows the presence of fifteen relatively high uraniferous zone. In addition, the trend analysis based on the total count map and the published geological map shows that, most of the well-developed structural lineaments have NS, ENE, NNE and NNW trends.
Relationships between Field Tests of Power and Athletic Performance in Track and Field Athletes Specializing in Power Events
Authors: Aoki Kazuhiro , Kohmura Yoshimitsu , Sakuma Kazuhiko , Koshikawa Kazunori , Naito Hisashi
Published: June 2015

We investigated the relationships between power event scores and power/strength tests using the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) scoring table. We sought to identify tests suitable for evaluating the performance of athletes specialized in power events involving different techniques (jumping, sprinting, and throwing). Seventy-four male university-level track and field athletes participated in this study. Standing triple jump, standing quintuple jump, and backward medicine ball throwing were positively correlated with IAAF scores in sprinters ( p < 0.05), while forward medicine ball throwing, backward medicine ball throwing, and clean lift ( p < 0.05) were associated with IAAF scores in throwers. Standing long jump ( p < 0.05), standing triple jump, standing quintuple jump, and anaerobic power ( p < 0.001) were positively correlated with IAAF scores in all athletes. Our results demonstrated that standing triple jump and standing quintuple jump were effective indicators of performance in power events in university-level athletes.
Perceptions of Top-Level Judo Coaches on Training and Performance
Authors: Santos Luis , Fernández-Río Javier , Almansba Ramdane , Sterkowicz Stanislaw , Callan Mike
Published: June 2015

The main goal of this project was to assess top-level judo coaches' perceptions on two capital elements in coaching: training and competition management. 41 experienced, high-level coaches from Europe, Asia and America agreed to participate. An open-ended questionnaire was selected as the assessment instrument. The two main topics (training and competition) were divided in two areas: methodology and access to high-level performance, and combat strategies and coaches' roles and tasks during combat, respectively. Results showed that in order to access high-level performance, judo training must consider the most effective techniques in competition, judokas must develop their special technique and they must work on physical, technical, tactical and psychological aspects. Regarding competition, combat strategy is determined by the opponent, and coaches must provide precise information to their judokas, focusing on their grip and body alignment.
Agility and Change-of-Direction Speed are Independent Skills: Implications for Training for Agility in Invasion Sports
Authors: Young Warren B. , Dawson Brian , Henry Greg J.
Published: June 2015

This review explores the differences between agility in invasion sports (defined as including reactive decision-making) and change-of-direction speed (CODS), and highlights the implications for training. Correlations between agility tests and CODS tests indicate that they represent independent skills. Agility tests discriminate higher- from lower-standard athletes better than CODS tests, indicating that the cognitive element of agility is important to performance. Training studies have shown that the development of strength qualities can transfer to gains in CODS, but this has never been shown for agility. There is some evidence that the importance of physical qualities is greater for CODS than for agility. It was concluded that the reactive element should be included in agility training, testing and research. While there appears to be no research evidence for the benefits of strength and power training, there is some support for the use of small-sided games for improving agility.
Decision Support for Evaluating Player Performance in Rugby Union
Authors: Calder Jon M. , Durbach Ian N.
Published: June 2015

Many professional rugby teams collect extensive data on player performance, but the synthesis of this data into overall evaluations and subsequent selections is still largely left to the expert but unassisted judgment of coaching staff. Decision support systems are designed to assist this process by providing a framework for making decisions in a structured, transparent way. In this article we develop a decision support tool to assist performance evaluation in rugby. The method considers player performance over a range of attributes and addresses uncertainty both in the assessment of performance and in preferences for certain aspects of the game over others. We illustrate the approach using data collected for the 2008 and 2009 Super Rugby tournament.
Communicating the Business Value of Innovation
Authors: Ye Chen , Jha Sanjeev , Desouza Kevin C.
Published: June 2015

Successful innovation depends upon effective communication of the business value of innovation. Yet different stages of the innovation process require different communication strategies. Companies who have recognized the different elements of the innovation process are able to target their communication mechanisms to achieve the best results from organizational innovation. In this article, we employ Desouza’s model of intrapreneurship to outline key communication challenges and strategies for addressing them across the five phases of innovation: idea generation and mobilization, idea screening and advocacy, experimentation with ideas, commercialization of ideas, and diffusion and implementation of ideas. The importance of communication to each stage is identified and barriers are noted. Drawing from first-hand interviews, case studies and a literature review, and further refined by presentation of the ideas to various executives, we propose in this article seven communication strategies for organizations to consider across the innovation process. Overall, having a clear understanding of the stages of the innovation process, and the kinds of communication that are most beneficial to each stage provides a clear vision of how to communicate the business value of innovations both internally and to external stakeholders. The effectiveness of communication can determine the success or failure of an innovation project.
Cultural Change Management
Authors: H. James Harrington , Frank Voehl
Published: June 2015

A lot of brilliant work has been done to develop methodologies and approaches to apply change management concepts to managing the development and implementation of projects and programs. This has resulted in major improvements in success rates, delays, and the total effectiveness of these projects and programs. Unfortunately, these endeavors have not resulted in the desired improvement in the organization’s ability to endure the constant change activities that the environment, technology, customer, and international competition have placed upon the organization. This technical paper presents a new concept called Culture Change Management (CCM) that will strengthen the total organization’s capability and willingness to accept and prosper in a rapidly changing worldwide environment. It will require a major change in the way organizational change management has been structured, minimizing the focus on projects and programs and maximizing the focus on organizational operations.
Fire Test of Timber-fibre Concrete Composite Floor
Authors: Caldová Eva , Wald František , Kuklíková Anna
Published: June 2015

The subject of this paper is a description of experimental programme of timber-fibre concrete floor in fire. Furnace test was performed on one full-size floor specimen at the Fire testing laboratory PAVUS. Floor specimen was 4, 5 m long and 3 m wide, consisting of 60 mm fibre concrete topping on plywood formwork, connected to GL beams. It was subjected the standard fire for over 150 min. The membrane effect of the floor was progressively activated and the fire performance of timber-fibre concrete floor was better comparing to traditional design method. The project is a part of the experimental research that deals with the effect of membrane action of composite timber fibre reinforced floor slabs exposed to fire which is based on previous research on steel fibre reinforced concrete slabs. The main objective of the project is the preparation of the analytical model which can predict the fire resistance of such floors with dispersed reinforcement.
A Basic Study on Protective Steel Structures against Woody Debris Hazards
Authors: Horiguchi Toshiyuki , Shibuya Hajime , Katsuki Satoshi , Ishikawa Nobutaka , Mizuyama Takahisa
Published: June 2015

This paper presents a basic study for protective structures (slit dams) against woody debris hazards. First, a model experiment was carried out to examine the trap efficiency of a slit dam against woody debris with or without roots. Herein, the effects of length of woody debris, flow discharge and opening width of a slit dam on the trap efficiency were investigated. Second, a new three dimensional distinct element method (3D-DEM) was developed to simulate the trap efficiency of woody debris with or without roots by introducing cylindrical elements. Finally, the new 3D-DEM was applied to simulate an actual woody debris disaster site in Hiroshima, Japan.
Investigation of Ultra-High Performance Concrete under Static and Blast Loads
Authors: Li Jun , Wu Chengqing , Hao Hong , Su Yu
Published: June 2015

Conventional concrete works as an important construction material. However, conventional concrete is known to be brittle and prone to tensile failure and cracks. To overcome such defects and improve the dynamic performance of concrete against extreme loading conditions, concrete with different additions and formulae have been developed. In a recent study, to develop ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) material with better strength and crack control ability, super fine aggregates with high pozzolanic effect were mixed into the steel fibre reinforced concrete instead of the traditional graded coarse aggregates. Furthermore, to achieve high early age strength, nanoscale additives which can accelerate the hydration process of the ordinary Portland cement were also introduced into the concrete composite. A series of uniaxial compression and four-point bending tests had been performed in the laboratory to get the material properties of this innovative concrete material. Great improvement of the concrete uniaxial compressive strength and flexural tensile strength was observed. Field blast tests were carried out on columns made of this UHPC material. Superior blast resistance performance was observed. In the current study, based on the available test data, numerical models are developed and numerical simulations are carried out. The simulation results are found to comply well with the experimental results.
Review of Approaches for Analysing Secondary Structures in Earthquakes and Evaluation of Floor Response Spectrum Approach
Authors: Lim Ellys , Chouw Nawawi
Published: June 2015

Secondary structures are the members that are not part of the primary load-bearing components in a structural system. Although not intended to bear loads, secondary structures could be subjected to earthquake loading that may lead to failures. Damage to secondary structures could pose significant threats to life safety, prevent buildings from functioning and result in major economic loss. During past decades, a considerable amount of research efforts has been dedicated to develop rational approaches for seismic analysis of secondary structures. This paper aimed to assess these developments to today's knowledge as a reference for more accurate design. The review began with a brief description of the response characteristics of secondary structure under seismic loading, especially focusing on the factors that influence the responses. An appraisal of current numerical and experimental analysis methods of secondary structure is presented. Results from experimental work are used to validate the reliability of floor response spectrum and current design provision. Finally, an outlook of future possible research direction for more realistic design of secondary structures is given.
Evaluating Disproportionate Collapse Vulnerability
Authors: Crawford John E. , Choi Hyung-Jin , Brewer Timothy R.
Published: June 2015

Adding resilience and robustness to the infrastructure vis-à-vis reducing risks related to disproportionate collapse of the structural framing system of a facility, has become a concern in the engineering design communities in several countries, but particularly in the U.S. The idea is to address a perceived weakness in design standards related to the potential for a framing system to fail given some extreme unanticipated loading. However, realizing some form of added protection from disproportionate collapse is not without its perils, particularly with respect to a clear statement of what is to be achieved and how it is to be accomplished. This paper describes some key aspects and complexities of the issues that need to be addressed and the difficulties associated with doing so.
Adaptive Impact Absorption – The Concept and Potential Applications
Authors: Holnicki-Szulc Jan , Graczykowski Cezary , Mikulowski Grzegorz , Mróz Arkadiusz , Pawlowski Piotr , Wiszowaty Rafal
Published: June 2015

Adaptive Impact Absorption focuses on adaptation of energy absorbing structures to actual dynamic loading by using system of sensors detecting and identifying impact in advance and embedded semi-active dissipaters with controllable mechanical properties. Application of such devices allows to modify dynamic characteristics of the structure during the period of impact and to precisely control the process of energy dissipation. The paper presents an overview of research conducted at the Department of Intelligent Technologies of the Institute of Fundamental Technological Research dedicated to design and applications of various systems of Adaptive Impact Absorption. Wide range of presented examples covers adaptive hydraulic and pneumatic landing gears, skeletal systems equipped with controllable elements and detachable joints as well as adaptive inflatable structures.
Semi-Supervised Image Meta-Filtering Using Relevance Feedback in Cultural Heritage Applications
Authors: Protopapadakis Eftychios , Doulamis Anastasios
Published: June 2015

An image filtering scheme for images of cultural interest is presented. The proposed methodology utilize a semi supervised approach for the creation of an appropriate distance learning metric, which is used for the filtering. User's feedback is involved only for a minor set of data, defined using OPTICS algorithm and sparse modeling representative selection. Such an approach facilitates the refinement of retrieval results, always under the scope of the user needs. The described methodology can be easily implemented for a variety of feature vectors and data sets.
Multilingual Specialist Glossaries in a Framework for Intangible Cultural Heritage
Authors: Artese Maria Teresa , Gagliardi Isabella
Published: June 2015

This article describes a methodology (and a tool) to associate, in an automatic or semi-automatic way, multilingual specialist glossaries to tags stored in the AESS archive of Intangible Cultural Heritage. The main objective of this research, developed within projects performed with Italian Lombardy Region, is to link AESS tags with corresponding terms in MultiWordNet (MWN), AgroVoc or DBPedia, to help cataloguers to structure terms appropriately and to have proper translations and relevant descriptions to insert them in AESS archive.
Mixed-Reality Geometric Algebra Animation Methods for Gamified Intangible Heritage
Authors: Papagiannakis George , Elissavet Greasidou , Trahanias Panos , Tsioumas Michalis
Published: June 2015

In this work we propose a novel, mobile, cross-platform open framework specifically for animated, skinned and life-size augmentations of real scenes with virtual characters. Already ten years ago we had demonstrated such technologies on the site of ancient Pompeii however, with a VR/AR closed-system running on a powerful mobile workstation hidden on a backpack. Nowadays we exhibit similar functionality running on modern smartphones running on an open-source, cross-platform gamification framework. Due to the openness of this framework we integrate a modern AR markerless camera tracking toolkit coupled with our novel algorithm for animation interpolation blending based on geometric algebra, which would not be otherwise easily achievable only in commercial, off-the-self toolkits. Thus our approach allows for open-standards research in virtual character simulation as well as novel AR augmentations for the creative and cultural heritage industries. Based on recent Mixed Reality software 3D platforms and 3D content creation pipelines, intangible digital heritage environments can benefit significantly from such versatile, efficient and robust 3D gamification methodologies.
E-Museums Project. Making Polish Cultural Heritage Accessible Online
Authors: Laine-Zamojska M. , Zielonka K. , Kuśmidrowicz-Król A. , de Rosset A.
Published: June 2015

Digitisation of cultural heritage held by museums in Poland has been ongoing for several years. The process faces many obstacles, but some collections have been digitised and are available online, for example through Europeana and the Google Art Project. However, the majority of digitised objects are still unavailable through the Internet. The National Institute for Museums and Public Collections (Narodowy Instytut Muzealnictwa i Ochrony Zbiorów, NIMOZ, http://www.nimoz.pl ) the state agency under the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of Poland has been put in charge, among others, of digitisation of museum collections in Poland, as well as setting standards for collection management. NIMOZ has proposed a new E-Museums Project. The project aims to contribute to the development of the information society by facilitating access to Polish cultural heritage. The main objectives of the project are: (1) to improve access to cultural heritage housed in Polish museums, (2) to improve collection documentation, and (3) to provide a long-term digital preservation system. It is envisaged to achieve these objectives by: (1) digitising selected museum collections, (2) developing a central repository for museums' digital resources, and (3) creating a joint museum web portal. The project is being proposed under the Operational Programme called “Polska Cyfrowa” (Digital Poland) operating under both, the Polish Ministry of Infrastructure and Development and the Ministry of Administration and Digitisation. The project is scheduled to run from 2016 to 2018. It is currently the main development project in the field of digitisation and cultural heritage of the Polish national museums. The paper presents the current status of the project, its objectives, expected outcomes and future development, as well as the digitisation progress in Polish museums. Essential preparatory work on establishing theoretical and methodological bases for the project is also outlined. The latter is a result of several expert working groups, which had been appointed and coordinated by NIMOZ.
Correction
Authors: Harrison Rebecca
Published: June 2015

Due to an administrative error the first draft of the joint editorial page was inadvertently sent to the publishers unseen by either the Guest Editor (Dr. R.J. Harrison) or the permanent Editor (Dr. Sonja Boehmer-Christiansen). In light of this mistake the decision has been made to reprint the whole page. Please accept our apologies for this oversight.
Sharp Thresholds for Monotone Non-Boolean Functions and Social Choice Theory
Authors: Kalai Gil , Mossel Elchanan
Published: June 2015

A key fact in the theory of Boolean functions f: {0, 1}n → {0, 1} is that they often undergo sharp thresholds. For example, if the function f: {0, 1}n → {0, 1} is monotone and symmetric under a transitive action with Ep[f] = ε and Eq[f] = 1−ε, then q − p → 0 as n → ∞. Here Ep denotes the product probability measure on {0, 1}n where each coordinate takes the value 1 independently with probability p.

The fact that symmetric functions undergo sharp thresholds is important in the study of random graphs and constraint satisfaction problems as well as in social choice.

In this paper we prove sharp thresholds for monotone functions taking values in an arbitrary finite set. We also provide examples of applications of the results to social choice and to random graph problems.

Among the applications is an analog for Condorcet’s Jury Theorem and an indeterminacy result for a large class of social choice functions.
Optimal Information Blending with Measurements in the L2 Sphere
Authors: Defourny Boris , Ryzhov Ilya O. , Powell Warren B.
Published: June 2015

A sequential information collection problem, where a risk-averse decision maker updates a Bayesian belief about the unknown objective function of a linear program, is used to investigate the informational value of measurements performed to refine a robust optimization model. The information is collected in the form of a linear combination of the objective coefficients, subject to random noise. We have the ability to choose the weights in the linear combination, creating a new, nonconvex continuous-optimization problem, which we refer to as information blending. We develop two optimal blending strategies: (1) an active learning method that maximizes uncertainty reduction and (2) an economic approach that maximizes an expected improvement criterion. Semidefinite programming relaxations are used to create efficient convex approximations to the nonconvex blending problem.
Patient protection: ill-treatment and wilful neglect
Authors: Griffith Richard
Published: June 2015

The crimes of ill-treating or wilfully neglecting patients have been extended to protect all patients regardless of age or decision-making capacity. A new offence has also been created that will allow for the prosecution of care organisations where ill treatment or wilful neglect has resulted from a gross breach of that organisation's duty of care to its patient. In this article, the author sets out the elements of these criminal offences and considers their implications for nursing practice.
Person-centred care of women with urinary incontinence
Authors: Nazarko Linda
Published: June 2015

Urinary incontinence can affect adults as they age and develop long-term conditions and difficulty coping with an ageing urinary system. This overview explores how ageing, long-term conditions and functional abilities combine to affect the ability of women to retain urinary continence. It emphasizes the importance of ensuring that the individual's needs are met, and that sensitive, compassionate care, that maintains dignity and privacy, is delivered.
Prescribing for children and adolescents in mental health
Authors: Waterman Yanina , Hales Louise , Glackin Marie
Published: June 2015

The level of psychiatric prescribing in children and adolescents is increasing; however, rates of adherence in this group of patients range from only 34–54%. The possible consequences of untreated psychiatric problems include longer duration of the illness, increased severity of symptoms, higher relapse rates, greater risk of suicidal behaviour, academic difficulties and increased family conflict. Prescribers are often faced with difficulty if the parent or carer is not in agreement with the use of medication. This parental disagreement has implications for medication concordance and the relationship between clinicians, young people and their families. For prescribers, understanding parental and young people's attitudes towards medication and their experiences of mental health services is central to patient-centred care.
Yellow Fever Outbreak in Darfur Region-Sudan 2012, a Response to Health Crisis
Authors: Elduma Adel Hussein
Published: June 2015

Yellow fever is highly infectious diseases and infect human through the bite of mosquitoes. So, yellow fever needs more efforts to control its transmission in both human and mosquitoes. Sudan is a limited resource and finds difficulties in controlling emerging diseases. This paper explains the situation during a yellow outbreak in the Darfur region, where long lasting conflict was occurring. This conflict is affected on the health system and it was become unable to detect infectious diseases at earlier stages. Also, we discussed the efforts that were made by world community towards controlling this disease.

In November 2012, Yellow fever outbreak has been reported in the Darfur region in Sudan. The Yellow fever disease outbreak affected 35 localities in four out of five states that comprise the Darfur region December 2012. According to the ministry of Health, 849 people have been infected and 171 (4.96%) died due to this outbreak. The objective is to study the response of different partners in controlling yellow fever outbreak in the Darfur region in Sudan. This is descriptive study, reviews the information regarding yellow fever, and collected data from different sources. Response to this outbreak was made by contribution from different sectors including the federal ministry of health and the international community. Health authorities provided the technical and partial financial assistances to stop disease spread, while the international community, representing in United Nation agencies and NGOs was provided the essential funding to vaccinate population in the Darfur region. Long lasting conflict in countries with limited resources weakened the health system and makes the surveillance unable to detect disease outbreak. Diseases outbreak such as yellow fever need rapid response in order to diagnose and control the disease. Yellow fever outbreak needs contribution of all sectors to control it.
Native Immunogold Labeling of Cell Surface Proteins and Viral Glycoproteins for Cryo-Electron Microscopy and Cryo-Electron Tomography Applications
Authors: Yi Hong , Strauss Joshua D. , Ke Zunlong , Alonas Eric , Dillard Rebecca S. , Hampton Cheri M. , Lamb Kristen M. , Hammonds Jason E. , Santangelo Philip J. , Spearman Paul W. , Wright Elizabeth R.
Published: June 2015

Numerous methods have been developed for immunogold labeling of thick, cryo-preserved biological specimens. However, most of the methods are permutations of chemical fixation and sample sectioning, which select and isolate the immunolabeled region of interest. We describe a method for combining immunogold labeling with cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) and cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) of the surface proteins of intact mammalian cells or the surface glycoproteins of assembling and budding viruses in the context of virus-infected mammalian cells cultured on EM grids. In this method, the cells were maintained in culture media at physiologically relevant temperatures while sequentially incubated with the primary and secondary antibodies. Subsequently, the immunogold-labeled specimens were vitrified and observed under cryo-conditions in the transmission electron microscope. Cryo-EM and cryo-ET examination of the immunogold-labeled cells revealed the association of immunogold particles with the target antigens. Additionally, the cellular structure was unaltered by pre-immunolabeling chemical fixation and retained well-preserved plasma membranes, cytoskeletal elements, and macromolecular complexes. We think this technique will be of interest to cell biologists for cryo-EM and conventional studies of native cells and pathogen-infected cells.
Difference in Bias Approach for Commutability Assessment: Application to Frozen Pools of Human Serum Measured by 8 Direct Methods for HDL and LDL Cholesterol
Authors: Korzun William J , Nilsson Göran , Bachmann Lorin M , Myers Gary L , Sakurabayashi Ikunosuke , Nakajima Katsuyuki , Nakamura Masakazu , Shamburek Robert D , Remaley Alan T , Miller W Greg
Published: June 2015

BACKGROUND

We used a difference in bias approach to evaluate the commutability of 4 frozen serum pools for 8 direct methods for measurement of HDL and LDL cholesterol (HDLC and LDLC).

METHODS

Freshly collected nonfrozen sera from 138 diseased and 37 nondiseased patients and 4 frozen pools from the CDC Lipid Standardization Program were measured by direct methods and by the beta-quantification reference measurement procedure of the CDC. We used an error components model to estimate the difference in the bias component of error plus its uncertainty for frozen pools vs patient samples between the direct method and the reference procedure. Frozen pools with bias differences less than a critical value determined by either medical requirements for bias or the random error components of the measurement procedures were considered commutable.

RESULTS

On the basis of medical requirement criteria, 1 of the 4 frozen pools was commutable for most of the HDLC methods for both diseased and nondiseased patients, and none was commutable for LDLC methods. On the basis of random error criteria, all of the frozen pools were generally commutable for all of the HDLC methods for both diseased and nondiseased patients, and 1 of the 4 frozen pools was generally commutable for most of the LDLC methods for both diseased and nondiseased patients.

CONCLUSIONS

Commutability was assessed as the closeness of agreement of the difference in bias between a reference material and a set of patient samples. Criteria for commutability could be based on fixed medical requirements for bias or on random error components.
Math Skills and Executive Functioning in Preschool: Clinical and Ecological Evaluation // Competencias matemáticas y funcionamiento ejecutivo en preescolar: Evaluación clínica y ecológica
Authors: Presentación María-Jesús , Siegenthaler Rebeca , Pinto Vicente , Mercader Jessica , Miranda Ana
Published: June 2015

This study compares the relationship between executive functioning, analyzed with clinical and ecological tests, and math skills in preschoolers. The children (255 children 5 to 6 years old) were evaluated using neuropsychological tests of inhibition, and working memory and the TEDI-MATH to estimate basic mathematical skills. The ecological evaluation of the executive functioning by the parents and teachers was carried out with the Behavioral Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF). Compared to the ecological ratings, the neuropsychological measures show more correlations with math skills and a greater predictive capacity. The teachers’ BRIEF results were superior to those of the parents. In all cases, working memory is the process that shows the greatest predictive power.
Los usos recreativos y turísticos de los espacios naturales protegidos. El alcance del ocio en el medio natural de Mallorca
Authors: Blázquez Salom Macià
Published: June 2015

El propósito de este trabajo ha consistido en la realización de un estudio exploratoriodescriptivo, mediante métodos inductivos basados sobre todo en el trabajo de campo, de la distribución geográfica de las actividades recreativas y turísticas en el medio natural de Mallorca. Complementariamente, se han identificado y evaluado los impactos ambientales y los conflictos de uso generados por dicha relación, para finalmente realizar propuestas de planificación y gestión de las actividades de ocio en el medio natural, mediante el análisis de experiencias de planificación y gestión del medio natural, principalmente en el continente europeo. La diagnosis desarrollada identifica, caracteriza y categoriza las áreas de uso recreativo intensivo en el medio natural (AURIMN): primero, de uso más masivo, mayoritariamente bañista con instalaciones; segundo, las áreas de picnic invernal oficiales con instalaciones; tercero, las áreas de tránsito motorizado, ciclista y hípico; y finalmente, los itinerarios excursionistas más referenciados en las guías de excursionismo.