Effect of Invisible Exertions on Computed Tomography Radiologists in Saudi Hospitals

International audienceCurrent radiology practices face extreme pressure on available resources with demands of multi-dimensional requirements. Technicians are at the center of a constant drive for optimal productivity and optimization with the minimal possible resources. This paper evaluates the invisible physical and mental exertions resulting from operating computed tomography (CT) scans by fifty-seven technicians surveyed following current radiology practices. Demographic characteristics were reviewed to evaluate differences across the study variables based on gender, level of education, years of experience, and working sector

Impact of 3D IC on NoC Topologies: A Wire Delay Consideration

International audienceIn this paper, we perform an exploration of 3D NoC architectures through physical design implementation based on two tiers Tezzaron 3D technology. The 3D NoC partitioning is done by dividing the NoC's datapath component into two blocks placed in the two tiers. Two Stacked NoC architectures namely Stacked 3D-Mesh NoC and Stacked 2D-Hexagonal NoC developed based on this partitioning strategy are analyzed by comparing their performances with Stacked 2D-Mesh NoC and classical 2D- Mesh and 3D-Mesh NoC. In order to measure the impact of wire delay on performance, two technology libraries (130 nm and 45 nm) representing old and advanced technologies have been used for the performance analysis. Results from physical implementations show that in advanced technologies such as 45 nm and below, the performance of Stacked 2D NoC topologies with datapath partitioning method have better performances compared with traditional 2D/3D Mesh topologies and Stacked 3D Mesh topology. We advocate here that with stacking there is no need for 3D NoC topologies for advanced 2-tier 3D IC and this is also confirmed for multistage networks like butterfly

3D MPSoC Design Using 2D EDA tools: Analysis of Parameters

International audienceDesign space exploration of 3D MPSoC architecture is reported in this paper analyzing the impact of 2D EDA tools to the 3D architecture performance. In particular, we study how 3D performance is varied when changing the EDA tools options intending to highlight design issues of 3D design. Results show that 3D timing performance is affected greatly compared with power consumption and total wirelength

Multiprocessor on chip: beating the simulation wall through multiobjective design space exploration with direct execution

Design space exploration of multiprocessors on chip requires both automatic performance analysis tech-niques and efficient multiprocessors configuration per-formance evaluation. Prohibitive simulation time of single multiprocessor configuration makes large design space exploration impossible without massive use of computing resources and still implementation issues are not tackled. This paper proposes a new perfor-mance evaluation methodology for multiprocessors on chip which conduct a multiobjective design space ex-ploration through emulation. The proposed approach is validated on a 4 way multiprocessor on chip design space exploration where a 6 order of magnitude im-provement have been achieved over cycle accurate sim-ulation. 1

The Effects of Eccentric and Plyometric Training Programs and Their Combination on Stability and the Functional Performance in the Post-ACL-Surgical Rehabilitation Period of Elite Female Athletes

BackgroundThe standard method to treat physically active patients with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture is ligament reconstruction surgery. The rehabilitation training program is very important to improve functional performance in recreational athletes following ACL reconstruction.ObjectivesThe aims of this study were to compare the effects of three different training programs, eccentric training (ECC), plyometric training (PLYO), or combined eccentric and plyometric training (COMB), on dynamic balance (Y-BAL), the Lysholm Knee Scale (LKS), the return to sport index (RSI), and the leg symmetry index (LSI) for the single leg hop test for distance in elite female athletes after ACL surgery.Materials and MethodsFourteen weeks after rehabilitation from surgery, 40 elite female athletes (20.3 ± 3.2 years), who had undergone an ACL reconstruction, participated in a short-term (6 weeks; two times a week) training study. All participants received the same rehabilitation protocol prior to the training study. Athletes were randomly assigned to three experimental groups, ECC (n = 10), PLYO (n = 10), and COMB (n = 10), and to a control group (CON: n = 10). Testing was conducted before and after the 6-week training programs and included the Y-BAL, LKS, and RSI. LSI was assessed after the 6-week training programs only.ResultsAdherence rate was 100% across all groups and no training or test-related injuries were reported. No significant between-group baseline differences (pre-6-week training) were observed for any of the parameters. Significant group-by-time interactions were found for Y-BAL (p < 0.001, ES = 1.73), LKS (p < 0.001, ES = 0.76), and RSI (p < 0.001, ES = 1.39). Contrast analysis demonstrated that COMB yielded significantly greater improvements in Y-BAL, LKS, and RSI (all p < 0.001), in addition to significantly better performances in LSI (all p < 0.001), than CON, PLYO, and ECC, respectively.ConclusionIn conclusion, combined (eccentric/plyometric) training seems to represent the most effective training method as it exerts positive effects on both stability and functional performance in the post-ACL-surgical rehabilitation period of elite female athletes

Association Between Mental Imagery and Change of Direction Performance in Young Elite Soccer Players of Different Maturity Status

Previous studies have not considered the potential influence of maturity status on the relationship between mental imagery and change of direction (CoD) speed in youth soccer. Accordingly, this cross-sectional study examined the association between mental imagery and CoD performance in young elite soccer players of different maturity status. Forty young male soccer players, aged 10-17 years, were assigned into two groups according to their predicted age at peak height velocity (PHV) (Pre-PHV; n = 20 and Post-PHV; n = 20). Participants were evaluated on soccer-specific tests of CoD with (CoDBall-15m) and without (CoD-15m) the ball. Participants completed the movement imagery questionnaire (MIQ) with the three- dimensional structure, internal visual imagery (IVI), external visual imagery (EVI), as well as kinesthetic imagery (KI). The Post-PHV players achieved significantly better results than Pre-PHV in EVI (ES = 1.58, large; p < 0.001), CoD-15m (ES = 2.09, very large; p < 0.001) and CoDBall-15m (ES = 1.60, large; p < 0.001). Correlations were significantly different between maturity groups, where, for the pre-PHV group, a negative very large correlation was observed between CoDBall-15m and KI (r = –0.73, p = 0.001). For the post-PHV group, large negative correlations were observed between CoD-15m and IVI (r = –0.55, p = 0.011), EVI (r = –062, p = 0.003), and KI (r = –0.52, p = 0.020). A large negative correlation of CoDBall-15m with EVI (r = –0.55, p = 0.012) and very large correlation with KI (r = –0.79, p = 0.001) were also observed. This study provides evidence of the theoretical and practical use for the CoD tasks stimulus with imagery. We recommend that sport psychology specialists, coaches, and athletes integrated imagery for CoD tasks in pre-pubertal soccer players to further improve CoD related performance

On the boundedness of solutions of some fuzzy dynamical control systems

The asymptotic behavior of solutions of fuzzy control systems is a component of the study of fuzzy control theory. The study of stability for T-S (Takagi-Sugeno) fuzzy systems, which process qualitative data through linguistic expressions, is the subject of this paper. Asymptotic stability is conservative in many real-world applications due to measurement noise and other disruptions. The ultimate limit, which indicates that the mistakes stay in a specific area close to the origin after a long enough amount of time, is a crucial characteristic that is frequently defined for such systems. We are interested with the problem of the state feedback controller for T-S fuzzy models with uncertainties where the global exponential ultimate boundedness of solutions is studied for certain fuzzy control systems. We use common quadratic Lyapunov function and parallel distributed compensation controller techniques to study the asymptotic behavior of the solutions of fuzzy control system in presence of perturbations. An example demonstrating the validity of the main result is discussed

The International Natural Product Sciences Taskforce (INPST) and the power of Twitter networking exemplified through #INPST hashtag analysis

Background: The development of digital technologies and the evolution of open innovation approaches have enabled the creation of diverse virtual organizations and enterprises coordinating their activities primarily online. The open innovation platform titled "International Natural Product Sciences Taskforce" (INPST) was established in 2018, to bring together in collaborative environment individuals and organizations interested in natural product scientific research, and to empower their interactions by using digital communication tools. Methods: In this work, we present a general overview of INPST activities and showcase the specific use of Twitter as a powerful networking tool that was used to host a one-week "2021 INPST Twitter Networking Event" (spanning from 31st May 2021 to 6th June 2021) based on the application of the Twitter hashtag #INPST. Results and Conclusion: The use of this hashtag during the networking event period was analyzed with Symplur Signals (https://www.symplur.com/), revealing a total of 6,036 tweets, shared by 686 users, which generated a total of 65,004,773 impressions (views of the respective tweets). This networking event's achieved high visibility and participation rate showcases a convincing example of how this social media platform can be used as a highly effective tool to host virtual Twitter-based international biomedical research events

Erratum to: 36th International Symposium on Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1186/s13054-016-1208-6.]