2,383 research outputs found
Human-activity-centered measurement system:challenges from laboratory to the real environment in assistive gait wearable robotics
Assistive gait wearable robots (AGWR) have shown a great advancement in developing intelligent devices to assist human in their activities of daily living (ADLs). The rapid technological advancement in sensory technology, actuators, materials and computational intelligence has sped up this development process towards more practical and smart AGWR. However, most assistive gait wearable robots are still confined to be controlled, assessed indoor and within laboratory environments, limiting any potential to provide a real assistance and rehabilitation required to humans in the real environments. The gait assessment parameters play an important role not only in evaluating the patient progress and assistive device performance but also in controlling smart self-adaptable AGWR in real-time. The self-adaptable wearable robots must interactively conform to the changing environments and between users to provide optimal functionality and comfort. This paper discusses the performance parameters, such as comfortability, safety, adaptability, and energy consumption, which are required for the development of an intelligent AGWR for outdoor environments. The challenges to measuring the parameters using current systems for data collection and analysis using vision capture and wearable sensors are presented and discussed
Scale without Conformal Invariance at Three Loops
We carry out a three-loop computation that establishes the existence of scale
without conformal invariance in dimensional regularization with the MS scheme
in d=4-epsilon spacetime dimensions. We also comment on the effects of scheme
changes in theories with many couplings, as well as in theories that live on
non-conformal scale-invariant renormalization group trajectories. Stability
properties of such trajectories are analyzed, revealing both attractive and
repulsive directions in a specific example. We explain how our results are in
accord with those of Jack & Osborn on a c-theorem in d=4 (and d=4-epsilon)
dimensions. Finally, we point out that limit cycles with turning points are
unlike limit cycles with continuous scale invariance.Comment: 21 pages, 3 figures, Erratum adde
Dirigentas de campamento y actividad mediática: Más allá de internet
__RESUMEN__
El debate en torno al carácter activo de las audiencias
contemporáneas tiende a centrarse en las nuevas
tecnologÃas de comunicación y en las posibilidades
de producción de contenido que ellas ofrecen. Este
artÃculo propone, en cambio, atender al carácter
polÃtico de ciertas actividades mediáticas y a factores
no-tecnológicos. EspecÃficamente, identificamos la
llamada cultura promocional como un impulso importante
para influir —y no directamente producir— los
contenidos en los medios. Ilustramos este enfoque a
través de un caso de estudio sobre la relación entre
dirigentas de campamentos y los medios de comunicación
en Chile. Estas mujeres interactúan con los
medios tradicionales, no digitales, motivadas por la
necesidad de reivindicar su imagen y promocionar
sus demandas. Argumentamos que el estudio de
las actividades de las audiencias en una sociedad
neoliberal como la chilena debe considerar que las
estrategias promocionales no son el privilegio de
ciertos grupos sociales, sino que están presentes de
un modo cada vez más generalizado en la sociedad.
__ABSTRACT__
Discussions about the active character of contemporary
audiences tend to be centered on new communication
technologies and on the possibilities of content
production offered by these technologies. This article,
in contrast, proposes that we pay attention to the
political character of certain media activities and to
non-technological factors that influence the changing
relation between audiences and media. Specifically,
we focus on promotional culture as an important
drive for activities aimed at influencing—and not
directly producing—media content. This approach is
illustrated through a case study about the relationship
between female slum community leaders and the
media in Chile. These women interact largely with
traditional rather than digital media, motivated by
the need to challenge the image of them proposed by
those media, and promote their demands. We argue
that the study of audience participation in a neoliberal
society like Chile must recognize promotional
strategies as not exclusive of certain social groups,
but as increasingly widespread throughout society
UTILIZATION OF FOUR SUDANESE WILD FRUITS TO PRODUCE NECTARS
Doum (Hyphaene thebaica L), kirkir (Randia geipaeflora), karmadoda (Naucleae latifolia) and godeim (Grewia tenax) are some of the indigenous fruits in Sudan. The aim of this investigation is to process nectars from the edible part of these fruits. Doum and kirkir fruits were soaked in water in variable ratios for different durations of time to obtain the highest total soluble solids, total solids and total extractable matter. The pulps of karmadoda and godeim fruits were obtained mechanically by adding water, blanching and pulping with pulper machine. Results showed that soaking of doum and kirkir fruits at ratios 1: 4/2 h and 1: 4/8 h, respectively, were the most appropriate methods for extraction. The total solids (TS) obtained were 10.61 and 10.32 %, total soluble solids (TSS) 10.50 and 9.50%, and the total extractable matters (TEM) were 26.06 and 23.69%, respectively. However, blanching karmadoda fruit in water at a ratio of 1: 2/10 min gave total solids of 5.63% and total soluble solids of 5.00%. The nectars made were subjected to organoleptic evaluation. The results suggested that processing of nectars from forest fruits by direct extraction gave excellent sensory characteristics for human consumption
Pre-harvest fruit drop, bunch weight and fruit quality of ‘Rothana’ and ‘Ghur’ date palm cultivars as affected by some plant growth regulators
Pre-harvest fruit drop is a serious problem of some date palm cultivars. During 2010 and 2011 seasons, the effect of plant growth regulators 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) (50 and 100 ppm), naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) (100 and 150 ppm), gibberellic acid (GA3) (100 and 150 ppm) and benzyladenine (BA) (100 and 150 ppm) applications, at 40 and 70 days after pollination, on pre-harvest fruit drop and quality of ‘Rothana’ and ‘Ghur’ dates were studied. In both cultivars, the application of growth regulators at both rates significantly decreased fruit drop. In this respect, 2,4-D and GA3 were the most effective treatments followed by BA, while NAA was the least effective. The reduction in fruit drop resulted in a higher bunch weight in the treated fruit than the control. The high rate of BA was more effective than the low rate in decreasing fruit drop of ‘Ghur’ cultivar. In ‘Rothana’ cultivar, bunch weight was higher than the control with both 2,4-D rates; whereas, with GA3 and BA, only the high rate was effective; while in ‘Ghur’ cultivar, bunch weight of all growth regulators treatments was higher than the control. The rutab percentage was lower in NAA treatments than for all the other treatments, except for control in ‘Ghur’ cultivar. Fruit and flesh weight of ‘Rothana’ cultivar were higher at the high rate of 2,4-D, the low rate of GA3 and BA treatments than in the control. There were no consistent effects for growth regulators on the physical and chemical quality characteristics of fruit, possibly due to the large variations of the fruit load among the treatments. It was concluded that under hot arid conditions, the application of growth regulators of especially 2,4-D (50 ppm) and GA3 (150 ppm) at both 40 and 70 days from pollination is recommended to reduce pre-harvest drop, and improve fruit quality of both ‘Rothana’ and ‘Ghur’ date palm cultivars.Keywords: Date palm, plant growth regulators, yield, quality, fruit drop, Phoenix dactylifera
Multiple Linear Regression and Machine Learning for Predicting the Drinking Water Quality Index in Al-Seine Lake
This is the final version. Available on open access from MDPI via the DOI in this recordData Availability Statement:
The data sets are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.Ensuring safe and clean drinking water for communities is crucial, and necessitates effective tools to monitor and predict water quality due to challenges from population growth, industrial activities, and environmental pollution. This paper evaluates the performance of multiple linear regression (MLR) and nineteen machine learning (ML) models, including algorithms based on regression, decision tree, and boosting. Models include linear regression (LR), least angle regression (LAR), Bayesian ridge chain (BR), ridge regression (Ridge), k-nearest neighbor regression (K-NN), extra tree regression (ET), and extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost). The research’s objective is to estimate the surface water quality of Al-Seine Lake in Lattakia governorate using the MLR and ML models. We used water quality data from the drinking water lake of Lattakia City, Syria, during years 2021–2022 to determine the water quality index (WQI). The predictive performance of both the MLR and ML models was evaluated using statistical methods such as the coefficient of determination (R2) and the root mean square error (RMSE) to estimate their efficiency. The results indicated that the MLR model and three of the ML models, namely linear regression (LR), least angle regression (LAR), and Bayesian ridge chain (BR), performed well in predicting the WQI. The MLR model had an R2 of 0.999 and an RMSE of 0.149, while the three ML models had an R2 of 1.0 and an RMSE of approximately 0.0. These results support using both MLR and ML models for predicting the WQI with very high accuracy, which will contribute to improving water quality management
Prescribing patterns of gastrointestinal drugs in private clinics in Benghazi-Libya
Background: Prescription analysis can pinpoint areas of improvement in encounters issued by prescribing physicians. The present study was carried out to analyze prescribing trends for outpatients among consultants in the city of Benghazi-Libya.Methods: A total of 4000 prescriptions were collected from private pharmacies around the city of Benghazi, Libya. Indicators addressed included the patient's name, age, sex, and address, and the physician's name, address, and signature. The percentage of prescriptions lacking this information was calculated. Drugs prescribed by dosage, duration of treatment were also considered. The study focused on the commonly prescribed classes of gastrointestinal drugs and the most frequently prescribed drug of each common class. No attempt was made to evaluate the incidence of various gastrointestinal disorders. Results are expressed as frequency and percentage of prescribed medicines.Results: Information present in prescriptions and pertaining to the patient were name (2972, 74.3%), age (468, 11.7%), date of visit (107, 2.7%) while those for prescriber were name (1902, 47.6%) and signature (3612, 90.3%). None of the prescriptions contained sex of patient, his/her address, or registration number of the prescriber. All prescribed drugs were in brand names. Polypharmacy was not evident as all prescriptions contained 1-2 drugs.The number of prescriptions with a gastrointestinal drug(s) counted to 421 (10.5%) out of the total 4000 prescriptions. The most commonly prescribed classes of gastrointestinal drugs include in order, anti-hyperacidity, anti-emetics, anti-spasmodic, laxatives and anti-diarrheal with the most frequently prescribed drug of each therapeutic class being omeprazole (67, 48.9%), metoclopramide (57, 57%), hyoscine-N-butyl bromide (42, 55.3%), bisacodyl (44, 59.5%) and loperamide (30, 88.3%) respectively.Conclusions: The results of the present study indicate the need to improve prescribing among physicians, a task that can be achieved through inclusion of related topics such as prescription writing and rational drug use in undergraduate curricula and continuing medical educational programs
Photodesorption of CO ice
At the high densities and low temperatures found in star forming regions, all
molecules other than H2 should stick on dust grains on timescales shorter than
the cloud lifetimes. Yet these clouds are detected in the millimeter lines of
gaseous CO. At these temperatures, thermal desorption is negligible and hence a
non-thermal desorption mechanism is necessary to maintain molecules in the gas
phase. Here, the first laboratory study of the photodesorption of pure CO ice
under ultra high vacuum is presented, which gives a desorption rate of 3E-3 CO
molecules per UV (7-10.5 eV) photon at 15 K. This rate is factors of 1E2-1E5
larger than previously estimated and is comparable to estimates of other
non-thermal desorption rates. The experiments constrains the mechanism to a
single photon desorption process of ice surface molecules. The measured
efficiency of this process shows that the role of CO photodesorption in
preventing total removal of molecules in the gas has been underestimated.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, accepted by ApJ
Modeling the Interaction between β
The effect of β-amyloid aggregates on activity of choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) which is responsible for synthesizing acetylcholine (ACh) in human brain is investigated through the two-enzyme/two-compartment (2E2C) model where the presynaptic neuron is considered as compartment 1 while both the synaptic cleft and the postsynaptic neuron are considered as compartment 2 through suggesting three different kinetic mechanisms for the inhibition effect. It is found that the incorporation of ChAT inhibition by β-amyloid aggregates into the 2E2C model is able to yield dynamic solutions for concentrations of generated β-amyloid, ACh, choline, acetate, and pH in addition to the rates of ACh synthesis and ACh hydrolysis in compartments 1 and 2. It is observed that ChAT activity needs a high concentration of β-amyloid aggregates production rate. It is found that ChAT activity is reduced significantly when neurons are exposed to high levels of β-amyloid aggregates leading to reduction in levels of ACh which is one of the most significant physiological symptoms of AD. Furthermore, the system of ACh neurocycle is dominated by the oscillatory behavior when ChAT enzyme is completely inhibited by β-amyloid. It is observed that the direct inactivation of ChAT by β-amyloid aggregates may be a probable mechanism contributing to the development of AD
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