Rule-base formulation for clips-based work ergonomic assessment

Modern societies are dominated by computer-based work. As a result, people tend to be seated for most of their working life. Prolonged sedentariness is known to significantly increase the risk of developing unwanted conditions. This paper presents the development of a rule-based expert system module using CLIPS that provides ergonomic assessment. The system was validated by evaluating pre-recorded user logs from real-life office environments. The tests showed that the system is able to perform the required basic assessment functionality, thus, the implementation of more complex features to advance its development is viable

The Problem of Glutathione Determination: a Comparative Study on the Measurement of Glutathione from Plant Cells

The level and redox status of glutathione is a good indicator for the rate of oxidative stress and eco-toxicological injury in plant cells and subcellular organelles. Thus the determination of GSH and its redox status has special importance. A variety of spectrophotometric and HPLC methods are available to measure glutathione (GSH). The spectrophotometric DTNB-GSH recycling assay is specific due to the application of glutathione reductase, it is rather quick and easy to perform, not surprising that it is rather popular. In the present study we make an attempt to compare the DTNB-GSH recycling assay and the more sophisticated, but difficult monochlorobimane (mBCl)-HPLC method to choose the one that best suits for eco-toxicological and plant stress investigations. We found that the acidification by sulphosalicylic acid (SSA) used for the stabilization of samples for DTNB-GSH recycling assay gives lower efficiency to this method than the formation of mBCl-GSH fluorescent conjugate. The measurable GSH contents were lower in the case of DTNB-GSH recycling assay than in the case of GSH-mBCl conjugates determined by HPLC with fluorescence detection. The auto-oxidation could almost perfectly be prevented by the presence of mBCl in the organelle isolation buffer. Furthermore, this way the reduced GSH content of organelles could be determined much more precisely. However, it is worth to note that the application of mBCl significantly elevates the cost of GSH determination, especially in case of cell organelles

Iterative Calibration Method for Microscopic Road Traffic Simulators

Recently, computer simulation aided work has become a standard routine in all engineering fields. Accordingly, simulation plays a fundamental role even in road traffic engineering. A reliable simulator is able to provide effective analysis of a given traffic network if the applied simulation scenarios properly converge to the real-word situation. This requirement can be achieved based on the mixed use of prior real-world traffic measurements and proper simulation settings. The latter one, however, is not straightforward. Accordingly, the paper investigates a potential calibration technique to create realistic simulations. Basically, a tuning method with genetic algorithm is proposed to reproduce true-to-life traffic based on floating car speed data

The role of SMEs in innovation-oriented economic development

Both at European and national level tertiary and quaternary sectors are concentrated in the metropolitan centre. In the rural areas only the sites of such sectors can be found the premises of which temporarily transform the sectoral structure of these areas, but from the regional development aspect they did not prove to be an effective strategy.The European Commission is now focusing on growth from innovation, which could become the driving force behind productivity growth and the economy’s long-term trend. The innovation-oriented economic development’s key players are on the one hand the knowledge-intensive enterprises, on the other hand the universities. Tertiary education can play a role – among others – in shaping and creating the development of knowledge intensive business environment and conditions, on the other hand it can assist the development of network contacts – another precondition of employment growth

Sporadic re-emergence of enzootic porcine transmissible gastroenteritis in Hungary

Transmissible gastroenteritis (TGE) is a coronavirus-induced disease of pigs, characterised by diarrhoea and vomiting. The incidence of the disease had been decreasing since the late 1980s when deletion mutant variants (porcine respiratory coronavirus, PRCoV) of the virus emerged, repressing TGE gradually. Although disease manifestations are infrequent, the virus is still present in pig herds, causing sporadic outbreaks in a milder form. Identification and characterisation of the spike genes from TGEV and PRCoV, detected in such outbreaks, were performed in Hungary. Analysis of the amplified partial gene sequences showed that TGEV was present in herds with TGE clinical signs together with PRCoV. The sequences, apart from the deletions in PRCoV, were identical and at least two types of PRCoV spike proteins could be identified based on the length of the deleted sequence

Cardiovascular risk factors differently affect the survival of patients undergoing manual or mechanical resuscitation

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An Expert System Framework for Lifestyle Counselling

The implementation and support of proper lifestyle is a key factor in preventing chronic diseases and also in the management of already manifested ones. This paper presents a CLIPS (C Language Integrated Production System) based framework that can be used to develop expert systems for assisting users to learn a proper lifestyle. The relevance and applicability of this system is shown in the domains of diet and exercise based lifestyle management and workplace related ergonomics. Preliminary results show that the framework can properly evaluate the formulated basic knowledge bases and is suitable for the tasks intende