Transforming Diagrams' Semantics to Text for Visually Impaired

Using models and diagrams is a very useful and effective tool for representing information and systems in a graphical form to communicate and understand them better. On the other hand, graphical representations bring extra cognitive load and the process for understanding the diagrams is long and tedious in most cases for the visually impaired. To solve this problem, semantics of the diagrams should be converted to a different format that is both human and machine readable as well as communicable for the visually impaired. Most existing diagramming tools are not easily usable for the visually impaired as a tool for creating and using diagrams. In this paper, we propose an online system for defining specific diagrams and converting their semantics to text which can have a speech output for the visually impaired. We present analysis and design of this online system as well as a proof of concept prototype implementation. The prototype system provides create, save, load and transform features and tested with participants to recreate the diagrams using the automatically generated text output. Our case study showed that the results are very promising and the proposed solution can provide a way to correctly and accurately represent the information in diagrams textually

Internet of Hybrid Energy Harvesting Things

© 2017 IEEE. Internet of Things (IoT) is a perfect candidate to realize efficient observation and management for Smart City concept. This requires deployment of large number of wireless devices. However, replenishing batteries of thousands, maybe millions of devices may be hard or even impossible. In order to solve this problem, Internet of Energy Harvesting Things (IoEHT) is proposed. Although the first studies on IoEHT focused on energy harvesting (EH) as an auxiliary power provisioning method, now completely battery-free and self-sufficient systems are envisioned. Taking advantage of diverse sources that the concept of Smart City offers helps us to fully appreciate the capacity of EH. In this way, we address the primary shortcomings of IoEHT; availability, unreliability, and insufficiency by the Internet of Hybrid EH Things (IoHEHT). In this paper, we survey the various EH opportunities, propose an hybrid EH system, and discuss energy and data management issues for battery-free operation. We mathematically prove advantages of hybrid EH compared to single source harvesting as well. We also point out to hardware requirements and present the open research directions for different network layers specific to IoHEHT for Smart City concept

Nutrient contents and in vitro digestibility of different parts of corn plant

AbstractThe objective of this study was to assess the nutrient contents and in vitro true digestibility (IVTD) of parts of the corn plant. The corn used in the study was P2088, a variety that is grown widely in Turkey. It had matured and was harvested 140 days after planting. Four replicate plants were separated into nine parts, namely lower stalk, central stalk, upper stalk, corn ear stalk, corn ear shuck, kernels, corn cob, leaf, tassel, plus the entire plant. The samples were dried and ground for analysis. Nutritional values were determined in the laboratory and in vitro digestibility was assessed. Significant differences in nutrient content were observed among parts of the corn plant. The highest crude protein (CP) content was found in the leaf (12.41%), followed by the grain (12.37%). Dry matter (DM) varied from 91.25% to 96.07%. The highest ether extract (EE) was in the grain (2.84%), and the upper stalk contained the least EE (0.29%). The parts also differed in their contents of crude cellulose (CS) and crude ash (CA) (P <0.001). Most organic matter (OM) was found in the corn cup (94.27%). The highest in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD) was in the kernels (79.06%) and the lowest was in the lower stalk (38.13%). In terms of in vitro true organic matter digestibility (OMD) values of the corn plant and its 9 parts, the highest values were found in the kernels and the lowest in the lower stalk.Keywords: crude nutrients, in vitro true digestibility, parts of corn plan

Can adding Ephedrine to Admixture of Propofol & Lidocaine Overcome Propofol Associated Hemodynamic Changes and Injection Pain?

Purpose: There are numerous studies researching ways to alleviate propofol injection pain. In this study, we evaluated and compared the use of propofol-lidocaine admixture vs propofol-lidocaine combined with ephedrine, on vascular pain and hemodynamic changes associated propofol. Methods: This double-blinded, prospective, randomised study was performed on 100 patients with ASA I-II who were divided into two group. The first received admixture consisting of 20 mg of lidocaine and propofol 1% 20 ml (Group L), and the other received admixture consisting of 20 mcg ephedrine, 20 mg lidocaine and propofol 1% 20 ml (Group LE). Baseline and after induction heart rate, mean arterial pressure and rate pressure product (RPP) were recorded per minute. Vascular pain were evaluated with verbal rating scale. Results: Data of 40 patients in group L and 39 patients in Group LE were evaluated in the study. The incidence of pain in group L was 90%, it was 38.4% for Group LE. Mild pain was observed significantly more in Group L when compared to Group LE (p<0.05). Average blood pressure and RPP immediately after induction and 1 min after intubation were significantly higher in group LE compared to group L (p<0.05). Heart rate was higher in Group LE immediately after induction and at initially 4 minutes after intubation. Conclusion: Our study has demonstrated significant decrease in rate of vascular pain and increased hemodynamic stability in patients receiving 20 mg ephedrine added to 20 ml % 1 propofol and 20 mg lidocaine admixture when compared to those who only received the lidocaine-propofol admixtur

FREQUENCY RATIO ASSESSMENT FOR LANDSLIDES TRIGGERED BY 6 FEBRUARY 2023 KAHRAMANMARAS TURKIYE EARTHQUAKES BETWEEN GOLBASI AND ERKENEK

Landslides triggered by earthquakes are significant geological hazards that can have devastating consequences, posing risks to human lives, infrastructure, and the environment. These seismic events may cause the instability of slopes and result in the displacement of soil and rock materials, leading to landslides. It is crucial to understand the characteristics and mechanisms of earthquake-triggered landslides in order to effectively manage and mitigate their associated risks. The number of landslides triggered by the 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquakes (with magnitudes of 7.7 and 7.6) was over three thousand and their destructive effects were also devastating as secondary hazards. This study aims to examine the characteristics of landslides using the frequency ratio (FR) model. A landslide susceptibility map (LSM) was also produced using the output. For this purpose, in this study, we derived landslides triggered by the earthquakes in a part of the earthquake-affected region, between Golbasi town of Adiyaman and Erkenek village of Malatya covering an area with a size of 625 km2. The study utilized a landslide inventory that was manually delineated by visual interpretation based on pre-event and post-event. These associations can serve as a foundation for the application of various data-driven machine learning techniques. The findings of this study will contribute to the development of accurate LSMs, providing crucial insights into the behavior of earthquake-triggered landslides

Seroprevalence of Human Brucellosis in a Rural Area of Western Anatolia, Turkey

This study was conducted to determine the seroprevalence of human brucellosis and identify the potential risk factors in a rural area of Western Anatolia, Turkey. A simple random-sampling method was used for identifying 1,052 subjects for the study. Blood samples, collected from all the subjects, were studied following the methods of Rose Bengal slide agglutination and standard tube agglutination tests. One thousand and one samples (95.2%) were seronegative, and 51 (4.8%) were seropositive. There was a statistically significant correlation between seropositivity and age, sex, consuming fresh cheese and cream made from unboiled milk (p values 0.005, 0.019, &lt;0.001, and &lt;0.001 respectively). Seropositivity was not related to educational level (0.270). It is concluded that pasteurization of milk and dairy products and education regarding eating habits must be pursued for eradication of human brucellosis from rural areas. The findings of the study suggest that human brucellosis is still an important public-health problem in the western Anatolia region of Turkey, especially in rural areas

Field-Cycling Relaxometry as a Molecular Rheology Technique: Common Analysis of NMR, Shear Modulus and Dielectric Loss Data of Polymers vs Dendrimers

© 2015 American Chemical Society. Linear poly(propylene glycol) (PPG) as well as a poly(propyleneimine) (PPI) dendrimer with different molar masses (M) are investigated by field-cycling (FC) 1H NMR, shear rheology (G) and dielectric spectroscopy (DS). The results are compared in a reduced spectral density representation: the quantity R1(ωαα)/R1α(0), where R1(ωαα) is the master curve of the frequency dependent spin-lattice relaxation rate with αα denoting the local correlation time, is compared to the rescaled dynamic viscosity n′(ωαα)/n′α(0). The quantities R1α(0) and n′α(0), respectively, are the zero-frequency limits of a simple liquid reference system. Analogously, the dielectric loss data can be included in the methodological comparison. This representation allows quantifying the sensitivity of each method with respect to the polymer-specific relaxation contribution. Introducing a "cumulative mode ratio" Fi(M) for each technique i, which measures the zero-frequency plateau of the rescaled spectral density, characteristic power-law behavior Fi(M) Mα i is revealed. In the case of PPG, FNMR(M), FG(M), and FDS(M) essentially agree with predictions of the Rouse model yielding characteristic exponents αi. The crossover to entanglement dynamics is identified by a change in αi around M ≅ 10 kg/mol. The analysis is extended to the dendrimer which exhibits a relaxation behavior reminiscent of Rouse dynamics. Yet, clear evidence of entanglement is missing. The M-dependencies of the dendrimer diffusion coefficient D obtained by pulsed field-gradient NMR and the zero-shear viscosity are found to be D(M) M-1.6±0.2 and (M) M1.9±0.2, respectively, in good agreement with our theoretical prediction n(M) M1/3 D-1(M). The close correspondence of R1(ωαα) with n′(ωαα) establishes FC NMR as a powerful tool of "molecular rheology" accessing the microscopic processes underlying macroscopic rheological behavior of complex fluids

A service-oriented admission control strategy for class-based IP networks

The clear trend toward the integration of current and emerging applications and services in the Internet launches new demands on service deployment and management. Distributed service-oriented traffic control mechanisms, operating with minimum impact on network performance, assume a crucial role as regards controlling services quality and network resources transparently and efficiently. In this paper, we describe and specify a lightweight distributed admission control (AC) model based on per-class monitoring feedback for ensuring the quality of distinct service levels in multiclass and multidomain environments. The model design, covering explicit and implicit AC, exhibits relevant properties that allow managing quality of service (QoS) and service-level specifications (SLSs) in multiservice IP networks in a flexible and scalable manner. These properties, stemming from the way service-dependent AC and on-line service performance monitoring are proposed and articulated in the model’s architecture and operation, allow a self-adaptive service and resource management, while abstracting from network core complexity and heterogeneity. A proof of concept is provided to illustrate the AC criteria ability in satisfying multiple service class commitments efficiently. The obtained results show that the self-adaptive behavior inherent to on-line measurement-based service management, combined with the established AC rules, is effective in controlling each class QoS and SLS commitments consistently

Sexually Coercive Male Chimpanzees Sire More Offspring

SummaryIn sexually reproducing animals, male and female reproductive strategies often conflict [1]. In some species, males use aggression to overcome female choice [2, 3], but debate persists over the extent to which this strategy is successful. Previous studies of male aggression toward females among wild chimpanzees have yielded contradictory results about the relationship between aggression and mating behavior [4–11]. Critically, however, copulation frequency in primates is not always predictive of reproductive success [12]. We analyzed a 17-year sample of behavioral and genetic data from the Kasekela chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) community in Gombe National Park, Tanzania, to test the hypothesis that male aggression toward females increases male reproductive success. We examined the effect of male aggression toward females during ovarian cycling, including periods when the females were sexually receptive (swollen) and periods when they were not. We found that, after controlling for confounding factors, male aggression during a female’s swollen periods was positively correlated with copulation frequency. However, aggression toward swollen females was not predictive of paternity. Instead, aggression by high-ranking males toward females during their nonswollen periods was positively associated with likelihood of paternity. This indicates that long-term patterns of intimidation allow high-ranking males to increase their reproductive success, supporting the sexual coercion hypothesis. To our knowledge, this is the first study to present genetic evidence of sexual coercion as an adaptive strategy in a social mammal