Feasibility of the SIMSUPER Simulation Model in the Renovation of Building Projects

Building renovation projects are unique in its nature and quite different from new building construction projects. Uncertainties and unforeseen conditions play a much bigger role in building renovation projects making construction planning traditional methods not suitable for these purposes. Soft-logic allows for the modification of predefined network models when a new set of conditions is encountered. An existing computer simulation program called SIMSUPER provides such approach. SIMSUPER (SIMulation SUPERvisor) is a network-based, discrete-event simulation model that has the capability of incorporating conditions of uncertainty and to dynamically respond to changed conditions. The model is capable of combining different networks to respond to changed external factors already embedded in the model networks. The logic followed by SIMSUPER has the flexibility of selecting between networks depending on the conditions inputted. SIMSUPER was primarily developed to conduct research in productivity analysis for adaptable tunneling construction, where excavation and support methods are adapted to changing ground conditions. The main objective of this research is to determine the ability of SIMSUPER to analyze the dynamics of the building renovation process under its particular conditions of uncertainty and to provide the user with the flexibility of adapting the model as these conditions change, optimizing project\u27s productivity. The renovation of Daniels Hall, a four-story dormitory facility at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), Worcester, Massachusetts, is used as the case study of this research. Two computer runs, the contractor\u27s plan, and observed data were tested using the WPI\u27s running version of SIMSUPER. Differences between the computer simulation and observed actions were found. A hand simulation that incorporates resource allocation, preempting rules and conflict management capabilities was conducted to investigate the observed actions in more detail. The hand simulation was able to replicate the observed actions. The concept contained in the program proved to be efficient. The soft-logic rules that drive the simulation of the process replicated the observed plans

El uso de la tecnología de captura de movimiento para el análisis del rendimiento deportivo

In sport performance, motion capture aims at tracking and recording athletes’ human motion in real time to analyze physical condition, athletic performance, technical expertise and injury mechanism, prevention and rehabilitation. The aim of this paper is to systematically review the latest developments of motion capture systems for the analysis of sport performance. To that end, selected keywords were searched on studies published in the last four years in the electronic databases ISI Web of Knowledge, Scopus, PubMed and SPORTDiscus, which resulted in 892 potential records. After duplicate removal and screening of the remaining records, 81 journal papers were retained for inclusion in this review, distributed as 53 records for optical systems, 15 records for non-optical systems and 13 records for markerless systems. Resultant records were screened to distribute them according to the following analysis categories: biomechanical motion analysis, validation of new systems and performance enhancement. Although optical systems are regarded as golden standard with accurate results, the cost of equipment and time needed to capture and postprocess data have led researchers to test other technologies. First, non-optical systems rely on attaching sensors to body parts to send their spatial information to computer wirelessly by means of different technologies, such as electromagnetic and inertial (accelerometry). Finally, markerless systems are adequate for free, unobstructive motion analysis since no attachment is carried by athletes. However, more sensors and sophisticated signal processing must be used to increase the expected level of accuracy.En el ámbito del rendimiento deportivo, el objetivo de la captura de movimiento es seguir y registrar el movimiento humano de deportistas para analizar su condición física, rendimiento, técnica y el origen, prevención y rehabilitación de lesiones. En este artículo, se realiza una revisión sistemática de los últimos avances en sistemas de captura de movimiento para el análisis del rendimiento deportivo. Para ello, se buscaron palabras clave en estudios publicados en los últimos cuatro años en las bases de datos electrónicas ISI Web of Knowledge, Scopus, PubMed y SPORTDiscus, dando lugar a 892 registros. Tras borrar duplicados y análisis del resto, se seleccionaron 81 artículos de revista, distribuidos en 53 registros para sistemas ópticos, 15 para sistemas no ópticos y 13 para sistemas sin marcadores. Los registros se clasificaron según las categorías: análisis biomecánico, validación de nuevos sistemas y mejora del rendimiento. Aunque los sistemas ópticos son los sistemas de referencia por su precisión, el coste del equipamiento y el tiempo invertido en la captura y postprocesado ha llevado a los investigadores a probar otras tecnologías. En primer lugar, los sistemas no ópticos se basan en adherir sensores a zonas corporales para mandar su información espacial a un ordenador mediante distintas tecnologías, tales como electromagnética y inercial (acelerometría). Finalmente, los sistemas sin marcadores permiten un análisis del movimiento sin restricciones ya que los deportistas no llevan adherido ningún elemento. Sin embargo, se necesitan más sensores y un procesado de señal avanzado para aumentar el nivel de precisión necesario

Structure Of Latent Factors In The Learning Of Statistics

Today, almost all curricula in the social sciences contain at least one course in statistics, given its importance as an analytical tool. This work identifies the latent factors relating to students’ motivation and attitudes toward statistics and tests their covariance structure. Specifically using a structural equations model, the work confirms that the evaluative factors affect the affective factors and the interest variable affects the level of anxiety. The findings obtained using the partial least squares method allow the authors to confirm the proposed relations and validate the model

Environmental Impact And Business Management In Rural Tourism

The growth in rural tourism and the importance of the environment to its sustainability have given rise to a growing interest in analyzing the impact of tourist activity and in studying how the environmental resource fits into business management in the industry. But the economic characteristics of rural tourism businesses and the diversity and complexity of their environmental impacts have made it difficult for a generally accepted framework for such analyses to emerge. There is wider agreement on the key role played by entrepreneurs’ environmental awareness in the adoption of eco-friendly management practice. In this context, and within the Spanish region of Castilla-La Mancha, this paper undertakes a questionnaire-based study of the environmental awareness of entrepreneurs in rural tourism using the partial least squares (PLS) method to estimate its latent dimensions and the environmental impacts perceived

Temperature effect on the electrooxidation of gamma hdroxybutyric acid (GHB) on platinum catalyst through cyclic voltammetry, chronoamperometry, impedance spectroscopy and SERS spectroelectrochemistry

A study of the electro-oxidation of gamma hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) on platinum electrode in acidic media has been investigated by cyclic voltammetry, chronoamperometry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy in the temperature range between 5 and 30ºC. The variation of the j-E curves allows the determination of activation energy in a wide interval of potentials where three characteristic oxidation peaks appear. The j-t curves were registered at the more positive potentials corresponding with the A and B peaks. Stationary current intensity measurements allowed the determination of the activation energy in pure kinetic region conditions. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy made also possible the study of the electrochemical behavior in the same potential region. Temperature dependence of the charge-transfer resistance (Rct) and the rate constant associated with the surface coverage by an adsorbed intermediate (-1=Ro/L) during the GHB electro-oxidation process were evaluated and discussed. In all cases, the values of activation energy, below 30 kJ/mol, suggest that a complex mechanism takes place for the GHB electro-oxidation free of strong interactions with the platinum surface. In situ Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) spectroelectrochemistry spectra corresponding to coadsorbed species, including intermediates of reaction, have been analyzed at several potentials

Injuries and pathologies in beach volleyball players: A systematic review

The aim of this paper is to review the available literature published on injuries and pathology in beach volleyball. The databases consulted were the Web of Sciende and Pubmed. After establishing the criteria for selection and filtering, a total of 32 articles were selected. All items found can be classified into four research lines. First are the studies focused on specific injuries such as shoulder, shoveling, knee and foot. The second line of research focuses on the study of the incidence, prevalence and frequency of injuries of beach volleyball players, whereas the third line deals on infections reported in the literature produced by nematodes or fungi. Finally, the last line of research includes articles addressing different objectives related to health such as the effects of training programs related to injuries, influence of weather conditions on the players, as well as publications for validation of assessment instruments or develop of guidelines and protocols for the evaluation and diagnosis of injuries

Actividad de los bloqueadores durante el Campeonato de Europa Universitario de vóley playa

In this paper, we present a study of blocker’s activity in university beach volleyball players. A total of n=1166 blocking actions were analyzed from 24 European men's teams at the Ninth European Beach Volleyball Championship EUSA GAMES. The analysis of the videos was carried out using the free software program LongoMatch v.0.27. Statistical significance of the comparison of systems was calculated using the Z test to compare proportions. Results showed that blockaders do not have a leading role in the Direct Intervention (DI) of the ball (37%, p<0.001). The most blocking actions were Line Blocking (LB) (46.9%), Net Exits (NE) (21.1%) and Diagonal Blocking (DB) (18.1%). When comparing periods of points (F1: 1 to 7, F2: 8 to 14, F3: 15 to 21), statistical differences (p<0.001) where observed between periods F1 and F3 for the most used blocking actions: LB, NE and DB. Finally, similar efficiency values were observed for the most common blocking actions (29.3% for LB and 23.2% for DB). Higher efficiencies can be found in less common defensive actions, such as V Blocking (VB) (31.4%) and Fighting (F) (34.6%).En este artículo se presenta un estudio de la actividad del bloqueador en jugadores universitarios de voley playa. Fueron analizados un total de 1166 acciones de bloqueo de 24 equipos europeos masculinos durante el Noveno Campeonato Europeo de Voleibol de Playa EUSA GAMES. El análisis de los videos se llevó a cabo utilizando el programa de software libre LongoMatch v.0.27. La prueba estadística aplicada para la comparación de las proporciones fue la prueba Z. Los resultados mostraron que los bloqueadores no realizan una intervención directa (DI) de la pelota (37%, p <0,001) como acción principal defensiva. Las acciones de bloqueo más utilizadas fueron Bloqueo en Línea (LB) (46,9%), Salidas de Red (NE) (21,1%) y Bloqueo Diagonal (DB) (18,1%). Cuando se comparan periodos de puntos (F1: 1 a 7, F2: 8 a 14, F3: 15 a 21), se observan diferencias estadísticas (p <0,001) entre los períodos F1 y F3 para las acciones de bloqueo más utilizadas: LB, NE y DB. Finalmente, se observaron valores de eficiencia similares para las acciones de bloqueo más comunes (29,3% para LB y 23,2% para DB). Se pueden encontrar mayores eficacias en acciones defensivas menos comunes, como V Bloqueo (VB) (31,4%) y Lucha (F) (34,6%)

Time-motion analysis in professional championships of Valencian handball

Valencian handball is a sport with long tradition in the eastern coast of Spain. Among different variants of the game, this study has been focused in the professional version, also known as escala i corda. The aim was to determine the time distribution of periods of active play and rest time during matches. The variables studied were the total duration of the matches, games and game actions, differentiating real or active playing time from passive or rest time. We also quantified the number of games and the number of motor actions per match and per game in top professional competitions (Professional Escala i Corda Leagues and Cups, 2008-2011). Duration of an escala i corda match was between 57 min 43 s and 1 h 53 min 15 s, while the duration of active time was between 25 min 5 s and 50 min 46 s. The number of games per match varied between 11 and 17, and these had a mean duration of 4 min 35 s of active playing time. There are significant differences (p<0.05) in the duration of games, specifically between the three first periods (1-3, 4-6 and 7-9). Meanwhile, the mean time spent on the completion of each rally was 17.61 s ± 1.78 s. An improved understanding of players' absolute and actual game time can provide valuable information for planning specific escala i corda training exercises with respect to the duration and number of rallies

The Effects Of The Distribution Of Agricultural Direct Payments

The Common Agricultural Policy (the CAP) is the most important common policy of the European Union, for which reason it traditionally monopolizes a large part of the European Union budget. Without doubt, the aids that farms receive from this policy are the pillar on which it sustains the battered agricultural sectors. Among CAP aid, direct payments are particularly important, in 2008 accounting for about 37% of the total EU budget. The main objective of this paper is to analyse the effects that the distribution of the CAP direct payments have on the agrarian economy. Specifically, we have analysed the equality level in distribution of CAP direct aid in the countries of the European Union using a concentration index. In this way, we have examined the fairness of distribution of CAP direct aid in the agricultural sector

Constrained motion planning and execution for soft robots

There are many reasons why a compliant robot is expected to perform better than a rigid one in interaction tasks, which include limitation of interaction forces, resilience to modeling errors, robustness, naturalness of motion, and energy efficiency. Most of these reasons are apparent if one thinks of how the human body interacts with its environment. However, most of the work in robotic planning and control of interaction has been traditionally developed for rigid robot models. Indeed, planning and control for compliant robots can be substantially harder. In this thesis, I propose the point of view that the difficulties encountered in planning and control for soft robots are at least in part due to the fact that the same approaches previously used for rigid robots are used as a starting point and adapted. On the opposite, if new methods are considered that start from consideration of compliance from the very beginning, the planning and control problems can be of comparable difficulty, or even substantially simpler, than their rigid counterpart. I will argue this thesis with two main examples. The first part of this thesis presents a new approach to integrate motion planning and control for robots in interaction. One of the peculiarities of interaction tasks is that the robot limbs and the environment form "closed kinematic chains". If rigid models are considered, the dynamics of robots in interaction become constrained, and Differential Algebraic Equations replace Ordinary Differential Equations, i.e. typically a much harder problem to deal with. However, in the thesis I show that this is not necessarily so. Indeed, consideration of compliance allows to have a more tractable mathematical model of interacting systems, and to introduce more sophisticated control approaches. Specifically, we present a novel geometric control scheme under which for constrained robot systems we achieve decoupled interaction control (i.e. make position errors irrelevant to force control, and viceversa). Based on this result, it is possible to decouple the planning problem in two separate aspects. On one side, we make dealing with motion planning of the constrained system easier by relaxing the geometric constraint, i.e. replacing the lower--dimensional constraint manifold with a narrow but full-dimensional boundary layer. This allows us to plan motion using state-of-the-art methods, such as RRT*, on points within the boundary layer, which we can efficiently sample. On the other side we control interaction forces, i.e. forces generated by displacements in the perpendicular direction to the tangent space of the constraint manifold. Thanks to the (locally) noninteracting control characteristic of our scheme, the two controllers can be applied separately and in sequence, so that the interaction force controller can correct for any discrepancies resulting from the boundary layer approximation used in the constrained position controller. The geometric noninteracting controller can be applied both in simulation for planning, and in real time for execution control. Moreover, while it does rely on considering a model of compliance in the system, it does not make any assumption on the amount of compliance in the system - or in other words, it applies equally well to stiff but elastic robots. The final outcome of the two-stage planner is an effective (possibly optimal from RRT*) trajectory that satisfies constraint with arbitrarily good approximation, asymptotically rejecting perturbations coming from sampled displacements. The second part of this thesis is dedicated to study grasp planning for hands that are simple -- in the sense of low number of actuated degrees of freedom -- but soft, i.e. continuously deformable in an infinity of possible shapes through interaction with objects. Once again, the use of such "soft hands" brings about a change of paradigm in grasp planning with respect to classical rigid multi-dof grasp planning, which only apparently makes the problem harder. However, in this thesis I show that thanks to the correct combination of compliance and underactuation of soft hands, together with the set of all possible physical interactions between the hand, the object and the environment, the grasping problem can be redefined. The new definition includes the possible combination of hand-object functional interactions which I address as "Enabling Constraints". The use of Enabling Constraints constitutes a rather new challenge for existing grasping algorithms: adaptation to totally or partially unknown scenes remains a difficult task, toward which only some approaches have been investigated so far. In this thesis I present a first approach to the study of this novel kind of manipulation. It is based on an accurate simulation tool and starts from the considerations that hand compliance can be used to adapt to the shape of the surrounding objects and that rather than considering the environment as and obstacle to avoid, it can be used in turn to functionally shape the hand. I show that thanks to this functionality the problem of generating grasping postures for soft hands can be reduced to grasp basic geometries (e.g. cylinders or boxes) in which the geometry of the object can be decomposed