Most neuromorphic technologies use a point-neuron model, missing the spatiotemporal nature of neuronal computation performed in dendrites. Dendritic morphology and synaptic organization are structurally tailored for spatiotemporal information processing, enabling various computations like visual perception. Here, we report on a neuromorphic computational model termed ‘dendristor’, which integrates functional synaptic organization with dendritic tree-like morphology computation. The dendristor presents bioplausible nonlinear integration of excitatory and inhibitory synaptic inputs with silent synapses and diverse spatial distribution dependency. We show that the dendristor can emulate direction selectivity, which is the feature to react robustly to a preferred signal direction on the dendrite. We discover that silent synapses can remarkably enhance direction selectivity, turning out to be a crucial player in dendritic computation processing. Finally, we develop neuromorphic dendritic neural circuits that can emulate a cognitive function such as motion perception in the retina. Using dendritic morphology, we achieve visual perception of motion in 3D space by various mapping of spatial information on different dendritic branches. This neuromorphic dendritic computation innovates beyond current neuromorphic computation and provides solutions to explore new skylines in artificial intelligence, neurocomputation, and brain-inspired computing.

This article is about a framework for determining the degree of realism of any given 1 passenger ride motion discomfort measurement formula. After providing some context and reviewing 2 evidence of deficiency in currently popular ride motion discomfort measurement formulas, the article 3 outlines the research program that needs to be carried out in order to establish such a framework. 4 The research begins with gathering recordings of uncomfortable ride motion episodes encountered in 5 a chosen type of passenger transport service. It then has test subjects compare the episodes via a ride 6 motion simulator and adjust their amplitudes pair wise until they cause equal discomfort. It explains 7 how to take the pair wise amplitude adjustments and determine amplitude adjustments that bring all 8 of the motion episode recordings to a common level of discomfort so that they form a normalized set. 9 Then, the lower the scatter of the scores assigned by any given discomfort measurement formula to 10 the members of that set, the more realistic that formula will be for the chosen service.

It is known that people perceive animacy in objects. However, many studies on animacy and emotional expressions are limited in that the investigated motions were created by experimenters themselves. This makes the objective validity unclear. Moreover, it remains unclear what types of movements can express emotions with animacy due to the limited number of investigations examining both animacy and emotional expressions. Therefore, we investigated the motion elements for both animacy perception and emotional expressions using simple objects that lack features of specific living things, such as eyes, ears, tails, and voices in this study. First, we investigated the motion elements for animacy perception and emotional expressions using a robot simulator that enabled participants to create undulatory motions by tuning parameters for speed, height, and randomness. In total, 64 participants created motions in Normal (neutral), Joy, Sad, Relaxed, and Angry conditions. The results showed that the medians of speed and height in Normal, related only to animacy, were 0.5569[Hz] and 3.050cm at the edges/4.575cm at the center. The differences in Joy were 0.4028[Hz] and 3.348cm/5.022cm, in Sad were −0.1652[Hz] and −0.9982cm/−1.497cm, in Relaxed were −0.1979[Hz] and −0.4902cm/−0.7353cm, and in Angry were 0.5212[Hz] and 4.688cm/7.032cm. Second, we investigated whether the motion elements revealed in the first experiment were sufficient to express emotions with animacy, using a robot simulator that reflected the results of the motion element investigation. In total, 44 online participants observed the simulator. The results showed that participants could understand emotional arousal levels at the same time as animacy, but they did not fully understand emotional valence. Our findings provide design guidelines for robots that exhibit emotional expressions and closely interact with humans.

Human Activity Recognition (HAR) technology enables continuous behavior monitoring, particularly valuable in healthcare. This study investigates the viability of using an ear-worn motion sensor for classifying daily activities, including lying, sitting/standing, walking, ascending stairs, descending stairs, and running. Fifty healthy participants (between 20 and 47 years old) engaged in these activities while under monitoring. Various machine learning algorithms, ranging from interpretable shallow models to state-of-the-art deep learning approaches designed for HAR, were employed for classification. Results demonstrate the ear sensor's efficacy, with deep learning models achieving 98% accuracy rate of classification. The obtained classification models are agnostic regarding which ear the sensor is worn and robust against moderate variations in sensor orientation (e.g., due to differences in auricle anatomy), meaning no initial calibration of the sensor orientation is required. The study underscores the ear's efficacy as a suitable site for monitoring human daily activity and suggests its potential for combining HAR with in-ear vital signs monitoring. This approach offers a practical method for comprehensive health monitoring by integrating sensors in a single anatomical location. This integration facilitates individualized health assessments, with potential applications in tele-monitoring, personalized health insights, and optimizing athletic training regimes.

In the area of dental healthcare services, where patients and professionals deal with multiple auditory stimuli, this cross-sectional study reports on the intricate dynamics of sound preferences, noise obstacles, and the profound impact of music on anxiety reduction within dental office set-tings. The sample comprises of 134 dental patients, primarily females (56.7%), with varying age groups, education levels, and therapy durations in the university clinics of the department of Dentistry, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and four private dental offices at the metropolitan area of Athens, Greece. Notably, 92.5% of the participants report no hearing loss, and 56.7% exhibit some level of noise sensitivity. The study reveals a moderate to good perceived health status (M=3.84, SD=0.95) among participants, with low perceived noise disturbance in university dental clinics. Preferences for instrumental music, foreign pop, and classical music are prominent during waiting times. Potential irritations include impersonal treatment (44%) and staff behavior (41.8%). Music player usage within the settings of the dental clinic involves radios (49.3%) and headphones (41.0%). Correlations and predictors indicate associations between health status, music preferences, and noise disturbances. More specifically, visiting the university dental clinics (β = .300, p = .005) as well as younger age (β = .300, p = .034) were significant predictors of better perceived health status. Clearer perception of external sounds while using the music player (β = .190, p = .039) was a significant predictor of better perceived health status, while poorer health was predicted by the preference of Greek folk songs (β = -.200, p = .030). Also, the use of smartphones for playing music was related to poorer health (β = -.370, p < .001). Following, younger age (β = -.270, p = .015), lower education (β = -.210, p = .035), higher noise sensitivity (β = .190, p = .027), as well as feelings of anxiety and nervousness due to ambient noise from people and machines (β = .510, p = .027) were significant predictors of noise disturbance from machines. Also, visiting private clinics (β = .240, p = .018), preferences of specific playlist (β = .310, p = .012), no music (β = .280, p = .016) and use of smartphones to play music (β = .230, p = .029) were significant predictors of noise disturbance from patients or staff. Finally, the preference of listening to a specific playlist was related to better health status (r = .190, p < .05). Findings aim to optimize eco-soundscapes in dental offices, con-tributing to enhanced patient well-being. The research underscores the potential of music inter-ventions to alleviate dental anxiety and improve the overall dental experience and quality care.

In current transportation hubs, it is a common phenomenon that passengers travel with necessary wheeled-luggage or suitcases. Due to the fact that most luggage occupies certain space within dense passenger crowds with giant mass inertia, its abnormal motions, such as drifting, frequently trig unavoidable local disturbances and turbulence in surrounding pedestrian flows, further increasing security risk. While, current researches primarily concentrate on examining the impact of luggage on crowd evacuation efficiency through scenario-based experiments and analyzing the spatial characteristics of crowd distribution in surveillance videos. There still lacks of the dynamic disturbance mechanisms and crowd stability associated with the combined motion of passengers and luggage. Therefore, this study considers the luggage-laden passenger as a deformable particle, the resulting disturbance on surrounding non-luggage passengers is analyzed and quantified into a nonlinear pressure term. Subsequently, the disturbance propagation model of passenger-luggage is developed by adapting the classical Aw-Rascle traffic flow model with incorporation of the pressure term. Simulation experiments of disturbances caused by luggage drifting and retrograding validate that the proposed propagation model aligns with real-world situations in transportation hubs. Quantitively, when luggage-laden passenger drifted left, the disturbing force of left side crowd can reach a peak of 238N in the passenger density of 3.0 p/m2, and the maximum difference between the left and right sides disturbing force can reach 153N. Furthermore, it is recommended that the proposed model can be applied to crowd flow analysis and risk assessment.

The aim of the article is to verify differences in the perception of selected factors of sustainability among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Central Europe. The subjects of analysis are factors such as corporate social responsibility (CSR), business risk sources (market, financial, personnel, and operational), reputation and social media, national support, social changes, and crisis events in business. The questionnaire was completed by 1,090 SMEs from the business environments of Visegrad Group countries. Statistical hypotheses were verified using Z-scores for two population properties. The most negatively perceived factors among owners and managers in the SME segment are national support and legislative changes. The most positively perceived factor is reputation and social media. The country of doing business is a significant factor. The perception of crisis events in business is most negative among Czech SMEs. More than 80% of Hungarian SMEs perceive their companies as sustainable. In comparison with Slovak and Polish SMEs, Hungarian perceptions are more positive in the context of sustainability. The country of doing business is the strongest factor in evaluating CSR indicators. The positive perception of CSR in Czech SMEs (43.9%) is lower than in other countries.

The intense motion of a ship can greatly impacts the comfort of crew members and the safety of the vessel. Therefore, accurately estimating and predicting ship attitudes has become an important issue. This paper introduces the latest development in functional deep learning model called DeepOnet. It takes wave height as input and ship motion as output, using a cause-to-result prediction approach. The modeling data used in this study is sourced from publicly available experimental data from the Iowa Institute of Hydraulic Research. Firstly, parameters system tuning was conducted for the neural network's hyperparameters to determine the appropriate combination of parameters. Secondly, the DeepOnet model for wave height and multi-degree-of-freedom motion was established, and the influence of increasing time steps on prediction accuracy was examined. Finally, a comparison was made between the DeepOnet model and the classical time series model LSTM. It was found that the DeepOnet model had a 10-fold improvement in accuracy for roll and heave attitudes. Moreover, as the forecast duration increased, the advantage of DeepOnet showed a trend of strengthening. As a functional prediction model, DeepOnet provides a new promising tool for very short-term prediction of ship motion.

Background. The Stanford Health Assessment Questionnaire-Disability Index (HAQ) is widely used to measure functional ability in persons with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). The instrument was developed with limited involvement from persons with RA, and their perception of the instrument has not been studied in depth. The aim of this study was to explore how persons with RA experience the use of the HAQ in care. Methods. Forty persons with RA were purposefully recruited to participate in semi-structured interviews. The interviews were then analyzed qualitatively using thematic analysis. Results. The participants questioned the relevance of the HAQ but nevertheless experienced that the instrument had a profound effect on their understanding of health and how care is delivered. The analysis resulted in three themes: Problems with individual items, meaning of the summative score, and effects on care and health perceptions. Conclusions. To make the HAQ relevant to persons with RA, it needs to be revised or to include an option to select items most meaningful to the respondent. To ensure relevance, the HAQ update should preferably be co-created by researchers, clinicians and persons with RA.

National heatwave plans are aimed at reducing the avoidable human health consequences due to heatwaves, by providing warnings to and improving communication between relevant stakeholders. The aim of this study was to assess the perceptions of key stakeholders within plans in Belgium and the Netherlands on their responsibilities, the partnerships, and the effectiveness of the local implementation in Brussels and Amsterdam. Key informant interviews were held with stakeholders that had an important role in development of the heatwave plan in these countries, or its implementation in Brussels or Amsterdam. Care organisations, including hospitals and elderly care organisations, had a lack of familiarity with the national heatwave plan in both cities, and prioritised heat the lowest. Some groups of individuals, specifically socially isolated individuals, are not sufficiently addressed by the current national heatwave plans and most local plans. Stakeholders reported that responsibilities were not clearly described and that the national plan does not describe tasks on a local level. We recommend to urgently increase awareness on the impact of heat on health among care organisations. More emphasis needs to be given to the variety of heat risk groups. Stakeholders should be involved in the development of updates of the plans.

The use of haptic devices in rehabilitation of impaired limbs has become rather popular, given the proven effectiveness in promoting recovery. In a standard framework, such devices are used in rehabilitation centers, where patients interact with virtual tasks, presented on a screen. To track their sessions, kinematic/dynamic parameters or performance scores are recorded. However, as Internet access is now available at almost every home, and in order to reduce the hospitalization time of the patient, the idea of doing rehabilitation at home is gaining wide consent. Medical care programs can be synchronized with the home rehabilitation device; patient data can be sent to the central server that could redirect to the therapist laptop (tele-healthcare). The controversial issue is that the recorded data do not actually represent the clinical conditions of the patients according to the medical assessment scales, forcing them to frequently undergo clinical tests at the hospital. To respond to this demand, we propose the use of a bilateral master/slave haptic system that could allow the clinician, who interacts with the master, to assess remotely and in real time the clinical conditions of the patient that uses the home rehabilitation device as the slave. In this paper, we describe a proof of concept to highlight the main issues of such an application, limited to one degree of freedom, and to the measure of the stiffness and range of motion of the hand.

Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) for collaborative robots has become an active research topic recently. Collaborative robots assist the human workers in their tasks and improve their efficiency. But the worker should also feel safe and comfortable while interacting with the robot. In this paper, we propose a human-following motion planning and control scheme for a collaborative robot which supplies the necessary parts and tools to a worker in an assembly process in a factory. In our proposed scheme, a 3-D sensing system is employed to measure the skeletal data of the worker. At each sampling time of the sensing system, an optimal delivery position is estimated using the real-time worker data. At the same time, the future positions of the worker are predicted as probabilistic distributions. A Model Predictive Control (MPC) based trajectory planner is used to calculate a robot trajectory that supplies the required parts and tools to the worker and follows the predicted future positions of the worker. We have installed our proposed scheme in a collaborative robot system with a 2-DOF planar manipulator. Experimental results show that the proposed scheme enables the robot to provide anytime assistance to a worker who is moving around in the workspace while ensuring the safety and comfort of the worker.

The Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) and the Predicted Percentage of Dissatisfied (PPD) indices are used to assess the indoor environment in terms of human thermal comfort-discomfort. In this study, an experimental combined objective and subjective investigation of thermal comfort perception has been performed in students between 16-18 years old, in a non-air-conditioned school building. The objective approach included instrumentation measurements and data processing according to ISO 7730, whereas, the subjective one was based on answers collection following ISO 10551. The study is mainly devoted to the verification of Fanger’s approach in a building, in free running conditions, under a mild (moderate) climate.The comparison between instrumentation data and questionnaire results presented an underestimation of the mean vote, predicting a cooler sensation than the actual one.

The paper is considering of the basic differential equations of hydrodynamics: the equation of continuity and motion. On the simplest example, it is shown that the equation of continuity in a system with the equation of motion leads to contradictions and erroneous results of modeling. A more correct form of the continuity equation is described. It is shown that the equations of motion can be written in the form of complete differentials. Three possible integral forms of the equations of motion are presented. As a conclusion, the existence and smoothness of the solution of the Navier-Stokes equations are considered.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is shaking the foundations of public health governance all over the world. Researchers are challenged by informing and supporting authorities on acquired knowledge and practical implications. This commentary applies established theories of risk perception research to COVID-19 and reflects on the role of risk perceptions in these unprecedented times. Moreover, it calls for utilizing the knowledge on risk perception to improve health risk communication, build trust and contribute to a collaborating governance.

Wobbling motion as an exotic collective mode in nuclei without axial symmetry, was intensively discussed during the last few years. The observation of the newly proposed transverse wobbling, first reported in $^{135}$Pr and soon after in nuclei from other mass regions, was considered as a significant discovery in low-spin nuclear structure. However, both the reported experimental results and the proposed theoretical models were lively questioned in a series of works devoted to the investigation of the low-spin wobbling mode in the same nucleus. The electromagnetic properties of the $\Delta I=1$ transitions connecting the one- to zero-phonon and the two- to one-phonon wobbling bands in $^{135}$Pr were recently remeasured, demonstrating their predominant $M1$ magnetic character which is in contradiction with the wobbling motion interpretation. These new experimental observables being well reproduced by both quasiparticle-plus-triaxial-rotor model and interacting boson-fermion model calculations, are against the previously proposed wobbling characteristics of the low-spin bands in $^{135}$Pr. On the other hand, we obtained conclusive experimental evidence for the theoretically suggested transverse wobbling bands at medium spin in $^{136}$Nd. The comparison of the experimental data with calculations utilizing the triaxial projected shell model and a new developed particle-rotor model with frozen orthogonal geometry of the active nucleons, supports the description in terms of transverse wobbling of medium-spin bands in triaxial even-even nuclei.

In traditional finance, option prices are typically calculated using crisp sets of variables. However, in a proposed new approach, the assumption is made that these parameters have a degree of fuzziness or uncertainty associated with them. This allows participants to estimate option prices based on their risk preferences and beliefs, considering a range of possible values for the parameters. To determine the belief degree associated with a particular option price, an interpolation search algorithm was proposed recently[1]. Interpolation is a mathematical technique used to estimate values between known data points. In this case, the algorithm is applied to determine the belief degree associated with a specific option price within the range of possible prices. By incorporating fuzzy numbers and the belief degree, this approach provides a more flexible framework for practitioners to make their investment decisions. It allows them to consider their risk preferences and beliefs about the uncertain parameters when selecting an option price. In this paper, we will review a unified framework for combining fractional Brownian motion with fuzzy processes and obtain a joint measure space. We start by constructing a product measure space that captures the randomness and fuzziness inherent in the respective processes. We begin with the usual Kolmogorov filtered probability space (Ω, F, ℙ), where ℙ represents the probability measure, Ω is the set of all possible outcomes or states that a random process can take and {Ft, t ∈ [0, T]} is an information filtration. We will review the work of Merton (1976) on option pricing when the underlying stock returns have jumps [2] and expand it to fuzzy fractional processes.

Abstract Unlike accelerated motion or curvalinear motion,a nonlinear motion state(non-inertial system) can be described by differential equations or the other algebric equations in axiom 2, the accelerated motion in axiom 3 can be considered to be described by using the equation of the linear and curvilinear process of the continuum extending to infinitely distance.Further, this linear and curvilinear process of the continuum is a quantitative continuum in essence as a unity of infinitely quantities and infinitely dimensions at infinite distance (infinity) relative to all orientations in which we exist. These indicates that an accelerated motion accumulates continuously started from a finite quantities, leaping to transit from finite to infinite quantities by an infinitely great accelerating force.

: Suicide is a serious public health problem, with a global mortality rate of 1.4% of all deaths worldwide, and the leading cause of unnatural death in Spain. The use of clinical simulation has proven to be a beneficial tool in the training of nursing students. Such experiences allow them to develop cognitive and affective skills that are fundamental for the detection of warning signs and use of interventions in cases of people who want to take their own lives. Working in a mental health environment can be difficult for nursing students; therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of nursing students on the approach, management and intervention of suicidal crisis through clinical mental health simulation. Methods: qualitative descriptive phenomenological study through focus groups and reflective narratives in a sample of 45 students. A thematic analysis was performed using ATLAS-ti. Results: After the analysis, three themes were obtained: (a) management and handling of emotions (b) identification of suicide motives (c) intervention in suicidal crisis. Discussion: Clinical simulation in mental health allows students to exercise clinical judgment reasoning, detect warning signs for a better treatment approach, and provide tools for effective intervention and management of patient care. The results of this study indicate that nursing students face challenges in approaching mental health clinical simulation due to lack of prior exposure.

Under optimal conditions, just 3–6 ms of visual stimulation suffices for humans to see motion. Motion perception on this time scale implies that the visual system under these conditions reliably encodes, transmits, and processes neural signals with near-millisecond precision. Motivated by in vitro evidence for high temporal precision of motion signals in the primate retina, we investigated how neuronal and perceptual limits of motion encoding relate. Specifically, we examined the correspondence between the time scale at which cat retinal ganglion cells in vivo represent motion information and temporal thresholds for human motion discrimination. The time scale for motion encoding by ganglion cells ranged from 4.6–91 ms, depended nonlinearly on temporal frequency but not on contrast. Human psychophysics revealed that minimal stimulus durations required for perceiving motion direction were similarly brief, 5.6–65 ms, similarly depended on temporal frequency but, above ~10%, not on contrast. Notably, physiological and psychophysical measurements corresponded closely throughout (r = 0.99), despite more than a 20-fold variation in both human thresholds and optimal time scales for motion encoding in the retina. These results demonstrate that neural circuits for motion vision in cortex can maintain and make use of the high temporal fidelity of the retinal output signals.

This study aims to unravel the paradox of perceptions and knowledge of the flood victims towards the causes of the disaster in both internal and external context. Internal context comprises of a comparison of perceptions and knowledge based on individual characteristics (age, gender, education and income). Whereas, the external context includes the factors of the awareness of the victims towards the amount of rainfall, the impact of land use changes as well as the negligence of the responsible parties. The main objective of this study is to determine the differences of perception and knowledge of December 2014 flood victims in Kelantan towards the factors that lead to the flood. This disaster had resulted in huge amount of money loss as well as traumatize the victims in which can be felt to this day. Since that incident, there were various points of view and different perceptions in finding the cause of the disaster occurred. Besides that, the study found that the level of perception and knowledge as to the cause of the disaster is different in the internal context (individual characteristics). This difference has a significant influence on the awareness of the causes of the floods that occurred in the external context. Significant relationships at the level of p <0.05 has existed between perception and knowledge of the causes of the disaster victims affected by environmental changes in the last 10 years. This indicates that although the victim is aware of the physical environment changes happening around them, but all that is seen as not a major contributing factor to the cause of the floods in Kelantan in 2014.

An event occurring within a stationary environment, in the direction toward which an observer self-rotates, is perceived to precede a simultaneous event, in the direction away from which she moves. When self-rotation results from angular acceleration in the dark, perception of space is also distorted, such that the subjective straight-ahead shifts in the opposite direction to motion and temporal event promotion. A reference frameshift theory, based on the special theory of relativity, is proposed to explain these findings. Here, a hyperbolic tangent transformation of objective angular velocity constrains subjective self-rotation velocity within finite bounds, consistent with it being a limited perceptual resource. Identifying this subjective variable with vestibular nystagmus slow-phase angular velocity, the asymptotic perceived self-rotation velocity is estimated at ~200 °⁄s. When included in the Lorentz transformations of the new formalism, this value predicts experimental simultaneity distortion. Hypothetically, the hyperbolic tangent objective-to-subjective transfer function would maximize the differential entropy of the percept, and thereby also the stimulus/percept mutual information, if angular velocities of body rotation encountered in naturalistic environmental interaction have a logistic probability density distribution of scale 100 °⁄s, a proposed experimental test of the scheme.

During the exploration of the surrounding environment, the brain links together external inputs, giving rise to perception of a persisting object. During imaginative processes, the same object can be recalled in mind even if it is out of sight. Here, topological theory of shape provides a mathematical foundation for the notion of persistence perception. In particular, we focus on ecological theories of perception, that account for our knowledge of world objects by borrowing a concept of invariance in topology. We show how a series of transformations can be gradually applied to a pattern, in particular to the shape of an object, without affecting its invariant properties, such as boundedness of parts of a visual scene. High-level representations of objects in our environment are mapped to simplified views (our interpretations) of the objects, in order to construct a symbolic representation of the environment. The representations can be projected continuously to an environmental object that we have seen and continue to see, thanks to the mapping from shapes in our memory to shapes in Euclidean space.

Background: Patients with allergic rhinitis (AR) have bothersome symptoms that may assess using the visual analog scale (VAS). Asthma frequently is associated with AR. The present study investigated the role of VAS in children with newly-diagnosed AR. Methods: Parameters were VAS for nasal and asthma symptoms, and doctor’s perception of these diseases, medication use, and asthma comorbidity. Results: 67% of AR children had asthma. Severity of perceived nasal symptoms was associated with more intense asthma symptoms and doctor’s perception of disease severity (p<0.001 and p=0.02, re-spectively. Conclusions: Allergic rhinitis frequently is associated with asthma in child-hood. Symptom perception assessment using VAS is a simple tool for assessing their intensity. Moreover, the severity of nasal symptoms is associated with asthma symptom severity. Therefore, asthma should be carefully considered in AR children and require appropriate symptom perception assessment.

Rotation motion in a three-dimensional physical world refers to an angular displacement of an object around a specific axis in $\mathbb{R}^3$. It is typically formulated as a non-linear and non-convex process due to the nonlinearity and nonconvexity of $\mathbb{SO}(3)$. However, this paper proposes a new perspective that the 3D rotation motion can be expressed by the linear equation without dropping any constraints and increasing any singularities. Moreover, two frequent cases, i.e., $\angle\left(\mathbf{R}\boldsymbol{x},\boldsymbol{y}\right)=0(\pi)$ and $\angle\left(\mathbf{R}\boldsymbol{x},\boldsymbol{y}\right)=\frac{\pi}{2}$, in computer vision and robotics that can be expressed linearly are deeply discussed in this paper.

Superpixels are a representation of still images as pixel grids because of their more meaningful information compared with atomic pixels. However, their usefulness for video classification has been given little attention. In this paper, rather than using spatial RGB values as low-level features, we use optical flows mapped into hue-saturation-value (HSV) space to capture rich motion features over time. We introduce motion superpixels, which are superpixels generated from flow fields. After mapping flow fields into HSV space, independent superpixels are formed by iteration of seeded regions. Every grid of a motion superpixel is tracked over time using nearest neighbors in the histogram of flow (HOF) for consecutive flow fields. To define the temporal representation, the evolution of three features within the superpixel region, namely the HOF, HOG, and the center of superpixel mass are used as descriptors. The bag of features algorithm is used to quantify final features, and generalized histogram-kernel support vector machines are used as learning algorithms. We evaluate the proposed superpixel tracking on first-person videos and action sports videos.

The paper presents a study of two novel visual motion onset stimulus-based brain–computer interfaces (vmoBCI). Two settings are compared with afferent and efferent to a computer screen center motion patterns. Online vmoBCI experiments are conducted in an oddball event–related potential (ERP) paradigm allowing for “aha–responses” decoding in EEG brainwaves. A subsequent stepwise linear discriminant analysis classification (swLDA) classification accuracy comparison is discussed based on two inter–stimulus–interval (ISI) settings of 700 and 150 ms in two online vmoBCI applications with six and eight command settings. A research hypothesis of classification accuracy non–significant differences with various ISIs is confirmed based on the two settings of 700 ms and 150 ms, as well as with various numbers of ERP response averaging scenarios.The efferent in respect to display center visual motion patterns allowed for a faster interfacing and thus they are recommended as more suitable for the no–eye–movements requiring visual BCIs.

Taekwondo has evolved from a traditional martial art into an official Olympic sport. This study introduces a novel action recognition model tailored for Taekwondo unit actions, utilizing joint motion data acquired via wearable inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensors. The utilization of IMU sensor-measured motion data facilitates the capture of the intricate and rapid movements characteristic of Taekwondo techniques. The model, underpinned by a conventional convolutional neural network (CNN)-based image classification framework, synthesizes action images to represent individual Taekwondo unit actions. These action images are generated by mapping joint motion profiles onto the RGB color space, thus encapsulating the motion dynamics of a single unit action within a solitary image. To further refine the representation of rapid movements within these images, a time-warping technique was applied, adjusting motion profiles in relation to the velocity of the action. The effectiveness of the proposed model was assessed using a dataset compiled from 40 Taekwondo experts, yielding remarkable outcomes: an accuracy of 0.998, precision of 0.983, recall of 0.982, and an F1-score of 0.982. These results underscore the time-warping technique's contribution to enhancing feature representation, as well as the proposed method's scalability and effectiveness in recognizing Taekwondo unit actions.

With advances in the development of autonomous vehicles (AVs), more attention has been paid to the effects caused by adverse weather conditions on them. It is well known that the performance of self-driving vehicles is reduced when they are exposed to stressors that impair visibility or generate water or snow accumulation on sensor surfaces. This paper proposes a model to quantify weather precipitation, such as rain and snow, perceived by moving vehicles based on outdoor data. The modelling covers a wide range of parameters, such as varying wind direction and realistic particle size distributions. The model allows the calculation of precipitation intensity on inclined surfaces of different orientations and on a circular driving path. The modelling results were partially validated against direct measurements carried out by a test vehicle. The model outputs showed strong correlation with the experimental data for both rain and snow. Mitigation strategies for heavy precipitation on vehicles can be developed and correlations between precipitation rate and accumulation level can be traced using the presented analytical model. Dimensional Analysis of the problem has highlighted the critical parameters that can help the design of future experiments. The obtained results highlight the importance of the angle of the sensing surface on the perceived precipitation level. The proposed model is used to analyze optimal orientations for minimization of the precipitation flux, which can help to determine the positioning of sensors on the surface of autonomous vehicles.

Control of autonomous robot motion in radial mass density field is presented. In that sense the robot motion is described as the function of the radial mass density parameters. The radial mass density field is between the maximal radial mass density and the minimal radial mass density. Between these two limited values one can use n points (n = 1, 2, . . . nmax) and calculate the related radial mass density for each point. The radial mass density is maximal at the minimal gravitational radius and minimal at the maximal gravitational radius. This conclusion is valid for Planck scale, but also for the scales that are less or higher of that one. Using the ratio of the Planck mass and Planck radius it is generated energy conservation constant with value κ = 0.99993392118. Further, in this theory it is possible to connect Planck’s and gravitational parameters as functions of the maximal (or minimal) radial mass density. In that sense the autonomous robot motion in radial mass density field is important for the control of the robot motion at micro and nano scales.

In the last decade, the objectives outlined by the needs of personal robotics have led to the rise of new biologically-inspired techniques for arm motion planning. This paper presents a literature review of the most recent research on the generation of human-like arm movements in humanoid and manipulation robotic systems. Search methods and inclusion criteria are described. The studies are analysed taking into consideration the sources of publication, the experimental settings, the type of movements, the technical approach, and the human motor principles that have been used to inspire and assess human-likeness. Results show that there is a strong focus on the generation of single-arm reaching movements and biomimetic-based methods. However, there has been poor attention to manipulation, obstacle-avoidance mechanisms, and dual-arm motion generation. For these reasons, human-like arm motion generation may not fully respect human behavioural and neurological key features and may result restricted to specific tasks of human-robot interaction. Limitations and challenges are discussed to provide meaningful directions for future investigations.

A description of the motion in Non-Inertial Reference Frames by means of the inclusion of high time derivatives is studied. It is noted that incompleteness of the description of physical reality is a problem of any theory: both quantum mechanics and classical physics. The "stability principle" is put forward. We also provide macroscopic examples of Non-Inertial Mechanics and verify the use of high-order derivatives as non-local hidden variables based the equivalence principle when acceleration is equal to the gravitational field. Acceleration in this case is a function of the higher derivatives with respect to time. The definition of Dark Metrics for matter and energy is presented to replace the standard notions of Dark Matter and Dark Energy.

Atmospheric Motion Vectors (AMVs) calculated by six different institutions (Brazil Center for Weather Prediction and Climate Studies/CPTEC/INPE, European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites/EUMETSAT, Japan Meteorological Agency/JMA, Korea Meteorological Administration/KMA, Unites States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/NOAA and the Satellite Application Facility on Support to Nowcasting/NWCSAF) with JMA’s Himawari-8 satellite data and other common input data are here compared. The comparison is based on two different AMV input datasets, calculated with two different image triplets for 21 July 2016, and the use of a prescribed and a specific configuration. The main results of the study are summarized as follows: (1) the differences in the AMV datasets depend very much on the “AMV height assignment” used and much less on the use of a prescribed or specific configuration; (2) the use of the “Common Quality Indicator (CQI)” has a quantified skill in filtering collocated AMVs for an improved statistical agreement between centers; (3) JMA AMV algorithm has the best overall performance considering all validation metrics, most likely due to its height assignment: “optimal estimation using observed radiance and NWP wind vertical profile”.

Urban spatial perception critically influences human behavior and emotional reactions, emphasizing the necessity of aligning urban spaces with human needs for enhanced urban living. However, functionality-based categorization of urban architecture is prone to biases, stemming from disparities between objective mapping and subjective perception. These biases can result in urban planning and designs that fail to cater adequately to the needs and preferences of city residents, negatively impacting their quality of life and the city's overall functionality. In this study, we apply machine learning to elucidate these biases within urban spatial perception research, utilizing a three-step methodology: objective mapping, subjective perception analysis, and perception deviation assessment. Our findings reveal that machine learning can expose hidden patterns within this research field, bearing substantial implications for urban planning and design. Of particular note, the study revealed significant discrepancies in the distribution centroids between commercial buildings and residential or public buildings. This result illuminates the spatial organization characteristics of urban architectural functions, serving as a valuable reference for urban planning and development. Moreover, it uncovers the advantages and disadvantages of different data sources and techniques in interpreting urban spatial perception, paving the way for a more comprehensive understanding of the subject. These findings underscore the importance of integrating both objective mapping and subjective perspectives in urban architectural functionality classification.

This study addresses the critical challenge of Speech Enhancement (SE) in noisy environments, where the deployment of Deep Neural Networksolutions on microcontrollers is hindered by their extensive computational demands. Focusing on this gap, our research introduces a novel SE method optimized for MCUs, employing a 2-layer GRU model that capitalizes on perceptual speech properties and innovative training methodologies. By incorporating self-reference signals and a dual strategy of compression and recovery based on the Mel scale, we develop an efficient model tailored for low-latency applications. Our GRU-2L-128 model demonstrates a significant reduction in size and computational requirements, achieving a 14.2× decrease in model size and a 409.1× reduction in operations compared to traditional DNN methods like DCCRN, without compromising performance. This advancement offers a promising solution for enhancing speech intelligibility in resource-constrained devices, marking a pivotal step in SE research and application.

The diagnosis and management of cow's milk allergy (CMA) is a topic of debate and controversy. We aimed to compare the opinions of expert groups from the Middle East (n=14) and the European Society of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN) (n=13). These Expert groups voted on statements developed by the ESPGHAN group and published in a recent position paper. The voting outcome was compared. Overall, there was consensus amongst both groups of experts. Most experts agreed that symptoms of crying, irritability and colic, as single manifestations, do not suggest CMA. They agreed that amino-acid-based formula (AAF) should be reserved for severe cases (e.g. malnutrition and anaphylaxis) and that there is insufficient evidence to recommend a step-down approach. There was no consensus on the statement that a cow’s milk-based extensively hydrolysed formula (eHF) should be the first choice as a diagnostic elimination diet in mild/moderate cases. Although the statements regarding the role of hydrolysed rice formula as a diagnostic and therapeutic elimination diet were accepted, 3/27 disagreed. The votes regarding soy formula highlight the differences in opinion in the role of soy protein in CMA dietary treatment. Generally, soy-based formula is seldom available in the Middle East region. All ESPGHAN experts agreed that there was no added value of probiotics, prebiotics, and synbiotics to the efficacy of elimination diets, whereas 3/14 of the Middle East group thought there was sufficient evidence. Therefore, there is not a consensus on the optimal diagnostic and therapeutic elimination diet for CMA, but the first-choice elimination diet and the stepwise management approach reveal some differences.

Imitation Learning is a discipline of Machine Learning primarily concerned with replicating observed behavior of agents known to perform well on a given task, collected in demonstration data sets. In this paper, we set out to introduce a pipeline for collecting demonstrations and training models that can produce motion plans for industrial robots. Object throwing is defined as the motivating use case. Multiple input data modalities are surveyed, and motion capture is selected as the most practicable. Two model architectures operating autoregressively are examined -- feedforward and recurrent neural networks. Trained models execute throws on a real robot successfully, and a battery of quantitative evaluation metrics is proposed, including extrapolated throw accuracy estimates. Recurrent neural networks outperform feedforward ones in most respects, with the best models having an assessed mean throw error on the order of 0.1...0.2 m at distances of 1.5...2.0 m. The data collection, pre-processing, and model training aspects of our proposed approach show promise, but further work is required in developing Cartesian motion planning tools before it is suitable for application in production.

Optical motion capture systems are prone to the errors connected with markers recognition – occlusion, leaving the scene or mislabelling – all these errors are then corrected in the software, but still, the process is not perfect, resulting in artifact distortions. In the article, we examine four existing types of artifacts, then propose the method for detection and classification of the distortions. The algorithm is based on the derivative analysis, low-pass filtering, mathematical morphology and loose predictor. The tests involved multiple simulations using synthetically distorted sequences, comparison of performance to the human operators on real life data and applicability analysis for the distortion removal.

This paper presents a framework for the motion planning and control of redundant manipulators with the added task of collision avoidance. The algorithms that were previously studied and tested by the authors for planar cases are here extended to full mobility redundant manipulators operating in a three-dimensional workspace. The control strategy consists of a combination of off-line path planning algorithms with on-line motion control. The path planning algorithm is used to generate trajectories able to avoid fixed obstacles, detected before the robot starts to move; it is based on the potential fields method combined with a smoothing interpolation that exploits Bézier curves. The on-line motion control is designed to compensate for the motion of the obstacles and to avoid collisions along the kinematic chain of the manipulator; it is realized by means of a velocity control law based on the null space method for redundancy control. A term of the control law takes into account the speed of the obstacles as well as their position. In order to test the algorithms, a set of simulations are presented: the robot KUKA LBR iiwa is controlled in different cases, where fixed or dynamic obstacles interfere with its motion. Simulations are also used to estimate the required computational effort in order to verify the transferability to a real system.

This paper presents performed Ansys numerical simulation on WindFloat structures. It contributes to the methodology of calculation based on CFD instruments to study the movements of the waves on semi-submersible stationary structures and highlights the importance of using RAO functions. RAO numerical approach developed can be applied to design semisubmersible WindFloat structures in order to fulfill essential requirements regarding operational safety and design. Numerical methodology was designed in accordance marine loads and the I.T.T.C. recommendations. The numerical RAO results for regular wave movements include many elements for the semi-submergible structure. Close results to open sea operation can be achieved by constant improvement in numerical simulation methodologies. The work opens the way for further hydrodynamic development on irregular waves for realistic hydrodynamic and structural response of the actual semi-submersibles at sea. The results demonstrate the accuracy of RAO function approach for specific WindFloat in Jonswap spectrum.

The basis for computation in the brain is the quantum threshold of the ‘soliton’ accompanying the ion changes of the action potential and the refractory membrane at convergences. We provide a logical explanation from the action potential to a neuronal model of the coding and computation of the retina and have explained how the visual cortex operates by quantum phase processing. In the small world network parallel frequencies collide into definable patterns of distinct objects. Elsewhere we have shown how many sensory cells are mean sampled to a single neuron and that convergences of neurons are common. We have also demonstrated, using the threshold and refractory period of a quantum phase pulse, that action potentials diffract across a neural network due to the annulment of parallel collisions in phase ternary computation (PTC). Thus, PTC applied to neuron convergences results in collective mean sampled frequency and is the only mathematical solution within the constraints of brain neural networks (BNN). In the retina and other sensory areas, we discuss how this information is coded and then understood in terms of network abstracts within the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) and visual cortex. First by defined neural patterning within a neural network, and then in terms of contextual networks, we demonstrate that the output of frequencies from the visual cortex contain information amounting to abstract representations of objects in increasing detail. We show that nerve tracts from the LGN provide time synchronisation to the neocortex (defined as the location of the combination of connections of the visual cortex, motor cortex, auditory cortex, etc). The full image is therefore combined in the neocortex with other sensory modalities so that it receives information about the object from the eye, and all abstracts that make up the object. Spatial patterns in the visual cortex are formed from individual patterns illuminating the retina and memory is encoded by reverberatory loops of computational actions potentials (CAPs). We demonstrate that a similar process of PTC may take place in the cochlea and associated ganglia, as well as ascending information from the spinal cord, and that this function should be considered universal where convergences of neurons occur.

The Action Control Theory (ACT) is an enactive theory of perception and mental imagery with six components: Schemata, Objects, Actions, Affect, Goals and Others’ Behavior. The evidence support-ing these six connected processes is reviewed in light of research on mental imagery vividness. The six processes and their interconnections receive empirical support from a wide range of studies. All six domains of perception and mental imagery are influenced by individual differences in vividness. Real-world applications of ACT show interesting potential to improve human well-being in both healthy people and patients. Mental imagery can be applied in creative ways to make new collective goals and actions for change that are necessary to maximize the future prospects of the planet.

This paper propose an original approach of achieving a Cymatics based visual perception of isolated speech commands. The idea is to smartly combine the effective speech processing and analysis methods with the phenomena of Cymatics. In this context, an effective approach for automatic isolated speech based message recognition is proposed. The incoming speech segment is enhanced by applying the appropriate pre-emphasis filtering, noise thresholding and zero alignment operations. The Mel-Frequency Cepstral coefficients (MFCCs), Delta coefficients and Delta-Delta coefficients are extracted from the enhanced speech segment. Later on, the Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) technique is employed to compare these extracted features with the reference templates. The comparison outcomes are used to make the classification decision. The classification decision is transformed into a methodical excitation. Finally, this excitation is converted into the systematic visual perceptions via the phenomenon of Cymatics. The system functionality is tested with an experimental setup and results are presented. The approach is novel and can be employed in various applications like visual art, encryption, education, archeology, architecture, integration of impaired people, etc.

Soil transverse isotropy results in different stiffness characteristics in the horizontal and vertical directions. However, the effect is usually neglected in the seismic motion analysis. In this study, an equivalent linear anisotropic soil model was established based on the finite element method and investigated the impact of anisotropic parameters on ground motion at the site under various seismic wave inputs. It is found that the anisotropic parameters have a more significant effect for the seismic waves with the dominant frequency closer to the fundamental frequency of the site. As an example, the soil dynamic parameters in Shanghai Yangshan Port were calibrated by a series of bending elements, resonance columns, and cyclic triaxial tests. The influences of anisotropy on the peak ground acceleration (PGA) and response spectrum are studied for Yangshan Port. Addi-tionally, the standard design response spectra considering the soil anisotropy were provided. A comparison reveals that the existing isotropic design response spectrum may lead to dangerous seismic design for the structures at Yangshan port.

Purpose: ETV is indicated for treating obstructions of major CSF pathways. The outcome evaluation often yields success rates of only +- 70% for shunt independency. Hence, compromised CSF absorption seems to occur more often than expected. We searched for parameters suitable to assess the involved CSF dynamics. Material and Methods: This was a prospective study in 58 paediatric patients (7.7 yrs. mean age) between 2000 and 2020 with aqueductal stenosis (11/58), obstruction of the aqueduct due to tumor growth (22/58),and connatal hydrocephalus (9/58). The average follow-up interval was 4.7 years. Head circumferences, Evans- and fronto-occipital horn ratios before and 3 months after ETV were obtained as Delta-indices. Furthermore ETV success score (ETVSS), the patency of the aqueduct pre- and postoperatively as well as of the stoma were assessed by flow void signs on MRI. Evaluation on MRI also included the shape of the floor of the 3^rd ventricle and whether or not the septum pellucidum showed signs of perforation. Four patients were analysed pre- and postoperatively via real-time MRI. At least the educational status regarding protected or unprotected education was analyzed. Results:The prevalence of a bowing of the floor of the 3^rd ventricle was 72%, and the ETVSS was 71.0%. In 26 children a septal perforations or an open aqueduct prior to ETV (19) could be identified. Mean ER and FOHR were reduced by 0.03 and 0.05 , respectively. Maintained open (flow void on postop MRI) or perforation could successfully be carried out during endoscopic surgery in 44 patients (79%). The disproportionate increase of head circumference abated in 79.4% of patients. New shunt insertion occurred in 16 patients (27.5%). Intraoperatively upward CSF flow was detected in all cases. Statistical analyses(ANOVA) showed significant results for unprotected education, postoperative ER and FOHR but not for open stoma. Conclusion: The identification of flow through the stoma on postoperative MRI seems to be a necessary but not sufficient condition for ETV success. In our study, ventricular volumes were used as parameters to determine success rates as well as unprotected education. Furthermore, enabling upward CSF flow driven by inspiration seems crucial for successful ETV.

Past research suggests a continuity between perception and memory, as reflected in influences of orienting of spatial attention by cues presented after a visual target offset (post-target cues) on target perception. Conducting two experiments, we tested and confirmed this claim. Our study revealed an elevated reliance on post-target cues for target detection with diminishing target visibility, leading to better performance in validly versus invalidly cued trials, indicative for contrast gain. We demonstrated this post-target cueing impact on target perception without a postcue response prompt, meaning that our results truly reflected a continuity between perception and memory rather than a task-specific impact of having to memorize the target due to a response prompt. We further showed an influence of attention by the post-target cues with cues presented away from a clearly visible target, meaning that visual interactions at the target location provided no better explanation of our results. Our results generalize prior research with liminal targets and confirm the view of a perception-memory continuum, so that visual target processing is not shielded against visuospatial orienting of attention elicited by events following offset of the visual target.

The doctoral defense is an important step in the doctoral journey and an essential requirement for obtaining the doctoral degree. Past research on the doctoral defense has focused solely on national practices. In this work, I investigate the potential link between the doctoral defense format based on its major and minor elements and the perception of the defense by the student. For this purpose, I first reviewed the different defense formats used internationally to extract the different elements of the doctoral defense, as well as the literature on students’ perceptions of the doctoral defense. Then, I carried out an international survey which received 297 responses, of which 204 completed surveys which I used for the analysis in this article. I first analyzed the outcomes of the survey using qualitative and quantitative methods, and then cross-correlated the outcomes of defense format to the outcomes of student perception. From this analysis, I observe that the defense elements that positively impact the students’ perception are: publication of the thesis before the defense, receiving committee feedback before the defense, knowing the recommendation of one or more committee members in advance, having the supervisor present in the audience or as part of the committee, using a dress code, and including a laudatio. The final conclusion of this work is threefold. The first conclusion is that the details of the defense format impact most the students’ perception. The second conclusion is that doctoral students on average value the defense as a positive experience. The third conclusion is that the defense format cannot influence two important aspects of how a student perceives the defense: the student’s inner life and lived experience during the defense, and the behavior of the committee members.

Utility perceived by individuals is believed to be different from the utility experienced by that individual. System dynamicists implicitly categorize this phenomenon as a form of bounded rationality and traditionally employ a simple smoothing function to capture it. We challenge this generalization by testing it against an alternative formulation of utility perception that is suggested by modern theories of behavioral economics. In particular, the traditional smoothing formulation is compared with the peak-end rule in a simple theoretical model as well as in a medium-size model of electronic health record implementation. Experimentation with the models reveals that the way utility perception is formulated is important and might affect behavior and policy implications of system dynamics models.

According to the requirement of 20kg load of casting barrel, we design a three-dimensional model of the robot and analyze the three stages of liquid level change in the casting barrel during the casting process. Through the analysis, it is determined that the time and angle function is an implicit function, and it is impossible to find the analytical expression of time about angle. The kinetic function of the casting barrel is simulated by MATLAB, and it is found that the function image has mutation points, and when the original function is fitted and approximated by fifth-degree polynomial interpolation, the fifth-degree polynomial function image of the time versus the angular acceleration has a large amplitude of oscillation, especially the mutation points. A PID algorithm based on the discretization of the time and acceleration function is introduced for correction, and the results show that this method effectively reduces the oscillation amplitude of the image and improves the coincidence with the original function.

We investigated the role of the human medio-temporal complex (hMT+) in the memory encoding and storage of a sequence of four coherently moving RDKs by applying repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) during an early or late phase of the retention interval. Moreover, in a second experiment we also tested whether disrupting the functional integrity of hMT+ during the early phase impaired the precision of the encoded motion directions. Overall, results showed that both recognition accuracy and precision were worse in middle serial positions, suggesting the occurrence of primacy and recency effects. We found that rTMS delivered during the early (but not the late) phase of the retention interval was able to impair not only recognition of RDKs, but also the precision of the retained motion direction. However, such impairment occurred only for RDKs presented in middle positions along the presented sequence, where performance was already closer to chance level. Altogether these findings suggest an involvement of hMT+ in the memory encoding of visual motion direction. Given that both position sequence and rTMS modulated not only recognition but also precision of the stored information, these findings are in support of a model of visual short-term memory with a variable resolution of each stored item, consistent with the assigned amount of memory resources, and that such item-specific memory resolution is supported by the functional integrity of area hMT+.

As urban populations and transport demand expand, Pakistani metropolitan centers face traffic congestion and environmental challenges. This research aims to assess carpooling (CP) to alleviate traffic congestion, fuel demand, and pollution. This study was conducted in Islamabad, a fast-growing city with a high percentage of personal cars in Pakistan, to assess the travelers’ perceptions, and public acceptance of CP and determine the effects on traffic congestion, fuel consumption, and CO2 emissions. The investigation of travelers' perceptions towards CP was conducted through a stated preference questionnaire survey. A total of 700 responses from one million population of Islamabad were collected as per Sloven's Formula. SPSS and Smart PLS software were used for data analysis. Various factors influencing peoples’ travel perceptions, mode choice, and tendency to carpool, were categorized to evaluate the relationship between travelers’ perception and the tendency to carpool in the presence of mode choice as a mediating variable. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted in SMART PLS to refine the number of scale items for each variable. One-way ANOVA, step-wise and mediated multiple regression analysis was conducted in SPSS to check the direct and mediating relationship between different variables. Moreover, the probability of reducing traffic congestion and assessing fuel reduction resulting from CP was also analyzed. The findings imply that travelers’ mode choice acts as a mediator between the relationship between travelers’ perception and tendency to carpool. Furthermore, results predicted that CP might reduce 0.25 million cars on the road, about 33.6% of the total private vehicles. Thereby, saving up to 546,810 barrels per year, about 3.42% of Pakistan's total petrol consumption. The findings of this study could be helpful for transport planners, environmentalists, and policymakers to implement carpool systems. Thus, reducing traffic congestion and harmful CO2 emissions and maintaining a sustainable environment.

This article aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of vaping from various perspectives that contributes to the origin, development, achievement, and consequences of the greed of e-cigarette manufacturers. In our analysis, multiple elements of the social landscape, including economic, cultural, moral, psychological, and philosophical dimensions, contributed to the origin and development of the vaping greed and shaped people’s behaviors. Further discussion was made on how the specific characteristics of e-cigarette products and the marketing strategies of the companies, especially social media marketing, fostered the growth of such greed. Through interviews, we have also discussed the unfolding of this greed within the community of teenage vapers. The growth of the vaping greed was manifested in the large market share taken by the companies, but these all significantly harm people’s health and the communities. Nicotine and other chemicals in e-liquids promote each other’s negative effects in the mechanism leading to pulmonary symptoms and addiction, which are not limited to the physical level. We described that addiction could be transgenerational and can induce trauma both at an individual level and a community level. Overall, the greed of the vaping industry is a very complex system. The treatment of the greed shall be complicated as well: Besides the public health measures taken to treat the symptoms of the greed, we should educate individuals to be aware of their unfulfilled needs to regain authenticity and establish an infallible authority to enforce universal morality, which eradicates the complications of addiction and the root of the capitalists’ greed, respectively.

Education setting evolved from historical open learning system to traditional classroom set-up to distance learning modality. Teaching-Learning practice is transformed with an evolution of teaching-learning materials. With technological advancement in progressive manner and it’s increasing use in academic setting, distance learning has been the on-demand and on-debate topic in current educational discourse. Comparatively fresh topic in Nepali academic setting, this paper intended to analyze the perception of Nepali students towards online modality in Nepali academic setting. This paper further analyzed the student’s preference towards distance learning in current Nepali academic setting. Research findings were analyzed based on data collected through literature review, interview with students and professor and quantitative data collection through use of google form. Study identified opportunities as revenue generation; continuation of academic career from any part of country; increase learning outcome among jobholders. Study identified challenges as unequal access and quality of internet facilities; affordability of laptops/computers; limited interaction; and frequent disturbances. Seeing the better prospects, study strongly supported the need of shift in academic shift from traditional setting to non-traditional setting in Nepali context to meet the global needs of competitive and quality education.

Purpose: Perceptual learning and production practice are basic mechanisms that children depend on to acquire adult levels of speech accuracy. In this study, we examined perceptual learning and production practice as they contributed to changes in speech accuracy in three- and four-year-old children. Our primary focus was manipulating the order of perceptual learning and baseline production practice to better understand when and how these learning mechanisms interact. Method: Sixty-five typically-developing children between the ages of three and four were included in the study. Children were asked to produce CVCCVC nonwords like /bozjəm/ and /tʌvtʃəp/ that were described as the names of make-believe animals. All children completed two separate experimental blocks: a baseline block in which participants heard each nonword once and repeated it, and a test block in which the perceptual input frequency of each nonword varied between 1 and 10. Half of the participants completed a baseline-test order; half completed a test-baseline order. Results: Greater accuracy was observed for nonwords produced in the second experimental block, reflecting a production practice effect. Perceptual learning resulted in greater accuracy during the test for nonwords that participants heard 3 or more times. However, perceptual learning did not carry over to baseline productions in the test-baseline design, suggesting that it reflects a kind of temporary priming. Finally, a post hoc analysis suggested that the size of the production practice effect depended on the age of acquisition of the consonants that comprised the nonwords. Conclusions: The study provides new details about how perceptual learning and production practice interact with each other and with phonological aspects of the nonwords, resulting in complex effects on speech accuracy and learning of form-referent pairs. These findings may ultimately help speech-language pathologists maximize their clients’ improvement in therapy.

The patterns of food consumption in general and those of meat, in particular, are constantly changing. These changes are due not only to socio-economic and cultural trends that affect the whole society but also to the specific lifestyles of consumer groups. Due to the importance of consumer lifestyle, the objectives of this study were i) to identify the profiles of lamb meat consumers according to their orientation toward convenience, as defined by their eating and cooking habits; ii) to characterize these profiles according to their socio-economic characteristics and their preferences regarding the intrinsic and extrinsic quality signals of lamb meat; and iii) to analyze the willingness to pay for lamb confit. In this study, four types of consumers have been differentiated according to their lifestyles related to lamb consumption. These groups, due to their characteristics, could be called "Gourmet", "Disinterested", "Conservative" and "Basic". The Gourmet group has characteristics that make it especially interesting to market a product such as lamb confit; however, this group is unaware of this product. Therefore, a possible strategy to expand the commercialization of light lamb and the confit product would be guided marketing to this niche market.

The Conus genus includes around 500 species of marine mollusks with a peculiar production of venomous peptides known as conotoxins (CTX). Each species is able to produce up to 200 different biological active peptides. Common structure of CTX is the low number of aminoacids stabilized by disulfide bridges and post-translational modifications that give rise to different isoforms. µ and µ-O CTX are two isoforms that specifically target voltage-gated sodium channels. These, by inducing the entrance of sodium ions in the cell, modulate the neuronal excitability by depolarizing plasma membrane and propagating the action potential. Hyperxcitability and mutations of sodium channels are responsible for perception and transmission of inflammatory and neuropathic pain states. In this review, we describe the current knowledge of µ-CTX interacting with the different sodium channels subtypes, the mechanism of action and their potential therapeutic use as analgesic compounds in the clinical management of pain conditions.

Background: Tourism is one of the prominent industry that has a capability to generate handsome income for developed as well as developing countries. However, the study to investigate specifically the perception of local residents towards tourism is still lacking. The perception of the locals is important since it could determine the extent of their support for tourism development. Plus, previous research found that male residents are more support better towards the tourism development. Thus, this factor is adapted as well in this study to examine whether this gender may influence to the tourism industry. 2) Methods: This study used Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) technique for determining the structural estimates between constructs. 3) Results: The respondents agree that positive perception, negative perception and tourism impact has a significant impact on support for tourism development in which has been recognized as Social Exchange Theory model. Moreover, the finding also revealed that gender has a potential to moderates the causal effect of tourism impact on tourism development. 4) Conclusion: The resident understand the tourism sector could strengthen economic nation but they also want the natural resources should be protected.

Background: Only few studies have studied the link between risk perception and sleep in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study investigates the effect of two distinct risk appraisals—risk perception and perception of collective coordinated defense (PCCD) on Chinese adults’ sleep quality during the COVID-19 pandemic, and tested COVID-19-related fear and rumination as potential mediators of the relationships. Methods: Data were collected using a self-report online questionnaire from a sample of 224 Chinese adults during the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong. Results: COVID-19 risk perception and PCCD were related to poor sleep quality. Mediation analysis showed that both fear and rumination mediated the relationship between risk perception and sleep quality, whereas only fear mediated the relationship between PCCD and sleep quality. The model showed an excellent fit to the data and accounted for 44% of the variance in sleep quality in Chinese adults. Conclusions: This study demonstrates the distinct perceptual processes—risk appraisals in particular—contributed to poor sleep quality in Chinese adults during the COVID-19 public emergencies. These findings would be helpful for policy makers to address the sleep problems induced by psychological consequences of the pandemic.

This article presents an innovative approach to the design of a safe adaptive backstepping control system. Tailored specifically for underactuated marine robots, the system utilizes simple sensors for enhanced practicality and efficiency. Given their operation in diverse oceanic environments fraught with various sources of uncertainties, ensuring the system's safe and robust behavior holds paramount importance in the control literature. To address this concern, this paper introduces a control strategy designed to ensure robustness at both the kinematic and dynamic levels. By emphasizing the compensation for the system uncertainties, the design integrates a straightforward fuzzy system structure. To further ensure the system's safety, a funnel surface is defined, followed by the design of a suitable nonlinear sliding surface as a function of the funnel and tracking error. Specifically leveraging the Lyapunov function, the study formally establishes the Semi-globally Practically Finite-time Stability of the closed-loop system, validated through simulations conducted on underactuated marine robots.

This study presents the substantiation, development, and analysis of a technique for planning the autonomous vehicle (AV) motion reference parameters. The trajectory plan, speed and acceleration distributions, including other AV's kinematic parameters, are determined using sequential optimization. The study objectives are based on an analysis of the fundamental problems of AV motion planning summarized in this area's latest publications. The proposed approach combines the basic principles of the finite element method (FEM) and nonlinear optimization with nonlinear constraints. First, the generalization on representing an investigated function by finite elements (FE) is briefly described. A one-dimension FE with two nodes and three degrees of freedom (DOF) in a node was chosen as the basic one, corresponding to the 5th-degree polynomial. Next, a method for determining the motion trajectory is presented. The following are considered: formation of a restricted space for the AV's allowable maneuvering, the geometry of motion trajectory and its relation with vehicle steerability parameters, cost functions and their influences on the desirable trajectory's nature, compliance of nonlinear restrictions of the node parameters with the motion area boundaries. At the second stage, a technique for optimizing AV speed and acceleration redistribution is presented. The model considers possible combinations of cost functions, conditions of limiting the kinematic parameters with the tire slip critical speed, maximum speed level, maximum longitudinal acceleration, and critical lateral acceleration. In the simulation section, several variants of trajectories were searched and compared. Several versions of distributing the longitudinal speed and acceleration curves are determined, and their comparative analysis is fulfilled. At the end of the paper, the advantages and drawbacks of the proposed technique are noted. The conclusion is made regarding the options for improving the method in further studies.

The motion of a circular elastic plate floating on the surface is investigated in the time–domain. The solution is found from the single frequency solutions and the method to solve for the circular plate is given using the eigenfunction matching method. Simple plane incident waves with a Gaussian profile in wavenumber space are considered and a more complex focused wave group is considered. Results are given for a range of plate and incident wave parameters are investigated. Code is provided to show how to simulate the complex motion.

The global energy crisis is a significant issue, particularly in developing countries like Ethiopia, where traditional fuels such as wood and charcoal are predominantly used to meet energy demands in urban and rural areas. Despite Ethiopia's substantial charcoal production, the use of inefficient charcoal cookstoves exacerbates fuel consumption, forest degradation, and environmental damage. To address this, various improved charcoal cookstoves (ICS) have been introduced in urban and semi-urban communities in Wereta Town, located in the Amhara Regional State of Ethiopia. This study aims to evaluate household perceptions and identify barriers to the adoption of ICS in the Wereta district. The assessment involved a survey of 308 households using a structured cross-sectional method and analyzed five types of improved cookstoves: clay stoves, insulated clay cylinder stoves, non-insulated rocket stoves, insulated rocket stoves, and non-insulated cylindrical stoves. The study employed various socio-economic variables and utilized both cross-tabulation frequency factors and linear regression statistical analysis through SPSS 20 to identify factors influencing the adoption of ICS. The linear regression results indicated that marital status, income level, family size, and age significantly impact ICS adoption (p-value < 0.05), while the place of cooking, educational level, household decision-making, and the role of societal stakeholders showed no significant impact. This suggests that ICS adoption is primarily influenced by household income levels and family size.

Dystonias, characterized by excessive muscle contractions resulting in involuntary postures and movements, impact 3 million people globally, making them the third most common movement disorder. Often accompanied by tremors, dystonias have epidemiological links and non-motor features shared with isolated tremor, such as essential tremor. Both dystonia and tremor present with balance dysfunction and abnormal involuntary movements, potentially linked to abnormal cerebellar function. This study explores the perception of one’s own linear movement, heading, particularly discrimination of heading direction, in isolated cervical dystonia, isolated tremor, and their combination. The focus is on the perception of heading direction during isolated visual star-cloud movement (visual heading perception) and en bloc body movement (vestibular heading perception). Nineteen participants underwent a two-alternative forced-choice task in the vestibular and visual domains. Results reveal elevated vestibular heading perception thresholds in cervical dystonia with or without tremor, and isolated tremor compared to healthy controls. Vestibular heading perception threshold was comparable in cervical dystonia with tremor and isolated tremor, but it was even worse in isolated cervical dystonia. Visual heading perception, however, remained less affected all three conditions – isolated cervical dystonia, isolated tremor, and their combination. These findings indicate shared deficits and distinctions in the perception of linear translational heading across movement disorders, such as isolated cervical dystonia, tremor, or their combination, offering insights into their pathophysiology, particularly the involvement of cerebellum regions responsible for vestibular processing.

Background: The COMT gene polymorphism is associated with neurological and psychiatric disorders and pain perception. This study aimed to determine the relationship between the COMT (catechol-O-methyltransferase) gene polymorphism, pain perception in parturients with inhaled nitrous oxide during labour, and anxiety as a personality trait. Methods: A total number of 181 woman who chose vaginal birth were enrolled in this study. To present the difference in pain perception, the parturients were divided into one group (n=80) that chose labour analgesia with inhaled nitrous oxide (50% nitrous oxide and 50% oxygen) and one group without analgesia. The blood samples were taken during the pregnancy as a part of routine pregnancy controls in the hospital. The COMT gene polymorphism was detected with the PCR technique. Pain perception of labouring women was self-evaluated two times according to the VAS (Visual Analogue Scale) and anxiety as a personality trait was determined with STAI-T (State Trait Anxiety Inventory). Pain perception as well as anxiety were compared according to COMT genotypes. Results: In the 181 pregnant women there were 40 women (22%) of wild homozygotes (GG) of COMT, 95 women (53%) of mutant heterozygotes (GA), and 46 women (25%) of mutant homozygote (AA). A negative association of pain perception with the GA (mutant heterozigote) polymorphism of the COMT gene versus the wild type (GG polymorphism) was observed. The GA polymorphism of the COMT gene was associated with 0.46 units lower pain perception compared to the wild type (GG). The anxiety trait score in group AA was lower than in groups GA and AA. The difference reached statistical significance only when comparing AA versus GA (P&gt;0.042). Analgesic efficacy of nitrous oxide was noticed in 22% of labouring women who reported moderate pain (VAS score 4-7). Conclusions: The COMT gene polymorphism was associated with pain perception and anxiety among labouring women. The COMT gene polymorphism GA was associated with negative pain perception among labouring women. Nitrous oxide showed statistical significance in anxiolytic efficacy during labour in women with mild anxiety as a personality trait. Anxiolytic efficacy of nitrous oxide has shown better efficacy in labouring women with the COMT gene polymorphism AA.

As sustainability gains significance within Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) worldwide, the University of British Columbia (UBC) stands as one of the global champions of sustainability. In 2019, Times Higher Education ranked UBC as number one in the world for taking urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts and ranked one in Canada for making cities inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable. Over the years, UBC students have been instrumental to sustainability on the UBC campus by advocating for divestment, climate justice, and other sustainability commitments and projects in the university. Hence, this qualitative study examines students’ engagement with or their perception of the university’s sustainability programs and image. The study found that students acknowledged and commended the university’s sustainability efforts in teaching, research, providing sustainability-related opportunities for students, and in sustainability operations. However, students also addressed hesitation on the part of university administration in championing climate justice and bolder climate action. The conclusion is that continued support and engagement with students are critical for UBC to achieve its climate action plans and sustainability goals in general. The study contributes to the ongoing discourse on the influential role of young people and the youth climate movement in catalyzing ambitious global climate action at all levels.

The ability to predict physical characteristics from DNA presents significant opportunities for forensic science. Giving scientists an ability to make predictions about the donor of genetic material at a crime scene can then give investigators new intelligence leads for cold cases where DNA evidence has not identified any person of interest. However, the interpretation of this new form of intelligence requires careful analysis. The responses to an online survey, conducted in 2018-19, were used to examine how actors in the criminal justice system assess and interpret different types of DNA evidence and intelligence. The groups of focus for the survey were investigators, legal practitioners and the general public (as potential jurors). Several statistically significant effects were identified based on occupation and whether an individual had prior exposure to new DNA technology. Monitoring how those involved in interpreting reports from different types of DNA evidence and intelligence interpret them helps to ensure that decisions are made based on a sound understanding of their capabilities and limitations and may inform broader training and awareness strategies.

This study employed a deductive research approach and a survey strategy to assess risk perception and its influencing factors among construction workers in Malawi. Three specific construction hazards and their associated risks were selected. The hazards were ‘working at height (WAH) ‘manual handling of loads (MHL)’ and ‘heavy workload or intense pressure to be more productive (HWP)’. The study engaged multistage sampling of 376 subjects. Univariate analysis, factor analysis and multiple linear regressions were performed in order to determine the main influencing factors among the independent variables. The study established that workers were aware of risks posed by their work. They perceived the risk associated with WAH, MHL and HWP as very high (62.7%, = 8.80 ± 1.95); (48.5%, = 8.10 ± 2.38); (57.9%, = 8.49 ± 2.22) respectively. The study identified six factors as variables that showed significant effect on workers’ perception of risk (p < 0.05). These factors were “dreaded factor”, “avoidability and controllability”, “expert knowledge”, “personal knowledge”, education level and age. It is concluded that contractors in the Malawian construction industry should integrate analysis of behaviors and risk perception of the workers and other players to guide the identification of better health and safety interventions at their worksites.

This paper propose an original approach of achieving a Cymatics based visual perception of image-extracted text. In this context, an effective approach for automated text detection and recognition for the natural scene images is proposed. The incoming image is firstly enhanced by employing CLAHE and DWT. Afterwards, the text regions of the enhanced image are detected by employing the MSER feature detector. The non-text MSERs are removed by employing the geometrical and contour based filters. The remaining MSERs are grouped into words or phrases by finding out similarities between them. The text recognition is performed by employing an OCR function. The extracted text is sequentially analysed on character by character basis. Each character is converted into a methodical acoustic excitation. Finally, these excitations are converted into the systematic visual perceptions by using the phenomenon of Cymatics. The system functionality is tested with an experimental setup. For the case of studied natural scenes, the suggested approach achieves 80% precision in text localization and 53% precision in end-to-end text recognition. The devised system principle is novel and can be employed in various applications like visual art, encryption, education, integration of impaired people, etc.

An accurate, economical, and reliable device for detecting falls in persons ambulating with the assistance of an orthopedic walker is crucially important for the elderly and patients with limited mobility. Existing wearable devices such as wristbands are not designed for walker users, and patients may not wear them at all times. This research proposes a novel idea of attaching an internet-of-things (IoT) device with an inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensor directly to an orthopedic walker to perform real-time fall detection as well as activity logging. A dataset is collected and labeled for walker users in four activities, including idle, motion, step, and fall. Classic machine learning algorithms are evaluated using the dataset by comparing their classification performance. Deep learning with convolutional neural network (CNN) is also explored. Furthermore, the hardware prototype is designed by integrating a low-power microcontroller for onboard machine learning, an IMU sensor, a rechargeable battery, and Bluetooth wireless connectivity. The research results show the promise of improved safety and well-being of walker users.

Intra Voxel Incoherent Motion (IVIM) imaging provides non-invasive perfusion measurements, eliminating the need for contrast agents. The aim of this work was to explore the feasibility of IVIM in whole brain perfusion studies, where isotropic 1mm voxel is widely accepted as a standard. This study treats on validity of time limited, precise, segmentation ready Whole Brain IVIM imaging protocol suitable for clinical reality. To assess the influence of SNR on the estimation of S0, f, D* and D IVIM parameters a series of measurements and simulations under MATLAB environment were performed for three estimation techniques, utilizing known “ground truth” and noised data. Scanner specific SNR was estimated based on healthy subject IVIM MRI study in 3T scanner. Measurements were conducted for 25,6x25,6x14,4 cm FOV with 256x256 in plane resolution and 72 slices resulting in 1x1x2 mm voxel size. Simulations were performed for 36 SNR levels around measured SNR value. Single voxel grid search estimation method mean relative error for S0 f D* D estimates at measured SNR level were: 5.00%,81.91%, 76.31%, 18.34% respectively. Analysis has shown that high resolution IVIM is possible, although there is significant variation in estimation accuracy and precision depending on SNR level and chosen estimation method.

Optical motion capture is a mature contemporary technique for the acquisition of motion data, alas it is non-error-free. Due to technical limitations and occlusions of markers, gaps might occur in such recordings. The article reviews various neural network architectures applied for gap filling problem in motion capture sequences within FBM framework providing the representation for body kinematic structure. The results are compared with interpolation and matrix completion methods. We found out, that for longer sequences simple linear feedforward neural networks can outperform the other, sophisticated architectures. We were also able to identify, that acceleration and monotonicity of input sequence are the parameters that have a notable impact on the obtained results.

In this paper, we study the Parisian time of a reflected Brownian motion with drift on a finite collection of rays. We derive the Laplace transform of the Parisian time using a recursive method, and provide an exact simulation algorithm to sample from the distribution of the Parisian time. The paper is motivated by the settlement delay in the real-time gross settlement (RTGS) system. Both the central bank and the participating banks in the system are concerned about the liquidity risk, and are interested in the first time that the duration of settlement delay exceeds a predefined limit, we reduce this problem to the calculation of the Parisian time. The Parisian time is also crucial in the pricing of Parisian type options; to this end, we will compare our results with the existing literature.

By using directed dimensional analysis and data fitting, an explicit universal scaling law for the velocity of dominoes toppling motion is formulated. The scaling law shows that domino propagational velocity is linearly proportional to the 1/2 power of domino separation and thickness, and -1/2 power of domino height and gravitation. The study also proved that dominoes width and mass have no influence on the domino wave traveling velocity. The scaling law obtained in this Letter is very useful to the dominoes game and will help the domino player to place the dominoes for fast speed and have a quick estimation on the speed without doing complicated multi-bodies dynamical simulation.

Optical motion capture systems are state-of-the-art in motion acquisition, however as any measurement systems they are not error free -- noise is their intrinsic feature. The works so far mostly employ simple noise model, expressing the uncertainty as a simple variance. In the work we prove the existence of several types of noise and demonstrate how to quantify them using Allan variance. For the automated readout of the noise coefficients we solve the multidimensional regression problem using sophisticated metaheuristics in exploration-exploitation scheme. Besides classic types of noise we identified the presence of the correlated noises and periodic distortion in our facility. We had also opportunity to observe the influence of camera failure to the overall performance.

An idea expressed in the paper [Entropy 2017, 19, 345] about the deductive formulation of a physical theory resting on explicitly- and universally-introduced basic concepts is developed. An entropic measure of time with a number of properties leading to an analog of the Galilei–Einstein relativity principle is considered. Using the introduced measure and a simple model, a kinematic law relating the size, time, and number of particles of a system is obtained. Corollaries of this law are examined. In particular, accelerated increase of the system size and, if the system size remains unchanged, decrease of the number of particles are found. An interesting corollary is the emergence of repulsive and attractive forces inversely proportional to the square of the system size for relatively dense systems and constant for sufficiently rarefied systems.

This paper investigates a distributed, coordinated motion control network based on multiple direct-drive, linear switched reluctance machines (LSRMs). A hierarchical, two-level synchronization control strategy is proposed for the four LSRMs based motion control network. The high-level, reference signals agreement algorithm is first employed to correct the asynchronous behaviors of the position commands. Then, the low-level tracking synchronization method is applied for the collaborative position control of the four LSRMs. The proposed two-level, fault-tolerant control strategy eliminates the asynchrony of the reference signals and it also guarantees the coordinated tracking control performance of the four LSRMs. Experimental results demonstrate that effective coordinated tracking control can be ensured, based on successful agreement of reference signals and an absolute tracking error falling within 2 mm can be achieved.

The doctoral defense is an important step towards obtaining the doctoral degree. As such, preparing for the event is necessary. Anecdotal evidence highlights that there is a wide variety of ways in which doctoral candidates prepare for the defense. In this work, I want to explore if there is a relation between the way in which a doctoral candidate prepares for the defense and two important aspects of the defense: the outcome of the defense, and the student perception during and after the defense. For this purpose, I first reviewed the literature on the topic of the preparation for the doctoral defense. Then, I carried out an international survey on the doctoral defense and analyzed the data of the 204 completed surveys with respect to the preparation for the defense using quantitative and qualitative methods. The methods I used included the statistical tests of the correlation between on one hand the preparation and on the other hand the defense outcome and student perception. I used inductive thematic analysis of the open-ended survey questions to gain deeper insight in the way candidates prepared for their defense. I found that candidates most often prepare by making their presentation, reading their thesis, and practicing. The most effective measure is the mock defense, followed by a preparatory course. Reading blogs, books, and chapters is a less effective preparation measure. The conclusion of this work is that doctoral candidates need to understand the format of their defense in order to be able to prepare properly, and that universities should explore either individual pathways to the defense or pilots using a mock defense and/or preparatory course to give their doctoral candidates the necessary tools to prepare for their doctoral defense.

Research has shown that emotional states may influence the subjective experience of time. The present study involved 111 healthy adult participants and examined the impact of emotional stimuli on time perception, using a time estimation task with four conditions: in one of the conditions, participants estimated the exposure time of a black screen, wherein the duration could vary be-tween 2 to 7 s (condition without emotional interference); in the other conditions, participants es-timated the exposure time (also ranging from 2 to 7 s) of images that would induce pleasant, un-pleasant, or neutral emotions, to which participants were instructed to focus their attention (pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral emotions). The results showed that participants estimated “shorter” time intervals (underestimation) for pleasant and unpleasant images compared to the condition without interference, but no significant differences were found between the neutral condition and the condition without interference. It is suggested that increased attention to an ex-ternal stimuli, regardless of its emotional valence, produces an underestimated perception of time.

Understanding how humans perceive animals is important for biodiversity conservation, however, only a few studies about this issue were carried out in South America. We selected two Brazilian cities to assess people’s perceptions of birds: Bauru (São Paulo, Brazil) and Belo Horizonte (Minas Gerais, Brazil). From the bird data we gathered, we developed a questionnaire and applied it between September 2020 and June 2021. The data obtained were analyzed by simple counts, Likert scale, and percentages. Also, open questions were placed on the Free Word Cloud Generator website. Our study confirmed that most respondents are aware of the importance of birds to ecological balance and that respondents had a generally positive attitude towards most of the bird species. However, they disliked exotic species such as the Domestic Dove and the House Sparrow, which are associated with disease, dirt, and disgust. Respondents also underestimated the number of birds that can live in urban areas and the song of birds is still a sense less explored and perceived by people. The concept of environmental perception seeks to cover aspects and understanding these human–biodiversity relationships is essential to successfully guide public policies, urban planning interventions, and environmental education activities.

Autonomous vehicles (AV)s will transform transport, but public opinion will play a key role in the decision how widely and quickly, they will be adopted. The purpose of the study presented here, was to investigate community’s views on the transition. As a method for primary data collection on public awareness, attitudes, and readiness to use autonomous cars, survey was conducted in Saudi Arabia. Following that, we have used statistical tools to analyse responses. Our findings indicate that the participants are mainly open to use new technology and had favourable attitude towards transition. Ordinal logistic regression model showed a wide variation in public opinion regarding the expected benefits that may accompany the transition, despite an average high score on this factor. Our findings reveal that awareness of AVs' benefits is more positively correlated to the age of participants. Perceived cost, on one side, and convenience, and safety, on the other side, have substantial impact on opinions. Investigation, presented here, shows how AVs are seen in Saudi Arabia. This can guide the development of AVs and deployment in that region.

In public health literature the risk of death or disease associated with a dietary, environmental of behavioral factor is most commonly denoted by odds ratio (OR), hazard ratio (HR) or risk ratio (RR). The ratio indices have several desirable statistical properties. However, the most important question is whether there are some evolved innate norms of perception of risk that people use and what they are. We conducted a simple one question survey of 98 individuals with different age, sex, educational and professional backgrounds. The respondents were asked to judge the relative perceived risk of four different hypothetical habits for which data on the percentage of people affected by the disease with and without the habit was given. They were asked to rank the risks for the four habits. Results showed that the habits that had the highest difference between probability of acquiring the disease were ranked high on risk perception. The probability ratios did not affect risk perception significantly. Further age, sex, profession or formal training in statistics did not affect the response significantly. Even individuals that were formally trained to use OR and HR as risk indicators, preferred using probability differences over ratios for judging their own risk in the perceived context. This preliminary inquiry into intuitive statistical perception suggests that designing statistical indices based on people’s innate perception may be a better strategy than trying to train people to understand the indices designed by expert statisticians.

This research hypothesised that the use of Virtual Reality (VR) applications can be used to train people in the ability to acquire targets faster, with greater accuracy when using motion controllers than compared with a traditional pointing device (mouse) on a 2D display. User performance was defined and measured using Reaction Time and Accuracy. The research findings suggests that the use of motion controllers in VR improved Reaction Time but not Accuracy when compared against the traditional pointing device and 2D display. This suggests that VR can be used specifically in training scenarios where Reaction Times are more important than Accuracy. It is recommended that further research is conducted using a wider range of hardware and software configurations with a stratified sample that takes into account age and gender to expand the collective understanding of factors that impact on VR aiming and target acquisition in VR.

Using graph theory, computer aided motion, static force and power flow analysis of planetary gear mechanism is realized. The motion, static force and efficiency calculations of 6HP26 automatic transmission are carried out. Based on kinematic and static force analysis model, related matrices are acquired. Hence, kinematic and static force analysis of planetary gear mechanism is achieved. The link power can be determined by the link speed and torque. Power flow diagrams of each gear are acquired. The efficiency is calculated by transmission ratio method.

When we discuss migration and compare national trends, the topic most commonly centers on undocumented immigrants and asylum seekers. However, there is also considerable variation in internal migration patterns, with differences found between and within nations. Many factors shape whether, why, and where people relocate. Over the last few decades, the world's two largest economies - the United States and China - have seen domestic migration changes happening in opposite directions. China has become increasingly mobile and experienced urbanization. In contrast, the U.S. has seen a steady decline in the rate at which its population relocates, with cities experiencing net migration losses as citizens leave for suburbs. This paper examines these trends using data from the last decade to compare the two nations in areas of internal migration, urbanization, housing, social mobility, and economic growth.

Drought is a long period of unusually low rainfall and can have serious effects on people's lives. It is caused by various factors such as climate change, deforestation, and the overuse of water re-sources. In the Somali region of Ethiopia, Kebri Dehar is the most at risk and most likely to have a drought. The lack of rainfall and high temperatures in Kebri Dehar have led to drought. Man-aging drought is the most challenging and complex problem. The purpose of this study is to as-sess household perception of drought hazards occurrence and adaptation. Additionally, the study aims to design a drought resilience mechanism matrix to mitigate its impact on the local commu-nity. This study used the Heckman two-stage model, which is useful in measuring drought per-ception as it accounts for potential selection bias and allows for the identification of factors that influence individuals' perceptions of drought. Gender, severity of drought, water shortage, tem-perature, drought frequency, and long dry season all have a positive effect on adaptation of resil-ience mechanisms to drought hazards, while food availability and rainfall have a negative effect. It is important for governments and individuals to act to mitigate the effects of the drought. Ef-forts to address the issue require a multi-participation approach that involves household, com-munity, and institutional level participation is needed for adopting drought resilience mecha-nisms.

Background: Studying anxiety, stress and the selection of coping strategies in the COVID-19 pandemic is necessary to minimize the adverse changes associated with the risk of infection and the consequences of the disease. Objective: To investigate the level of anxiety, stress perception and coping strategies in relation to the presence of illness. Material and Methods: The anonymous cross-sectional online survey was conducted among 3950 university students of northeastern Poland (1822), Lithuania (232) and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad (1896). Due to the almost identically applied anti-epidemic measures, the respondents were treated as a unified group. The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Perceived Stress Scale-10 and Coping Orientations to Problems Experienced questionnaires were used. Results: Among 1212 men and 2738 women, COVID-19 was diagnosed in 348 (28.7%) and 1020 (37.3%) individuals, respectively, according to the clinical protocol. The prolonged nature of the process and the longer consequences of the disease were indicated by an increase in anxiety levels. Conclusions: The risk of possible infection and coping with illness required the adoption of active anti-stress strategies, which was observed regardless of going through the disease. Convalescents differed from non-diseased individuals in having higher levels of concern about their own emotions and their more frequent turn to religion, notably among the females. The repertoire of strategies among women was broader, with elevated levels of helplessness and avoidance seen as integral strategies.

Introduction: Oral Nicotine Pouches (ONPs) are the new form of nicotine pouches that have become a type of emerging smokeless tobacco product sold by various tobacco companies. These smokeless tobacco products are being marketed for usage all over as Snus containing tobacco-derived nicotine (Natural) or as tobacco-free nicotine (Synthetic) as substitutes for other tobacco products that are limited in public places. ONPs have become popular tobacco products among adolescents/young adults and over 50% of young adult users of ONP use flavored ONP, such as menthol/mint, tobacco, dessert/candy, and fruity, being the most popular flavors. Various new ONP flavors are currently popular locally as well in the online market. Tobacco, Menthol, and fruit-flavored ONPs could motivate cigarette smokers to alteration to ONPs. Methods: We expanded our knowledge on natural/synthetic ONP flavors wheels to available data on ONPs, describing in detail their flavors and brands (US and Europe) in both natural/Synthetic ONP categories. We classified over 152 snus and 228 synthetic ONPs into the following flavor categories: “Tobacco”, “Menthol/Mint”, “Fruity”, “Candy/Deserts”, “Drink”, “Aroma”, “Spices” and “Mixed Flavors”. Results: Based on total numbers, wefound that the most popular ONPs flavor sold as tobacco and menthol to be among natural ONPs, among synthetic ONPs fruity and menthol as the most prominent flavors with varying concentrations of nicotine and other flavoring chemicals including coolant WS-23. We also illustrated possible molecular targets and toxicities due to exposure to ONPs activating several signaling cascades like AKT and NF-B might possibly lead to apoptosis and epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT). Conclusions: Considering the marketing of ONP products with various flavor profiles and most of these products containing tobacco/menthol/fruit flavor, it is likely to have regulation and marketing disclaimer on some of these products. Further, it would be logical to determine how the market reacts in terms of compliance and non-compliance with flavor restrictions by the regulatory agencies.

Tuberculosis (TB) associated stigma is well-documented phenomenon that may contribute to sub-optimal TB care in Pakistan. The objective of study was to assess TB related knowledge and perceived stigma among community members. This was cross-sectional survey using convenience sample of 183 individuals recruited between October and December 2017. A validated stigma measurement tool developed by Van Rie et al. was adapted. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 20.0. 183 individuals (73% males; n = 134) participated in survey. Eighty-seven percent were aware that TB is curable disease (n = 159) and 91% thought that it could be transmitted by coughing (n = 167). However, respondents also thought that TB was spread through contaminated food (73%; n = 134), sharing meals (55%; n = 100), sharing utensils (53%; n = 96) and by having sexual intercourse with a TB patient (51%; n = 93). Fifty-seven percent (n = 104) associated TB with high levels of stigma. Persons who had less than six years of education (crude OR = 1.2; 95% CI: 0.89, 1.72) and lacked knowledge that TB is curable (crude OR = 3.42; 95% CI: 1.20, 9.70) were more likely to associate TB with stigma. In addition, females (crude OR = 1.33; 95% CI: 0.87, 2.04) and those who were unemployed (crude OR = 1.06; 95% CI: 0.65, 1.74) were also more likely to associate TB with stigma. We found an association between lack of knowledge about TB and perceived stigma. This highlights need for improved education and awareness about TB.

Background: In PE, the methodology used to develop coeducation must consider the tastes and preferences of students. The purpose of this work was to analyze how teachers work with different aspects of PE classes and how their work is perceived by students. Methods: The sample was formed by 176 teachers and 1,136 secondary school students. The research design was descriptive. The Questionnaire of Coeducational Aspects in Physical Education for teachers and the Questionnaire of Perception of Equality and Discrimination in Physical Education for Students. Results: The different statistical analyses showed significant differences in how male and female teachers assigned responsibility to the students and their control of motor activity space. In regards to the students, significant differences were found between boys and girls in their opinions of how their teachers apply the same rules to all the students. Conclusions: No differences exist between male and female teachers in regards to their utilization neither of materials and sexist language or in their evaluation and feedback given to the students. In regards to the students, girls perceive to a greater extent than their male counterparts that the activities in PE classes promote equality in the improvement of their capacities.

There are many modern and traditional methods in valuing the performance of the company among them EVA, CVA are modern methods where as EPS, ROI, ROE etc. are some of the traditional methods. modern and traditional methods are not only used to check the performance of a company but it also used in investment decisions by the investors. Stern Stewart, managing partner of M/s Stern Stewart & Co. introduced a modified concept of economic profit in 1990 in the name of Economic Value Added (EVA) as measure of business performance and CVA is only a cash consideration in EVA. In this paper an attempt is made to study which method is used by the investors while taking the investment decisions i.e. traditional methods are modern methods. 100 respondents (Investors) are questioned and collected their views, we are assuming that there is no impact of traditional or modern methods while taking investment decisions by the investors.

An analysis of the processes of plastic deformation and acoustic relaxation in a high-entropy alloy Al0.5CoCrCuFeNi was carried out. The following have been established: dominant dislocation defects; types of barriers that prevent the movement of dislocations; mechanisms of thermally activated movement of various elements of dislocation lines through barriers at room and low temperatures. Based on modern dislocation theory, quantitative estimates have been obtained for the most important characteristics of dislocations and their interaction with barriers.

Earthquake-triggered landslides are one of the most significant hazards worldwide. These landslides, involving small or large volumes, can develop in debris flow or avalanche with high mobility and long-runout distance. The motion processes of this kind of landslide also quite complicated. This study reproduced the motion processes of two landslides using the LS-RAPID program. The Aso Bridge landslide occurred on April 16, 2016, with rapid and long-runout distance characteristics. The Kataragai landslide occurred on April 9, 2018, travelling with flow-like behavior. Through field investigations and laboratory experiments, features and mechanical parameters of these two landslides were obtained. In the LS-RAPID program, the pre-failure models and motion processes of these two landslides were established and reproduced. Results indicated that sliding speed and travelling morphology at different intervals were considered as two indicators to describe their motion process. However, while sliding speed of these two landslides have significant differences with sliding speeds of actual landslides, the final morphologies after failure were consistent with those observed in the field investigation.

The current letter complements my info-geometric discoveries, especially those provided from two papers of mine. Fundamentally, the statistical relativization of the Generalized Brownian Motion Manifold. Following this innovative and unprecedented track of research will open a plethora of numerous info-geometric investigations to many unexplored related phenomena in the hope to uncover more new interpretations for the Generalized Brownian Motion Manifold from an info-geometric perspective.

The discovery of solitonlike coherent structure (SCS) in boundary layer flows is crucial for understanding turbulence origins and in particular for laminar-turbulence transition. However, the task of finding solutions for solitonlike coherent structure from the Navier-Stokes equations poses a significant challenge. In this paper, based on the author's previous work [B.H. Sun, Exact similarity solutions of unsteady laminar boundary layer flows, Preprints 2023, 2023092117], we are able to study convergent flow boundary layers, whose solution encompasses both shock wave and solitary wave solutions, and their superposition gives rise to solitary-like waves, namely solitonlike coherent structure. It is found that the solitonlike coherent structure can only be obtained by combining the Navier-Stokes equations and mass conservation, since the combined equations will have the third order derivatives respect to coordinate $x$, in other words, without the mass conservation condition, the Navier-Stokes equations does not contain solitonlike coherent structure by itself. Finally proved solitonlike coherent structure is a universal motion form of viscous fluid.

Human motion analysis using inertial measurement units (IMUs) has recently been shown to provide accuracy similar to the gold standard, marker-based optical motion capture, but at much lower costs and while being less restrictive and time-consuming. However, IMU-based motion analysis requires precise knowledge of the orientation in which the sensor is attached to the body segments. This knowledge is commonly obtained via an anatomical calibration procedure based on precisely defined poses or motions, which is time-consuming and error-prone. In the present work, we propose a self-calibrating approach for magnetometer-free joint angle tracking that is suitable for joints with two degrees of freedom (DoF), such as the elbow, ankle, and metacarpophalangeal finger joints. The proposed methods exploit kinematic constraints to simultaneously identify the joint axes and the heading offset. The experimental evaluation shows that the proposed methods are able to estimate plausible and consistent joint axes from just ten seconds of arbitrary elbow joint motion. Comparison with optical motion capture shows that the proposed methods yield joint angles with similar accuracy as a conventional IMU-based method while being much less restrictive. Therefore, the proposed methods improve the practical usability of IMU-based motion tracking in many clinical and biomedical applications.

The power-generation capacity of grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) power systems is increasing. As output power forecasting is required by electricity market participants and utility operators for the stable operation of power systems, several methods have been proposed using physical and statistical approaches for various time ranges. A short-term (30 min ahead) forecasting method has been previously proposed by our laboratory for geographically distributed PV systems using motion estimation. This study focuses on an important parameter for estimating the proposed motion and optimizing the parameter. This parameter is important because it is associated with the smoothness of the vector field, which is the result of motion estimation and influences the forecasting accuracy. In the periods with drastic power output changes, the evaluation was conducted on 101 PV systems located within a circle of 15-km radius in the Kanto region of Japan. The results indicate that the absolute mean error of the proposed method with the optimized parameter is 10.3%, whereas that of the persistent prediction method is 23.7%. Therefore, the proposed method is effective in forecasting for periods when PV output changes drastically in a short time.

In time, osteoarthritis (OA) generates the misalignment of the affected joint structures. However, due to the nature of bipedal gait, OA in the lower limb can also cause pathological gait patterns, which can generate instability and falls, with great consequence, especially in the aged population. With goniometry used to evaluate the range of motion of joints (ROM), we wanted to evaluate how gender impacts gait dynamics in OA patients. For this study we have compared 106 OA patients (male=32, female=74) to age matched controls. All participants had their right leg as dominant. Video recording of normal gait was analysed with a digital goniometry tool phone application, and the knee’s ROM was measured in midstance and midswing of the gait. During midstance, significant extension and flexion of the knee excursion have been observed in both males and females. During midswing, knee OA presents more differences, whereas subjects with hip and knee OA present changes on the dominant knee. Midstance changes suggest that the knee’s joint degenerative changes can be linked to hip OA secondary changes. Midswing changes in lower limb OA suggest a connection to the activities of daily life. Gender differences generated by OA must furthermore be studied in both lower limbs so that the best therapeutic approach can be chosen.

A two-link model of exoskeleton with variable-length links for supporting the lower limbs of the human musculoskeletal system is proposed in the article. The researched model differs from the existing ones by the variable-length links, and by the angle calculation method. While in the existing models, the angles are calculated from the regular direction – from vertical, or from horizontal, - in the proposed research they are calculated between the links. As for practical exoskeleton implementation, the proposed method of angle calculation is appropriate to the actual working conditions of the electrical motors with the reduction gears installed in the hinges, which change the angles between the links. The mathematical model in the form of the system of Lagrange differential equations of the second kind is obtained. The obtained mathematical model is examined for existence and uniqueness of the Cauchy solution. The kinematic trajectory of the link motion has been synthesized. The controlling actions required for its implementation have been found.

Wearable sensors for human physiological monitoring have attracted tremendous interest from researchers in recent years. However, most of the research was only done in simple trials without any significant analytical algorithms. This study provides a way of recognizing human motion by combining textile stretch sensors based on single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and spandex fabric (PET/SP) and machine learning algorithms in a realistic applications. In the study, the performance of the system will be evaluated by identification rate and accuracy of the motion standardized. This research aims to provide a realistic motion sensing wearable products without unnecessary heavy and uncomfortable electronic devices.

UAV photogrammetry development during the last decade has allowed to catch information at a very high spatial and temporal resolution from terrains with very difficult or impossible human access. This paper deals with the application of these techniques to study and produce information of very extreme topography which is useful to plan works on this terrain or monitoring it over the time to study its evolution. The methodology stars with the execution of UAV flights on the cut slope studied, one with the cam vertically oriented and other at 45º respect that orientation. Ground control points (GCPs) and check points (CPs) were measured for georeference and accuracy measurement purposes. Orthophoto was obtained projecting on a fitted plane to a studied surface. Moreover, since a digital surface model (DSM) is not able to represent faithfully that extreme morphology, information to project works or monitoring it has been derived from the point cloud generated during the photogrammetric process. An informatics program was developed to generate contour lines and cross sections derived from the point cloud, which was able to represent all terrain geometric characteristics, like several Z coordinates for a given planimetric (X, Y) point. Results yield a root mean square error (RMSE) in X, Y and Z directions of 0.053 m, 0.070 m and 0.061 m respectively. Furthermore, comparison between contour lines and cross sections generated from point cloud with the developed program on one hand and those generated from DSM on other hand, shown that the former are capable of representing terrain geometric characteristics that the latter cannot. The methodology proposed in this work has been shown as an adequate alternative to generate manageable information, as orthophoto, contour lines and cross sections, useful for the elaboration, for example, of projects for repairing or maintenance works of cut slopes with extreme topography.