Actual Readings Research Articles

Enhanced Kalman filter algorithm using fuzzy inference for improving position estimation in indoor navigation

In recent few years, the widespread applications of indoor navigation have compelled the research community to propose novel solutions for detecting objects position in the Indoor environment. Various approaches have been proposed and implemented concerning the indoor positioning systems. This study propose an fuzzy inference based Kalman filter to improve the position estimation in indoor navigation. The presented system is based on FIS based Kalman filter aiming at predicting the actual sensor readings from the available noisy sensor measurements. The proposed approach has two main components, i.e., multi sensor fusion algorithm for positioning estimation and FIS based Kalman filter algorithm. The position estimation module is used to determine the object location in an indoor environment in an accurate way. Similarly, the FIS based Kalman filter is used to control and tune the Kalman filter by considering the previous output as a feedback. The Kalman filter predicts the actual sensor readings from the available noisy readings. To evaluate the proposed approach, the next-generation inertial measurement unit is used to acquire a three-axis gyroscope and accelerometer sensory data. Lastly, the proposed approach’s performance has been investigated considering the MAD, RMSE, and MSE metrics. The obtained results illustrate that the FIS based Kalman filter improve the prediction accuracy against the traditional Kalman filter approach.

Study of Parameters Affecting Temperature of Journal Bearing and Shaft in Sugar Mill

In the sugar mill machine, equipment is operated under high temperature. This high temperature will affect to the roller shaft and journal bearing. Additionally, the equipment damages could be caused by the various factors that affected directly to roller shaft and journal bearing. In this research, the operations of equipments were modelled using the finite element analysis program (FEA), to determine the maximum temperature of the roller shaft and journal bearing after a specified period of time. An experiment with the physical roller shaft and journal bearing was carried out to obtain the actual temperature readings. Verification of the simulated results was performed by comparing the simulated values with the actual values obtained in the experiment. According to this research, the monitored parameters affected temperature and damages of the shaft and bearings during pressing oil from the hydraulic top cap. Finally, this research applied the FEA in conjunction with engineering and environmental management in sugar factory to reduces machine damange and to save energy during sugar mill operation.

Lack of reassurance after unexpected positive health risk feedback – an analysis of temporal dynamics

ABSTRACT Introduction How do people receive unexpected positive health risk information? While common motivational accounts predict acceptance, consistency accounts such as the cue-adaptive reasoning account (CARA) predict a ‘lack of reassurance’. Objectives We therefore tested (1) whether people prefer striving for positivity or retaining a sense of self-consistency (‘lack of reassurance’), and (2) if there are systematic differences in short- and long-term reception, which would indicate temporal dynamics in processing. Methods As part of a longitudinal cohort study, participants of a community health screening (N = 1,055) received their actual cholesterol readings. Feedback reception was assessed immediately, at one month and six months. Results Processing trajectories for unexpected positive feedback showed a significant ‘lack of reassurance’ effect over time compared with expected positive feedback, while unexpected negative feedback was less threatening than expected negative feedback. Conclusions The perseverance of this ‘lack of reassurance’ over time indicates that striving for consistency in self-views is a robust phenomenon, even if it means forfeiting a better view of one’s own health.

INFLUENCE OF GENDER AND RELIGION ON THE EXAMINATION STRESS OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN SOUTH WESTERN NIGERIA

Background: Stress can raise the blood pressure of a subject and a number of environmental factors can change that level of the stress, especially the examination stress. These factors which include gender and religion are referred to as modifiers of stress.
 Objective: This study was therefore designed, using data of blood pressure, to understand the influence of religion and gender on the effect of examination stress on blood pressure of the secondary school students in South Western (SW) Nigeria.
 Methodology: The population of the study comprises all the students of Oroke Grammar School, Akungba Akoko (650) out of which a sample of 351 that satisfied our criteria was selected, using purposive sampling technique. Digital sphygmomanometer was used to measure the actual blood pressure readings of the respondents twice on each occasion and with at least thirty minutes interval in sitting positions. The measurements were carried out three times during the study, two weeks after resumption for the second term of the 2017/2018 academic year, two weeks before the second term examination and two weeks after resumption for the third term.
 Results: In this work, a rule of thumb was used to connect the perceived stress (PS) and the % change in the systolic blood pressure (SBP) when a subject is stressed, as PS=100/(% change in SBP). The results show that the group of female students in the general population always feels more stressed than their male counterpart, and respectively in the Islam religion and in the Christian religion always feels more stressed than their respective male counterparts. Also the groups of male and the female students in the Islam religion always feel more stressed than their groups of male and female students in the Christian religion
 Conclusion: Gender and religion were found to affect the level of perceived stress of the students. It was recommended that male students should be encouraged to go for regular blood pressure checkups as they are more likely not to feel stressed even when their blood pressure has increased much above the normal. This is one of the measurements the health personnel should do whenever a male student in particular is in the health centre. Because the number of Christian students in this work is much larger than the number of Muslim students, more research is needed with comparable number of students in each religious group to further understand how religious practices play a role in perceived stress of college students. Future research should include more variables that influence coping methods and parental influence and guidance.
 

AUTOMATED SYSTEMS FOR READINGS TRANSMISSION FROM ENERGY CARRIER MEASURING INSTRUMENTS. PART 2

Energy carrier metering instruments are installed and operate at various operating conditions. Readout from measuring instruments that are installed in hard-to-reach places or places with limited access is difficult (visually) in the traditional way, and sometimes impossible. This process requires significant effort for the maintenance personnel.At the same time, the priority task is the timely and error-free taking of actual readings from all metering instruments. Remote readings and their subsequent transmission are the solution to this problem.Modern systems for transmitting readings from metering instruments are devoid of such problems as untimely and incorrect data submission due to the remote access to the meter.The characteristic features of the wireless network technologies use for the creation of automated systems for transmitting readings of energy carrier metering devices are: complete reject (if possible) or a decrease in the cable communication lines number to the system elements (sensors, measuring instruments, controllers, devices, etc.); speed and ease of network deployment; significant time and financial costs reduction at the stages of design, deployment and operation of the network.The article discusses wireless technologies that have become widespread for the automated systems creation for transmitting readings of energy carrier metering instruments, as well as their technical characteristics and application features. Systems organization schemes examples are given.The results of the study showed that modern technologies, as well as the use of standardized information exchange protocols, provide the ability to install metering instruments from different manufacturers in the same network; have no restrictions on the connected instruments number; provide transmitted data reliable protection.Further work will be aimed at studying the features of creating combined automated systems for energy carrier metering instruments transmitting readings.

A Novel AEB-AODV Based AADITHYA Cross Layer Design Hibernation Algorithm for Energy Optimization in WSN

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) has gained significant importance in current scenario because of its ability to monitor as well as understand the physical environment in terms of different parameters like temperature, humidity, pressure etc. There is a plethora of applications in WSN is finding importance ranking from military tracking, surveillance to environmental exploration and wildlife monitoring. The main challenge in WSN is energy efficiency especially when the capacity of battery and availability of energy source is a constraint. To address some of key WSN challenges, a novel routing protocol, a hibernation algorithm (cross layer design) along with the low power hardware design for achieving energy efficiency are proposed here.Because of the fact that WSN has requirement to adapt itself according to the needs of the dynamically changing environment, the quantity of sensor nodes which are part of routing tree cannot be the same and need to adapt itself so that it can precisely observe and forecast the physical surroundings. Initially the routing protocols being used popularly for WSN network layer i.e. AODV, AOMDV, and DSR are compared. The next stage is a proposal for adaptive model for AODV routing protocol for sensor node selection based on residual energy (AEB-AODV) towards improving the efficiency of energy and Quality of Service depending on the mentioned targets of performance. Here, the scheme utilizes fewer sensor nodes at a time along the route to the destination from the source of the event, and place remaining sensor nodes’ transceivers in the sleep mode but microcontroller, sensors and low power transceivers of the nodes are ON. The last module is a combined model capable of achieving improvements in efficiency of energy–adaptive routing model (AEB-AODV) and Hibernation of the sensor nodesi.e. AADITHYA algorithm, which reduces energy consumption, duty cycle to great extent and improved the latency, implemented with low power ARM CORTEX microcontroller and two sets of transceivers, one active power (AP) for data transmission and another very low power (LP) for sending wake up signals and control signals to the hibernating neighbors. Simulation results of AEB-AODV routing protocol and actual test readings of the developed hardware have shown that this method is effective in optimizing the energy usage in the nodes and hence improves the life expectancy of the WSN used for any general application.

Evaluation of the Accuracy of Horse Body Weight Estimation Methods.

Simple SummaryHorse body weight estimation and monitoring of the weight variations are necessary to determine the amount of feed and feed additives for the proper functioning of the animal. Due to the cost and practical challenge of weighing horses on a large scale, several alternative methods for estimating the body weight of horses have been developed. One of them is to determine a horse’s body weight using a formula. The aim of the study was to evaluate established formulae for estimating horse body weight from data gathered using measurement tape. The investigation was conducted on a group of 299 adult horses of five breeds: ponies, Polish Noble Half Breed, Silesian Breed, Wielkopolski Breed and Thoroughbred. For each horse, body measurements were performed and the actual body weight of the horses was measured with an electronic scales. The horse’s body weight measurements were compared with the result of seven different formulae. It was found that the use of formulae for body weight estimation can be useful in determining feed dosages and additives, medicines, or deworming agents.Methods of estimating horse body weight using mathematical formulae have better accuracy than methods of reading body weight from measuring tape. The aim of the study was to evaluate established formulae for estimating horse body weight from data gathered using measurement tape. The research was conducted in a group of 299 adult horses and ponies of selected breeds: ponies (n = 58), Polish Noble Half Breed (n = 150), Silesian Breed (n = 23), Wielkopolski Breed (n = 52), and Thoroughbred (n = 16). Body measurements were performed on each horse using a measuring stick and tape. The actual body weight of the horses was measured with electronic scale. Statistical analysis was carried out separately for individual breeds of horses. In each of the research groups formulae were selected, the results of which were closest to the actual horse body weight readings. The use of formulae for body weight estimation can be useful in determining feed dosages and additives, medicines or deworming agents. Regular weight measurement is important for maintaining a healthy horse.

Determining real-time mass deposition with a quartz crystal microbalance in an electrostatic, parallel-flow, air-liquid interface exposure system

In vitro studies are the first step toward understanding the biological effects of particulate matter. As a more realistic exposure strategy than submerged culture approaches, air-liquid interface (ALI) in vitro exposure systems are gaining interest. One challenge with ALI systems is determining accurate particle mass deposition. Although a few commercially available ALI systems are equipped with online mass deposition monitoring, most studies use indirect methods to estimate mass doses. These different indirect methods may contribute to inconsistencies in the results from in vitro studies of aerosolized nanoparticles. This study explored the effectiveness of using a commercially available Quartz Crystal Microbalance (QCM) to estimate the real-time, particle-mass deposition inside an electrostatic, parallel-flow, ALI system. The QCM system required minor modifications, including custom-designed and fabricated headers. Three QCM systems were simultaneously placed in three of the six wells in the ALI exposure chamber to evaluate the uniformity of particle deposition. The measurements from fluorescein dosimetry and QCM revealed an uneven deposition between these six wells. The performance of the QCM system was also evaluated using two different methods. First, using fluorescein deposition in one well, depositions in three other wells were estimated, which was then compared to the actual QCM readings. Second, using the QCM measured deposition in one well, the deposition in three other wells was estimated and compared to deposition measured by fluorescein dosimetry. For both methods, the expected and actual deposition yields a linear fit with the slope ~1. This good fit suggests that QCM systems can be used to measure real-time mass deposition in an electrostatic ALI system.

In-store customer traffic and path monitoring in small-scale supermarket using UWB-based localization and SSD-based detection

Nowadays, retailers are embracing the Internet of Things as the latest technology to drive superior customer experience. Leverage data sources from sensors, beacons and mobile devices to identify and analyze in-store customer shopping behavior. With this motivation, this study implemented an in-store customer traffic and path monitoring system for supermarket using image processing and object detection. the system utilized the ultra-wideband indoor positioning technique to monitor the customer shopping path and the single shot multibox detection technique to monitor the real-time customer traffic. The customer monitoring system was implemented and evaluated in an actual small-scale supermarket. Results showed that the detection model prediction score and the traffic counting both obtained an accuracy score of 99%. In addition, the localization system achieved the minimum error difference of 9.73% for x coordinate and 3.86% for y coordinate between pre-determined positions and the actual anchor position readings. Furthermore, the system successfully generated the most frequent path and the total customer traffic of the day. In the future, this work can aid retail owners make better choices, run businesses more efficiently, and deliver improved customer service.

Effect of Examination Stress on the Blood Pressure of Secondary School Students in Oroke High School Akungba-Akoko, Ondo State, South Western Nigeria

Background: Examination stress is caused by various stressors: the fear of inadequate preparation for the exam and fear of failing it, the need to pass very well in the exam to satisfy the parental and guardian expectation and the extra effort made to work harder, burning the midnight oil over the preparation for the examination. The aim of this study is to use the data of blood pressure to find out the effect of examination stress on the various Nigerian secondary school classes.
 Method: Quasi experimental research design was used for this study, A sample of (650) respondents was selected using stratified sampling technique. Digital sphygmomanometer was used to measure the actual blood pressure readings of the respondents. The readings were taken twice on each occasion with at least thirty minutes interval in sitting positions. The measurements were carried out three times during the study, two weeks after resumption for the second term of 2017/2018 academic year, two weeks before the second term examination and four weeks after the terminal examination.
 Results: The results show that the mean systolic blood pressure two weeks before the start of the examination is generally higher for all the classes than their values at the beginning of the term and their values at four weeks after the examination. Since blood pressure increases with stress .
 Conclusion: examination stress increases towards the start of examination and reduces after it, males and females differ in their experience of stress imposed by academic examination, and blood pressure increases with stress.

Loving mother vs. controlling mother: visual attitude and reading positions in the short film Bao

ABSTRACT The article explores the applicability of the system of attitude and reading positions to filmic discourse analysis. The case study focuses on the short film Bao. Analysis demonstrates how visual attitude, together with focalisation and music, is used to direct the viewer to align with the mother character. Such a naturalised reading is then embraced, challenged, or rejected by actual viewers whose reviews of Bao on IMDb and Douban are investigated. While compliant reading accepts the intended message of maternal love, tactical reading tends to question the film’s use of the eating metaphor and the depiction of Chinese characters with small eyes, and resistant reading interprets the film as revealing problems of Chinese parenting such as controlling mothers and irresponsible fathers. Factors contributing to the tactical and resistant readings are explored in relation to contemporary discussions and concerns in the receiving community. The study calls for attention to the discrepancy between the naturalised reading as is intended by the discourse producer and the actual readings that are influenced by the socio-cultural context.

Calibration of mechanical systems of in-house dynamic thorax phantom for radiotherapy dosimetry

The purpose of this study is to calibration a mechanical system of In-house Dynamic Thorax Phantom so that it can be used as a dosimetry on the Radiotherapy Real-Time Position Management (RPM) technique. In order to ensure the RPM technique had properly function, we need to employ a quality control tool that represents moving objects on the human body. Inspired by the CIRS Dynamic Thorax Phantom model 008A, we developed an In-house Dynamic Thorax Phantom using three Nema-17 stepper motors with 200 steps in a cycle as a mechanical system. In addition, the first stepper motor was used to move objects in superior-inferior direction; the second one was used to move the RPM marker in anterior-posterior direction; while the third one was used to move objects in rotation. Calibration of mechanical system was performed by finding out the number of counts needed each direction. Especially for rotational system, they were calibrated with Optical Interrupt Device. The result of calibration of the mechanical system between the actual readings compared with the system specification is 0.0% and < 1% for the measurement testing.

ECoR: Energy-Aware Collaborative Routing for Task Offload in Sustainable UAV Swarms

In this article, we propose an Energy-aware Collaborative Routing (ECoR) scheme for optimally handling task offloading between source and destination UAVs in a grid-locked UAV swarm. We divide the proposed scheme into two parts – routing path discovery and routing path selection. The scheme selects the most optimal path between a source and destination from a massive set of all possible paths, based on the maximization of residual energy of UAVs along a selected path. This routing path selection ensures balanced energy utilization between members of the UAV swarm and enhances the overall path lifetime without incurring additional delays in doing so. Actual readings from our small-scale UAV swarm testbed are utilized to emulate a large-scale scenario and analyze the behavior of our proposed scheme. Upon comparison of the ECoR scheme with broadcast-based routing and the shortest path based routing, we observe better sustainability regarding the longevity of the UAV lifetimes in the swarm, optimized individual UAV, as well as reduced collective path-based energy consumption, all the while having comparable transmission delays to the shortest path based scheme.

Solar Radiation, Air Temperature, Relative Humidity, and Dew Point Study: Damak, Jhapa, Nepal

Monitoring and prediction of the climatic phenomenon are of keen interest in recent years because it has great influence in the lives of people and their environments. This paper is aimed at reporting the variation of daily and monthly solar radiation, air temperature, relative humidity (RH), and dew point over the year of 2013 based on the data obtained from the weather station situated in Damak, Nepal. The result shows that on a clear day, the variation of solar radiation and RH follows the Gaussian function in which the first one has an upward trend and the second one has a downward trend. However, the change in air temperature satisfies the sine function. The dew point temperature shows somewhat complex behavior. Monthly variation of solar radiation, air temperature, and dew point shows a similar pattern, lower at winter and higher in summer. Maximum solar radiation (331 Wm-2) was observed in May and minimum (170 Wm-2) in December. Air temperature and dew point had the highest value from June to September nearly at 29°C and 25°C, respectively. The lowest value of the relative humidity (55.4%) in April indicates the driest month of the year. Dew point was also calculated from the actual readings of air temperature and relative humidity using the online calculator, and the calculated value showed the exact linear relationship with the observed value. The diurnal and nocturnal temperature of each month showed that temperature difference was relatively lower (less than 10°C) at summer rather than in winter.

Assessment of Portable Chlorophyll Meters for Measuring Crop Leaf Chlorophyll Concentration

Accurate measurement of leaf chlorophyll concentration (LChl) in the field using a portable chlorophyll meter (PCM) is crucial to support methodology development for mapping the spatiotemporal variability of crop nitrogen status using remote sensing. Several PCMs have been developed to measure LChl instantaneously and non-destructively in the field, however, their readings are relative quantities that need to be converted into actual LChl values using conversion functions. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between actual LChl and PCM readings obtained by three PCMs: SPAD-502, CCM-200, and Dualex-4. Field experiments were conducted in 2016 on four crops: corn (Zea mays L.), soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.), spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), and canola (Brassica napus L.), at the Central Experimental Farm of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. To evaluate the impact of other factors (leaf internal structure, leaf pigments other than chlorophyll, and the heterogeneity of LChl distribution) on the conversion function, a global sensitivity analysis was conducted using the PROSPECT-D model to simulate PCM readings under different conditions. Results showed that Dualex-4 had a better performance for actual LChl measurement than SPAD-502 and CCM-200, using a general conversion function for all four crops tested. For SPAD-502 and CCM-200, the error in the readings increases with increasing LChl. The sensitivity analysis reveals that deviations from the calibration functions are more induced by non-uniform LChl distribution than leaf architectures. The readings of Dualex-4 can have a better ability to restrict these influences than those of the other two PCMs.

The effects of gel-based manicure on pulse oximetry.

Pulse oximetry is the standard monitoring technique of functional oxygen saturation (SpO2). As the use of fingernail polish has been described to alter SpO2 readings, its removal is commonly recommended prior to measurement. Gel-based manicures have gained popularity in recent years due to their attractiveness and longevity. However, the removal of gel nail polish requires a specialised procedure. Valuable time and resources can be saved if removal can be avoided. To our knowledge, there are no available studies on the effect of gel-based manicures on pulse oximetry readings. Hence, we evaluated the effect with two oximeters, using different technology and wavelength combinations. 17 healthy female adult volunteers were recruited for this single-blind randomised controlled trial. Subjects with hypothermia, hypotension, poor plethysmographic waveform and nail pathology were excluded. Colours tested were: black, purple, navy blue, green, light blue, white, yellow, orange, pink and red. Pulse oximetry was measured at 15- and 30-second intervals using two different pulse oximeters, the Philips M1191BL and Masimo SET®. Means were compared using paired t-tests. Using the Masimo oximeter, light blue (ΔM = 0.97% ± 0.96%; p = 0.001) and orange (ΔM = 0.76 ± 1.17%; p = 0.016) gel nail polish resulted in a statistically significant increase from baseline SpO2 readings. With the Philips oximeter, the limits of agreement ranged from 2% for pink to 17% for black, indicating imprecision. Gel-based manicures can result in overestimations of actual readings, delaying detection of hypoxaemia. Gel nail polish should be routinely removed or an alternative monitoring technique sought.

Two-layer reading positions in comments on online news discourse about China

Reading experience is viewed as ‘interactive and negotiable’ for different reading positions are created in readers’ responses to the same news report. To understand the differences between ‘ preferred reading’ and actual readings, this article, drawing on the context models and the Appraisal framework, analyzes 785 readers’ comments attached to 23 hard news stories sourced from the China Daily mobile application (APP) and the People’s Daily Online website. The study combines corpus semantic tagging analysis for readers’ choices of evaluative lexis with a manual analysis of Appraisal resources for reading position construction based on a whole text perspective. The results show that readers are likely to use Appraisal resources strategically to defend their own opinions against other commenters or affiliate with large numbers of potential readers without commenting. Furthermore, comments were found to be directed either at the text or at other commenters, and through this a number of different reading positions were revealed. The readers’ context models are the cognitive link between discourse properties and social strategies in the process of news understanding.

An advanced virtual grading method for wood based on surface information of knots

Strength grading of timber boards is an important step before boards can be used as lamellas in glued laminated timber. Grading is generally done visually or by machine, whereby machine grading is the faster and more accurate process. Machine grading gives the best strength prediction when dynamic modulus of elasticity (MoEdyn) is measured and some kind of knot assessment algorithm is included as well. As access to the actual density for the measurement of MoEdyn may be impossible in some conditions, this grading method may face some problems in strength prediction. As the strength of a board is related to its natural defects and the ability of the stress waves to propagate around these defects, a virtual method for more accurate strength predictions is developed based on the knot information on the surface. Full 3D reconstruction of the boards, based on knot information on the surfaces of these boards, is an important step in this study. Simulations were run for 450 boards of spruce, Douglas fir, beech, ash and maple, covering a large quality range. Abaqus and Python were used for the numerical simulations. From the numerical simulations, three different stress concentration factors were calculated in the vicinity of the defects. Additionally, a virtual longitudinal stress wave propagation was modeled for the determination of the dynamic modulus of elasticity. The FEM results were used to predict the tensile strength. By means of a regression analysis, the correlation with actual visual and machine readings was validated. An improvement in the strength prediction was observed based on the virtual method, when compared to currently available grading machines. It shows the potential of numerical methods for strength prediction of wood based on visual knot information.

Impact of Diabetes Simulation on Empathy in Pharmacy Students

Objective. To assess the impact of a diabetes simulation activity on empathy in pharmacy students. Methods. Students enrolled in an elective diabetes course were required to complete a 3-day diabetes simulation. Pre- and post-activity survey questions were administered to assess the effect of the simulation activity on empathy. Students maintained daily logs of their actual blood glucose readings (tested twice a day), pre-meal simulated blood glucose readings, and simulated insulin doses. Students were required to take a placebo oral medication and to respond (and document their approach) to a simulated hypo- or hyperglycemic event. Results. The pre- and post-activity survey results indicated statistically significant changes in responses regarding empathy. Conclusion. This 3-day diabetes simulation increased student empathy and confidence in managing select aspects of diabetes.

Home Occupant Archetypes

Home Occupant Archetypes