Execution Conditions Research Articles

BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION RECONSTRUCTION DESIGN

In order to create the necessary conditions for life and development of society, the production of various products are organized. The nomenclature and consumer qualities of the produced products are determined by the level of scientific and technical development, economic and social living conditions. For the production of products, houses and buildings are erected, which are equipped with certain means of production. The term of functioning of means of production is due to physical and moral wear and tear of machines and mechanisms. Buildings and structures in, which means production are located and function also age physically and morally, although this aging occurs slower than the means of production.Scientific and technical progress is currently characterized by a faster onset of wear and tear of the nomenclature of manufactured products. In addition, in connection with the changes taking place in society, the nomenclature of manufactured products replaced. The problem of retooling the functioning industry (replacing morally or physically outdated means of production, the emergence of need to produce new types of products) arose before humanity a long time ago.Under reconstruction - the production of works, which carried out according to single project:- with a change in volume-planning decisions;- replacement or strengthening of existing structures;- demolition of existing and construction of new structures related to the operation of technological equipment;- with the replacement of obsolete or physically worn equipment;- with mechanization, production automation, etc. When carrying out the reconstruction of the main production facility, as a rule, significant volumes of work are always performed on auxiliary and service facilities.Reconstruction also includes the construction of new workshops and facilities instead of those, which being liquidated, the further operation of which is deemed impractical due to technical and economic conditions. They can be erected both on free territories and on areas vacated as a result of the liquidation (demolition) of the object.Technical re-equipment is clear as the implementation of a set of measures in accordance with the technical development plan of the enterprise according to projects and estimates for individual objects and types of work (without expanding existing production areas) to raise the technical level of individual areas of production, aggregates, and installations to modern requirements by introducing new equipment and technology, mechanization and automation of production processes, modernization and replacement of obsolete or physically worn equipment with new, more productive ones.Sometimes technical rearmament considered as a type of reconstruction with a relatively small amount of construction and installation work. As it is not difficult to see from the given definitions, new construction and expansion are in fact new construction, while the difference between them is only in the conditions of execution of works. Expansion of construction is carried out in difficult (compressed) conditions. Technical rearmament, as it was emphasized, mainly involves the organization of the dismantling of the old and the installation of new equipment on the existing foundations.In the future, the main attention will be paid to the issues of actual reconstruction, namely:- organization of works related to the strengthening of existing building structures, their replacement with temporary transfer of loads;- replacement of beams and trusses in areas of the covering located in areas difficult to reach for installation cranes;- by increasing the pitch of the columns without disassembly.

Influence of Pedal Interface During Pedaling With the Upper Versus Lower Limbs: A Pilot Analysis of Torque Performance and Muscle Synergies.

Pedaling is a physical exercise practiced with either the upper or the lower limbs. Muscle coordination during these exercises has been previously studied using electromyography and synergy analysis, and three to four synergies have been identified for the lower and upper limbs. The question of synergy adaptabilities has not been investigated during pedaling with the upper limbs, and the impact of various modalities is yet not known. This study investigates the effect of pedal type (either clipped/gripped or flat) on the torque performance and the synergy in both upper and lower limbs. Torques applied by six participants while pedaling at 30% of their maximal power have been recorded for both upper and lower limbs. Electromyographic data of 11 muscles on the upper limbs and 11 muscles on the lower limbs have been recorded and synergies extracted and compared between pedal types. Results showed that the torques were not modified by the pedal types for the lower limbs while a deep adaptation is observable for the upper limbs. Participants indeed used the additional holding possibility by pulling the pedals on top of the pushing action. Synergies were accordingly modified for upper limbs while they remain stable for the lower limbs. In both limbs, the synergies showed a good reproducibility even if larger variabilities were observed for the upper limbs. This pilot study highlights the adaptability of muscle synergies according to the condition of movement execution, especially observed for the upper limbs, and can bring some new insights for the rehabilitation exercises.

Fast Algorithm of Passive Bistatic Radar Detection Based on Batches Processing of Sparse Representation and Recovery

In the passive bistatic radar (PBR) system,methods exist to address the issue of detecting weak targets without being influenced by non-ideal factors from adjacent strong targets. These methods utilize the sparsity in the delay-Doppler domain of the cross ambiguity function (CAF) to detect weak targets. However, the modeling and solving of this method involve substantial memory consumption and computational complexity. To address these challenges, this paper establishes a target detection model for PBR based on batch processing of sparse representation and recovery. This model partitions the CAF into blocks, identifies blocks requiring processing based on the presence of targets, and improves the construction and utilization of the measurement matrix. This results in a reduction in the computational complexity and memory resource requirements for sparse representation and recovery, and provides favorable conditions for parallel execution of the algorithm. Experimental results indicate that the proposed approach increases the number of blocks by a factor of four, and reduces the number of real multiplications by approximately an order of magnitude. Hence, compared with the traditional approach, the proposed approach enables fast and stable detection of weak targets.

PLANNING OF CONSTRUCTION SITES USING INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES

Planning construction sites involves determining the layout of temporary facilities on the site and significantly impacts the safety and efficiency of construction activities. However, such planning is a complex combinatorial problem that encompasses multiple objectives and becomes more challenging with an increasing number of objects and constraints on work execution conditions. To reduce the complexity of creating such solutions, the use of intelligent design systems is facilitated. The study analyzed existing information modeling technologies for finding optimal solutions based on adopted efficiency criteria and identified drawbacks in such systems. Through theoretical research, the conclusion was drawn that current information technologies for optimizing construction site planning address issues only in isolated aspects, such as minimizing the areas of administrative or storage facilities or reducing costs for unproductive resource movements.

Inequivalent and uncorrelated response priming in motor imagery and execution.

Theoretical considerations on motor imagery and motor execution have long been dominated by the functional equivalence view. Previous empirical works comparing these two modes of actions, however, have largely relied on subjective judgments on the imagery process, which may be exposed to various biases. The current study aims to re-examine the commonality and distinguishable aspects of motor imagery and execution via a response repetition paradigm. This framework aims to offer an alternative approach devoid of self-reporting, opening the opportunity for less subjective evaluation of the disparities and correlations between motor imagery and motor execution. Participants performed manual speeded-choice on prime-probe pairs in each trial under three conditions distinguished by the modes of response on the prime: mere observation (Perceptual), imagining response (Imagery), and actual responses (Execution). Responses to the following probe were all actual execution of button press. While Experiment 1 compared the basic repetition effects in the three prime conditions, Experiment 2 extended the prime duration to enhance the quality of MI and monitored electromyography (EMG) for excluding prime imagery with muscle activities to enhance specificity of the underlying mechanism. In Experiment 1, there was no significant repetition effect after mere observation. However, significant repetition effects were observed in both imagery and execution conditions, respectively, which were also significantly correlated. In Experiment 2, trials with excessive EMG activities were excluded before further statistical analysis. A consistent repetition effect pattern in both Imagery and Execution but not the Perception condition. Now the correlation between Imagery and Execution conditions were not significant. Findings from the current study provide a novel application of a classical paradigm, aiming to minimize the subjectivity inherent in imagery assessments while examining the relationship between motor imagery and motor execution. By highlighting differences and the absence of correlation in repetition effects, the study challenges the functional equivalence hypothesis of imagery and execution. Motor representations of imagery and execution, when measured without subjective judgments, appear to be more distinguishable than traditionally thought. Future studies may examine the neural underpinnings of the response repetition paradigm to further elucidating the common and separable aspects of these two modes of action.

Let's do it: Response times in Mental Paper Folding and its execution.

Action imagery is the ability to mentally simulate the execution of an action without physically performing it. Action imagery is assumed to rely at least partly on similar mechanisms as action execution. Therefore, we expected that imagery and execution durations would be constrained by the number of folds in a Paper Folding Task. Analogously, individual differences in execution durations were expected to be reflected in imagery durations. Twenty-eight participants performed two imagery conditions (computer vs. paper) and one execution condition (paper) where two-dimensional grids of a three-dimensional cube were (mentally) folded to determine whether two selected edges overlapped or not. As expected, imagery performance and execution performance were strongly correlated and decreased with the number of folds. Further, the number of folds influenced imagery durations even more than execution durations. This may be due to the additional cognitive load in imagery that emerges when tracking the folds to follow up with the next ones. The results indicate that Mental Paper Folding predominantly involves dynamic visual representations that are not functionally associated with one's own movements as in action imagery.

How to use one surface electromyography sensor to recognize six hand movements for a mechanical hand in real time: a method based on Morse code.

Surface electromyography (sEMG) signal is a kind of physiological signal reflecting muscle activity and muscle force. At present, the existing methods of recognizing human motion intention need more than two sensors to recognize more than two kinds of movements, the sensor pasting positions are special, and the hardware conditions for execution are high. In this work, a real-time motion intention recognition method based on Morse code is proposed and applied to the mechanical hand. The short-time and long-term muscle contraction signals collected by a single sEMG sensor were extracted and encoded with the Morse code method, and then the developed mapping method from Morse code to six hand movements were used to recognize hand movements. The average recognition accuracy of hand movements was 94.8704 ± 2.3556%, the average adjusting time was 34.89s for all subjects, and the execution time of a single movement was 381ms. The corresponding experiment video can be found in the attachment to show the experiment. The method proposed in this work is a method with one sensor to recognize six movements, low hardware conditions, high recognition accuracy, and insensitive to the difference of sensor pasting position.

Brain activation and connection across resting and motor-task states in patients with generalized tonic-clonic seizures.

Motor abnormalities have been identified as one common symptom in patients with generalized tonic-clonic seizures (GTCS) inspiring us to explore the disease in a motor execution condition, which might provide novel insight into the pathomechanism. Resting-state and motor-task fMRI data were collected from 50 patients with GTCS, including 18 patients newly diagnosed without antiepileptic drugs (ND_GTCS) and 32 patients receiving antiepileptic drugs (AEDs_GTCS). Motor activation and its association with head motion and cerebral gradients were assessed. Whole-brain network connectivity across resting and motor states was further calculated and compared between groups. All patients showed over-activation in the postcentral gyrus and the ND_GTCS showed decreased activation in putamen. Specifically, activation maps of ND_GTCS showed an abnormal correlation with head motion and cerebral gradient. Moreover, we detected altered functional network connectivity in patients within states and across resting and motor states by using repeated-measures analysis of variance. Patients did not show abnormal connectivity in the resting state, while distributed abnormal connectivity in the motor-task state. Decreased across-state network connectivity was also found in all patients. Convergent findings suggested the over-response of activation and connection of the brain to motor execution in GTCS, providing new clues to uncover motor susceptibility underlying the disease.

An enhanced wideband tracking method for characteristic modes

Abstract An enhanced wideband tracking method for characteristic modes (CMs) is investigated in this paper. The method consists of three stages, and its core tracking stage (CTS) is based on a classical eigenvector correlation-based algorithm. To decrease the tracking time and eliminate the crossing avoidance (CRA), we append a commonly used eigenvalue filter (EF) as the preprocessing stage and a novel postprocessing stage to the CTS. The proposed postprocessing stage can identify all CRA mode pairs by analyzing their trajectory and correlation characteristics. Subsequently, it can predict corresponding CRA frequencies and correct problematic qualities rapidly. Considering potential variations in eigenvector numbers at consecutive frequency samples caused by the EF, a new execution condition for the adaptive frequency adjustment in the CTS is introduced. Finally, CMs of a conductor plate and a fractal structure are investigated to demonstrate the performance of the proposed method, and the obtained results are discussed.

Harmonization of technological parameters of technical means for the protection of crops of cereal grain crops and their fertilization with mineral fertilizers

Annotation Purpose. Harmonize parameters of technical means for chemical protection of crops of cereal grain crops and their feeding with solid mineral fertilizers under intensive cultivation technology. Methods. The technical characteristics of the existing technology for the protection of crops of grain crops and their fertilization with mineral fertilizers were analyzed analytically in order to harmonize the parameters of the specified means for the intensive technology of growing the specified crops. Results. By analyzing the specifics of the use of technical means for the chemical protection of crops of grain crops and their feeding with mineral fertilizers, specific recommendations are given for the harmonization of their parameters for the conditions of consistent execution of technological operations under the intensive technology of growing these crops. Conclusions 1. The working width of the existing technical means for the protection of crops of grain crops and their feeding with solid mineral fertilizers varies in a very wide range, which makes it difficult to consistently perform these operations, provided they move along technological tracks with a fixed distance between them. 2. The working width of the existing technical means for fertilizing grain crops with solid mineral fertilizers cannot be stable due to the throwing action of their seeding organs and the dependence of their work results on the action of the wind. 3. To overcome this negative and harmonize their parameters, it is necessary to use rod fat seeders with a fixed width of capture. Keywords: mineral fertilizers, plant protection, field ear crops, width of capture, technical means, technological parameters.

Improving the reactor for thickening organic plant-based polycomponent semi-finished products with high degree of readiness

The object of this study is the process of thickening organic polycomponent compositions based on Jerusalem artichoke, apples, pumpkin, cranberry, and dogwood to produce high-level semi-finished products employing the proposed equipment and technological solutions implemented in a unified reactor. Conventional thickening devices have a steam heat supply system, which leads to overheating of certain layers of raw materials and prevents the mobile properties of the apparatus under the conditions of significant execution of organic properties of raw materials. The introduction of apratur-technological solutions could provide the competitive advantage of the reactors by heating the film-like emitting electric heater using a mixing device with a heating surface. Increasing the total area of heat exchange to 1.24 m2 (prototype – 0.98 m2). There is a decrease in specific heat consumption by 20 %, specific metal capacity by 47 %, and the duration of the process by 30 %. We have determined rheological properties in the thickening of the organic polycomponent composition of the paste at a temperature of 55 °C and a shift rate within 3.0…4.5 s-1, effective viscosity is in the range of 22...3.5 Pa·s. In this case, the kinetics of boiling in an improved reactor are by 27 % smaller than that in the basic structure R-P-150m. According to organoleptic indicators, the composition "B" has a pleasant harmonious taste of all components. The results of the studies are relevant for practical implementation in the temperature range from 35 °C to 55 °C. The hardware and technological solutions form the competitiveness of mobile reactors for the thickening of plant semi-finished products under conditions of elimination of the steam component and an increase in the surface of the heat exchange of the mixing device. Providing preference in operating duration with the simultaneous use of Peltier elements to convert secondary heat to the autonomous work of exhaust fans in the motor compartment

Agile software development approach for 'ad-hoc' IT projects

Restrictive Scrum assumptions make the effectiveness of this approach debatable in projects deviating from typical execution conditions. This article delivers a comprehensive software development approach for both academic and commercial Information Technology (IT) projects effectuated by teams that are hampered by significantly unsystematic participation of project members and mercurial internal communication. The nature of ‘ad-hoc’ projects imposes another level of difficulty in terms of both managing the conduct of such a project and ensuring the quality of the end product. Multicyclic action research enabled a gradual adaptation of the Scrum approach to support such project conditions. This study introduces major alterations to Sprint implementation and minor enhancements within the documentation process to streamline knowledge sharing among Development Team members. Proposed key alterations include the evolution of Daily Scrum towards Weekly Scrum, the possibility of extending Sprints length, the eventuality to switch team members during Sprint due to substantial failure to meet deadlines, having at least two team members responsible for a single Product Backlog Item (PBI) at all times, as well as exclusion of Burndown Chart in favor for Development Team members updating their working time. Positive validation of enhancements in mixed settings confirms that the generic Scrum framework can be adapted to support highly volatile projects. The proposed approach is suitable not only for carrying out software development initiatives that rely heavily on the skills of external experts and/or volunteers. It also supports traditional Scrum teams that seek to reduce their exposure to risk arising from organizational changes.

36 Dispersion vs. inconsistency: Investigating the relationship between different forms of intra-individual variability in community-dwelling older adults

Objective:There are two forms of intra-individual variability (IIV) in the literature: inconsistency, or variability on one task across many time points, and dispersion, or variability across many tasks at one time point. These forms of IIV are often lumped together into one construct, but there is limited evidence supporting this practice, as few studies have examined the relationship between these measures. Additionally, it is not clear how stable these constructs are over time. Therefore, the goal of the present study was (1) to explore the relationship between (a) inconsistency and dispersion and (b) IIV and mean performance, and (2) to determine whether these relationships are stable over a one- to two-year follow-up interval.Participants and Methods:A total of 123 community-dwelling older adults (Mage=69.5, Meducation=15.6 years) from an archival database completed the Push-Turn-Taptap task to assess inconsistency and the Delis-Kaplan Executive Functioning System (D-KEFS) to assess dispersion. These measures were selected because both are highly executive, thereby allowing us to hold the cognitive domain constant across forms of IIV. Dispersion was calculated by taking the standard deviation of the executive conditions of four D-KEFS subtests (Verbal Fluency, Design Fluency, Trail Making, and Color Word Interference). Follow-up data were collected one to two and a half years after baseline. Bivariate and partial correlations controlling for time to follow-up were examined.Results:Inconsistency and dispersion were not correlated at baseline but were weakly correlated at follow-up (r=.281, p=.012). Additionally, both forms of IIV were moderately correlated with themselves across the follow-up interval (inconsistency: r=.450, p<.001; dispersion: r=.448, p<.001). The partial correlations were nearly identical to bivariate correlations.Additionally, inconsistency was correlated with poorer mean executive functioning (EF) performance on both the PTT (baseline: r=.281, p<.001, follow-up: r=.435, p<.001) and D-KEFS (baseline: r= -.270, p=.003, follow-up: r=-.573, p<.001). In contrast, dispersion was correlated with mean EF performance only on the D-KEFS at baseline (r= -.292, p<.001) but with both measures at follow-up (PTT: r=.232, p=.039; D-KEFS: r= -.378, p<.001). When controlling for follow-up interval, inconsistency was no longer correlated with baseline mean PTT performance, but all other relationships remained the same (i.e., dispersion and inconsistency displayed the same pattern of correlations with mean EF).Conclusions:Although inconsistency and dispersion are both forms of IIV, they are weakly related. In other words, although they may have shared mechanisms, these two methods of measuring IIV likely represent different constructs. In the future, authors should take care to specify the form of IIV being investigated in their publications rather than referring to either form as IIV generally. Additionally, both forms of IIV are weakly to moderately correlated with mean EF performance, indicating that IIV is related to but separate from mean-level performance. Interestingly, IIV and mean performance were more strongly correlated at follow-up, which may be suggestive of incipient cognitive decline. Lastly, it seems that both inconsistency and dispersion are somewhat stable across a one- to two-year follow-up interval, suggesting that IIV may be a trait-level construct to some extent. However, IIV may also be influenced by state-level contextual factors, and more research examining the stability of and contributors to IIV is necessary.

Procedural rights of a lawyer in criminal proceedings and means of ensuring them

Ensuring the rights of participants in criminal proceedings is the most important direction of the science of criminal procedure and the literature pays attention to a variety of aspects. The purpose of this study is to substantiate the hypothesis of the need to include lawyers in the number of participants in criminal proceedings, whose rights need no less degree of security than the rights and legitimate interests of persons directly interested in the outcome of the criminal case. No less important than ensuring rights is ensuring conditions for the proper performance of duties, which is demonstrated by the example of performing the functions of a lawyer to protect the principal from criminal prosecution. The conducted research is aimed at solving such tasks as revealing the essence and demonstrating the legal and social significance of the right to provide qualified legal assistance, identifying procedural problems accompanying the right to receive this assistance, and proposing individual ways to solve these problems. The research methodology includes traditional scientific methods of obtaining and processing data: dialectical, analytical, synthesized, comparative legal, systemic and system-functional. As a result of the study, theoretical conclusions were formulated about the natural relationship between the right to provide qualified legal assistance and the right to receive it, the content and nature of the lawyer’s procedural capabilities were clarified and the position on expanding the scope of procedural support was substantiated, not limited to the rights of participants in criminal proceedings, but extending it to the conditions of execution their assigned duties, Practical steps are also proposed to optimize the means of ensuring the procedural rights and duties of a lawyer in criminal proceedings.

TMS over the pre-SMA enhances semantic cognition via remote network effects on task-based activity and connectivity

BackgroundThe continuous decline of executive abilities with age is mirrored by increased neural activity of domain-general networks during task processing. So far, it remains unclear how much domain-general networks contribute to domain-specific processes such as language when cognitive demands increase. The current neuroimaging study explored the potential of intermittent theta-burst stimulation (iTBS) over a domain-general hub to enhance executive and semantic processing in healthy middle-aged to older adults. MethodsWe implemented a cross-over within-subject study design with three task-based neuroimaging sessions per participant. Using an individualized stimulation approach, each participant received once effective and once sham iTBS over the pre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA), a region of domain-general control. Subsequently, task-specific stimulation effects were assessed in functional MRI using a semantic and a non-verbal executive task with varying cognitive demand. ResultsEffective stimulation increased activity only during semantic processing in visual and dorsal attention networks. Further, iTBS induced increased seed-based connectivity in task-specific networks for semantic and executive conditions with high cognitive load but overall reduced whole-brain coupling between domain-general networks. Notably, stimulation-induced changes in activity and connectivity related differently to behavior: While stronger activity of the parietal dorsal attention network was linked to poorer semantic performance, its enhanced coupling with the pre-SMA was associated with more efficient semantic processing. ConclusionsiTBS modulates networks in a task-dependent manner and generates effects at regions remote to the stimulation site. These neural changes are linked to more efficient semantic processing, which underlines the general potential of network stimulation approaches in cognitive aging.

What Are We Aiming for in Eccentric Hamstring Training: Angle-Specific Control or Supramaximal Stimulus?

Different resistance exercise determinants modulate the musculotendinous adaptations following eccentric hamstring training. The Nordic Hamstring Exercise (NHE) can be performed 2-fold: the movement velocity irreversibly increases toward the end of the range of motion or it is kept constant. This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate if the downward acceleration angle (DWAangle) can be used as a classification parameter to distinguish between increasing and constant velocity NHE execution. Furthermore, the kinetic and kinematic differences of these 2 NHE execution conditions were examined by analyzing the DWAangle in relation to the angle of peak moment. A total of 613 unassisted NHE repetitions of 12 trained male sprinters (22y, 181cm, 76kg) were analyzed. The majority of analyzed parameters demonstrated large effects. NHEs with constant velocity (n = 285) revealed significantly higher impulses (P < .001; d = 2.34; + 61%) and fractional time under tension (P < .001; d = 1.29; +143%). Although the generated peak moments were significantly higher for constant velocity (P = .003; d = 0.29; +4%), they emerged at similar knee flexion angles (P = .167; d = 0.28) and revealed on average just low relationships to the DWAangle (Rmean2=22.4%). DWAangle highly correlated with the impulse (Rmean2=60.8%) and δ (DWAangle-angle of peak moment; Rmean2=83.6%). Relating DWAangle to angle of peak moment assists to distinguish between significantly different NHE execution, which will potentially elicit different musculotendinous adaptations. These insights are essential for coaches and athletes to understand how to manipulate eccentric hamstring training to change its purpose.

Implicit Sensorimotor Adaptation Proceeds in Absence of Movement Execution.

In implicit sensorimotor adaptation, a mismatch between the predicted and actual sensory feedback results in a sensory prediction error (SPE). Sensory predictions have long been thought to be linked to descending motor commands, implying a necessary contribution of movement execution to adaptation. However, recent work has shown that mere motor imagery (MI) also engages predictive mechanisms, opening up the possibility that MI might be sufficient to drive implicit adaptation. In a within-subject design in humans (n = 30), implicit adaptation was assessed in a center-out reaching task, following a single exposure to a visuomotor rotation. It was hypothesized that performing MI of a reaching movement while being provided with an animation of rotated visual feedback (MI condition) would lead to postrotation biases (PRBs) similar to those observed when the movement is executed (Execution condition). Results revealed that both the MI and Execution conditions led to significant directional biases following rotated trials. Yet the magnitude of these biases was significantly larger in the Execution condition. To further probe the contribution of MI to adaptation, a Control condition was conducted in which participants were presented with the same rotated visual animation as in the MI condition, but in which they were prevented from performing MI. Surprisingly, significant biases were also observed in the Control condition, suggesting that MI per se may not have accounted for adaptation. Overall, these results suggest that implicit adaptation can be partially supported by processes other than those that strictly pertain to generating motor commands, although movement execution does potentiate it.

Assessment of Auditory-Only and Audiovisual Word-in-Noise Recognition in Preschool-Aged Children With and Without Hearing Loss Using Lexically Controlled Tests: Optimal Execution Conditions

Assessment of Auditory-Only and Audiovisual Word-in-Noise Recognition in Preschool-Aged Children With and Without Hearing Loss Using Lexically Controlled Tests: Optimal Execution Conditions

PECULIARITIES OF FORENSIC HANDWRITING EXAMINATION OF SIGNATURES MADE BY PERSONS OF ALL AGES UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF CONFOUNDING FACTORS

The article is devoted to the features of forensic handwriting examination of signatures made by persons of different ages under the influence of confounding factors. The classification of confounding factors and their influence on signs of handwriting and signatures of a person is considered. The peculiarities of signatures and samples of different age groups were studied, namely: transcription of the signature, degree of coordination, complexity and coherence of movements, the pace of writing, size, inclination, arrangement and acceleration of elements, degree and character of pressure and direction of the baseline of the signature. It is shown that three classes of tasks are distinguished in the forensic handwriting examination: identification (establishing the identity of the executor of the object of handwriting), diagnostic (resolving questions about the conditions of execution of the handwritten text, record or signature), classification (related to the assignment of the executor of the handwriting to certain groups, in particular by gender and age). A comparative analysis of the results of signature studies by different age groups was carried out. It is noted that the stability of signs of handwriting and signatures is relative. A person’s handwriting can undergo changes depending on various reasons, including those caused by the ageing of the body. In addition, the persistence of characteristic features is also influenced by diseases that are characteristic of the elderly and senile.

NEW NON-DESTRUCTIVE INSPECTION METHOD WITH GROUND PENETRATING RADAR TO EVALUATE THE SUITABILITY OF THE BACKFILLING GROUTING INJECTION IN TUNNEL BORING MACHINES

This research focuses on the development of a new non-destructive inspection method, based on the interpretation of electromagnetic waves by means of a ground penetration radar (GPR) to evaluate the condition of the backfilling two-component mortar grouting behind the segmental lining in tunnels made by tunnel boring machines (TBM). The data processing by digital models and the analysis of the propagation speed of the along the backfilling grouting layer have enabled the technical and operational feasibility of this novel inspection method. Once the conceptual framework of the research was defined, it was possible to validate the developed method in a full-scale operational environment in the Metro of Quito Line 1 (Ecuador). This validation involved a battery of tests collating the results obtained through the core-drilling extractions in comparison with the ones obtained with GPR. As a result of these calibration tests, it was possible to identify a range of propagation speeds linked to grouting in optimal execution conditions, as well as other ranges associated with potential anomalies. Finally, it was possible to implement this new inspection methodology on a regular basis in the Metro of Quito, where the conventional quality control by core-drillings was replaced almost entirely for the new method with GPR. Keywords: tunnel boring machine (TBM); breaching; mortar; ground penetrating radar; electromagnetic.