Continuous Connectivity Research Articles

On the Body

On the Body

An overview of integral abutments: Current practices, field monitoring and deck replacement measures

The use of integral abutments in bridges goes back many years to the late 1930’s in the United States. Over the years, integral bridges became more popular as more and more states built those bridges and more engineers became familiar with their design and construction. These bridges are being built in Europe since the 1980’s. An integral abutment bridge acts as a frame structure with a continuity connection between the superstructure and the substructure. The substructure is typically an integral cap supported on single row of piles that provides flexibility to accommodate thermal loads and displacements. The main advantage of integral abutment bridges is that they are built without expansion joints which eliminates maintenance costs and reduces construction costs. Because of the interaction between the soil and the integral abutment under the applied loads and the cyclic nature of thermal loads, the analysis and design of integral abutment bridges can be, in some cases, challenging especially when the designs falls outside the geometrical limits set by existing standards. This overview focus on field performance data reported in the literature and interpretation of this data. IT also highlights the needs for more test data during construction and for long term performance under cyclic thermal movements. Deck replacement requirements in integral abutments were investigated using analytical models and recommendations for deck replacement preparations are provided.

Health information exchange through a Device-to-Device protocol supporting lossless encoding and decoding

Despite the availability of secure electronic data transfers, most medical information is still stored on paper, and it is usually shared by mail, fax or the patients themselves. Today’s technologies aim to the challenge of sharing healthcare information, since exchanging inaccurate data leads to inefficiency and errors. Currently, there exist numerous techniques for exchanging data, which however require continuous internet connection, thus lacking generic applicability in healthcare, in the cases where no internet connection is available. In this paper, a new Device-to-Device (D2D) protocol is proposed, specifying a series of Bluetooth messages regarding the healthcare information that is being exchanged in short-range distances, between a healthcare-practitioner and a citizen. This information refers to structured and unstructured data, which can be directly exchanged through a globally used communication protocol, extending it for the permission of exchanging HL7 FHIR Bluetooth structured messages. Moreover, for high volume data, the D2D protocol can support lossless compression and decompression, improving its overall efficiency. The protocol is firstly evaluated through exchanging sample data in a real-world scenario, whereas an overall comparison of exchanging multiple sized data either using lossless compression or not is being provided. According to the evaluation results, the D2D protocol specification was strictly followed, successfully providing the ability to exchange healthcare-related data, with Bluetooth being considered the most suitable technology for current needs. For small-sized data, the D2D protocol performs better without the provided lossless compression mechanism, whereas in the case of large-sized data lossless compression is considered as the only option.

Supercritical Fluid Nanospray Mass Spectrometry.

Supercritical fluids are typically electrosprayed using an organic solvent makeup flow to facilitate continuous electrical connection and enhancement of electrospray stability. This results in sample dilution, loss in sensitivity, and potential phase separation. Premixing the supercritical fluid with organic solvent has shown substantial benefits to electrospray efficiency and increased analyte charge state. Presented here is a nanospray mass spectrometry system for supercritical fluids (nSF-MS). This split flow system used small i.d. capillaries, heated interface, inline frit, and submicron emitter tips to electrospray quaternary alkyl amines solvated in supercritical CO2 with a 10% methanol modifier. Analyte signal response was evaluated as a function of total system flow rate (0.5-1.5 mL/min) that is split to nanospray a supercritical fluid with linear flow rates between 0.07 and 0.42 cm/sec and pressure ranges (15-25 MPa). The nSF system showed mass-sensitive detection based on increased signal intensity for increasing capillary i.d. and analyte injection volume. These effects indicate efficient solvent evaporation for the analysis of quaternary amines. Carrier additives generally decreased signal intensity. Comparison of the nSF-MS system to the conventional SF makeup flow ESI showed 10-fold signal intensity enhancement across all the capillary i.d.s. The nSF-MS system likely achieves rapid solvent evaporation of the SF at the emitter point. The developed system combined the benefits of the nanoemitters, sCO2, and the low modifier percentage which gave rise to enhancement in MS detection sensitivity.

A vertical handoff decision scheme using subjective-objective weighting and grey relational analysis in cognitive heterogeneous networks

With the limitation and low utilization rate of spectrum resources, how to maintain the best continuous network connection for user while reducing the total number of handoff has become an urgent problem to be solved in the handoff decision of cognitive heterogeneous networks . Therefore, a cognitive heterogeneous network vertical handoff decision scheme combining subjective-objective weighting and grey relational analysis (GRA) is proposed. Firstly, an agent-based decision-making framework is proposed based on the review of relevant literature; secondly, the attributes weighting algorithm combining subjective-objective weighting is proposed; thirdly, the steps of analytic hierarchy process (AHP), entropy weighting method, and GRA method are analyzed in detail; then an example is given to analyze the proposed algorithm in single decision point, and the performance of the proposed algorithm is compared with that of three similar multi-attribute decision making (MADM) algorithms; lastly, some problems and challenges of the existing vertical handoff MADM decision-making algorithm are discussed, and the future research directions are proposed. Simulation results show that the proposed method is effective in reducing the total handoff number and ranking anomaly rate.

A Bayesian modelling framework to quantify multiple sources of spatial variation for disease mapping.

Spatial connectivity is an important consideration when modelling infectious disease data across a geographical region. Connectivity can arise for many reasons, including shared characteristics between regions and human or vector movement. Bayesian hierarchical models include structured random effects to account for spatial connectivity. However, conventional approaches require the spatial structure to be fully defined prior to model fitting. By applying penalized smoothing splines to coordinates, we create two-dimensional smooth surfaces describing the spatial structure of the data while making minimal assumptions about the structure. The result is a non-stationary surface which is setting specific. These surfaces can be incorporated into a hierarchical modelling framework and interpreted similarly to traditional random effects. Through simulation studies, we show that the splines can be applied to any symmetric continuous connectivity measure, including measures of human movement, and that the models can be extended to explore multiple sources of spatial structure in the data. Using Bayesian inference and simulation, the relative contribution of each spatial structure can be computed and used to generate hypotheses about the drivers of disease. These models were found to perform at least as well as existing modelling frameworks, while allowing for future extensions and multiple sources of spatial connectivity.

“It’s more like it doesn’t even exist”: stories of hauntings as a way of resisting colonial elimination of Sámi presence

In this article, I explore how haunting as a theoretical concept is useful for analyzing the emotional effects of colonization and forced assimilation of the Sámi, the Indigenous people in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. While some still find it difficult to talk about what it means for them to be Sámi today, telling stories about hauntings is paradoxically something that they do more easily. Through theories concerning affect, emotions and haunting, I explore how these stories represent something more than elements of the Sámi religion. The act of telling these stories can also be analyzed as metaphors for both a continued connection that people have to the landscapes and their ancestors, and as a way of dealing with the emotional ambiguity of trying to find new ways of articulating a continuing Sámi presence.

CNN-LSTM-Based Late Sensor Fusion for Human Activity Recognition in Big Data Networks

The technological advancement in sensor technology and pervasive computing has brought smart devices into our daily life. Due to the continuous connectivity of the internet with our everyday devices, researchers can deploy IoT sensors to health care and other applications, such as human activity recognition. Most of the state-of-the-art sensor-based human activity recognition systems can detect basic activities (such as standing, sitting, and walking), but they cannot accurately distinguish similar activities (ascending stairs or descending stairs). Such systems are not efficient for critical healthcare applications having complex activity sets. This paper proposes two sensor fusion approaches, i.e., position-based early and late sensor fusion using convolutional neural network (CNN) and convolutional long-short-term memory (CNN-LSTM). The performance of our proposed models is evaluated on two publicly available datasets. We also evaluated the effect of different normalization techniques on recognition accuracy. Our results show that the CNN-LSTM-based late sensor fusion model also improves the recognition accuracy of similar activities.

UPAYA PENINGKATAN FASILITAS PEJALAN KAKI DI KAWASAN DUKUH ATAS DENGAN MENGGUNAKAN METODE IMPORTANCE PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS

Public transport integration is the key to the success of the public transportation service system in a region or city. Good integration can create effective development and increase society's interest in public transport. Dukuh Atas area is located in the Central Business District of Jakarta that dominated by office buildings and activities. This area is designated as a primary activity centre with an intermodal transfer centre based on Transit Oriented Development (TOD). It consists of several stops/stations such as Sudirman Commuter line Station, BNI City Airport Train Station, Dukuh Atas MRT Underground Station, Dukuh Atas 2 Transjakarta Bus Stop, and Tosari Bus Stop. Pedestrian paths are one of the physical integration forms that play a role in creating continuous connectivity. This study aims to measure the service level of pedestrian lane facilities in supporting intermodal integration in the Dukuh Atas area. The data used in this study are primary data gathered through observations and questionnaires. The questionnaires use a Likert scale of 1-5 distributed to 112 pedestrians in 3 segments (1) MRT – KRL, (2) MRT – TransJakarta, and (3) KRL – TransJakarta. Data analysis was conducted with the Importance Performance Analysis. Results show that three similar facilities were found to be the improvement priority in all three segments that are lighting, canopy, and trash bins. Moreover, other facilities that need to be improved are the sidewalk width in segment 1, directions in segment 2, and pedestrian crossing bridge/zebra cross in segment 3.

Numerical Simulation of the Hydraulic Characteristics and Fish Habitat of a Natural Continuous Meandering River

Increasing international attention is being focused on the construction of ecological waterways. Ecological waterways are not only able to successfully sustain the navigational functions for ships, but also provide a stable long-term environment in which fish can survive. In nature, meandering rivers are the most common form. Compared with straight rivers, their flow conditions are complex and not conducive to ship navigation and fish survival. There has been less research conducted on the construction of ecological waterways in naturally curving rivers. Therefore, in this paper, a naturally continuous curved river was used as a research object, and numerical simulation was employed to study the hydraulic characteristics of the river and the survival environment by fish by introducing the Shannon diversity index. It was concluded that a naturally continuous curved river cannot meet the navigational requirements and does not provide a stable survival environment for fish. After proposing a targeted channel restoration plan, the hydraulic characteristics of the flow were significantly improved, and the flow velocity Shannon diversity index was reduced. The restored channel met the navigational requirements of vessels, and provided a more stable environment for fish. In the construction of the continuous bend river ecological corridor, the location of the continuous bend stream connection was used as a key restoration area. This paper provides ideas and basic research for the sustainable development of ecological river channels and the construction of continuous curved river channels.

Testing AGV mobility control method for MANET coverage optimization using procedural simulation

In industrial applications continuous wireless connectivity of mobile clients can rarely by guaranteed. Lack of communication negatively impacts the performance of industrial automation systems, e.g. Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) fleets. Utilizing industrial Mobile Ad-hoc NETworks (MANETs) and an adaptive positioning scheme can reduce the number of disconnections in AGV fleets. Therefore, the performance of the mobile system (e.g. AGV fleet) is improved and factory efficiency increased.In this work procedural simulation is used to examine wireless communication in industrial applications. This method enables the observation of the interaction of mobility control system, network status and robotic system performance independently from a specific environment or scenario. Novel insights on the effectiveness of ad-hoc communication in industrial applications and the correlation of AGV fleet connectedness and AGV fleet transport performance are presented. Additionally, a control method is proposed, which improves the network coverage of an industrial MANET and efficiency of AGV fleets.

Analysis and Research on the Rehabilitation Effect of Physical Exercise on College Students' Mental Depression Based on Multidimensional Data Mining.

In order to explore the physical exercise and psychological changes of college students, this study adopts the method of multidimensional data mining, taking 23,146 undergraduates from a university in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, as the research object. On the basis of summarizing and analyzing the previous research literature, this study expounds the development background, current situation, and future challenges of multidimensional data mining technology. This paper introduces the methods and principles of sample selection and multidimensional assessment of the physical and mental depression of college students, analyzes the physical health status of college students, summarizes the psychological changes of college students before and after the intervention, and discusses the relationship between physical exercise and mental health of college students. In addition, this paper analyzes the influencing factors and psychological changes of college students' physical exercise and puts forward suggestions for improving the physical and mental health of college students. The results of this study show that with increasing age, college students have a lower risk of moderate anxiety and mild depression; girls are more prone to mild depression than boys; rural college students are more prone to mild, moderate anxiety; college students with nonmedical backgrounds were more likely to experience moderate anxiety than college students with medical backgrounds. During the intervention control period, continuous connection with others may encourage college students to actively use internal resources to actively cope with obstacles and setbacks, and as a protective factor, psychological resilience can appropriately weaken the association between risk factors in life and anxiety and relieve anxiety. The results of this study can provide a reference for further research on the physical exercise and psychological changes of college students.

СИСТЕМА КОНСТИТУЦІЙНО-ПРАВОВИХ ГАРАНТІЙ, ЩО ДІЮТЬ В УМОВАХ ОБОРОНИ УКРАЇНИ

Any war is directly related to a significant restriction of human as well as civil rights and freedoms. The war in Ukraine, which began in 2014 and escalated into a full-scale phase, has become the largest armed conflict on the European continent since World War II. It would seem that significant violations of human rights cannot be avoided with such a scale of armed confrontation but at the same time, the practical side of the issue demonstrates that no actual and systematic illegal decisions had been taken by Ukraine towards any conflict participants and civilians. The above raises a reasonable question: "How did Ukraine, in a very brutal, intensive and large-scale war, avoid the negative legal manifestations that had been inherent in any war for the last hundred years?" It was with the aim of understanding this issue that the article was written. The paper is devoted to the research of the issue concerning the system of legal norms protecting the rights and freedoms of man and citizen in Ukraine both under the conditions of the legal regime of martial law and a special period. Certain legal conflicts or inaccuracies that exist in the field of law governing the issues of national security and defense of Ukraine are clarified and explained in this study. Particular attention is paid to those constitutional and legal norms that are limited for the duration of the legal regime of martial law; the legitimacy of such restrictions is explained; a comparison with other constitutional and legal norms is made; as well as the correlation between the norms enshrined in the Constitution of Ukraine and inferior legal norms is demonstrated. The article analyzes of system of legal norms, which to some extent intersect with the constitutional and legal norms and which are aimed at ensuring the rights and freedoms of man and citizen in the conditions of Ukraine's defense. For writing this work, the legal acts (including the acts of international law) that are a part of the national legislation of Ukraine in their logical and continuous connection with the norms of the Fundamental Law are analyzed; answers are provided to the questions as for the legitimacy and the need for certain legal restrictions; the issues of restricting the right to life in the sense of Article 3 of the Constitution of Ukraine are revealed. This article provides the explanations as for the way the Ukrainian state effectively regulates social relations that exist under the conditions of the legal wartime regime and does not allow arbitrariness on the part of any armed structures, government agencies, organizations and institutions with a special mode of functioning of all state institutions. It will be useful for reading not only by the persons who were not previously familiar with the system of legal norms governing legal relations in the field of national security and protection in terms of ensuring the rights and freedoms of man and citizen, but also for people informed in this field who have not systematized their knowledge into a single logical system yet.

ROAD MANAGEMENT FORECASTING MODELS

The network of public roads should ensure the movement of people and the exchange of goods and services by providing uniform land access to different places, in addition to ensuring continuous, safe and convenient connections with appropriate socio-economic efficiency. Highways are a public product, important in providing a service to society that brings significant benefits. The road network is the so-called transport infrastructure. The infrastructure in the economic system is a set of elements that ensure the smooth operation of the relationships of the elements of the system. Thus, the infrastructure, as a subsystem, is designed to ensure the functioning of the relationships between the elements of the system. This is its main function, which is obviously passive. In addition to the function it provides, the infrastructure also has a regulatory function, streamlining the interaction of elements of the system itself. This feature is active. Economic evaluation of the benefits of meeting the objective needs of society is a key category of market economy orientation towards effective development. The social component is a quantitative measure of needs and measures aimed at improving efficiency. Thus, the social sphere becomes on a par with the economic one. This can overcome the unjustified division of efficiency into economic and social, their opposition, which in fact has a narrow financial significance. In a socially inefficient system, an effective economic policy is impossible. Analysis of the functioning of the road network allowed to present it as part of the socio-economic system of reproduction of macro indicators of the functioning of the economic system of the country; this allows us to develop a basis for creating an effective system for forecasting and managing the operation and development of the road network. The synthesis of road forecasting models confirms the hypothesis of methodological compliance of road network operation models both at the micro and macro levels, which makes it possible to build a time-appropriate management system. The article considers the models of forecasting the work of the road sector. efficiency of functioning of the road network; it is proved that there is a unity and interdependence of material and value (price, cost) aspects of the development of the road network. The obtained models demonstrate the principle of socio-economic efficiency - the balances of material and value (value, price) flows are taken into account in the functioning of the road network.

Technology and Older Women: Considerations Regarding Their Use and Misuse

Health and wellbeing are inextricably linked to an individual's capacity for continued meaningful engagement and connection with the world around them. Technological innovations designed to maximize the quality of life for older women range from sophisticated bio-medical interventions to ordinary day-to-day communication devices. Many innovations can ensure a higher quality of life for older women and support and care as required.In this article, we consider: (1) The range of appropriate technologies currently available for older women, their families and communities. (2) The way technology contributes to the maintenance of optimum physical health and wellbeing for older women. (3) The significant challenges and considerations associated with the incorporation of technologies into their daily lives.

“Near the sea”: Maritime kinship and oceanic kinship in Stevenson’s Treasure Island

ABSTRACT This essay argues that depictions of small craft sailing in Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island (1883) indicate an underlying crisis in the kinship structures of the age of sail as wrought by industrial capitalism’s rising reliance on steamships. Theorizing an older form of “maritime kinship” and its continuation in “oceanic kinship,” this essay re-evaluates the gap between late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century seafaring fiction and bridges the two through a continued connection to the sea and maintained sailing heritage. Countering a rhetoric of loss, it presents Treasure Island’s nearness to the sea as highlighting an environmental interconnection that might allow us to reimagine how we relate to oceans and provide key approaches to confronting the current climate crisis.

Low complexity multichannel spectrum prediction algorithm based on optimized neural network for spectrum allocation in cognitive radio internet of things

AbstractCognitive radio has been nominated as a key technology for the internet of things (IoT), due to its intelligent functionalities ensuring continuous connectivity for IoT objects. Spectrum prediction, as one of the core CR functions, has emerged as a leading tool to alleviate the spectrum scarcity problem. Spectrum prediction minimizes sensing and decision‐making delays, and thereby it reduces collisions with primary users and guarantees safe access for secondary users (SUs). Thus, it became an inseparable part of many new spectrum allocation and mobility methods. In this work, the proposed cognitive radio IoT model consists of local sensors (LS) that perform sensing instead of SUs, and a cognitive base station that receives sensing results from different LSs to predict the next occupancy information and allocate frequencies for SUs. The predictor is followed by a channel extraction block for efficient spectrum allocation. Then, a low complexity spectrum prediction and preallocation system based on optimized neural network architecture is presented. Two nonlinear neural network models, time delay neural network and nonlinear autoregressive with exogenous input, that are trained on a real spectral occupancy dataset, are optimized using the Bayesian optimization algorithm then compared. The best predictor forecasts the next occupancy rate of multiple channels simultaneously based on three dimensions, area, time, and frequency. Performance evaluation was conducted through accuracy, mean squared error (MSE), and regression fit. The highest prediction accuracy was93.5%, the regression coefficient was0.98, and a reduced MSE of0.0013obtained. Results show that the considered scheme is efficient in forecasting the spectrum availability of different bands within the IoT spectrum resources.

Tox and Detox

Tox and Detox

3D Graphene Foam by Chemical Vapor Deposition: Synthesis, Properties, and Energy-Related Applications.

In this review, we highlight recent advancements in 3D graphene foam synthesis by template-assisted chemical vapor deposition, as well as their potential energy storage and conversion applications. This method offers good control of the number of graphene layers and porosity, as well as continuous connection of the graphene sheets. The review covers all the substrate types, catalysts, and precursors used to synthesize 3D graphene by the CVD method, as well as their most viable energy-related applications.

Intelligent Blockchain-Enabled Communication and Services: Solutions for Moving Internet of Things Devices

The monumental growth in the frequency and sophistication of connected moving objects has led to a plethora of solutions to enable continuous, seamless, and reliable connectivity and service delivery. Connected, autonomous, and artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled Internet of Things (IoT) moving devices are playing a significant role in the establishment of reliable wireless connectivity infrastructures for Beyond 5G (B5G) telecommunication networks. The advancements in ad hoc communication and moving platforms are now being recognized as alternative solutions toward connectivity in many complex environments for applications, such as autonomous transportation and robotics. Today’s availability of AI-enabled moving devices, incorporating advanced processing and communication capabilities, together with advanced decentralization-enabling technologies, such as intelligent blockchain, provide alternatives to autonomy for moving platforms in smart cities. In this article, we discuss recent advances in moving IoT devices, such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs), that adapt intelligent connectivity support, data collection, decision making, and blockchain technology to facilitate autonomous configurability and service provisioning for IoT networks.