Use In Environments Research Articles

In-Situ Turbulence and Particulate Measurements in Support of the BOLT II Flight Experiment

The results of a measurement campaign to characterize the freestream atmospheric turbulence intensity and particulate concentrations experienced by the Boundary Layer Transition (BOLT) II flight experiment are described. These measurements were obtained using custom high-altitude balloon-borne payloads using a modified commercial optical particle counter and a high-bandwidth coldwire thermometer and hotwire anemometer, designed for low cost and light weight, with telemetered data so that physical payload recovery is not necessary. Sixteen flights were carried out over a 10-day campaign, with viable data returned from 14 flights, including four centered on the BOLT II launch with 1-h cadence. Turbulence and particulate measurements are shown vs altitude for all 14 data sets, along with statistics derived from the measurements, quantifying the BOLT II atmospheric environment for use in assessing the impact of these freestream disturbances on the hypersonic-vehicle boundary layer.

Examining the effect of locomotion techniques on virtual prototype assessment: Gaze analysis using a Head-Mounted Display

Improvements in the performance and graphical quality of Head-Mounted Displays (HMDs) have led to their increasing use in Virtual Reality (VR) for product presentation and virtual prototype (VP) evaluations. Various locomotion techniques in VR make it possible to move through a virtual scenario and approach the VP for evaluation purposes. The integration of eye-tracking devices into recent HMDs allows the trajectory and gaze behavior of observers to be reported during the evaluation, often more objectively than self-report questionnaires. However, very few studies have used physiological measures for the evaluation of products embedded in VR environments. Therefore, this paper offers a study in which 95 people evaluated three VPs of street furniture presented in their environment of use using Meta Quest Pro headset and explored through teleport and natural walking. The influence of the locomotion techniques on the ratings recorded using a semantic differential, sense of presence, cybersickness, and the role of eye-tracking in understanding gaze behavior while evaluating products' Areas of Interest (AOIs), are investigated. This study found no evidence that the way of approaching the product influences the evaluation of some of its features, overall product evaluation, confidence in responses, sense of presence, or cybersickness differently. On the other hand, this work evidences that the locomotion technique had an impact on how the user approached the products, which could significantly influence the viewing time of some AOIs. The study revealed that the most observed AOIs coincided with those parts closely related to important features, generally located at the top of the products, so paying special attention to these parts when designing and evaluating similar VPs is recommended.

The impact of the environment of use on the behavior of polychlorinated (vinyl chloride).

Polymers are omnipresent in our daily life thanks to their low production cost and their ease of implementation, which makes thermoplastics more usable in supplying drinking water, distributing cold and hot water, and transporting hot corrosive fluids and industrial chemicals, including inorganic acids. The material of our study is chlorinated polyvinyl chloride (CPVC); it has better thermal insulation and a wide operating temperature range. This paper deals with the impact of thermal aging over time on the behavior of CPVC by performing two types of tests according to ISO 15877 (EN ISO 15877) two types of tests; the first is thermal aging (Fig.1) at a temperature of 95°C and a pressure of 10 bars for periods of up to 2000h and the second test exposure of the pipeline to pressure until bursting. On the basis of the test results, we can predict the rupture of the pipeline and thus avoid the dangerous accidents due to the bursting under the effect of the pressure and the high temperature; by using the results of this study, the inspectors change CPVC structures at the right time, neither too early when the part is still in good condition nor too late after failure; this will be very useful to save water and money and of course save the environment.

Health-Oriented Environmental Categories, Individual Health Environments, and the Concept of Environment in Public Health

The term ‘environment’ is not uniformly defined in the public health sciences, which causes crucial inconsistencies in research, health policy, and practice. As we shall indicate, this is somewhat entangled with diverging pathogenic and salutogenic perspectives (research and policy priorities) concerning environmental health. We emphasise two distinct concepts of environment in use by the World Health Organisation. One significant way these concepts differ concerns whether the social environment is included. Divergence on this matter has profound consequences for the understanding of health and disease, for measures derived from that understanding targeting health promotion and disease prevention, and consequently, for epistemic structures and concept development in scientific practice. We hope to improve the given situation in public health by uncovering these differences and by developing a fruitful way of thinking about environment. Firstly, we side with the salutogenic conception of environment as a health resource (as well as a source of health risks). Secondly, we subdivide the concept of environment into four health-oriented environmental categories (viz., natural, built-material, socio-cultural, and psychosocial) and we link these with other theoretical notions proposed in the health sciences literature. Thirdly, we propose that in public health ‘environment’ should be understood as consisting of all extrinsic factors that influence or are influenced by the health, well-being, and development of an individual. Consequently, none of the four categories should be excluded from the concept of environment. We point out the practical relevance and fruitfulness of the conception of environment as a health source and frame this in causal terms, representing individual health environments as causal networks. Throughout, we side with the view that for the design of human health-promoting settings, increased attention and consideration of environmental resources of salutogenic potential is particularly pressing.

An Approach to Recreate Large Virtual Environments for Use in Road Traffic Research

An Approach to Recreate Large Virtual Environments for Use in Road Traffic Research

Formation and use of audiovisual documents: Directions and forms

The purpose of the article is to investigate the directions and forms of the use of audiovisual documents in the archives of Ukraine. The methodological basis of the article was the following methods: abstract-logical, analysis, source research, classification, cognitive, synthesis, generalisation. Such approaches of scientific knowledge as dialectical objectivity and structural-functional are applied. The scientific novelty of the article lies in the presentation of the peculiarities of the functioning of audiovisual documents in Ukrainian archives. The following areas of use of audiovisual documents are distinguished: informative, educational, cultural and educational, scientific. The following forms of engagement of archival audiovisual documents are presented: organisation of online exhibitions, preparation of radio and television broadcasts, creation of an audiovisual product for presentation on the Internet. Exhibition work as a form of using archival audiovisual documents has its own characteristics – exhibiting, for example, photo documents in originals or copies. The proposed material enriches the theory of modern archival science about the changing role of the archives of Ukraine, which have accumulated a significant fund of film, audio, photo, and video recordings. Conclusions. Audiovisual documents as carriers of film, photophone, and video information characterise the image and sound that determine the specifics of living in the actual environment of use or potentially such a possible one prolonged in time, that is, their preservation in collections, archive funds, libraries, museums, and other institutions. Two important directions in the activity of audiovisual archives of Ukraine were identified – preservation of documents and providing access to them to a wide range of users. Work on media projects involves the close cooperation of archives and intermediaries (project developers) in the use of information resources of audiovisual documents: choosing a topic, developing a script, preparing textual support, selecting and copying documents, but the main analytical and synthetic work remains with archivists

Motion Hysteresis Compensation Based on Motor Current Segmentation for Elongated Cable-Driven Surgical Instruments

Cable-driven surgical instrument is a reusable and disposable component of Robot-assisted Minimally Invasive Surgery, and it is time-consuming to identify the motion hysteresis compensation model of each instrument in large-scale identification. Besides, the identification results failure caused by the loss of cable tension or lubrication conditions during repeated usage interferes with the accuracy of motion hysteresis compensation. To simplify the identification process and lengthen the instrument life, this paper leverages the relationship between actuate motor current and hysteresis phases, developing a novel motion hysteresis compensation method to compensate the motor reference trajectory. Firstly, prior knowledges including motor current and hysteresis curves of several instruments are collected to train the Hysteresis Identification model and Curve Generation model. Once the two models are well-trained in practical use, the only sensor data in need is the motor current for the Hysteresis Identification model, and the compensation curve will be generated pertinently for the instrument under current use. Finally, Feedforward Compensation scheme is conducted to compensate the reference trajectory of the actuate motor. Experiments study the range of hysteresis compensation errors when the method is applied to numerous surgical instruments with different motion hysteresis, and the feasibility and accuracy are verified. The method can be potentially applied to a wide range of cable-driven mechanisms facing the problem of large-scale identification or the identification results failure after repeated use. <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Note to Practitioners</i> —This paper proposes a feasible motion hysteresis compensation method for cable-driven mechanism (CDM). For some CDMs like elongated cable-driven surgical instrument, their motion hysteresis characteristics will change during repeated use, and their distal angle and cable tension are not available in the environment of use. In these cases, the proposed method enables re-identification because the distal angle or cable tension are not needed during the practical use of our method. Besides, it is easy and low-cost for large-scale identification due to the simplicity of identification procedure. Once the Hysteresis Identification model and Curve Generation model are trained using the pre-collected prior knowledge including motor current and the angle of the end effector, the only sensor data in need to identify and compensate a certain CDM is the its motor current. Then, the pertinent compensation curve for the CDM device can be generated for the actuate motor to follow. The experimental results reveal that the competitive performance with other state-of-the-arts can be achieved. In the future research, we will integrate dynamic characteristics of CDM into the method to expand the scope of application.

Corrosion Behavior of Pure Aluminum in the Simulated and Real Environments for Use as a Bipolar Plate Component in Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells

Corrosion Behavior of Pure Aluminum in the Simulated and Real Environments for Use as a Bipolar Plate Component in Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells

Model based aircraft design and optimization: a case study with cessna 172N aircraft

Abstract This study aims to create an interdisciplinary, multi-level design approach for fixed wing aircrafts. A case study is performed using Cessna 172N aircraft characteristics that is based on a mathematical model having six degrees of freedom (DOF). A Model Based Aircraft Design Software (MAD) is developed using a mathematical dynamic model in Python environment for use in the optimization phase of the Cessna 172N aircraft. The MAD environment is composed of analysis tools that communicate with each other by an automated process chain system. The model includes aerodynamics, engine, mass, control, atmosphere, and landing gear submodules. In addition, the model has trim and 6 DOF simulation analysis capabilities which provide a diversity of analyses that can be considered in early design phases. In order to get trimming and simulation capability, MAD software does not need any precalculated aerodynamic database. The force and moment calculations are performed instantly via DATCOM and AVL solvers for each iteration of simulation or trim. Thanks to this method, alternative aircraft geometries can be compared at the first phase of the design and optimization processes without creating an overall database. All methodologies of model submodules, performance, stability and control calculations, design, and optimization applications are implemented in the MAD environment.

A Morphological Analysis of Ergonomic Design Reconfigurations for Crutch Versatility in the Environment of Use

Nowadays, there are complications in the environments where the crutch is being used, which cause discomfort for users throughout the use and therapy period. There are many flaws in cities’ infrastructure. Using a simple search on the internet, it can be claimed that standard crutches have an array of design faults and ergonomic problems, and users seek to fix the problems with non-industrial solutions and home treatments. For this reason, various accessories for crutches are being produced, and even designers have proposed new types of crutches as replacements. However, the majority of them still didn’t pass the human-centered research procedure.

Deploying OWL ontologies for semantic mediation of mixed-reality interactions for human–robot collaborative assembly

For effective human–robot collaborative assembly, it is paramount to view both robots and humans as autonomous entities in that they can communicate, undertake different roles, and not be bound to pre-planned routines and task sequences. However, with very few exceptions, most of recent research assumes static pre-defined roles during collaboration with centralised architectures devoid of runtime communication that can influence task responsibility and execution. Furthermore, from an information system standpoint, they lack the self-organisation needed to cope with today’s manufacturing landscape that is characterised by product variants. Therefore, this study presents collaborative agents for manufacturing ontology (CAMO), which is an information model based on description logic that maintains a self-organising team network between collaborating human–robot multi-agent system (MAS). CAMO is implemented using the Web Ontology Language (OWL). It models popular notions of net systems and represents the agent, manufacturing, and interaction contexts that accommodate generalisability to different assemblies and agent capabilities. As a novel element, a dynamic consensus-driven collaboration based on parametric validation of semantic representations of agent capabilities via runtime dynamic communication is presented. CAMO is instantiated as agent beliefs in a framework that benefits from real-time dynamic communication with the assembly design environment and incorporates a mixed-reality environment for use by the operator. The employment of web technologies to project scalable notions of intentions via mixed reality is discussed for its novelty from a technology standpoint and as an intention projection mechanism. A case study with a real diesel engine assembly provides appreciable results and demonstrates the feasibility of CAMO and the framework.

Automatic item generation for online measurement and evaluation: Turkish literature items

Developments in the field of education have significantly affected test development processes, and computer-based test applications have been started in many institutions. In our country, research on the application of measurement and evaluation tools in the computer environment for use with distance education is gaining momentum. A large pool of items is required for computer-based testing applications that provide significant advantages to practitioners and test takers. Preparing a large pool of items also requires more effort in terms of time, effort, and cost. To overcome this problem, automatic item generation has been widely used by bringing together item development subject matter experts and computer technology. In the present research, the steps for implementing automatic item generation are explained through an example. In the research, which was based on the fundamental research method, first a total of 2560 items were generated using computer technology and SMEs in field of Turkish literature. In the second stage, 60 randomly selected items were examined. As a result of the research, it was determined that a large item pool could be created to be used in online measurement and evaluation applications using automatic item generation.

Towards self-driven and enzyme-free sweat glucose photoelectrochemical sensing via decorating CuO nanoparticles on TiO2 hierarchical nanotubes

It is of great importance to develop a non-invasive and portable glucose sensor to address challenges and obstacles brought by invasive glucose sensors, such as negative physical and psychological impacts to patients during the fingertip blood collection, limited environment of use for enzyme-based electrodes, and cumbersome active-driven integrated devices. Photoelectrochemical (PEC) sensors have great potential in this regard. In this work, self-driven and enzyme-free sweat glucose PEC sensing is realized by constructing TiO2 hierarchical nanotubes modified by CuO nanoparticles (CuO@TiO2 HNT). A sensitivity of 138.9 μA mM−1 cm−2 in the low concentration range (< 200 μM) and a detection limit of 0.7 μM (Signal/Noise=3) are achieved by the as-prepared CuO@TiO2 HNT photoelectrode at relatively zero bias. The testing results for sweat glucose detection before and after meal consumption are consistent with those from commercial glucometers. The CuO@TiO2 HNT photoelectrode works well at absolutely zero bias and in a wide temperature range (e.g., 0–60 °C). The extraordinary sensing performance can be mainly attributed to the following two factors: (1) the TiO2 hierarchical nanotubes have an excellent light-capturing property and large specific surface area, and (2) the CuO nanoparticles substantially facilitate surface-carrier transfer for the glucose oxidation reaction. This work provides an enzyme-free sensing photoelectrode for self-driven sweat glucose detection and an alternative route to portable and noninvasive sensing of glucose.

Analysis of wild animal hunting in the Caatinga biome, Bahia-Brazil: what factors influence species preference?

ABSTRACT Hunting comprises the extraction of wild animals from their natural environment for use in various purposes. In this sense, based on the Socioecological Theory of Maximization (TSM), semi-structured forms were applied to 45 hunters from rural communities located in the Caatinga region in the state of Bahia/Brazil to verify the influence of cost-benefit, perceived abundance, taste preference and multiple uses in the selection of hunted species. Fourteen species were selected to test whether hunting intensity is influenced by the presented variables. It was found that the only variable that showed statistical significance was flavor preference, increasing the chance of a species being hunted by up to three times (OR = 3.09). It is concluded that subjective variables related to culture significantly influence species selection in the study region.

Introducing the No-Significant-Effect Concentration.

The no-effect concentration (NEC) is the preferred threshold metric for single-species toxicity tests applied to derive safe concentration thresholds for contaminants in the environment for use in species sensitivity distributions. However, the NEC is only suitable when concentration-response (C-R) data exhibit a threshold response. We describe an alternative toxicity estimate, the no-significant-effect concentration (NSEC), which is better suited to C-R data for which the response is a monotonically decreasing function of concentration and no threshold effects are evident. We use a flexible, three-parameter sigmoidal function to describe the C-R relationship and detail both Bayesian and frequentist approaches to estimation and inference for the NSEC. While the NSEC is conceptually linked to the traditional no-observed-effect concentration (NOEC), it is a substantial improvement over the NOEC because it decouples the estimate from being directly dependent on the placement of treatment concentrations as well as admitting statements of precision of the resulting toxicity estimate. Environ Toxicol Chem 2023;42:2019-2028. © 2023 Commonwealth of Australia and The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of SETAC.

ENERGY-SAVING ADAPTATION OF THE VIBRATION-IMPACT BUCKET OF THE MANIPULATOR TO THE VARIABLE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE WORKING ENVIRONMENT

The paper study of the vibrating bucket of the manipulator as an excavator or tunnelling shield, with energy-saving adaptation to the aspects of the working environment for use in the construction and mining industry. The use of buckets and vibro-impact devices with automated operation allows a reduction of energy consumption for the destruction of rocks and hard soils with adaptation to their properties. The article proposes an algorithm for optimal control of the vibro-impact bucket element - a vibro-impact device using restrictions on the cutting resistance force and impact energy. The range of functioning of the vibro-impact device is determined. The optimal area of switching on the device is established, depending on the variable aspects of the working environment. &#x0D; The integral characteristic, such as the cutting resistance force of the soil, were used. It finds that this characteristic depends on the angle of rotation of the manipulator's bucket and the soil density's attribute by the number of impacts of the DorNDI impactor. The influence of thermodynamic parameters on the impact energy during the functioning of the vibration impact device in a real environment is observed by considering the polytope index of the gas compression process in the pneumatic accumulator.&#x0D; The work establishes the critical level of the force of static cutting of soils by an excavator of the IV size group for Ukrainian production and the criterion for the transition of the cutting process from static to dynamic mode depending on the variable characteristics of the working environment. The energy characteristics of the adaptive vibration-impact bucket of the manipulator are given. Introducing the vibro-impact bucket into the industrial production of Ukraine is recommended.

Designing Immersive Virtual Reality Environments for Supporting Patients at Home: Translating Input From Home Care Nurse Experts to Design Requirements.

Immersive virtual reality computer programs provide new experimental and treatment interventions that hold great promise for nursing. Immersive virtual reality uses sensory cues to represent real-world environments in a way that makes participants feel as if they are in a physical space different from the one in which they currently exist. As the acceptance of immersive virtual reality as a clinical and experimental tool has grown, so has the need to ensure that the context depicted in the environment mirrors both the sensory and the task requirements of the real-world situation. Here, we describe the use of nurse expert key informant group interviews to generate requirements that must be fulfilled in immersive virtual reality environments designed to evoke and engage participants in self-management tasks. An expert panel of four home care nurses participated in three sessions designed to elicit details of common home care challenges, frequency of variation, and typical participants. More than 20 potential scenarios were identified. The design team later used this information to create design requirements for two key scenarios and subsequently develop immersive virtual reality environments for use in research studies, mapping sensory and functional expectations to immersive virtual reality implementations. Challenges in mapping from key informant group findings to requirements are addressed.

An IoT-fuzzy based password checker system for wireless video surveillance system

Wireless video surveillance systems (WVSS) are deployed in large environments for use in strategic places such as town centers, public streets, and airports and play an essential role in protecting critical infrastructure. However, WVSSs are vulnerable to unauthorized access due to weak login credentials, which leads to their exploitation to launch cyberattacks on other systems, such as distributed denial-of-service attacks. Hence, it is essential to secure these systems from unauthorized access. This paper proposes the Mamdani fuzzy inference system (FIS)-based password checker algorithm to estimate the password strength ratio (PSR) of internet protocol (IP) cameras and internet of things (IoT) devices. This algorithm composes three stages, the password extraction stage, which evaluates the input parameters of FIS from the real-time streaming protocol (RTSP) protocol using a counter of password characters. Then, the processing stage uses Mamdani FIS to optimize the input parameters to calculate the PSR. Finally, the alarm stage will notify the system administrator about weak IoT nodes. Unlike the existing approaches, this algorithm improves detection accuracy by informing the system administrator about threatened nodes. Extensive experiments are carried out to determine the efficiency of the proposed algorithm. The results confirm the efficiency of the proposed algorithm with high accuracy, which outperforms existing schemes.

ПАРАМЕТРИЧЕСКИЕ БИБЛИОТЕЧНЫЕ ЭЛЕМЕНТЫ КАК ЭФФЕКТИВНОЕ СРЕДСТВО СОВЕРШЕНСТВОВАНИЯ ТЕХНОЛОГИЙ ИНФОРМАЦИОННОГО МОДЕЛИРОВАНИЯ В СТРОИТЕЛЬСТВЕ

It is rational to build automation of design activities as a stage of information modeling in construction on the formalization and modeling of numerous routine operations that make up the bulk of the complexity and cost of design. At the same time, elemental design is associated with frequent reference to specialized reference and regulatory literature, software external to the modeling environment, which form the necessary information flow for high-quality design. One of the effective directions for accelerating and improving design activities is the development and use of parametric models of elements of buildings, structures and building structures, containing both algorithms for constructing spatial and layout images of an object, and providing it with the necessary algorithmic equipment for automated design according to a normative or user-adapted scenario. The paper presents an example of substantiation, development and use of parametric library elements in information modeling of buildings, structures and building structures. On the example of a parametric model of a free-standing foundation, modeled in the Graphisoft GDL environment for use in the ARCHICAD PC, the goals of creating and the benefits of using parametric (smart) objects of the information model are considered, effective work with a parametric model is demonstrated, which reduces the complexity of design activities, the key parameters of the object and examples of scripts are given software environment, an assessment of efficiency was made, prospects for further development of parametric modeling tools were determined.

Ensuring equitable access to ocean and coastal information to advance knowledge and inform decision-making: The global Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Abstracts

While the oceans are vitally important for human life and the global economy, they have been under extraordinary pressure in recent decades due to human interactions and climate change. Launched in 1971, the Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Abstracts (ASFA) database of over four million records serves as an invaluable information source about the oceans and other aquatic environments for use in research and decision-making, particularly due to its inclusion of both primary and grey literature. Since information production and use practices are rapidly changing, an assessment of use of the database and information needs of stakeholders was conducted, guided by the following questions: 1) What do individuals (researchers, practitioners, students, and decision makers) seeking aquatic sciences and fisheries information expect the global ASFA database will provide? 2) Have evolving information production practices and delivery technologies affected expectations of users of a database like ASFA? and 3) What action should the ASFA Secretariat take to ensure the development of the database continues to fulfil its mandate as a highly relevant and informative resource for all types of users worldwide? By means of surveys, interviews, and analysis of longitudinal usage data, users' views of ASFA's strengths, weaknesses, and potentially beneficial enhancements were identified. Based on the results of the use assessment, the ASFA Secretariat has implemented several substantial changes, including creating an open information platform containing grey literature, as well as restructuring its international affiliate partnership arrangement to facilitate involvement of new members in ongoing additions to the database. These changes, designed to make the information more easily found, accessible, and interoperable, will enable aquatic and fisheries scientists, managers, students, and decision makers to use relevant primary and grey literature from around the world and assist with ocean and coastal research efforts, mitigation of the effects of climate change, and reaching global sustainability goals.