Essential Points Research Articles

Performance Measurement in R&D Projects: Relevance of Indicators Based on US and German Experts

To turn technologies into successful products, it is necessary to understand the development process from ideas to the market and to know how to measure performance. Performance measurement is critical for technology developers and investors in monitoring whether performance meets expectations to make decisions about actions for improving R&D characteristics. This article emphasizes indicators for R&D project performance measurement, especially relevant for measuring project performance in company, start-up and spin-off companies, where the project is perceived as an independent business unit. A clear set of indicators for measuring and controlling the performance of R&D projects for policy representatives would allow them to identify problematic areas in the implementation of R&D projects and to make well-aimed decisions for the promotion and financing of technology development. What indicators should be used to measure the performance of R&D projects? Attempts to find the answer to the question in science were unsuccessful. This article aims to select indicators for measuring the performance of R&D projects and identify and compare their relevance among US and German experts. Research is carried out in different countries, and their results create opportunities for mutual learning and more intensive international cooperation in technological development. In order to achieve a goal, essential decision-making points in R&D projects were identified, and a general set of R&D performance evaluation indicators were prepared based on a literature analysis. Later, two groups of experts from the US and Germany selected from the general list indicators suitable only for evaluating R&D projects and evaluated their relevance. The obtained evaluation results of the US and German experts were processed using the MCDM method and compared.

Nonlinear inhomogeneous Fokker–Planck models: Energetic-variational structures and long-time behavior

Inspired by the modeling of grain growth in polycrystalline materials, we consider a nonlinear Fokker–Plank model, with inhomogeneous diffusion and with variable mobility parameters. We develop large time asymptotic analysis of such nonstandard models by reformulating and extending the classical entropy method, under the assumption of periodic boundary condition. In addition, illustrative numerical tests are presented to highlight the essential points of the current analytical results and to motivate future analysis.

The Effect of the Use of Smartphones on Intensive Reading Students’ Achievement

The purpose of this study was to describe the effect of using Smartphones on the student's achievement of Intensive Reading learning at St Augustine Hippo Catholic University. The development of information technology has been so fast, that it has affected every aspect of human life. In addition, the development of information and communication technology has a positive impact on humans but it can also have a negative effect, especially on mobile communication devices (smartphones). The method used in this research is a quantitative research survey design. The research findings indicate several essential points, namely: (1) Improvement of students' learning achievement in Intensive Reading, (2) Students are more active in conducting learning activities in class, and (3) The quality of teaching and learning process increases significantly. It can be concluded that the use of a Smartphone could increase students’ achievement.

The reasons for the loss of polyurea coatings adhesion to the concrete substrate in chemically aggressive water tanks

The article discusses the use of one of coatings protecting and strengthening concrete surfaces. It is polyurea coatings to strengthen waterproofing in tanks for water and other related liquids. Details of polyurea application technologies for specific tank structures and preparatory works that must be performed before the application of spray polyurea coatings have been discussed, as well as essential points related to minor and major cracks, cover reprofiling, type of coating used in chemically aggressive environments, causes and examples of structures where destructive corrosion processes of concrete surfaces and, consequently, the polyurea coatings covering them have been activated. The presented examples of failures in the application of polyurea coatings arise due to insufficient knowledge about the coatings themselves and the substrate on which the coatings are applied, but above all in failing to follow the strict procedure for their application.

A Basic and Simple Chromosome Preparation Protocol.

Chromosome preparation for chromosome analysis is basic and indispensable for wide area of biology such as genetics, medicine, molecular biology, or other many fields. However, it seems that the many artisans in that fields feel hard to get start chromosome preparation technique, as it is something technically demanding or troublesome, or it needs something secret manner to prepare good quality of chromosome spreads. Actually many technical variations among individual laboratories exist. The aims of this chapter is to describe concise and minimal fundamental protocols specifically focused on human chromosome preparation, as step-by-step guiding with instructing essential points.

Madeleine and Willy Baranger’s contribution to psychoanalysis

ABSTRACT This paper provides a summary of the careers of the psychoanalysts Madeleine and Willy Baranger and the context in which their ideas developed. It will outline their training contributions in Latin American psychoanalytic associations, which culminated in the foundation of the Uruguayan Psychoanalytic Association. The theory of the bipersonal field, later known as the intersubjective field, will be described. This was conceptualized to study the analytic situation when problems of stagnation arise in the analytic process and focuses on the common, unique unconscious phantasy created between analyst and analysand. The concept of the “bastion” and the notion of the “second look” directed toward the intersubjective field will be described as well as the differences between the theory of the intersubjective field and the concept of enactment. The repetition of the analyst will be considered, in particular when the analyst only uses one theory. The distinction between Klein’s early Oedipus and the Freudian Oedipus complex, which the Barangers considered to be two different concepts, will be explored. The essential points of Madeleine Baranger’s article on “bad faith” will be presented. Finally, the concept of resignification and the use of theoretical complementarity will be highlighted.

Health Centers and Value-Based Payment: A Framework for Health Center Payment Reform and Early Experiences in Medicaid Value-Based Payment in Seven States.

Efforts are ongoing to advance value-based payment (VBP), and health centers serve as essential access points to comprehensive primary care services for almost 29 million people in the United States. Therefore, it is important to assess the levels of health center participation in VBP, types of VBP contracts, characteristics of health centers participating in VBP, and variations in state policy environments that influence VBP participation. This mixed methods study combined qualitative research on state policy environments and health center participation in VBP with quantitative analysis of Uniform Data System and health center financial data in seven vanguard states: Oregon, Washington, California, Colorado, New York, Hawaii, and Kentucky. VBP contracts were classified into three layers: base payments being transformed from visit-based to population-based (Layer 1), infrastructure and care coordination payments (Layer 2), and performance incentive payments (Layer 3). Health centers in all seven states participated in Layer 2 and Layer 3 VBP, with VBP participation growing from 35% to 58% of all health centers in these states from 2013 to 2017. Among participating health centers, the average percentage of Medicaid revenue received as Layer 2 and Layer 3 VBP rose from 6.4% in 2013 to 9.1% in 2017. Oregon and Washington health centers participating in Layer 1 payment reforms received most of their Medicaid revenue in VBP. In 2017, VBP participation was associated with larger health center size in four states (P <.05), and higher average number of days cash on hand (P <.05) in three states. A multilayer payment model is useful for implementing and monitoring VBP adoption among health centers. State policy, financial incentives from Medicaid agencies and Medicaid managed plans, and health center-Medicaid collaboration under strong primary care association and health center leadership will likely be required to increase health center participation in VBP.

Experimental characterization of a small wind turbine with variable blades angle

Small wind turbines with fixed blades present a significant disadvantage when operating at low wind speeds. Wind speed increase proportionally with the height to the ground and such wind turbines are installed at most on rooftops, so they face low wind speeds < 10 m/s. This work shows the experimental characterization of a wind turbine prototype with three flat blades and variable orientation angle, to measure the least wind velocity that drives the turbine from the rest. Experimental tests were carried out in a wind tunnel defining two essential points of interest: first, the angle at which it is possible to start the movement of the turbine with the minimum energy; second, the angle that captures the most power from the wind, based on a constant energy input (wind velocity constant).

OROFUNCTIONAL MANIFESTATIONS IN CHILDREN WITH MICROCEPHALY: CASE REPORTS

The study aimed to describe the clinical and dental features of 2 children diagnosed with severe microcephaly. Brazilian children of both sexes with brownish skin color and complete primary dentition presented oral hygiene difficulties as the main complaint. During anamnesis, 3 dimension (3D) cephalic perimeter reduction in occipitofrontal circumference at birth, intellectual deficit with history of respiratory complications, controlled seizures, and motor and visual impairments were reported. Extraoral clinical and functional examinations verified predominantly oral breathing, with no passive lip sealing and atypical lingual interposition. Intraoral examination revealed grinding of teeth, the presence of a biofilm, chewing on the left side, and deterioration of the occlusal surfaces of primary molars. Knowledge of facial morphology and orofunctional disorders of patients with special care needs in early childhood will allow health professionals to perform preventive and interceptive procedures in these individuals, essential points for defining a prognosis and the elaboration of a health care protocol.

The Dasātīr and the “Āẕar Kaivān school” in Historical Context: Origin and Later Development

&#x0D; The present paper aims to offer a new understanding of the so-called “Zoroastrian Illuminative philosophers in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries,” namely the Āẕar Kaivān school. In the twentieth century, this school was understood to be a Zoroastrian phenomenon originating from Āẕar Kaivān (1533–1618), who is believed to have been born at Estakhr (Iran) and later to have immigrated to Patna (India). One way to sketch their texts is to notice their contents as the Zoroastrian Illuminative school, as H. Corbin did. But it may be more likely that the first principle for this school is a matter of ancient Persian culture, especially the Āsmānī language. Until recently, we knew little for certain about the origin of this Āsmānī vocabulary, except the inference that it might be the product of Āẕar Kaivān himself. But Sadeghi (2020) shows that the earliest mention of what would become the Āsmānī vocabulary can be confirmed in the Persian dictionary Farhang-e Mo’aiyid al-Fożalāʾ, compiled in India in 1519. The origin of the essential points of the Āẕar Kaivān school is not Āẕar Kaivān himself, but there were probably some pioneers in the Delhi Sultanate in India before him. Adding to this, a closer look at their writings shows that this school is not a monolith, but a complex of various preceding elements. The Illuminative Philosophy is just one of them. As such, it becomes possible to arrive at the conclusion that the Āẕar Kaivān school is not Āẕar Kaivān’s school. He simply put together the various elements that preceded him.&#x0D;

Redefining energy vulnerability, considering the future

Within the EU, energy poverty is believed to affect at least 9.8% of households. Energy poverty can be broadly defined as a households' inability to meet its energy needs. This is a problem that affects all European countries, but narrow interpretations of data based on notions of material deprivation may lead to energy poverty being overlooked or not considered an issue by policymakers. The EU Energy Poverty Advisory Hub makes a number of essential points when it comes to the measurement, definition, and potential policies and measures to deal with energy poverty. We build on this, using the term energy vulnerability in order to encompass the segment of population identified as living in energy poverty as well as those at risk of becoming energy poor in the future. We use a capabilities approach with a doughnut economics framework to expand on the concept of energy vulnerability as a form of capabilities deprivation, allowing for greater recognition of those that are affected in the present and intergenerationally. This framework is applied using mixed methods consisting of both a Swiss-wide survey of 1,486 people and 8 semi-structured interviews with energy stakeholders to investigate the knowledge gap on energy vulnerability in Switzerland. The framework may be applied and have wider repercussions for other parts of the world where energy poverty is not directly addressed, and where using the term of energy vulnerability may help direct policies in a more dynamic and responsive manner. Furthermore, this article identifies some limitations of basing energy vulnerability definitions on data which focuses on material deprivations as this may risk overlooking those that are vulnerable due to other reasons such as building energy efficiency. We find that levels of energy poverty/vulnerability are higher than estimated in official statistics, highlighting the need for tailored policies both in Switzerland and elsewhere. Levels of energy vulnerability in Switzerland may not be reflected elsewhere, but certainly draw attention to the potential misrecognition of energy vulnerability which may be more widespread than previously believed. We examine existing policies that may help to reduce energy vulnerability, as well as suggest other potential mitigation methods.

Wildfire Monitoring Based on Energy Efficient Clustering Approach for FANETS

Forest fires are a significant threat to the ecological system’s stability. Several attempts have been made to detect forest fires using a variety of approaches, including optical fire sensors, and satellite-based technologies, all of which have been unsuccessful. In today’s world, research on flying ad hoc networks (FANETs) is a thriving field and can be used successfully. This paper describes a unique clustering approach that identifies the presence of a fire zone in a forest and transfers all sensed data to a base station as soon as feasible via wireless communication. The fire department takes the required steps to prevent the spread of the fire. It is proposed in this study that an efficient clustering approach be used to deal with routing and energy challenges to extend the lifetime of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in case of forest fires. Due to the restricted energy and high mobility, this directly impacts the flying duration and routing of FANET nodes. As a result, it is vital to enhance the lifetime of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) to maintain high system availability. Our proposed algorithm EE-SS regulates the energy usage of nodes while taking into account the features of a disaster region and other factors. For firefighting, sensor nodes are placed throughout the forest zone to collect essential data points for identifying forest fires and dividing them into distinct clusters. All of the sensor nodes in the cluster communicate their packets to the base station continually through the cluster head. When FANET nodes communicate with one another, their transmission range is constantly adjusted to meet their operating requirements. This paper examines the existing clustering techniques for forest fire detection approaches restricted to wireless sensor networks and their limitations. Our newly designed algorithm chooses the most optimum cluster heads (CHs) based on their fitness, reducing the routing overhead and increasing the system’s efficiency. Our proposed method results from simulations are compared with the existing approaches such as LEACH, LEACH-C, PSO-HAS, and SEED. The evaluation is carried out concerning overall energy usage, residual energy, the count of live nodes, the network lifetime, and the time it takes to build a cluster compared to other approaches. As a result, our proposed EE-SS algorithm outperforms all the considered state-of-art algorithms.

Implementasi Webqual dan End-User Computing Satisfaction untuk Menganalisis Kualitas dan Kepuasan Pengguna Website

A website is one of the choices of means used to facilitate an agency in providing information. A quality website is a website that can give satisfaction to users. The availability of features on the website that suit user needs, attractive website appearance, easy-to-remember steps, and feedback are some of the essential points that can satisfy users. Madrasah Aliyah Negeri (MAN) Singkawang is a school that uses a website to provide information; until now, the MAN Singkawang website has never measured the quality of the website, so schools do not know the user satisfaction. This study aims to implement the Webqual and EUCS methods to determine the effect of website quality on end-user satisfaction. The test is carried out through several levels, namely, validity test, reliability test, t-test, F test, and coefficient of determination test. The results of the statement test stated that all questions were valid and reliable; there was a positive and significant influence of website quality through the independent variables Webqual and EUCS on the dependent variable user satisfaction (satisfaction), either partially or simultaneously. The coefficient of determination test results obtained a value of 58.8%, meaning that the ability of the independent variable to provide an explanation related to the dependent variable is relatively high. In other words, the independent variable offers a lot of information needed to predict the dependent variable. As for the calculation of user satisfaction on the MAN Singkawang website, a user satisfaction value of 83% is obtained. This value indicates that the students of MAN Singkawang are very satisfied through the quality provided on the MAN Singkawang website.

The Impact of Interface Design Element Features on Task Performance in Older Adults: Evidence from Eye-Tracking and EEG Signals.

It is crucial that the interface design of mobile apps be age-appropriate at this stage of global aging, as the new epidemic has resulted in a higher sense of isolation among older persons. In this study, four typical senior social service mobile applications were chosen to give older persons the ability to complete user login duties. The participants were 16 older adults (7 men and 9 women) aged 55 to 76. Both objective and subjective data, including task completion time, gaze length, pupil diameter changes, EEG wave amplitude changes, and subjective sensations of older persons, were gathered using a combination of eye-movement and EEG signal approaches. The program was created to investigate the effects of interface design aspects on older people’s task performance, including interface layout, interface color, information density, icon size and position, etc. The study’s findings revealed that when the user task completion time and average fixation duration were shorter, the line of sight was more equally distributed, the visual focus was closer to the login button, and the average EEG amplitude of the user changed more, the older adults performed better. The palace layout had a more positive effect on job completion among older individuals when it came to interface layout. In terms of interface color, colored (contrasting) colors should serve to highlight the interface’s essential information points while they can be removed. In terms of interface information density, a low-density level interface design can simplify and lower the cognitive load of task execution for older people. The first level of icons in the interface and their position in the visual center of the interface is the best interface design for older persons in terms of icon size and position. The results of this study have theoretical ramifications for a thorough understanding of the factors influencing older people’s task performance, practical ramifications for the design of older people-centered interfaces, and they contribute to our understanding of the characteristics of older people’s interface interaction behavior.

Analysis of the Technology and Production of 3D Animation Action Setting

Both human body and animation have certain lines. The human body will show various lines when walking, sitting, and running in daily life. But it is all an expression of the principle of expressive weight balance. It is necessary to outline the human body with lines in one sentence, and the animation effect should be given priority. From this sentence, we know that the action setting and the personalized display is particularly important. At the same time, different amplitude, same amplitude, different time, different quality, same amplitude and same time are all the characteristics of a character. In the process of three-dimensional animation, the twelve principles are to make the story more complete and more in line with the actual and complete deduction. This paper takes action setting, key pose, and personalized action in 3D animation as the research object, and adopts the method of combining software application with practice. First of all, the key pose is captured by shooting various action references and using scene actions. After that, the remaining keyframes are supplemented. There are two essential points in the production of keyframes. First, the lines and curves of the human body can also be called the silhouette of animation. Second, the selection and the determination of key poses are personalized action presentation. This paper gives the corresponding solutions. It is hoped that the display of key poses and personalized actions and the application of the Twelve Principles can provide valuable experience and skills for animation makers.

A Meteor Spectroscopic Survey in the Nullarbor

We report the start of science operations of a meteor spectroscopic survey in the Nullarbor region, Western Australia. The observation program consists of well-proven observatories developed as part of the All-Sky Meteor Orbit System (AMOS) project. These comprise high-sensitivity all-sky imaging units, as well as spectroscopic instruments observing brighter meteors. They are co-located with Desert Fireball Network (DFN) instruments, which themselves provide high-resolution astrometry for fireballs. There are two goals for this program. One is to keep a constant watch on meteor activity by always having one AMOS sub-network in the dark. The second is to provide spectroscopic coverage for recovered meteorites by the DFN, establishing essential calibration points between meteoritic samples and fireball spectra.

Brain-wide analysis of the supraspinal connectome reveals anatomical correlates to functional recovery after spinal injury.

The supraspinal connectome is essential for normal behavior and homeostasis and consists of numerous sensory, motor, and autonomic projections from brain to spinal cord. Study of supraspinal control and its restoration after damage has focused mostly on a handful of major populations that carry motor commands, with only limited consideration of dozens more that provide autonomic or crucial motor modulation. Here, we assemble an experimental workflow to rapidly profile the entire supraspinal mesoconnectome in adult mice and disseminate the output in a web-based resource. Optimized viral labeling, 3D imaging, and registration to a mouse digital neuroanatomical atlas assigned tens of thousands of supraspinal neurons to 69 identified regions. We demonstrate the ability of this approach to clarify essential points of topographic mapping between spinal levels, measure population-specific sensitivity to spinal injury, and test the relationships between region-specific neuronal sparing and variability in functional recovery. This work will spur progress by broadening understanding of essential but understudied supraspinal populations.

Way Back Home - An Auxiliary Teaching Tools in Biology Education in Colleges

In undergraduate biology education, especially in cell biology, it has been a challenge for students to integrate images well to memorize the complex and scattered expertise. In traditional biology teaching, the teacher's way of explaining with images is not good enough to show the connection between cell structure and function directly. Biology students need to spend long extra time to memorize these very essential points, which not only reduces students' interest in learning, but also is a very painful process for students with poor spatial imagination. However, the newly emerged VR game technology, which is visual, playful, and interactive, can be a good solution to the problem of students' interest in learning and their lack of spatial imagination. According to this situation, this paper designs a VR game as a supplementary teaching tool for cell biology and examines it from seven aspects: game mechanics, visual aesthetics, narrative, motivation, music score, learning objectives, and relevant. With using this VR game, biological related specialized student can directly see the changes in structure and remember them with pleasure, and teachers with similar teaching needs could also use them to improve learning effects. Finally, the advantages and limitations of this teaching aid are evaluated, aiming at broadening the current means of teaching undergraduate biology and providing new ideas for future higher education teaching of cell biology.

Ex-Officio Rights in Talak Divorce:

Abstract&#x0D; Theoretically, judges have the ex-officio rights to protect the rights of women and children in divorce cases. This study examines the judges' considerations in applying Ex officio rights associated with the plaintiff's profession as Pegawai Negeri Sipil (PNS, Indonesian Civil Servant) and non-civil servant. This normative legal research employed a case study and conceptual approach. The data collection techniques of this study were obtained from interviews, document content, and literature review. This study highlighted several essential points. First, the judges’ reasoning for applying ex-officio rights, which is referred to the Article 41 paragraph (c) of Law Number 16 of 2019 and the Decree of the Chairman of the Supreme Court Number: KMA/032/SK/IV/2006 concerning the Enforcement of Guidelines for Administration of Justice in Court. Second, the judges’ decision did not contradict the Ultra Petita principle since the considerations are based on logical arguments and facts such as the husband’s earning capacity, the wife’s devotion, and the wife’s loyalty. The legal basis of judges' decisions on divorce cases involving civil servants is similar to ordinary divorce cases. The divorce case is only distinguished by the addition of the regulations concerning civil servants in the divorce case of civil servants.&#x0D; Keywords: Ex-Officio, Ex-wife Rights, Judges’ Considerations, Talak, Civil Servant

A Novel Augmentative Backward Reward Function with Deep Reinforcement Learning for Autonomous UAV Navigation

ABSTRACT The autonomous UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) navigation has recently gained an increasing interest from both academic and industrial sectors due to its potential uses in various fields and especially, the need for social distancing during the pandemic. Many works have adopted a deep reinforcement learning (RL) method with experience replay called deep deterministic policy gradient (DDPG) to control the motion of UAV, and gain high accuracy results in static and simplified environments. However, they are still far from being ready for real world adoption in that the UAVs have to operate under complex and dynamic conditions. We also found that using only DDPG makes the learning process prone to oscillation and is inefficient for tasks having high dimensional action-state spaces. Furthermore, the goal reward mechanism in traditional reward functions brings a bias to the state, which resembles the one at the goal area and leads to erroneous action selection. To get closer to being ready for real world adoption, we proposed a novel method that enables UAVs to be capable of handling motion control in realistic environments. The first component of our proposed method is point cloud data (PCD) simplification with truncated icosahedron structure which converts enormous PCD into a few essential data points. In the second component of our method, we replace the traditional goal reward mechanism with a new mechanism called Augmentative Backward Reward (ABR) function to dispense the goal reward to transitions proportionately to its participation. By integrating simplified PCD and ABR, we achieved significantly better results when compared with using only the-state-of-the-art, TD3. In addition, we tested the proposed method with another navigation task, BipedalWalkerHardcore, a testbed for RL, and the result is still better and steadier than of TD3. These results indicate that the proposed method is robust.