Preliminary Knowledge Research Articles

Channel planform changes on the lower Peiros River (Patras, Greece): 1945-2018 comparison

Changes between the active channel planform features of the lower Peiros River in 1945 and 2018 were examined through a multitemporal analysis performed in a GIS environment. The active channel experienced a consistent and rather generalized narrowing process (overall 71.6%, up to 84.3% at the reach-scale) along with localized increases of sinuosity and channel pattern variations associated with the disappearance of secondary channels and bars. Negligible changes in length occurred but the river mouth retreated by approximately 160 m. Large riverine areas disconnected from the active channel were involved in a peri-urbanization process and, thus, occupied by human activities and infrastructures; this resulted in anthropogenic landform modelling and increase in vulnerable elements exposed to hydrogeomorphic hazards. The observed active-channel planform changes could be, at least partly, human-induced. Further research is needed to define the Peiros River geomorphological evolution. The outcomes from this study represent an essential preliminary knowledge base under a river management perspective.

Academic User View: Organ-on-a-Chip Technology.

Organ-on-a-Chip (OoC) systems bring together cell biology, engineering, and material science for creating systems that recapitulate the in vivo microenvironment of tissues and organs. The versatility of OoC systems enables in vitro models for studying physiological processes, drug development, and testing in both academia and industry. This paper evaluates current platforms from the academic end-user perspective, elaborating on usability, complexity, and robustness. We surveyed 187 peers in 35 countries and grouped the responses according to preliminary knowledge and the source of the OoC systems that are used. The survey clearly shows that current commercial OoC platforms provide a substantial level of robustness and usability—which is also indicated by an increasing adaptation of the pharmaceutical industry—but a lack of complexity can challenge their use as a predictive platform. Self-made systems, on the other hand, are less robust and standardized but provide the opportunity to develop customized and more complex models, which are often needed for human disease modeling. This perspective serves as a guide for researchers in the OoC field and encourages the development of next-generation OoCs.

Awareness of Hazard Risks and Prevention Among Orthopaedic Surgery Residents in South East Nigeria.

Background:Orthopaedic surgery is a specialty that deals with a lot of complex and delicate procedures which involve the use of power tools as well as handling of sharp tools and bony spicules, which, among other things, expose trainees to day-to-day hazards which can predispose them to an array of health challenges and burden the health sector. Knowledge of different measures in minimizing some of these risks can go a long way to saving lives and resources.Objectives:This study aims to determine the level of awareness among orthopaedic surgical residents about various hazards and risks and to ascertain their views on the prevention thereof to guide certain decision-making concerning surgical hazard risk reduction.Materials and Methods:A cross-sectional survey of orthopaedic surgery residents in South East Nigeria was conducted using a structured questionnaire designed using the free software Google® Form and was electronically distributed randomly to orthopaedic surgery residents in southern Nigeria using platforms including WhatsApp and Telegram. The data obtained were analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) statistical software version 26. Consent was obtained from all respondents by outlining a clear statement of consent at the beginning of the form.Results:At the end of the study period, 49 surgical residents completed and submitted the questionnaire. There was a significant level of awareness of surgical hazard risks among the surgical residents, with over 90% agreeing to radiation exposure, needlestick injury, and inhalation of smoke being the major surgical hazard risks encountered in orthopaedic surgery practice. Over 95.9% of the respondents agreed that the use of sharp collection devices can help reduce needlestick injuries. All respondents agreed that the provision of adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) can help reduce surgical hazards. It was noted that the majority of the respondents (65.3%) had their preliminary knowledge about exposure to surgical hazard risks and appropriate safety measures during their undergraduate education. About 30.6% were aware of a surgery hazard risk safety guideline in their training centres, whereas only 65.3% of those people have studied the guidelines. There was no statistically significant associations between the level of training and marital status and those who had studied the surgical hazard risk guidelines available in their centres (P = 0.086, χ2= 2.942; P = 0.715, χ2=0.133, respectively). All of the residents know that immunization can help reduce the impact of disease risk among the surgery staff, but only 73.5% have completed a hepatitis B immunization and 55.1% have completed the tetanus immunization.Conclusion:Surgical hazards risks are important issues that need to be addressed and measures regularly reviewed appropriately to ensure and maintain the safety and health of the orthopaedic surgical and all other health personnel. There is a significant level of awareness of surgical hazard risks and prevention measures among orthopaedic residents, but the level of compliance to safety guidelines is not yet optimal.Recommendation:PPEs and sharp collection boxes should always be available in theatres and measures should be taken to encourage residents’ adherence to studying and practicing established surgical safety guidelines in their hospitals and also completing their immunization schedules.

Exploring the Application of RFID for Designing Augmented Virtual Reality Experience

Recent technical advancement has driven the boundary between the physical reality and digital virtuality to diminish significantly. As part of the emerging trend, existing research leverages a synergized use of Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) and virtual reality (VR) to create compelling hybrid user experience. However, current state-of-the-art literature indicates a lack of coherent architecture for seamlessly integrating these two siloed technology stacks, thus hindering full-fledged mixed and extended reality applications. In this article, we first conducted a comprehensive literature review and identified key design themes and different technical affordances of RFID within VR context; in reflection of our findings, we hence proposed an overarching architecture to facilitate swift and flexible composition of RFID and VR; Three use cases were further established using the proposed architecture to both demonstrate its technical feasibility and qualitatively assess RFID’s augmentation over conventional VR applications. This exploratory research intends to offer some preliminary design knowledge and insights for designing and developing RFID-augmented VR applications, open up opportunities for further discussion and research interest in this area, thus ultimately contributing to a more immersive, interactive and informative user experience.

Preschool Teachers’ Knowledge, Perspectives and Practices in Stem Education: An Interview Study

Early STEM education has a great potential to support children’s development in constructing their own knowledge, in designing, discussing and testing ideas and finding solutions to different problems. Significant role in achieving the goals of STEM education is played by the teacher, who scaffolds the learning process, builds a creative learning environment, provokes children with open questions and guides them to test their hypothesis as young scientists, mathematicians, engineers and technology users. Preschool teachers’ knowledge and perspectives could seriously influence their practices in STEM education and respectively, the fulfilment of STEM learning outcomes. It is very important to explore in depth teachers’ views and experiences thus to plan and provide appropriate courses for their academic preparation or continuous professional development. While reviewing some popular misconceptions for STEM education amongst teachers, this paper presents the results of pre- and post-interviews conducted with teachers from Bulgaria in the framework of the European multilateral Erasmus+ project №2018-1-TR01-KA203-059568 “STEM for Pre-schoolers and Their Families” (PARENTSTEM) (2018–2021). The overall goal of this project was to increase family involvement in the STEM education process of early childhood children specifically coming from low socio-economic status. As a part of this goal implementation, the project aimed to extend conceptual and pedagogical knowledge of early childhood teachers on STEM. In the frame of the project the preschool teachers-participants in the study were provided with three teacher trainings (two international and one national) and were additionally supported with the intellectual outputs of the project. This paper attempted to identify teachers’ preliminary knowledge, awareness and attitudes towards STEM conceptualization and pedagogy and to describe the relative influence of the project teacher trainings and activities on them. The results of the research unambiguously demonstrated the need for training of preschool teachers in terms of STEM education, outlining the main focuses to be considered when constructing STEM courses intended for preschool teachers.

Analogies between medusa and single port surgery in gastroenterology and hepatology: A review.

Single port surgery (SPS) was introduced as an attractive, minimally invasive surgical technique that ensures esthetic results for many types of visceral surgery. Initially, surgeons immediately set about performing SPS without preliminary knowledge or training, which resulted in higher complication rates. Today, current studies conclusively show that SPS is scientifically rehabilitated and indicated for simple and complex laparoscopic procedures. We here describe the astonishing analogies between Greek mythology and modern surgery.

Linking entomofauna and farmland management to enhance ecosystem services in Mediterranean drylands

AbstractPlanning for biodiversity conservation and management requires understanding the underlying ecological and socio‐economic trade‐offs. In this study held in extensive grasslands of Southern Portugal, we investigated: (a) how pollinators, potential agricultural pests and natural enemies relate with yield (above‐ground vegetation biomass) and vegetation quality (crude protein content [CPC]), two important provisioning services provided by grasslands; and (b) how the abundance of target taxa can be favoured or controlled through farmland management. We expected to provide preliminary knowledge into the effects of annual weather variability on both modulating the association of the target taxa with vegetation biomass and CPC, thereby conditioning the management measures required to optimise those services. Vegetation and arthropods were sampled in May from 2012 to 2014. Linear mixed models were used to examine the relationship of arthropod abundance with yield, vegetation quality and management variables. Vegetation biomass better explained the abundance of bees, leafhoppers and ladybird beetles, whereas aphids and ichneumonid wasps were more associated to CPC (bees presented contrasting annual responses). Higher stocking rates favoured higher abundance of aphids, and contrasting annual responses were found for chalcid wasps and bees. Higher cultivation frequency was related with lower abundance of aphids, spiders, chalcid wasps and ladybird beetles. There was high annual variability in the relationship of target groups with vegetation biomass and CPC, as well as in the effects of management variables on target groups. Therefore, annual changes in trade‐offs between the potential for ecosystem services (pollination, biological control) and disservices (crop pest‐infestation) associated with these groups may be foreseen, according to yearly conditions.

An alternative way of evolutionary multimodal optimization: density-based population initialization strategy

Evolutionary algorithms rely on the population initialization strategy to determine a set of candidate solutions, which provide the preliminary knowledge of the problem landscape for the subsequent evolutionary process. However, the distribution of the initial population is rarely concerned in the multimodal evolutionary community. Moreover, a large initial population has not been attractive enough for evolutionary multimodal optimization, because it is difficult and challenging to achieve a balance between diversity and convergence within limited computing resources. As an extended version of our previous conference paper, this paper focuses on the construction of a large initial population that is beneficial for evolutionary multimodal optimization. First, we propose an improved density-based population initialization strategy to generate a uniform initial population with a certain degree of randomness. Then, after acquiring the raw fitness landscape of the problem, a fitness-weighted density-based population initialization strategy is proposed to explore potential global peaks. Finally, we design a multi-species cooperative coevolution algorithm for multimodal optimization, which balances the exploration and exploitation of such a population in the evolutionary process. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm is better than the mainstream algorithms on the CEC2013 multimodal optimization benchmark.

Calibration-free counting of low molecular copy numbers in single DNA-PAINT localization clusters

Single-molecule localization microscopy (SMLM) has revolutionized light microscopy by enabling optical resolution down to a few nanometer. Yet, localization precision commonly does not suffice to visually resolve single subunits in molecular assemblies or multimeric complexes. Because each targeted molecule contributes localizations during image acquisition, molecular counting approaches to reveal the target copy numbers within localization clusters have been persistently proposed since the early days of SMLM, most of which rely on preliminary knowledge of the dye photophysics or on a calibration to a reference. Previously, we developed localization-based fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (lbFCS) as an absolute ensemble counting approach for the SMLM-variant DNA-PAINT (points accumulation for imaging in nanoscale topography), for the first time, to our knowledge, circumventing the necessity for reference calibrations. Here, we present an extended concept termed lbFCS+, which allows absolute counting of copy numbers for individual localization clusters in a single DNA-PAINT image. In lbFCS+, absolute counting of fluorescent loci contained in individual nanoscopic volumes is achieved via precise measurement of the local hybridization rates of the fluorescently labeled oligonucleotides (“imagers”) employed in DNA-PAINT imaging. In proof-of-principle experiments on DNA origami nanostructures, we demonstrate the ability of lbFCS+ to truthfully determine molecular copy numbers and imager association and dissociation rates in well-separated localization clusters containing up to 10 docking strands. For N ≤ 4 target molecules, lbFCS+ is even able to resolve integers, providing the potential to study the composition of up to tetrameric molecular complexes. Furthermore, we show that lbFCS+ allows resolving heterogeneous binding dynamics, enabling the distinction of stochastically generated and a priori indistinguishable DNA assemblies. Beyond advancing quantitative DNA-PAINT imaging, we believe that lbFCS+ could find promising applications ranging from biosensing to DNA computing.

Chinese named entity recognition: The state of the art

Named Entity Recognition(NER), one of the most fundamental problems in natural language processing, seeks to identify the boundaries and types of entities with specific meanings in natural language text. As an important international language, Chinese has uniqueness in many aspects, and Chinese NER (CNER) is receiving increasing attention. In this paper, we give a comprehensive survey of recent advances in CNER. We first introduce some preliminary knowledge, including the common datasets, tag schemes, evaluation metrics and difficulties of CNER. Then, we separately describe recent advances in traditional research and deep learning research of CNER, in which the CNER with deep learning is our focus. We summarize related works in a basic three-layer architecture, including character representation, context encoder, and context encoder and tag decoder. Meanwhile, the attention mechanism and adversarial-transfer learning methods based on this architecture are introduced. Finally, we present the future research trends and challenges of CNER.

Characterization of binders and pigments using an integrated analytical approach: Application to wooden reliefs created by Vasko Lipovac in the 1970s

This contribution describes the study conducted on two painted wooden reliefs created in the early 1970s by Vasko Lipovac, a prominent Croatian contemporary artist. Due to the poor condition in which the artworks were found, it was important to establish a strategy for conservation and long-term preservation. Accordingly, preliminary knowledge about chemical composition of the paint pigments and binders was pointed out as significant information addressed in this study. Since the chemical composition of the paint determines the conservation methodology and materials, the proper treatment ensures stability of the original materials, and accordingly, long term preservation of an artwork. An integrated analytical approach involving different instrumental analytical techniques was applied to each of the microsamples collected in the paintings. For the elemental characterization of the pigments, total reflection X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (TXRF) was used, and the obtained results were complemented with the information about mineral phases present in the pigments by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. The TXRF results demonstrated that most of the pigments related with the named “skin tone” contain appreciable amounts of Cd (1.8–9%) with constant presence but variable amounts of Se (0.24–1.1%), reinforcing the interpretation that the pigment originally used is cadmium sulfoselenide (the so-called “cadmium red”), although by XRD we only observed the presence of its alteration to cadmium sulfate. The XRD results revealed a complex mixture of different inorganic compounds present in the painted wooden reliefs (i.e., barite, rutile, quartz, calcite, chlorite, etc). The presence of zinc white with wurtzite structure in almost all the samples can be considered as the main constituent of the coloring painting layer. Raman spectroscopy contributed to a more accurate characterization of the analysed paint samples, since the vibrational spectra as a result of Raman scattering proved very useful to obtain information on the presence and type of the synthetic pigments.Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and pyrolytic gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) were used to determine the chemical composition of the paint samples binders. Py-GC/MS clarified the doubts about acrylic and alkyd components in paints where polyvinyl acetate (PVAc) is predominant by detecting acrylate monomers and phthalic anhydrides and provided information about their relative presence in the samples. On the other hand, FTIR spectroscopy was a necessary tool for unambiguous identification of nitrocellulose in the white and black samples from one of the paintings, as well as for the firm assumption of its presence in most of the other samples since Py-GC/MS is not suitable for its detection.

Deriving Pertinent Knowledge through Sentiment Analysis and Linking with Relevant Documents

Purpose: This study aims to explore pertinent knowledge through the Sentiment Analysis technique and to link with relevant, pin-pointed documents. Design/Methodology/Approach: While information is essential ‘information overload’ is a big problem when we search for specific information. To get rid of psychological stress, mistakes in decision making or disregarding of relevant information, a methodology has been developed which may be suitable for researchers to extract pertinent knowledge from huge amount of research publications in a particular domain (‘climatology’ has been chosen for demonstration) within the shortest possible time. The study presents, how exactly relevant information can be retrieved there through sentiment analysis and through which a preliminary knowledge base can be gained. For this, ‘R’ software has been used to do the desired manipulation on the collected data. The steps involve pre-processing of introductory text, tokenization, polarity detection and analysis of text through sentiment analysis. Findings: It has been found that knowledge derived through sentiment analysis and abstract of the linked documents fairly match with each other, which validates the relevance and importance of the linked documents. Again, the impact factor of the prestigious journal having global coverage, where most of the linked documents were published also shows the importance of the linked documents/papers.

Resonant Airborne Acoustic Emission for Nondestructive Testing and Defect Imaging in Composites

A new version of an acoustic emission mode which is different from its traditional counterpart is discussed in view of applications for nondestructive testing. It is based on the effect of acoustic waves generation from the defect area in ambient air by local standing wave vibration developed in this area at the defect resonant frequency. Another approach which does not require preliminary knowledge of local defect-resonance frequency is one that uses wideband acoustic activation by a noise-like input signal. The acoustic emission field from the defect area is a “fingerprint” of the radiation source, and thus is applicable to defect detection and imaging. This enables the use of commercial microphone scanning for detecting and imaging various defects in composites. An improvement in the acoustic-emission scanning mode based on a multiple-axis robot is studied to applications to complex shape components. A rapid, full-field imaging of the acoustic-emission field is implemented by means of an array of microphones (acoustic camera). Numerous case studies validate the potential of the resonant acoustic-emission modes for integration in the defect imaging system based on inexpensive, fully acoustic instrumental components.

Development and validation of the knowledge and attitude regarding childhood vaccination (KACV) questionnaire among healthcare workers: the Malay version

ABSTRACT Health care workers play an important role in supporting childhood vaccination as they are the most trusted source of vaccine-related information for parents. However, there is limited validated tools to measure their knowledge and attitude on childhood vaccination. This study aims to develop and validate knowledge and attitude regarding childhood vaccination (KACV) questionnaire among healthcare workers. The questionnaire was developed based on literature reviews and underwent a sequential validation process, including content, face validity and exploratory factor analysis. However, the attitude section is unidimensional and has undergone reliability analysis only. The preliminary knowledge questionnaire contains 33 items and the attitude questionnaire consists of 17 items. The preliminary KACV showed a high item Content Validity Index and Face Validity Index. The final questionnaire consists of 10 items for knowledge and 15 items for attitude. The Cronbach alpha for the knowledge and attitude section were 0.896 and 0.861, respectively. KACV is a valid and reliable tool to measure healthcare workers’ knowledge and attitude on childhood vaccination.

Dietary immunostimulants reduced infectivity of Diplostomum spp. eye fluke in common carp, Cyprinus carpio L

Juvenile common carp Cyprinus carpio L. (5.52 ± 1.66 cm, TL) were fed on four diets containing either beta-glucan (MacroGard, 1 g kg −1), nucleotides (Optimûn, 0.2 g kg - 1), chitosan (deacetylated chitin ≥75% shrimp shells, 10 g kg −1) or a basal control diet for 35 days to test whether these so-called “immunostimulants” could affect eye fluke Diplostomum spp. infection success. The immunostimulants diets reduced the number of eye fluke infecting the eyes of C. carpio, with significantly higher infections in the control diet (4.78 ± 1.27) compared with the chitosan (2.08 ± 0.87), nucleotide (2.98 ± 1.01), and beta-glucan (1.41 ± 0.79) diets. To our knowledge, this is the first study to provide evidence that beta-glucan, nucleotides, and chitosan diets can aid against a Diplostomum infection and provides valuable preliminary knowledge on the use of immunostimulants to ameliorate parasitic infections.

DC MOTOR FUZZY MODEL BASED OPTIMAL CONTROLLER

This paper presents a method for the design of optimal fuzzy controller of a DC motor using a fuzzy model based approach with emphasis on minimal knowledge on the controlled system. In the first part of the paper we describe the method of the black-box fuzzy model design based only on the system´s measured input/output data without the necessity of preliminary knowledge of its internal structure and parameters. This fuzzy model is in the second part used in the design of optimal fuzzy controller based on finding the sequence of input signal values that will transfer the controlled system into the desired state in accordance with the selected optimality criterion. The realized simulation and experimental measurements performed on HIL platform have confirmed the correctness and effectiveness of the proposed design method and also its applicability to others dynamic systems with as little previous knowledge as possible.

PENGARUH PENGETAHUAN AWAL TERHADAP KETERAMPILAN BERPIKIR KRITIS PESERTA DIDIK PADA TEMA PANAS DAN PERPINDAHANNYA DI KELAS V SD

The purpose of this study was to investigate: the effect of initial knowledge on critical thinking skills of students. This research is a quasi experimental research. The population is all students at SD Nanggalo Tarusan Pesisir Selatan and the sample is 50 students in class VA and VB. This sampling technique is porpusive sampling. The data from the research results were obtained from tests of preliminary knowledge and tests of critical thinking skills. The results showed that the students' initial knowledge influenced the critical thinking skills of students. There is no significant difference between critical thinking skills and high initial knowledge t hitung =1,87 t tabel = 2,56.

Research on small caliber weapons firing ranges security enhancement considering the projectile-obstacle impact

Weapons systems are used to gain a tactical, strategic, material or mental advantage over an adversary or enemy target. The modern weapons systems are designed to be technologically complex but practical for operator usage. The firing phenomenon consists of a multitude of mechanical and thermodynamic processes with the result being the movement of the projectile towards a chosen target. The projectile movement from the weapon to the point of impact defines its trajectory.Firing ranges are locations where military personnel is operating certain weapons systems in order to achieve specific results and certain levels of readiness. Due to increasing urbanisation of the areas adjacent to firing ranges, monitoring the projectile trajectory becomes mandatory in order to be able to provide a secure climate for both military personnel and civilians.It is the purpose of the author to provide the numerical simulation tool (a MATLAB application) which is useful for tracking the projectile trajectory from the muzzle of the weapon to the impacted obstacle. By computing the useful information obtained with the internal and external ballistics, the theoretical trajectory of a projectile can be calculated. In order to get the most accurate values, preliminary knowledge is needed. So by using appropriate tools and software, a projectile’s trajectory can be calculated if the correct values are provided (mass, diameter, initial angle, initial speed). The tool created has different weapons-ammunition specifications and initial conditions parameters loaded that can be combined with the existing drag laws known in ballistics (Siacci law, 1930 law or 1943 law) to describe the projectile movement in atmosphere. As obstacles are defined, similar to the ones existing in a firing range, the tool can assess where the impact occurred and is able to display necessary values (impact points coordinates, velocities, impact angles, etc) while also creating 3D and 2D visualisations on the integrated graphic area. This way, the tool can be used to create impact assessments for specific weapons systems and decisions can be made to enhance the security of the firing range and the firing safety.Three different firing range configurations are considered for comparison when using certain small caliber weapons used by NATO countries.

Quantifying the joint distribution of drought indicators in Borneo fire-prone area

Borneo island is prone to fire due to its large peat soil area. Fire activity in Borneo is associated with regional climate conditions, such as total precipitation, precipitation anomaly, and dry spells. Thus, knowing the relationship between drought indicators can provide preliminary knowledge in developing a fire risk model. Therefore, this study aims to quantify the copula-based joint distribution and to analyze the coincidence probability between drought indicators in Borneo fire-prone areas. From dependence analysis, we found that the average of 2 months of total precipitation (TP), monthly precipitation anomalies (PA), and the total of 3 months of dry spells (DS) provides a moderate correlation to hotspots in Borneo. The results show the probability of the dry-dry period is 26.63, 17.66, and 18.54 % for TP-DS, PA-DS, and TP-PA, respectively. All of these are higher than the probability of the wet-wet period, which is 25.01, 16.12, and 17.98 % for TP-DS, PA-DS, and TP-PA, respectively. Through the probability, the return period of TP-DS in the dry-dry situation 3.2 months/year, meaning the dry situation in total precipitation and dry spells that occur simultaneously could appear about 3 months in a year on average. Furthermore, the return period of PA-DS and TP-PA in the dry-dry situation is 2.12 and 2.22 months/year, respectively. Moreover, the probability of dry spells in dry conditions when given total precipitation in dry conditions is higher than given precipitation anomalies in dry conditions.

Finnish student teachers’ ideas of outdoor learning

ABSTRACT A reformed national curriculum has introduced transformative and sociocultural learning elements to the Finnish education system. In addition, sustainability and outdoor education remain pressing issues for Finnish educators. We conducted a content analysis of the views of outdoor education held by student teachers enrolled in first-year sustainability and outdoor education courses in Finland (n = 46). The goal was to identify the learning environments and pedagogical ideas of student teachers. The student teachers emphasised the role of nature in outdoor education and identified locality as an important learning environment. Their surrounding environments included both built and unbuilt environments. The teaching methods they wrote were appropriate outdoor education, active learning, participatory learning, making observations and multidisciplinary learning especially for sustainability issues. Notably, technology and digitalisation were not emphasised in the results. Overall, the student teachers had a strong preliminary knowledge of outdoor learning spaces and clear visions for conducting outdoor education.