Safety Comfort Research Articles

중증 뇌성마비 장애인의 홈의 의미와 입소 거주시설의 주거선택

This study analyzed the meaning of housing(home) and the reason for the choice of main character Mateusz, a severely disabled person with cerebral palsy, by combining a movie analysis of life feels good and a phenomenological approach that focuses on the essence of dwelling as an existential space. Specifically, Van Manen's hermeneutic phenomenological analysis method was used in movie. In the analysis results, the essential themes derived from the home experience at Mateusz' house include comfortable safety where you can play and study as you please, a place of protection (spatiality), intimacy of the body (corporality), a special child who receives the best love(ralationality), and my time will be good (temporality). And as the reasons why Mateusz finally chose the existing residential facility for the intellectually disabled people as a settlement include change of the owner of the primary territory, changes in the body, growth in thinking about people, optimism for the future through the creation of close relationships with the fellow disabled, employees, the facility's special consideration for Mateusz, and continuous ties with the elder brother.
 Based on these analysis results, this study presented implications and suggestions.

Efficacy and Safety of Resilient Hyaluronic Acid Fillers Injected with a Cannula: A Randomized, Evaluator-Blinded, Split-Face Controlled Study.

Cannulas are increasingly used for injecting hyaluronic acid fillers, as they are thought to improve patient comfort safety and treatment tolerability. This study aimed to demonstrate the non-inferiority of a Resilient Hyaluronic Acid 4 (RHA 4) filler injected with a cannula versus a needle for the treatment of moderate to severe nasolabial folds (NLF). A total of 50 subjects were included in a randomized, evaluator-blinded, split-face trial. The NLF were injected with RHA 4 using a cannula on one side of the face and using a needle on the other side on Day 0. A touch-up could be performed 4 weeks later. The subjects were followed up for 12 weeks after the last injection, ie, injection on Day 0 or touch-up. Efficacy was evaluated using a Wrinkle Severity Rating Scale (WSRS), the Global Aesthetic Improvement Scale (GAIS), and patient-reported outcomes. Safety assessments included the injection-site pain, common treatment reactions (CTRs), and adverse events (AEs). Twelve weeks after the last injection, the efficacy of the cannula treatment was found to be non-inferior to that of the needle treatment, based on the WSRS score improvements. The other study endpoints showed the equivalent efficacy and safety of the two methods. No serious or unexpected AEs were reported. RHA 4 may be effectively and safely injected into the NLF using a cannula or a needle, provided it is administrated by a trained practitioner.

Socially Aware Robot Navigation Framework: Where and How to Approach People in Dynamic Social Environments

This paper proposes a human approaching robot navigation framework that enables a mobile service robot to (i) estimate a socially optimal approaching pose, and (ii) navigate safely and socially to the estimated approaching pose. In the first stage, the robot estimates potential approaching poses of a human or a human group, which the robot can safely and socially approach, using the dynamic social zone model. In the second stage, the proposed framework selects a socially optimal approaching pose, then estimate a socially optimal trajectory of the robot using the proposed goal-oriented timed elastic band (GTEB) model. The developed GTEB model takes into account the current robot’s states, robot dynamics, dynamic social zone, regular obstacles and potential approaching poses to generate the socially optimal robot trajectory from the robot’s current pose to the selected optimal approaching pose. The motion control command extracted from the socially optimal trajectory is then utilized to drive the mobile robot to approach the individual humans or human groups, while safely and socially avoiding regular obstacles, human and human groups during the navigation process. The proposed approaching human framework is verified in the both simulation and real robots. The results illustrate that, the mobile robot equipped with our developed GTEB model is able to safely and socially approach and avoid individual humans and human groups, while guaranteeing the comfortable safety for the humans and socially acceptable behaviors for the robot. Note to Practitioners—Although our proposed GTEB model is capable of estimating a socially optimal approaching pose and social robot trajectory, driving the robot to approach a human and a human group, and providing the safety and comfort for humans and socially acceptable behaviors of the robot, there exists a few drawbacks if we wish to apply the proposed approaching human framework in dynamic social environments. First, the optimizer for the GTEB model should be improved in terms of computational time and accuracy to avoid generating unpredictable robot trajectories, especially in dynamic social environments. Second, the socio-spatio-temporal characteristics of the humans including human position, motion and orientation, and human group and human–object interactions play an important role in the proposed GTEB model. However, the existing techniques are only suitable in quasi-dynamic social environments. Hence, highly accurate, robust and real-time algorithms for human detection and tracking, and social interaction detection are necessary. Third, social interactive intentions such as human–robot, human–human and human–object interactive intentions should be predicted and incorporated into the proposed framework to improve the performance of the developed framework in the dynamic social environments. Last but not least, human and human group identification algorithms should be proposed to enable the robot to identify the humans, whose the mobile robot is requested to approach. In the future, the social interactive intentions, the human’s future states and its trajectories and will be predicted using deep learning algorithms and incorporated into the approaching human framework to improve the performance of the proposed framework.

0367 Novel 3D-Printed Custom Oral Appliance Therapy: A Pilot Study

Abstract Introduction Oral appliance (OA) therapy protrudes the jaw in a more anterior position during sleep to treat obstructive sleep apnea. OA therapy can be used in combination or as an alternative to positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy. Most custom oral devices are fabricated with expensive manufacturing equipment or individually hand-made increasing treatment costs that prevent access to care for patients. Previous studies report concerns of cost-effectiveness of OA therapy and surveys of sleep physicians with cost concerns leading to barriers in prescribing OA therapy. More recent technological advancements in additive technology have allowed low-cost, custom fabrication of digitally designed OA. To date there have been no clinical studies that the authors are aware of that have investigated the feasibility of offering 3D printed custom OA therapy. Methods A novel OA was designed specifically for 3D-printing with additional features to improve clinician efficiency, patient comfort, and patient safety. A review of 3D-printed materials was completed to ensure biocompatibility requirements prior to clinical testing. Approval from the Committee for Protection of Human Subjects of University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston was obtained. Five participants had novel OA digitally designed based on scans of upper and lower teeth in addition to a bite registration recorded using a George Gauge. Participants were surveyed based on comfort of device and safety monitoring. Results Participants found the novel OA generally comfortable. Comfort questions were presented on a scale of 1 – 10, where ten is the highest level of comfort. On average participants found that the novel OA had comfort levels of 9.0 ± 0.77 on gums, 8.2 ± 0.92 on teeth, and 9.8 ± 0.20 of the jaw joints. No major adverse events were reported and the most common minor adverse event reported was increased salivation. Conclusion This pilot study illustrates the clinical feasibility of a novel 3D printed OA. Future studies will further investigate patient outcomes and clinician efficiency during clinical implementation of this novel OA. Though the use of 3D-printing technologies OA therapy has the potential to be offered at lower cost and delivered to the patient in one visit representing a paradigm shift. Support (If Any)

Mjere prevencije i sanacije reflektirajućih pukotina u savitljivim kolnicima

Considering the high price and the number of natural resources used in transport infrastructure, extending pavement lifetime is a priority for engineers. One of the most common issues in flexible pavement maintenance are reflective cracks, which reduce driving comfort and passenger safety. These cracks have two main origins, those initiated by shrinkage of the cement stabilized layer and the cracks reflected from the old pavement to a new overlay. During road maintenance, the usual remediation measure is to overlay and place a new asphalt wearing course over the old, deteriorated pavement surface. After an asphalt overlay is placed on the deteriorated pavement, the overlay can exhibit an identical crack pattern as the layer below. The main cause of reflective cracks is in the cement bound base course (CBC). Due to cement hydration, traffic load, and temperature oscillations, cracks may occur and propagate through upper layers. Much research has been conducted to prevent this problem. Some research, with an emphasis on recycled materials, is presented in this paper. The remediation measures include thin and thick interlayers and modification of the asphalt overlay characteristics.

Financial professionals and the formation of proprietarian ideology

Financial professionals and the formation of proprietarian ideology

Experimental Validation of LQR Weight Optimization Using Bat Algorithm Applied to Vibration Control of Vehicle Suspension System

To deal with multiple constraints of vehicle active suspension system (ASS) including road handling and passenger safety, this paper presents an optimal linear quadratic regulator (LQR) approach which employs bat algorithm (BA) for selection of optimal state and input penalty matrices of LQR. We formulate the conflicting control objectives of ASS, namely, ride comfort and passenger safety as a multi-constraint optimization problem and employ the BA for weight selection of LQR. The key advantage of the proposed approach is that the local optima problem is avoided by utilizing the frequency tuning and random walk technique in BA. The performance of the proposed approach is experimentally tested using hardware in loop (HIL) testing on a quarter car ASS for realistic road profiles. Moreover, the performance is benchmarked against grey wolf optimization tuned LQR. Experimental results assessed based on ISO 2631 standards highlight the significant improvement in the ride comfort and passenger safety.

Research interconnection of indices of human development, quality of the urban environment, quality of life and gross regional product by the method of the main component

Currently, the urgency of considering the problems of comfort and life safety of the population of megalopolises and regions is indisputable. Particular attention is paid to the use of various indicators for assessing - the human development index, the urban environment quality index, the quality of life index, the gross regional product per capita and other indicators. The subject of the research is the indices of socio-economic development of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. The aim of the study is to identify the relationship between indicators that make it possible to assess the comfort and safety of the living environment, ensuring the quality of life and quality of the urban environment standards and having a priority value for the formation of a high level of human capital in regions and megacities. It was hypothesized that the study of megalopolises using the above-mentioned indicators can be described using fewer factors, since there should be a relationship between the indicators. It is assumed that all of these indicators contain a fairly large number of similar indicators, the tightness of the relationship between which can be revealed by the methods of correlation analysis. Comparison of these five indices was carried out using economic and mathematical methods, regression analysis. Using the principal component method, a statistically significant regression equation was found that describes the dependence of the indicators under consideration. According to the results of the calculations, it was found that the magnitude of the impact of indicators on the change in the human development index is 84%. The hypothesis has been proved that the main factors influencing the human development index change are the quality of the urban environment, the quality of life of the population, and the gross regional product per capita.

Wind Tunnel Studies on the Prevention of Particle Accumulation Onto the Bogie of High-Speed Train

When high-speed train runs in the environment with a large number of airborne particles, these particles may accumulate on the bogie of the train, which will further challenge the normal operation of the bogie and reduce the riding comfort and train safety. In order to prevent particles entering into the bogie area, different protective devices around the bogie are used. However, up to present, the systematical analysis on the protective effects of diverse protective measures against different types of particles are still very limited. In this study, with the widely-used shirt boards and spoilers as protective devices, the airborne particle transport processes around the bogie were simulated in the wind tunnel Lab. Three kinds of typical particles, including artificial snow particle, wheat bran (substitute of snowflake) and sieved soil, were chosen to represent different airborne particles under real conditions. Three evolution indexes, including the relative reduction ratio of artificial snow particles, the relative particle flux reduction ratio of fine wheat bran, and the relative concentration reduction ratio of fine sieve soil particles, were used to assess their protective effects. Results showed that the combination of short-skirt board and straight triangular spoiler (i.e., in A5 case, the straight triangle spoilers installed at the front and rear ends of the train bogie, and the short-skirt boards installed on both sides of the train bogie) was the best protection with the studied three particles. The relative reduction ratio of the average snow mass in this case was 75.59%, the relative reduction ratio of the flux in the level of fine wheat bran exceeded 78%, and the relative reduction ratio of the fine soil particle concentration was more than 96%.

Dynamics of the Rolling Stock and the Choice of Parameters of Vibration Dampers

Modern railway rolling stock should meet requirements regarding comfort (maximum travel speed with minimum vibrations of wagons, noiselessness of movement, etc.).To eliminate the influence of dynamic loads, rolling stock is equipped with vibration dampers. The objective of the work is to select the parameters of the vibration dampers of rolling stock, depending on its characteristics, to ensure the due indicators of comfort and safety of transportation of passengers and goods by rail. To achieve this objective, applied methods of mathematical modelling were based on numerical programming of operation of dynamic systems. The indicators of vibration dampers are evaluated according to the results of studies of the dynamics of the rolling stock (in particular, of vibration protection rates).Assessment of dynamic state of the rolling stock implies application of methods of mathematical and physical modelling, which include the development of a physical and mathematical model, a calculation algorithm, and computer programming. The study of the mathematical model by numerical methods makes it possible to carry out a multifactorial experiment using a large number of input parameters (factors) and to select the characteristics of vibration dampers that are optimal for the conditions under consideration.To solve dynamic problems, the harmonic perturbation model, which is the most widespread, was specified in the form of a sinusoid with a period corresponding to the rail length.A quantitative assessment of the vibration process (frequency, amplitude) makes it possible to identify the main processes occurring in the system under consideration under various types of external load. The introduced assumptions related to rigidity, mobility and geometric immutability of the system allow determining the methods for obtaining a mathematical model and considering the vibrations as flat ones.The equations were solved in MathCad Prime 4.0 package using the Runge–Kutta method with automatic step selection. The subsequent study of the properties of the dynamic system was carried out by changing the resistance parameter of dampers of the first stage of spring suspension, while recording the values of the amplitude of the vibrations of the system and the period.The analysis of the results has shown that the vibration period of the body and bogies under any changes in the resistance parameter of the damper remains unchanged, while rational parameters of resistance of axle box dampers have been revealed for specified indicators. Hydraulic vibration dampers with the revealed parameters used on rolling stock help to reduce wear and damageability of running gears, improve ride comfort and traffic safety, as well as to reduce repair and maintenance costs.

Ship staff wind comfort and wind safety in the walkways of containerships and case study for a feeder containership

ABSTRACT This paper presents the investigation of wind speeds on the walkways of a feeder container ship with 3D steady RANS CFD simulations and examining them in terms of wind comfort and safety. Wind velocity profiles on walkways are studied by simulating a steady ship speed of 17 knots (8.75 m/s) with different atmospheric wind directions and atmospheric wind speeds. Wind velocities up to 21.8 m/s were measured by numerically simulating the walkways on the ship. Especially winds that coming from bow directions may create higher effective wind velocity values on the walkways even if the atmospheric wind velocities on the ship deck are low, the effective wind velocity which is combined with the airflow due to the speed of the ship at some wind directions can exceed 10 m/s. Compared to a flat bare deck, structures around walkways can reduce the effective wind speed by up to 70%.

Home in the format of «life-work-leisure» in modern pandemic conditions: a sociological dimension

Unexpected changes, risks and constraints that have arisen in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic have led to transformational changes in the social order of many societies. The effects of the pandemic can now be traced in all spheres of modern life. The usual order of everyday life, the criteria of relevance and interpretive schemes for explainig current events, necessary for life and interaction in society are subject to significant changes and form a "new reality". Sociological discourse immediately responded to ontological shifts with empirical research on the effects of the pandemic in teleworking and distance education, gender and domestic violence, health practices, hygiene, leisure, and new forms of sociality.The pandemic situation has brought to the attention of researchers the daily life of man, which has become more localized in the private space of the home. The new social conditions have forced us to reconsider the requirements for living space. Issues of comfortable planning and personal safety, the ability to work and exercise the right to education, development and entertainment have become even more relevant and defining values in the organization of everyday life of modern man.The combination of different functional areas in a single living space has led to the transformation of the perception of home as a private recreation area. This work is devoted to the study of the impact of existing socio-cultural conditions on the processes of changing the attitude of the citizens of Dnipro to the private space of the house in a new format that combines everyday life, work and leisure. An empirical study of in-depth interviews was conducted to capture changes in the perception of home space in today's pandemic environment. The obtained results testified to a significant transformation of ideas about the organization of everyday life and living space of modern man in the current conditions.

Unsafe safety: the essence of challenge and experiential education as implicit religion

ABSTRACT In this paper I argue that every learning situation may be based on an implicitly religious essence. It may be visible in experiential education, which utilizes challenge, adventure, and other unsafe situations intentionally and purposely. According to Rudolf Otto, the sacred as well as religion is characterized by awe and trembling (mysterium tremendum et fascinans). Whenever I want to learn anything new, I enter into uncertainty. Just as a comfort zone, safety, and security are valid for high-risk situations or extreme sports, they are also legitimate for any learning situation.

Dynamic Response of a Semiactive Suspension System with Hysteretic Nonlinear Energy Sink Based on Random Excitation by means of Computer Simulation

This paper aims to investigate the property and behavior of the hysteretic nonlinear energy sink (HNES) coupled to a half vehicle system which is a nine-degree-of-freedom, nonlinear, and semiactive suspension system in order to improve the ride comfort and increase the stability in shock mitigation by using the computer simulation method. The HNES model is a semiactive suspension device, which comprises the famous Bouc–Wen (B-W) model employed to describe the force produced by both the purely hysteretic spring and linear elastic spring of potentially negative stiffness connected in parallel, for the half vehicle system. Nine nonlinear motion equations of the half vehicle system are derived in terms of the seven displacements and the two dimensionless hysteretic variables, which are integrated numerically by employing the direct time integration method for studying both the variables of vertical displacements, velocities, accelerations, chassis pitch angle, and the ride comfort and driver safety, respectively, based on the bump and random road inputs of the pseudoexcitation method as excitation signal. Simulation results show that, compared with the HNES model and the magnetorheological (MR) model coupled to the half vehicle system, the ride comfort and stability have been evidently improved. A successful validation process has been performed, which indicated that both the ride comfort and driver safety properties of the HNES model coupled to half vehicle significantly improved.

Influence of the Internet of Things’ application on construction project performance

Internet of Things (IoT) is the network of interconnected devices that are embedded with network connectivity, sensors, software that enable them to amass and exchange data making them responsive. The study is aimed at examining the effects of the IoT on construction project performance with the view of increasing productivity and efficiency. Quantitative research method was adopted and questionnaires were structured on a five-point Likert scale to elicit the opinion of respondents. Descriptive and Inferential analysis were used in analyzing the retrieved data. The most important effects of IoT are security and privacy, collecting previous data, safety comfort and efficiency. Factor analysis was used to group the various impacts of IoT into six. The results showed that there were nine variables with a significant difference while the others ten are not. It was concluded that the IoT adoption has a high influence on the security, privacy, safety, productivity and performance of construction workers. It is recommended that variables with least influenced areas can be developed by improving the skills of professionals. Government is also encouraged to adopt the principles of IoT not only in construction but other sectors to improve the economy of the nation.

Research on performance of vehicle semi-active suspension applied magnetorheological damper based on linear quadratic Gaussian control

With the development of automobile technology, the traditional passive suspension cannot meet people’s requirements for vehicle comfort and safety. For this reason, a variable damping semi-active suspension applied magnetorheological damper is proposed. By collecting various performance parameters of the front suspension, the optimal feedback control matrix is obtained by applying linear quadratic Gaussian control strategy, and the optimal damping force output is also obtained to improve comfort and vehicle safety by reducing vibration. The semi-active suspension model of a quarter vehicles was established by MATLAB/Simulink, and the simulation experiment was carried out. The results show that the semi-active suspension system with magnetorheological damper is superior to the traditional passive suspension in terms of vibration absorption; meanwhile, the root mean square values of vehicle acceleration, suspension dynamic deflection, tire dynamic travel, and tire dynamic load are reduced, which effectively improve the vehicle ride stability.

Hygro-thermal performance of wooden beam ends: experimental investigations of uninsulated and internally insulated brick wall

Wooden floors were traditionally used in brick apartment houses built at the turn of 20th century in many European cities. Thermal renovation of such houses often involves thermal insulation at interior side of external walls. Internal insulation makes microclimate in the vicinity of wooden beam ends colder and more humid. The real-scale experiment involving a part of wooden floor connected to a 30 cm thick masonry wall was monitored for two consecutive years. Measured data were used to compare microclimate in sealed and open joist pockets. Joist pockets were either placed in the masonry wall with plaster on both sides or placed in the same masonry wall insulated on the interior side (vapour open thermal insulation system). The measured results indicate that the sealing tape alone is not sufficient to keep the relative humidity in joist pockets below 85 % in cold climate and under high internal moisture load. The paper concludes that reasonable trade-off between thermal efficiency, thermal comfort and moisture safety is difficult to reach for masonry with internal insulation and wooden floors. Sealing provisions complemented by tempering of joist pockets are considered as two key technical measures for reliable hygro-thermal performance of wooden beam ends in full-brick masonry with interior thermal insulation in cold temperate climate.

Development of Biomass Gasification Technology with Fluidized-Bed Reactors for Enhancing Hydrogen Generation: Part I, Hydrodynamic Characterization of Dual Fluidized-Bed Gasifiers

Various means for enhancing hydrogen content in the syngas from gasification of solid biomass in fluidized-bed reactors were investigated in this study. Steam or oxygen-rich gas can be supplied as gasification medium, to improve the syngas characteristics. Alternatively, a so-called “indirect gasification technology” realizes the thermo-chemical conversion processes in dual reactors, respectively, for combustion and gasification, where gaseous streams in between are separated while solid materials are circulated through. Hence, with air as oxidant for combustion this system features the advantage of producing nearly nitrogen-free syngas. Baseline experiments were firstly carried out to identify performance features; then, parametric studies were conducted and positive trends for enhancing hydrogen generation via biomass gasification were revealed. Moreover, hydrodynamic characteristics in dual reactors were comprehensively envisaged in the cold-flow models to facilitate subsequent investigation into thermo-chemical processes. The experimental results indicated that the circulation mass of the bed material driven by the operating air exceeded the design value, which gave a comfortable safety factor of the engineering design. In addition, the average pressure distribution measured by the cyclic operation of the system was similar to that of the published literature. Based on the experimental results of the cold model, the suggestions of the operating tests in the hot model were addressed. Further efforts will be pursued to establish databases for clean energy and carbon abatement technologies.

Research on Intelligent Multiple Interchange Induction System of Huadu to Dongguan Highway

Urban expressway is an important part of the urban traffic network, which is also the main artery of urban traffic system. The rationality of interchange has a direct impact on the functions of “rapid patency” and “safety comfort” of urban roads. This paper taking Taicheng multiple interchange as the research object, which from expressway Huadu to Dongguan, focuses on improving traffic efficiency, induction accuracy and safety. This research is carried out from making the lines and mark, making high-precision navigation map, and making guidance system to provide solutions for Taicheng interchange.

Analysis of Vibration Characteristics of Transport Utility Vehicle by Finite Element Method

Present work deals with the design and analysis vibration characteristics for transport utility vehicle. The transport utility vehicle is designed using automotive industry standards. The dynamic behaviour of vehicle depends on the selection of overall dimensions, wheel base, track width, overall height and width that are decided using central motor vehicle rules. The selected dimensions for vertical and horizontal pillar members of the transport bus are modified to enhance the strength, stiffness and stability of the superstructure during travel. This increased stability enhances the ride comfort and passenger safety. Analysing the effect of utilizing manual meshing in complex areas of a transport utility vehicle for vibration analysis and passenger ride comfort has also been carried out. Modal analysis to evaluate the dynamic behaviour of transport utility vehicle model is also carried. Further with the use of finite element analysis deflection vehicle structure is evaluated. The outcomes from the analysis are compared with the behaviour of chassis mounted platform in dynamic conditions and are found in close correlation. The vehicle structure behaves as a single entity in dynamic situations, so surface model is prepared. Element selection for the finite element analysis is carried by considering plane stress condition. Two-dimensional quadrilateral shell elements are extensively used for meshing of the computer model of the vehicle structure. Complex areas in the optimised vehicle structure are meshed using relevant combination of quads and trias. The values of vector sum displacement and frequencies are found to be in good agreement with the experimental ones.