Scaling Of Dimensions Research Articles

An Experimental Case Study on Generation of Bio-Energy as Clean Technology Initiative in a Food Industry

India is a country with huge potential for Biomass Energy (BE) generation numerically estimated as 20GW. The country is making some serious efforts in terms of both scientific interventions and fiscal incentives to economically attract more projects of BE for its renewability properties. Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) Government of India is encouraging clean technologies (CT) to get adopted by revenue generating organizations through provisions of certificates for emission reduction, Carbon-Credits or giving preferential tariffs. These initiatives have been welcomed by industries as they often have large amount of bio-degradable waste to send to treatment facilities. Anaerobic Digestion (AD) process has got much attention in industrial waste treatment ventures in this framework. Bio-chemical breakdown process of waste releases biogas that can be utilized in electricity and steam generation and simultaneously landfill expenses can be avoided. Present study is based on an experiment of converting potato peels of a food industry to generate biogas. Standard AD process is utilized with a suitably selected pre-treatment mechanism to make the process of BE generation more efficient according to the scale of industrial dimensions. This venture is one of the many CT initiatives taken by the industry for achieving sustainability goals of the EHS (Environment-Health-Safety) division. The process is estimated to produce 16 lt methane gas per 1 kg of potato peel waste. This process of generation of BE is capable to off-set of 3000 Kcal amount of energy required for industrial operation. Further a SWOT analysis has been carried out to critically analyze the suitability of the experiment as per industrial scale.

Ultrathin ferroic HfO2-ZrO2 superlattice gate stack for advanced transistors.

With the scaling of lateral dimensions in advanced transistors, an increased gate capacitance is desirable both to retain the control of the gate electrode over the channel and to reduce the operating voltage1. This led to a fundamental changein the gate stack in 2008,the incorporation of high-dielectric-constant HfO2(ref.2), which remains the material of choiceto date. Here we report HfO2-ZrO2 superlattice heterostructures as a gate stack, stabilized with mixed ferroelectric-antiferroelectric order, directly integrated onto Si transistors, and scaled down to approximately 20 ångströms, the same gate oxide thickness required for high-performance transistors. The overall equivalent oxide thickness in metal-oxide-semiconductor capacitors is equivalent to an effective SiO2 thickness of approximately 6.5 ångströms. Such a low effective oxide thickness and the resulting large capacitance cannot be achieved in conventional HfO2-based high-dielectric-constant gate stacks without scavenging the interfacial SiO2, which has adverse effects on the electron transport and gate leakage current3. Accordingly, our gate stacks, which do not require such scavenging, provide substantially lower leakage current and no mobility degradation. This work demonstrates that ultrathin ferroic HfO2-ZrO2 multilayers, stabilized with competing ferroelectric-antiferroelectric order in the two-nanometre-thickness regime, provide a path towards advanced gate oxide stacks in electronic devices beyond conventional HfO2-based high-dielectric-constant materials.

Social Alienation and its Relationship to Aggressive Behavior among the Youth in Kuwaiti Society

The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between aggressive behavior and social alienation among the youth in Kuwaiti society. Six dimensions of alienation scale were examined: powerlessness, normlessness, social isolation, meaninglessness, selfestrangement and cultural estrangement. A sample of 486 aged between 17-24 years was selected by using opportunistic sample. Questionnaire was the major tool of this study. It included demographic and primary variables. It included also some scales: self-report religiosity, self-report social support, self-report social network, and aggression scales. A social alienation with six dimensions scale was also used. Results show that there are significant differences between male and female in aggression, social alienation scales, and some social variables. Data show also there is a significant correlation between aggression scale and religiosity, some social variables (number of family members), and social support. Also, relationship is found between aggression and alienation scales in all its dimensions. The Youth with high amount of social alienation have more aggressive behavior. Keywords: Social Alienation, Aggressive Behavior, The Youth, Social Problems, Kuwaiti Society.

Ultraviolet dimensional reduction of spacetime with zero-point length

Among the many disparate approaches towards quantum gravity, the reduction of spacetime dimension in the ultraviolet regime is expected to be a common thread. The spectral dimension of spacetime is defined in the context of diffusion processes on a manifold. We show that a spacetime with zero-point length has spectral dimension 3.5 when the characteristic diffusion time has the size of the zero-point length. The spectral dimension (negatively) diverges for an even shorter diffusion time, thus preventing reliable physical interpretation in the deep ultraviolet regime. The thermodynamic dimension is defined by realizing that the free energy F(beta ) of a free field or ideal gas at finite temperature (beta ^{-1}) in D dimensions scales as Fsim beta ^{-D}. Using Schwinger’s proper time formalism, we show that for spacetime incorporating a zero-point length, the thermodynamic dimension reduces to 1.5 near the Planck scale and then to 1 in the deep ultraviolet regime. This signifies a “phase-transition” in which a (massless) bosonic ideal gas in four dimensions essentially behaves like radiation (w=1/3) at low energies, whereas near the Planck scale, it behaves equivalently to having an equation of state parameter w=2. Furthermore, dimension can be deduced from the potential V_D(r) of interaction between two point-like sources separated at a distance r as its scaling depends on D. Comparing with the scaling behavior of conventional Yukawa-like potentials at short distances, we show that the ultraviolet dimension appears to be either 2 or 3 depending on the use of massive or massless force carriers as probes.

Intimacy scale of the emotional dimension: construct validation

This work is interested in emotional intimacy, and hereby reports on the construct validation of the Intimacy Scale of the Emotional Dimension (ISOTED). Two hundred and ninety-nine persons participated in the validation study, aged 17-56. Two other scales were used for various aspects of the construct validation process. They included that The Dyadic Communication Assessment Scale and the Simple Screening Instrument for Substance Abuse. Exploratory Factor analysis revealed 14 items, two factors – Emotional congruence, alpha = .97, and Emotional Vacuum, alpha = .92. Confirmatory Factor Analysis confirmed the two factors with good indices, giving credence to the factorial validity of the ISOTED. Further, the ISOTED has convergent, as well as criterion-related validity. Therefore, the ISOTED is a valid and reliable scale with robust psychometric properties. It promises to be useful in clinical and research contexts for assessing intimate relationships. Keywords: Emotional Intimacy; Scale; Reliability; Validity; Relationship;

BayMDS: An R Package for Bayesian Multidimensional Scaling and Choice of Dimension.

BayMDS: An R Package for Bayesian Multidimensional Scaling and Choice of Dimension.

Staff competencies and patient care effectiveness in primary healthcare (pilot study)

Background: The aim of the study was to determine the correlation between hard and soft competences of primary care physicians and the effectiveness of patient care, which may be of significant importance both in the process of managing medical entities and in order to take appropriate actions aimed at increasing the effectiveness of care. Methods: The population studied in this study were primary care physicians employed at the Medical and Diagnostic Center (MDC) in Siedlce, Poland. In the study, doctors' qualifications were measured by the number of specializations held by a physician, and experience was measured by the total number of years of work as a doctor and the length of work as a specialist at MDC (in years). The data was collected in a questionnaire survey. Physicians' social competences were measured by the Social Competence Profile (PROKOS). As there are no measures of treatment effectiveness at the level of individual workplaces, apart from measuring patient satisfaction, its original definition was adopted and 14 indexes were developed, which were calculated on the basis of anonymized data from CMD information systems. Results: The social competences of the surveyed primary care physicians were clearly lower than the competences of the doctors surveyed in the standardization study. The exception was social activism. The scales of individual dimensions of social competences were characterized by very high reliability. The individual dimensions of soft skills of all surveyed primary care physicians were strongly correlated with each other. The overall work experience and work experience of primary care physicians at MDC, analyzed under hard competences, showed no correlation. The factor analysis performed for 14 original indexes of effectiveness showed that 5 of the original indexes created a very reliable scale. Conclusions: The selection of a strong scale consisting of five original effectiveness indexes is a step towards the development of a uniform index of the effectiveness of patient care in primary care, which will be a significant contribution to science.

Standard of Transitional Services Provided to Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder from Their Teachers’ Point of View: مُسْتَوَى الخَدَمَاتِ الانْتِقَالِيَّةِ المُقَدَّمَةِ للطَّلَبَةِ ذَوِيْ اضْطِرابِ طَيْفِ التَّوَحُّدِ مِنْ وِجْهَةِ نَظَرِ مُعَلِّمِيْهِمْ

This study aims to identify the standard of transitional services provided to students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), from the point of view of their teachers, using the analytical descriptive approach. The researchers developed a scale of (6) dimensions, with a high validity and reliability, applied to a sample of (138) teachers of students with (ASD), in public schools and private schools approved in the educational voucher program in Jeddah area. The results showed that the standard of transitional services provided to students with ASD, based on their teachers’ point of view, were at a high rate and the level of challenges in providing transitional services to these students in educational institutions, was also high from the point of view of their teachers. On the other hand the results showed no statistically significant differences in the standard of transitional services provided to the teachers of students with ASD attributable to educational institution, scientific qualification, and the number of years of experience variables. The researchers recommended that transitional service teachers be assigned a workshop, taking into account how to assess performance of students to receive transitional services, as well as prepare, implement and evaluate transitional plans to develop their professional performance.

Investigation of Ge-Based P-Channel Planar-Doped Barrier FETs integrated on Si

Ge-based p-channel Field-Effect Transistors (FETs) are regarded as the most promising devices to replace Si-based p-channel FETs with emphasis on reducing device power-consumption. Planar-Doped Barrier FETs (PDBFETs) are considered good candidates for tuning Ge-based FETs performance: with channels almost undoped except for a very thin region, creating necessary barrier for operation. PDBFETs enables inspection of behaviour with carriers away from surface, experiencing bulk properties. The aim of this work is to show the capability of the PDBFET concept to improve the performance of Ge-based devices even on large scaled device. Applying the concept of channel doping modulation to Ge-based FETs is demonstrated through fabrication and electrical characterization of Ge-based p-PDBFETs with optimistic results achieving off-state currents of sub-nA/μm even with relatively large sized devices, which are competitive in electrostatic performance to scaled, more complicated design devices. Sources of leakage current are considered through improving surface treatment. Applying low temperature measurements elaborated the possibility of higher performance with dimension scaling availability.

Nutritional status and quality of life are associated with risk of sarcopenia in nursing home residents: a cross-sectional study

Sarcopenia, which is characterized by an age-related decline in skeletal muscle mass, strength, and function, is an important geriatric syndrome that is closely related to the nutritional status and quality of life (QoL) of older adults. The aim of this study was to compare the nutritional status and QoL of nursing home residents according to sarcopenia. We hypothesized that a daily protein intake <1.2 g/kg is associated with a higher risk of sarcopenia. This study was performed with 172 older adults living a nursing home. Sarcopenia was defined according to the consensus of the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People. The nutritional status was evaluated using the Mini Nutritional Assessment-Short Form, 24-hour dietary recall. Frailty was evaluated using the Fatigue, Resistance, Ambulation, Illnesses, and Loss of weight scale and health-related QoL was evaluated by the European Quality of Life-5 Dimensions scale. In addition to the anthropometric measurements associated with sarcopenia, QoL was also lower in sarcopenic individuals. The risk of malnutrition and frailty status were more prevalent among the sarcopenic individuals. In the multivariate logistic regression analysis, a higher QoL score was related with a low risk for sarcopenia, whereas the risk of malnutrition, a daily protein intake that was <1.2 g/kg/d, and being >80 years of age remained predictive of sarcopenia after adjustment. Sarcopenic nursing home residents have a great risk of malnutrition and lower QoL. This study showed that QoL, the risk of malnutrition, and daily protein intake are important factors as potential target areas for the management of sarcopenia in nursing home residents.

Fostering emotional self-regulation in female teachers at the public teaching network: A mindfulness-based intervention improving psychological measures and inflammatory biomarkers

ObjectiveTo examine the effect of a mindfulness-based program specifically designed for teachers in reducing perceived stress and improving the quality of experienced emotion in female active working teachers. A second outcome evaluated is the associated change in cellular inflammatory activity, measured by peripheral blood levels of cytokines. MethodEighty-eight female active teachers from public schools from São Paulo Municipality were recruited, and randomly allocated to an eight-week Mindfulness-Based Health Program for Educators (MBHP-Educa) or to Neuroscience for Education Program (Neuro-Educa: active control group). The venue of both programs were several public school facilities, where many of the teachers actually worked. Both groups received activities during eight weeks in a 2 ​h/week regimen, totalizing 16 ​h. Sixty-five participants completed the program and pre- and post-interventions measures were taken from the following scales: Interpersonal Multidimensional Reactivity Scale (IRI), Positive-and-Negative Affects Scale (PANAS), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), and a primary outcome in Ryff's Psychological Well-Being Scale (PBWS). At pre-and post-intervention, blood samples were collected for the measurement of several important inflammatory biomarkers, Tumor Necrosis Factor – α (TNF-α), Interleukin 1β (IL-1β), Interleukin 6 (IL-6), Interleukin 8 (IL-8), Interleukin 10 (IL-10) and Interleukin 12p70 (IL-12P70) through flow cytometry assay. Intervention effects were analyzed via Generalized mixed models (GLMM). ResultsAccording to the GLMM, MBHP-Educa significantly reduced the scores of perceived stress (p ​< ​0.0001), and negative affect (p ​< ​0.0001) compared to active control group (Neuro-Educa). Conversely, an increase was observed on Psychological Well Being Scale in dimensions of Self-acceptance (p ​< ​0.0001), and Autonomy (p ​= ​0.001), as well as improvements in Resilience (p ​< ​0.0001), and Positive Affect (p ​< ​0.0001). MBHP-Educa also promoted a reduction in the levels of IL-6 (p ​= ​0.003), IL-8 (p ​= ​0.036), and increase in the levels of IL-10 (p ​< ​0.0001) and IL-12p70 (p ​< ​0.044). TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-10p70 showed results below theoretical limit of detection accepted for CBA kit. ConclusionsOur data suggest that mindfulness-based interventions introduced as a strategy for reducing stress, promoting well-being and improve immune function can be a useful asset in promoting psychological health among teachers in Basic Education.

Minimally invasive fasciotomy for symptomatic tibialis anterior muscle hernia

BackgroundSymptomatic muscle herniae are an uncommon cause of chronic exercise induced leg pain. The most common site for muscle hernia is the tibialis anterior muscle. This study evaluates the outcome of a minimal incision fasciotomy in patients with a symptomatic muscle hernia of the tibialis anterior muscle, and their return to normal daily activities including sport. MethodsThe study reports mid-term results in a series of 22 consecutive patients (17 males and 5 females, median age: 22 years) with a unilateral tibialis anterior MH who had undergone minimally invasive fasciotomy between 2008 and 2019. Clinical outcomes were assessed with SF-36 and European Quality of Life-5 Dimensions scale (EQ-5D). The ability to participate in sport before and after surgery, and the time to return to training (RTT) and to sport (RTS) were recorded. ResultsAt a median follow up after surgery of 23 months, both questionnaires showed a statistically significant improvement (P < 0.005). At the latest follow up, 16 of patients (73%) had returned to pre-injury or higher levels of sport/activity. The median time to return to training and to return to sport was 7 and 11 weeks respectively. No severe complications and no recurrence of symptoms were recorded. ConclusionMinimally invasive fasciotomy is effective and safe for patients suffering from muscle hernia of the tibialis anterior muscle with good results in the mid-term. Level of EvidenceIV.

Differentiated Toll Optimization on Goods Vehicles Based on Prediction of Demand for Large-Scale Network

The area rate of the toll road network is designed to influence the regional road network traffic flow configuration and an important factor of goods vehicle path selection, transportation, and other related departments in formulating the related standard. The toll rate is usually combined with the local passenger and cargo loading conditions. Adjusting and optimizing the charge policy, optimization of processes and methods is still facing many difficulties. In this paper, the model parameters and toll status of various goods vehicles are considered, and an optimization algorithm of toll rates for different vehicles in a large-scale road network is proposed. By constructing a traffic demand prediction model based on multiple truck classification, this paper analyzes the distribution status of network trucks and the final charging under the influence of different rates. At the bottom of the algorithm is an analytical model composed of nonlinear equations whose dimensions scale linearly with the scale of the road network. The scale of the road network is independent of the path set and link attribute. The model is verified and the parameters are calibrated by a small network. Finally, the Road network is selected for empirical analysis in Xinjiang Autonomous Region. A case study shows that the analytical structure information provided by the analytic network model enables the algorithm to quickly identify high quality solutions, and the algorithm has better simulation accuracy and premium rate design advantages.

Multi-scale 3D-convolutional neural network for hyperspectral image classification

Deep Learning methods are state-of-the-art approaches for pixel-based hyperspectral images (HSI) classification. High classification accuracy has been achieved by extracting deep features from both spatial-spectral channels. However, the efficiency of such spatial-spectral approaches depends on the spatial dimension of each patch and there is no theoretically valid approach to find the optimum spatial dimension to be considered. It is more valid to extract spatial features by considering varying neighborhood scales in spatial dimensions. In this regard, this article proposes a deep convolutional neural network (CNN) model wherein three different multi-scale spatial-spectral patches are used to extract the features in both the spatial and spectral channels. In order to extract these potential features, the proposed deep learning architecture takes three patches various scales in spatial dimension. 3D convolution is performed on each selected patch and the process runs through entire image. The proposed is named as multi-scale three-dimensional convolutional neural network (MS-3DCNN). The efficiency of the proposed model is being verified through the experimental studies on three publicly available benchmark datasets including Pavia University, Indian Pines, and Salinas. It is empirically proved that the classification accuracy of the proposed model is improved when compared with the remaining state-of-the-art methods.

The Mediator Role of Forgiveness between The Interpersonal Relationships and The Level of Cognitive Distortions in Young Adults

The aim of this research is to examine the mediating role of forgiveness in the relationship between interpersonal relationships and cognitive distortions in young adults’ addiction using the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique. This research is designed in relational scanning type. The sample of the study between the years 2019-2020 living in Istanbul, which is a multi-stage sampling method with the universe in different socio-economic levels of qualifications will be represented, 331 women (73.8%), 117 were male (26.2%) of 448 young adult constitutes. Research data; was collected using The Personal Information Form, Interpersonal Relationship Dimensions Scale, the Cognitive Distortions Scale, and the Heartland Forgiveness Scale. The data of the research were analyzed using SPSS and AMOS package programs. To examine the study’s, an independent samples t-Test, ANOVA (One-Way Analysis of Variance), Pearson product-moment correlation and the structural equation modeling (SEM) have been used for analyzing the data. According to the current research results, forgiveness has a partial mediating role in the relationship between interpersonal relationships and cognitive distortions. When the model goodness of fit indexes are compared with the acceptable and good fit indexes, it is seen that the model is compatible with the established Structural Equation Model data and the tested model is verified.

Influence of Pressure and Temperature on the Strength Properties of a Laminate Produced by the RTM Method

Abstract This paper discusses the effect of pressure on the content of microvoids and defects inside laminates fabricated under different pressures, by vacuum methods. Two basic vacuum methods resin transfer molding (RTM) and vacuum bag method were used in this paper. A glass mat with an alignment angle of (0□/90□) and a mass of 450 g/cm2 was used to produce the laminate, and a polymer resin was used as the matrix. Special attention was paid to the technological parameters of both processes. A mathematical analysis of the most important parameters which include flow rate, permeability, and gelation temperature has been carried out. In addition, the resin temperature is used to reduce the viscosity of the resin to facilitate its flow through the reinforcement, and in the final stage of production to control the chemical reactions occurring in the mold. The pressure is chosen so that the resin flow is continuous. The synchronization of these two parameters and the measurement of the time in which they occur are called the “cure cycle”. In the final step of the study, the composite was subjected to a static tensile test, using specimens of two different dimensions (scale effect) to evaluate the effect of microvoids and microcracks created by the processes on the strength of the material.

Recent Progress on 3D NAND Flash Technologies

Since 3D NAND was introduced to the industry with 24 layers, the areal density has been successfully increased more than ten times, and has exceeded 10 Gb/mm2 with 176 layers. The physical scaling of XYZ dimensions including layer stacking and footprint scaling enabled the density scaling. Logical scaling has been successfully realized, too. TLC (triple-level cell, 3 bits per cell) is now the mainstream in 3D NAND, while QLC (quad-level cell, 4 bits per cell) is increasing the presence. Several attempts and partial demonstrations were made for PLC (penta-level cell, 5 bits per cell). CMOS under array (CuA) enabled the die size reduction and performance improvements. Program and erase schemes to address the technology challenges such as short-term data retention of the charge-trap cell and the large block size are being investigated.

Social Health in the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project.

In this article, we present the theoretical framework that guided the development of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP) including the measures of social health. We discuss the literature that links social measures to other outcomes, and we discuss in detail how researchers might construct common measures of social health, including those that reflect social relationships, sexuality, social networks, social resources, and social participation. The NSHAP includes multiple detailed measures of social health, collected in the rounds of data collection carried out in 2005, 2010, and 2015, allowing for study of changes over time and as people age among a nationally representative sample of the community-dwelling population of older adults in the United States. We define indicators of social health, describe measures of each in the 2015 round of NSHAP, and show the distribution of the measures by gender and age. We present scales of dimensions of social health that have been developed elsewhere and describe their properties. We briefly discuss the distribution of these measures by age and gender in the 2015 round of NSHAP. Simple analyses of these categorized measures reveal differences by age and gender that deserve closer attention in future investigations using the NSHAP data.

Targeting the motor cortex to restore walking after incomplete spinal cord injury.

Targeting the motor cortex to restore walking after incomplete spinal cord injury.

Globalized parametric optimization of microwave components by means of response features and inverse metamodels

Simulation-based optimization of geometry parameters is an inherent and important stage of microwave design process. To ensure reliability, the optimization process is normally carried out using full-wave electromagnetic (EM) simulation tools, which entails significant computational overhead. This becomes a serious bottleneck especially if global search is required (e.g., design of miniaturized structures, dimension scaling over broad ranges of operating frequencies, multi-modal problems, etc.). In pursuit of mitigating the high-cost issue, this paper proposes a novel algorithmic approach to rapid EM-driven global optimization of microwave components. Our methodology incorporates a response feature technology and inverse regression metamodels to enable fast identification of the promising parameter space regions, as well as to yield a good quality initial design, which only needs to be tuned using local routines. The presented technique is illustrated using three microstrip circuits optimized under challenging scenarios, and demonstrated to exhibit global search capability while maintaining low computational cost of the optimization process of only about one hundred of EM simulations of the structure at hand on the average. The performance is shown to be superior in terms of efficacy over both local algorithms and nature-inspired global methods.