Simple Observation Research Articles

A quantitative analysis of the impact of COVID‐19 quarantining on in‐home eating and drinking habits in a cohort of people living with dementia

AbstractBackgroundSince the start of the coronavirus pandemic in 2019 (COVID‐19), people living with dementia (PLWD) have reported experiencing changes in their in‐home eating and drinking habits during quarantine. Previous research has been conducted solely through questionnaires, making it subject to researcher bias. However, remote monitoring technologies allow us the unprecedented ability to quantify behavioural patterns of PLWD in real‐world environments. We used data collected as part of an ongoing project at the UK Dementia Research Institute’s Care Research and Technology Centre. This work aims to understand better the effects of COVID‐19 quarantining on the in‐home eating and drinking habits of PLWD.MethodUsing COVID‐19 as a natural experiment, we compared data collated during the UK’s first COVID‐19 lockdown with the same period pre‐COVID. Household activity was observed using kitchen motion and appliance usage (refrigerator door, kettle, and oven) sensors, summed across four different daily periods (22:00, 04:00, 10:00, and 16:00), and then standardized across households by sensory device, resulting in 16 features. With this dataset, we trained a binary random forest classification model for each household independently, assessing performance using 10‐fold cross‐validation and also computing permutation feature importances (PFIs). Finally, using the PFIs of each household as a behavioural pattern reflecting in‐home eating and drinking habit changes as a function of quarantine, we used agglomerative hierarchical clustering (metric = correlation; method = ward) to identify similar behavioural changes across households.ResultOur cohort included 25 households of PLWD. All patients (11 female : 14 male; mean age at study start = 80.3 ± 6.78 years) had established diagnoses of dementia. Across households, binary classification accuracy was high (mean = 0.88 ± 0.08), with precision and recall balanced well (mean F1‐score = 0.83 ± 0.14). Hierarchical clusters of the household PFIs produced 4 main groupings that simple statistical observations showed each relied on distinct features for binary classification.ConclusionApplying combined supervised and unsupervised learning approaches to in‐home monitoring data has the potential to dramatically improve research for dementia care. Our findings show that in‐home eating and drinking habit changes among PLWD, in response to the COVID‐19 quarantine, are complex.

Robust Estimation of Position-Dependent Anisotropic Diffusivity Tensors from Stochastic Trajectories.

Materials under confinement can possess properties that deviate considerably from their bulk counterparts. Indeed, confinement makes all physical properties position-dependent and possibly anisotropic, and characterizing such spatial variations and directionality has been an intense area of focus in experimental and computational studies of confined matter. While this task is fairly straightforward for simple mechanical observables, it is far more daunting for transport properties such as diffusivity that can only be estimated from autocorrelations of mechanical observables. For instance, there are well established methods for estimating diffusivity from experimentally observed or computationally generated trajectories in bulk systems. No rigorous generalizations of such methods, however, exist for confined systems. In this work, we present two filtered covariance estimators for computing anisotropic and position-dependent diffusivity tensors and validate them by applying them to stochastic trajectories generated according to known diffusivity profiles. These estimators can accurately capture spatial variations that span over several orders of magnitude and that assume different functional forms. Our kernel-based approach is also very robust to implementation details such as the localization function and time discretization and performs significantly better than estimators that are solely based on local covariance. Moreover, the kernel function does not have to be localized and can instead belong to a dictionary of orthogonal functions. Therefore, the proposed estimator can be readily used to obtain functional estimates of diffusivity rather than a tabulated collection of pointwise estimates. Nonetheless, the susceptibility of the proposed estimators to time discretization is higher at the immediate vicinity of hard boundaries. We demonstrate this heightened susceptibility to be common among all covariance-based estimators.

Citizenship Regimes and Exclusion: Historical Analysis of Legislation on Illegalized Migration in the US

Citizenship regimes are institutionalized systems of formal and informal norms that define access to membership, as well as associated rights and duties. This paper studies illegalized migration as one of the major tests to assess whether citizenship regimes are fair institutions, based on a historical analysis of legislation meant to reduce illegalized migration in the United States between 1995 and 2022. We build our empirical research starting from a simple observation: despite the great number of bills introduced to reduce illegalized migration to the US, most of such initiatives fail to become law. In fact, 93.5% of all immigration initiatives did not even pass the chamber of Congress in which they were originally presented. Such a high rate of failure shows that these proposals are motivated by electoral aspirations, rather than coming from a genuine wish to help migrants or grant them citizenship. Furthermore, there is also an economic interest that justifies the maintenance of low-cost disposable immigrant labor, with no right to citizenship. Our analysis is an example of how state regulation processes seem to work to formalize, rather than alleviate or eradicate, the precarious legal statuses of illegalized migrants. We conclude that a globalized phenomenon such as citizenship requires going beyond merely institutional and formal conceptions. We need to rethink the institutional notion of citizenship, as a merely status held under the authority of a state and consider it from a cosmopolitan perspective and a multilateral basis. But as long as citizenship remains under the responsibility of states, illegalized migrants will continue to experience precarious citizenship.

(322) The COVID-19 Pandemic and Outpatient Follow-up of Victims of Sexual Violence in a Public Health Service in Northeast Brazil

Abstract Introduction Before the pandemic context, domestic violence was already considered a violation of human rights with high visibility worldwide. With the COVID-19 pandemic and the adoption of preventive measures such as social distancing and prioritization of care for cases of the disease in health units, there was a lack of care for other health issues, such as assistance to women victims of violence. Objective To analyze how the repercussions of the pandemic context and the measures to combat SARS-CoV-2 affected the follow-up of women victims of sexual violence assisted in a reference service in Northeast Brazil. Methods Qualitative analysis with a descriptive character. A semi-structured interview and simple observation were used. To complement the data, bibliographic and documental research were carried out. Bardin's content analysis was adopted. A convenience sample was used, which resulted in 14 women, and data saturation. As inclusion criteria, they were older than 18 years old, attended by the service between March and November 2020, attended at least one appointment and who freely agreed to participate. Male and under 18 years old patients were excluded. Results In 2020, there was a reduction in appointment bookings (24%) and outpatient visits (27%) compared to the same period in 2019. Regarding the sample, 64.28% were between 19-39 years old, the majority declared themselves brown /black (50%) and being single (71%). About 36% had completed high school, the same percentage that was unemployed. Half (50%) of the interviewees did not receive social or social security benefits and lived in a rented house (50%). Most did not know about the service offered and found out from the referral of friends or a public safety or health agency that they sought as a result of the episode of sexual violence. Regarding the pandemic context and outpatient follow-up, it was noted that many mentioned the decrease in the supply of transport and also made reference to the fear of leaving home and being contaminated. A factor greatly reinforced by the interviewees was the economic risk that the pandemic brought to the routine, whether due to formal unemployment or the impediment to carrying out their autonomous activities. In this context, economic insecurity was cited as one of the recurring reasons for not attending appointments. Questions were also asked about the understanding and evaluation of multidisciplinary care and a positive response was received, validating the intersectoral work developed in the service. Conclusions Violence is a dynamic that is constantly being reformulated, due to the historical context. The decrease in demand and increase in absenteeism were linked to fear of contamination, financial difficulties and lack of knowledge about the service. Actions to improve surveillance and management of sexual violence must be an essential part of the fight against COVID-19. Disclosure No

The Importance of Street Art in Rejuvenating Urban Tourism in Bandar Hilir, Melaka

Objective: Street art is typically done in public locations and conveys a strong political or social message. Historically, street art has been associated with deviating from standard traditions in subjects or artistic forms. Graffiti motifs, such as huge bubble text or smaller decorative scripts, are frequently used in artists' works. Many know that street art is a piece created illegally; the urban planner’s scale and duration are often crucial variables in making street art. Artists commonly use spray paint and stencils to paint big surfaces, such as walls, in a short amount of time. The research focused on Bandar Hilir Melaka’s street arts and the transformation of unappealing street stores into a distinctive reflection of Melaka as a historical city. This research aimed to discover how important street arts are in Bandar Hilir from a tourism standpoint. The study's goal, however, is to look at the situation from the perspective of local tourists and conduct an observation analysis. The researchers used Nvivo 12 to analyze the study's data, providing a framework for model content configuration and insightful information. The information was gathered by interviewing 18 people using simple sampling and observation techniques. To produce the original model, qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis, which included the construction of codes and themes, as well as enlarged ideas for the literature of each main theme and five themes. Findings: At Bandar Hilir, the primary themes of street art are accessibility in walking, followed by serenity, the landscape environment, family togetherness, and the image established by street art. Finally, the street art characteristics of the streets significantly impact the tourism business. Determining the relationship between tourism activity and walkability on-street culture is critically important in the tourism business, and it helps Bandar Hilir maintain its vitality.

ProDOT-Based Polymers: From Energy Storage to Smart Window Applications

Nowadays, electroactive materials based on conjugated polymers for energy storage and electrochromic window applications attract large interest due to their low cost, accessible synthetic procedures, and interesting electrochemical properties. Herein, we report on the performance of two propylenedioxythiophene (ProDOT)-based polymers having varying length and functionality side chains, which were explored to assess their potential for these applications. The polymers were obtained by oxidative chemical polymerization and processed from organic solvents into thin coatings with different molecular assemblies. Preliminary studies on their chemical structure and optical and electrochemical characteristics were performed to evidence how these are influenced by the side chain substituent nature. When tested as electrode material in the three-electrode cell configuration, the synthesized ProDOT-based polymers provided the highest specific areal capacitance of 1.059 mF/cm2 at a scan rate of 10 mV/s and 0.538 mF/cm2 at 0.01 mA/cm2 in cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge–discharge measurements, respectively. One of the polymers showed electrochromic response, with ultrafast color change from deep purple to highly transmissive green/blue. A coloration efficiency of 123 cm2/C and a maximum CE decay of 9.9% after 100 cycles was achieved for this material, which is also able to efficiently store electrical charge, thus demonstrating potential for use in energy storage smart window applications where the energy level can be estimated by simple visual observation.

Modular forms via invariant theory

We discuss two simple but useful observations that allow the construction of modular forms from given ones using invariant theory. The first one deals with elliptic modular forms and their derivatives, and generalizes the Rankin-Cohen bracket, while the second one deals with vector-valued modular forms of genus greater than 1.

Structured transverse orbital angular momentum probed by a levitated optomechanical sensor

The momentum carried by structured light fields exhibits a rich array of surprising features. In this work, we generate transverse orbital angular momentum (TOAM) in the interference field of two parallel and counter-propagating linearly-polarised focused beams, synthesising an array of identical handedness vortices carrying intrinsic TOAM. We explore this structured light field using an optomechanical sensor, consisting of an optically levitated silicon nanorod, whose rotation is a probe of the optical angular momentum, which generates an exceptionally large torque. This simple creation and direct observation of TOAM will have applications in studies of fundamental physics, the optical manipulation of matter and quantum optomechanics.

PENERAPAN MODEL PEMBELAJARAN THE “SAS” TEAM UNTUK MENINGKATKAN KEMAMPUAN SISWA KELAS VIII DALAM MENULIS TEKS FUNGSIONAL KHUSUS

This classroom action research was intended to find out the information about the application of The “SAS” Team learning model to increase the students’ability of grade VIII in writing the short functional text at SMP Negeri 1 Banjarmasin. This research was conducted in grade VIII B with 32 students. This research was conducted in two cycles with the four steps: planning, acting, observing and reflecting. The quantitative data of the students’learning achievement were obtained through test and the data of achievement per aspect were collected through the analysis result of the students’answer sheets. The qualitative data of the students’learning activities were collected through simple observation sheet. The result of this study showed that the application of The “SAS” Team learning model was able to increase the students’ability of the grade VIII in writing the short functional text at SMP Negeri 1 Banjarmasin with the achievement 96,87% students achieved the Minimum Criteria of Mastery Learning (76) and the average score is 86.82.

The anti-biofilms effects of Thymus algeriensis on isolated strains of Bacillus cereus

The ability of some microorganisms to form biofilms has been increasing in recent years. Indeed, biofilms are defined as a way of life that allows bacteria to survive and resist in hostile environments. Therefore, this form of survival represents a major problem for different food industries, including the dairy industry. The objective of this study is the isolation of Bacillus cereus strains from raw cow's milk and the study of their characterization, their ability to form biofilms, as well as the search for an inhibitory effect of the essential oil of 'Thymus algeriensis' on these formed biofilms. For this purpose, samples of cow's milk are collected from the region of Abu El Hassan (Chlef) and submitted to microbiological analyses. The preliminary identification of the isolated bacteria allowed the selection of 06 strains of Bacillus cereus. These strains in question have shown great potential for the formation of biofilm in the wells of a micro plate. The formation of biofilm in the micro plate was analyzed first by a simple observation with the naked eye of the wells after coloration with purple crystal, then using an ELISA device where the absorbance of the populations at 620 nm could be measured. Regarding the in vivo effect of the Thymus algeriensis essential oil, a complete inhibition of the biofilm formed was obtained after 24 hours of contact.

Supernumerary digit of bilateral hands: a rare congenital anomaly presented as a case report.

We describe a case of a 29-year-old male with a postaxial supernumerary digit of the ulnar aspect of the bilateral fifth digit. The patient had a growth of 0.5cm over the ulnar aspect of the proximal phalanx of the fifth digit of the right hand and 0.1cm over the ulnar aspect of the proximal phalanx of the fifth digit of the left hand with a broad base. X-rays of bilateral hands were sent. Suture ligation or surgical excision was recommended for the patient, but they were both rejected by the patient. Bilateral hands with supernumerary digits are a rare congenital defect. The differential diagnosis of digital fibrokeratoma should be used by doctors. Simple observation, suture ligation, or excision with skin sutures are examples of potential treatments.

Spatial Analysis of Soil Moisture and Turfgrass Health to Determine Zones for Spatially Variable Irrigation Management

Irrigated turfgrass is a major crop in urban areas of the drought-stricken Western United States. A considerable proportion of irrigation water is wasted through the use of conventional sprinkler systems. While smart sprinkler systems have made progress in reducing temporal mis-applications, more research is needed to determine the most appropriate variables for accurately and cost-effectively determining spatial zones for irrigation application. This research uses data from ground and drone surveys of two large sports fields. Surveys were conducted pre-, within and towards the end of the irrigation season to determine spatial irrigation zones. Principal components analysis and k-means classification were used to develop zones using several variables individually and combined. The errors associated with uniform irrigation and different configurations of spatial zones are assessed to determine comparative improvements in irrigation efficiency afforded by spatial irrigation zones. A determination is also made as to whether the spatial zones can be temporally static or need to be re-determined periodically. Results suggest that zones based on spatial soil moisture surveys and simple observations of whether the grass felt wet or dry are better than those based on NDVI, other variables and several variables in combination. In addition, due to the temporal variations observed in spatial patterns, ideally zones should be re-evaluated periodically. However, a less labor-intensive solution is to determine temporally static zones based on patterns in soil moisture averaged from several surveys. Of particular importance are the spatial patterns observed prior to the start of the irrigation season as they reflect more temporally stable variation that relates to soil texture and topography rather than irrigation management.

Online Evasive Strategy for Aerial Survey using Sierpinski curve

This paper deals with the aerial survey of a closed region using the Space-Filling curve, particularly Sierpinski curve. The specified region is triangulated, and the Sierpinski curve is used to explore each triangular region. The entire region may have one or more obstacles. An algorithm is presented which suggests evasive maneuver if an obstacle is detected. The algorithm is online; that is, it does not require prior knowledge of the location of obstacles and can be used while the robotic system traverses the designated path. The fractal nature of the Sierpinski curve and simple geometric observations were used to formulate and validate the algorithm. The non-uniform coverage and multiple obstacle problems are also dealt with towards the end.

PENGARUH ETOS KERJA DAN INSENTIF TERHADAP KINERJA KARYAWAN PT PARIT PADANG GLOBAL CABANG JAKARTA 3

The objective this research is to analyze the influence of work Ethics and incentives to employee perfomance at PT Parit Padang Global Cabang Jakarta 3. The method for collecting of data used observation and questionnaires.The sampling method with the probability sampling by 80 respondents. The result of this research concluded thar descriptive view the most of respondents give perception with strong agree to work ethics conditions, incentives and also employee performance. Furthermore, based on simple regression method, Score, and Observation. The factors of discipline, morale, and turnovers already good. The work ethics and incentives give influence as positive and significant to employee work perfomance. The recommendations of this research, the company has been to maintaining and improving work ethics especially on employee perfomance, work relationship, and mental readiness of employee, discipline, motivational leadership.

Survival strategies of artificial active agents

Artificial cells can be engineered to display dynamics sharing remarkable features in common with the survival behavior of living organisms. In particular, such active systems can respond to stimuli provided by the environment and undertake specific displacements to remain out of equilibrium, e.g. by moving towards regions with higher fuel concentration. In spite of the intense experimental activity aiming at investigating this fascinating behavior, a rigorous definition and characterization of such “survival strategies” from a statistical physics perspective is still missing. In this work, we take a first step in this direction by adapting and applying to active systems the theoretical framework of Transition Path Theory, which was originally introduced to investigate rare thermally activated transitions in passive systems. We perform experiments on camphor disks navigating Petri dishes and perform simulations in the paradigmatic active Brownian particle model to show how the notions of transition probability density and committor function provide the pivotal concepts to identify survival strategies, improve modeling, and obtain and validate experimentally testable predictions. The definition of survival in these artificial systems paves the way to move beyond simple observation and to formally characterize, design and predict complex life-like behaviors.

A Rare Case of Cutis Aplasia Congenita in a Newborn

A Rare Case of Cutis Aplasia Congenita in a Newborn

An Improved Deadbeat Control Scheme for Unipolar Sinusoidal Current Excited Switched Reluctance Motor Drives

This article reports on a novel deadbeat control (DBC) scheme to improve the current regulation performance of the unipolar sinusoidal excited control strategy for switched reluctance motors (SRMs). In this scheme, the deadbeat controller with delay compensation is first designed by using a second-order inductance-based SRM model in the rotating reference frame. This developed model can provide a more accurate description of the torque and electromagnet characteristics compared with the existing model. However, ignoring the magnetic saturation during the modeling inevitably leads to uncertainties in the proposed DBC system. To further estimate the disturbance caused by these uncertainties and improve robustness, a simple adaptive disturbance observer (ADO) based on the steepest descent method is embedded in the deadbeat controller. Then, a stability analysis based on the discrete-time Lyapunov function is used to guarantee convergence and tune the adaption gain of the proposed ADO. Finally, comparative experiments under different operation conditions are carried out on a three-phase 12/8 SRM prototype to verify the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.

Dana M. Caldemeyer. Union Renegades: Miners, Capitalism, and Organizing in the Gilded Age.

In Union Renegades, Dana M. Caldemeyer provides a novel and engaging examination of a perennial question that plagues both the American labor movement and historians of America’s working class: why do so many workers, seemingly against their own interests, oppose or refuse to join labor unions? Drawing on underutilized sources, she focuses on midwestern miners of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, particularly during the 1890s, when the newly formed United Mine Workers (UMW) struggled to secure a stable membership and base of support. Although some of Caldemeyer’s claims are paradoxical or underdeveloped, this provocative book is an important contribution that is sure to influence scholarship for many years to come. Most of the evidence presented in Union Renegades comes from a uniquely rich archive of writing by miners themselves: the letters and reports published in mine workers’ newspapers. In particular, Caldemeyer notes, the United Mine Workers’ Journal printed any and all letters submitted during its first three years of publication, which “offer a unique window into workers’ lives and are crucial to understand how and why rank and file support for workers’ organizations like the UMW ebbed and flowed in the Gilded Age” (16). What these texts show, she compellingly argues, is that few workers were simply “union” or “non-union.” Rather, they usually supported and joined specific unions when they believed that those unions were responsive to their needs and goals and abandoned those unions when this no longer appeared to be the case. In other words, miners did not automatically join “the union” in response to dire working conditions or a sense of class solidarity; they joined, left, or stayed aloof from specific labor organizations based upon their analysis of those organizations’ words and deeds. This deceptively simple observation is a reminder to scholars that union membership cannot be used as an unproblematic sign of or shorthand for class consciousness and workplace discontent. Miners who fully, even militantly, supported “unionization” in the abstract might refuse to join the UMW or end their membership in it when it appeared to abandon or ignore them. This was the case, for example, when at the last minute, the UMW called off a nationwide miners’ strike in 1891. Many of its midwestern members “abandoned the UMW not because they had grown disillusioned with organized labor but because they believed the UMW leaders had turned away from their original goals” (69).

A metacognitive approach to the study of motion-induced duration biases reveals inter-individual differences in forming confidence judgments.

Our ability to estimate the duration of subsecond visual events is prone to distortions, which depend on both sensory and decisional factors. To disambiguate between these two influences, we can look at the alignment between discrimination estimates of duration at the point of subjective equality and confidence estimates when the confidence about decisions is minimal, because observers should be maximally uncertain when two stimuli are perceptually the same. Here, we used this approach to investigate the relationship between the speed of a visual stimulus and its perceived duration. Participants were required to compare two intervals, report which had the longer duration, and then rate their confidence in that judgment. One of the intervals contained a stimulus drifting at a constant speed, whereas the stimulus embedded in the other interval could be stationary, linearly accelerating or decelerating, or drifting at the same speed. Discrimination estimates revealed duration compression for the stationary stimuli and, to a lesser degree, for the accelerating and decelerating stimuli. Confidence showed a similar pattern, but, overall, the confidence estimates were shifted more toward higher durations, pointing to a small contribution of decisional processes. A simple observer model, which assumes that both judgments are based on the same sensory information, captured well inter-individual differences in the criterion used to form a confidence judgment.

On the communicative affordances of instrumental action: Offering meal service to others, whilst serving oneself

We begin with this simple observation: Taking food can present an occasion for offering food. The sheer visibility of mealtime self-service to other diners (reflexively) furnishes both a context and an account for these offers of service. Not only does mealtime self-service furnish a public launching pad for offering service to others, but the placement of that offer – either on the way to serving oneself or just after having done so—can frame the offer, casting it as a ‘no bother, while I'm at it’ offer. Furthermore, an Offerer can modify the path of their self-service so as to overtly promote the offer: A self-service Manual Action Pathway can be fashioned so as to incorporate visible preparation to serve the Offeree, just before or just after their own self-service. The report then turns to those offers made just as the actual transfer of food or drink is carried out. These offers are recurrently coterminous with the transfer, and thereby become fulfilment-ready just as the transfer reaches its material completion. Overall, we identify and detail just how practical embodied conduct can contribute to the formation of communicative action.