Analysis Software Package Research Articles

Assessing Rasch measurement estimation methods across R packages with yes/no vocabulary test data

Instrument measurement conducted with Rasch analysis is a common process in language assessment research. A recent systematic review of 215 studies involving Rasch analysis in language testing and applied linguistics research reported that 23 different software packages had been utilized. However, none of the analyses were conducted with one of the numerous R-based Rasch analysis software packages, which generally employ one of the three estimation methods: conditional maximum likelihood estimation (CMLE), joint maximum likelihood estimation (JMLE), or marginal maximum likelihood estimation (MMLE). For this study, eRm, a CMLE-based R package, was utilized to conduct a dichotomous Rasch analysis of a Yes/No vocabulary test based on the academic word list. The resulting parameters and diagnostic statistics were compared with the equivalent results from four other R-based Rasch measurement software packages and Winsteps. Finally, all of the packages were utilized in the analysis of 1000 simulated datasets to investigate the extent to which results generated from the contrasting estimation methods converged or diverged. Overall, the differences between the results produced with the three estimation methods were negligible, and the discrepancies observed between datasets were attributable to the software choice as opposed to the estimation method.

Can Radiomics Analyses in 18F-FDG PET/CT Images of Primary Breast Carcinoma Predict Hormone Receptor Status?

Objectives:This study aimed to investigate the role of preoperative 18fluorine-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) radiomics features and metabolic parameters of primary breast tumors in predicting hormone receptor (HR) positivity.Methods:A total of 153 patients with breast carcinoma who underwent preoperative 18F-FDG PET/CT were included. All PET/CT images were retrospectively reevaluated. Radiomics features of primary breast lesions reflecting tumor heterogeneity as well as standardized uptake value (SUV) metrics (SUVmin, SUVmean, SUVmax, and SUVpeak) and volumetric parameters such as metabolic tumor volume and total lesion glycolysis (TLG) were extracted by commercial texture analysis software package (LIFEx; https://www.lifexsoft.org/ index.php). WEKA and SPSS were used for statistical analysis. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to determine texture features predicting HR positivity. Accuracy, F-measure, precision, recall, and precision-recall curve area were used as data-mining performance criteria of texture features to predict HR positivity.Results:None of the radiomics parameters were significant in predicting HR status. Only SUV metrics and TLG were statistically important. Mean ± standard deviations for SUVmean, SUVmax, and SUVpeak for the HR-negative group were significantly higher than those in the HR-positive group (6.73±4.36 vs. 5.20±3.32, p=0.027; 11.55±7.42 vs. 8.63±5.23, p=0.006; and 8.37±6.81 vs. 5.72±4.86; p=0.012). Cut-off values of SUVmean, SUVmax, and SUVpeak for the prediction of HR positivity were 4.93, 8.35, and 6.02, respectively. Among data-mining methods, logistic regression showed the best performance with accuracy of 0.762.Conclusion:In addition to the relatively limited number of patients in this study, radiomics parameters cannot predict the HR status of primary breast cancer. SUV levels of the HR-negative group were significantly higher than those of the HR-positive group. To clarify the role of metabolic and radiomics parameters in predicting HR status in breast cancer, further studies involving a larger study population are needed.

COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among medical and health science students attending Wolkite University in Ethiopia.

BackgroundMedical and health science students are among the frontline health care workers who are at high risk of acquiring COVID-19 infection during their clinical attachments and future career. As health care providers, they are expected to promote and administer the COVID-19 vaccine and counsel vaccine-hesitant patients. It is, therefore, imperative to assess COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among medical and health science students. Thus, this study aimed to assess COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and its associated factors among medical and health science students of Wolkite University.MethodAn institutional-based cross-sectional study design was conducted among 420 medical and health science students attending Wolkite University from March 1 to 30, 2021. Simple random sampling technique was used to select study participants. Self-administered and structured questionnaires were used to collect data. Data were entered into Epi-Data version 4.2.0 and exported to SPSS version 23 software package for further analysis. Bivariable and multivariable analysis was used to identify associated factors. P values <0.05 result were considered as a statistically significant association.ResultsThe level of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy was 41.2% (95% CI; 35.2%-50.4%). Student age ≤23 years were 1.9 times more likely vaccine hesitant [aOR = 1.94, 95% CI; 1.14–3.28], being female were 1.7 times more likely vaccine hesitant [aOR = 1.76, 95% CI; 1.14–2.72], resided in rural area were 1.6 times more likely vaccine hesitant [aOR = 1.63, 95% CI; 1.06–2.49], source of information from social media were 2.7 times more likely vaccine hesitant [aOR = 2.68, 95% CI; 1.58–4.54], and good practice to COVID-19 mitigation measures were 47% less likely vaccine hesitant [aOR = 0.53, 95% CI; 0.34–0.83] compared to their counterpart.ConclusionsCOVID-19 vaccine hesitancy is found to be high. Therefore, students are advised to receive COVID-19 vaccine information from government lead mass media (i.e. television and radio), increase awareness and adherence to COVID-19 mitigation measures is recommended.

ASSESSMENT OF EXISTING AGROFORESTRY PRACTICES IN WEST HARARGHE ZONE OF OROMIA REGION, ETHIOPIA

A study was conducted in west Hararghe zone, on three districts, in six peasant associations with the intention to identify and assess potentials, constraints, opportunities and farmers’ perception on the existing agro-forestry practices of the study areas. The study was multistage sampling methods in which 121 households were selected using random sampling technique. Qualitative data generated by conducting household survey interviews, focus group discussions, key informant interview, and direct field observations in order to fit intention of the study. The collected Data was manipulated using suitable analytical software packages (SPSS, V.20) to calculate percentage and frequency of events through descriptive statistics. Based on the respondents idea across the districts, an average value of home garden agroforestry practices with 86% increasing and 11.5% decreasing and 2.5% no change trends were observed; while alley cropping of agroforestry practice during the past ten years ago with 89.3% increasing and 10.7% decreasing trend was observed (Table 4). Almost all in both Hararghe zones; alley cropping system is the most familiar than other existing agroforestry practices. For instance; an average value across the districts, Kchat plantation in alley cropping practice during the past ten years ago with 97.5% increasing and 2.5% decreasing trend was recorded (Table 4). In the result, the three top and the highest percentage observation of woody species have been retaining and planting in farmland across districts with the specific uses were Catha Edulis with (64.2%), Coffea with (49.9%) and Cordia Africana with (36.7%) could be observed (Table 2). The three top constraints of agroforestry practices were shortage of farm land with (43.8%), lack of understanding with (24.8%) and nutrient competition with (20.7%) observed. Basically, agroforestry practices needs optimum farm land size with related extent in order to compensate the observed constraints. On the contrary, the three top opportunities of agroforestry practices were Multipurpose Utilities with (26.1%), provision of shading with (14.3%) and Climate Balance with (6.7%) observed .It was also found that multipurpose trees shrubs play various traditional roles to local community. Generally; retention and planting of trees/shrubs in farm lands are used for fuel, construction, food, medicine, folder, and aesthetic value, shading values, windbreak, soil conservation and soil fertility improvement, bee forage and other uses in advance.

GPU-accelerated and pipelined methylation calling.

The third-generation DNA sequencing technologies, such as Nanopore Sequencing, can operate at very high speeds and produce longer reads, which in turn results in a challenge for the computational analysis of such massive data. Nanopolish is a software package for signal-level analysis of Oxford Nanopore sequencing data. Call-methylation module of Nanopolish can detect methylation based on Hidden Markov Model (HMM). However, Nanopolish is limited by the long running time of some serial and computationally expensive processes. Among these, Adaptive Banded Event Alignment (ABEA) is the most time-consuming step, and the prior work, f5c, has already parallelized and optimized ABEA on GPU. As a result, the remaining methylation score calculation part, which uses HMM to identify if a given base is methylated or not, has become the new performance bottleneck. This article focuses on the call-methylation module that resides in the Nanopolish package. We propose Galaxy-methyl, which parallelizes and optimizes the methylation score calculation step on GPU and then pipelines the four steps of the call-methylation module. Galaxy-methyl increases the execution concurrency across CPUs and GPUs as well as hardware resource utilization for both. The experimental results collected indicate that Galaxy-methyl can achieve 3×-5× speedup compared with Nanopolish, and reduce the total execution time by 35% compared with f5c, on average. The source code of Galaxy-methyl is available at https://github.com/fengyilin118/.

A smartphone-integrated dual-mode nanosensor based on Fe3O4@Au for rapid and highly selective detection of glutathione

A simple, rapid and straightforward method for detecting reduced glutathione (GSH) was developed supported on smartphone analysis software package and a peroxide simulated catalyst nanoparticles (Fe3O4@Au) system. The nanocomposite was prepared by self-assembling technique, and the characterization was carried out using transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transforms infrared, and X-ray diffractometer. Fe3O4@Au materials have catalyzed the oxidation of a typical colorimetric substrate in the presence of H2O2, with the color changes from colorless to green oxidized. A smartphone with a free self-developed app referred to as “Color Capture” was accustomed live the RGB (red–greenblue) values of color intensity within the Fe3O4@Au system and computationally convert them GSH concentrations. The smartphone detection system showed high property and sensitivity of GSH detection. It gave a constant correlation (R2 = 0.9973) between the colour intensity of I and the GSH concentration, with a linear vary of 0–0.25 mmol/L, and a detection limit of 0.013 μmol/L. The results obtained were most consistent with the results obtained in ultraviolet spectrophotometry. The colorimetric system is based on smartphone analysis software developed to detect GSH in actual samples with potential application values.

Exploring Association between Food Law and Double Burden of Malnutrition: A case Study of Afghanistan

Theoretical framework:For all forms of malnutrition with their related diseases a unique term of double burden of malnutrition is used (DBM). DBM is the greatest risk for all globe which has both social and economic costs. Objective:To investigate impacts of food law on DBM in Afghanistan. Model/methodology:We introduce new model under PLS-SEM in which we employ Smart PLS 3.2.9 software package for statistical analysis. Data:Through, purposive sampling we have online interviews with 400 residents of Afghanistan. Findings:Our study findings indicate that all forms of food law have significant impact to protect population form DBM. Similarly, balanced diet has significant role to control DBM. Policy implications:Our investigations suggest that government should adopt objective food law to control all harms from supply/ production side of food. Practical implications:This research will help government to reshape their food law and will encourage people to have balanced diet regime.

Technologies for studying functional neural networks of the human brain based on data of nuclear functional magnetic tomography

Nuclear functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is one of the most popular methods for studying the functional activity of the human brain. In particular, this method is used in medicine to obtain information about the state of the functional networks of the patient’s brain. However, the process of processing and analysis of experimental fMRI data is complex and requires the selection of the correct technique, depending on the specific task. Practice has shown that different processing methods can give slightly different results for the same set of fMRI data. There are a number of alternative specialized software packages for processing and analysis, but the methodology still needs improvement and development. We are working in this direction: we analyze the effectiveness of existing methods; we develop our own methods; we create software services for processing and analysis of fMRI data on the basis of the distributed modular platform “Digital Laboratory”, with the involvement of the supercomputer NRC “Kurchatov Institute”. For research we use experimental fMRI data obtained on the scanner Siemens Verio Magnetom 3T at the Kurchatov Institute. One of our tasks within the framework of this project is to improve the technology for studying large-scale functional areas of the cerebral cortex at rest. To build a hierarchical model of interaction of large-scale neural networks, a verified binding of functional areas to anatomy is required. Today, there are a number of generally accepted atlases of the functional areas of the human cerebral cortex, which, nevertheless, are constantly being finalized and refined. This article presents the results of our study of the Glasser atlas for the consistency of voxels within one region and the connectivity metrics of voxel dynamics.

The Influence of Network Location on Knowledge Hiding from the Perspective of Lifelong Education.

Inhibiting negative knowledge behavior is one of the ways to improve the effective circulation of knowledge within the organization. This study puts employees' knowledge hiding behavior in the organizational relationship network situation and discusses the influence of network location on knowledge hiding, exploring the moderating role of knowledge acquisition in the relationship between network location and knowledge hiding. From the perspective of social network, 232 knowledge-based employees were used to obtain the data, and we used literature analysis, social network analysis, multiple regression analysis, UCINET, SPSS, and other software packages. Research shows that employees in the central network are less willing to do knowledge hiding behavior, and those in the structural hole network tend to do knowledge hiding behavior. Knowledge acquisition as the supply way of knowledge resources plays a positive role on the negative relationship between centrality and knowledge hiding and on the positive relationship between structure hole and knowledge hiding. The research results have positive significance for understanding and mastering the hiding behavior law of individual knowledge in the organizational relationship network and also provide certain theoretical basis and data support for organizational knowledge governance.

Assessment of Existing Agroforestry Practices in East Hararghe Zone Oromia, Ethiopia

An agroforestry practice produces different benefits, which enhance household incomes and diversification of products. This study was aimed to identifying existing agroforestry practices and to identify perception behind of agroforestry practice and to identify the opportunities and major constraints related to agroforestry practices in Fedis, Kersa and Jarso Districts of the lowland, midland and highlands agro ecologies, of East Hararghe Zone, oromia, Ethiopia. The study was based on a household survey conducted on 154 farm household heads; focus group discussions, key informant interviews and direct field observations were applied. The data were analyzed using analytical (SPSS 20.0) software packages to calculate descriptive statistics. Chi-squared tests were used to compare the agroforestry practices and agro ecologies. The result indicates that six AFPs exist in the study area namely; scattered trees on croplands (58%), hedge row intercropping (33%), home garden (22%), multipurpose trees on farmland (19%), live fence /boundary planting (18%), and wind breaks (4%) were dominant. Significant respondent number (51.96%) of practices is involved in agri-silvicultural system, most of the farmer’s (45.12%) have positive attitude towards Agroforestry practices in the study area. Most of the respondents agreed on agro-forestry practices increased the construction input, soil fertility, food, and fodder. On the other hand, sacristy of land, moisture stress, diseases and pests, inadequate seedlings availability, and inadequate extension services are the major constraints. Results of the socio-economic characteristics respondents showed that gender, age, family size, and land holding positively and significantly influence the decision of the determined practice of household’s and were significantly affected the choice of agroforestry practice by the households. Based on the survey, it is concluded that scattered trees on farmland, hedge row intercropping, and home garden AFP dominant practices across agro ecologies and were the most appropriate agro-forestry practices. This agro-forestry practices increased the construction input, soil fertility, food, and fodder in the area of land sacristy, moisture stress, diseases and pests. Therefore, further the tree integration efforts of farmers should be guided by scientific principles, the interaction tree species with annual crops and economic analysis of the individual agroforestry practices, domestication of nitrogen fixing trees, fruit tree species, and promoting sustainable agroforestry should be carried out.

Optimal Control Strategies for Systems with Input Delay using the PIE Framework

The Partial Integral Equation (PIE) framework provides a unified algebraic representation for use in analysis, control, and estimation of infinite-dimensional systems. However, the presence of input delays results in a PIE representation with dependence on the derivative of the control input, u˙. This dependence complicates the problem of optimal state-feedback control for systems with input delay – resulting in a bilinear optimization problem. In this paper, we present two strategies for convexification of the H∞-optimal state-feedback control problem for systems with input delay. In the first strategy, we use a generalization of Young's inequality to formulate a convex optimization problem, albeit with some conservatism. In the second strategy, we filter the actuator signal – introducing additional dynamics, but resulting in a convex optimization problem without conservatism. We compare these two optimal control strategies on four example problems, solving the optimization problem using the latest release of the PIETOOLS software package for analysis, control and simulation of PIEs.

Sensitivity and specificity of the Alvarado Score for the timely differential diagnosis of acute appendicitis for a case series in Samoa

BackgroundTimely diagnosis of acute appendicitis (AA) is essential for optimal management of abdominal pain emergency presentations. Improved diagnostic procedures should minimise progression to complicated appendicitis, as well as reduce the number of unwanted surgical interventions. The Alvarado Score is an important tool to assist with the management of AA based on clinically predictive values. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of the Alvarado Score as an instrument for the diagnosis of AA in our low-resourced context of Samoa. Materials and methodsThe lead investigator performed a retrospective clinical data review design of all patients admitted to the Tupua Tamasese Meaole Hospital Surgical Unit for AA from January 2015 to December 2016. Exclusion criteria were appendiceal abscess and/or mass, and final diagnosis ‘not acute appendicitis’. Age, sex, village, Alvarado Score, Ultrasound Scan Result, surgical management, and histopathology result were the main variables entered into the SPSS statistical software package for analysis. ResultsOf the 225 patients (2–86 years) admitted for AA, 67.1% (N = 151) underwent appendicectomy, and the remaining 32.9% (N = 74) were treated with antibiotics. An Alvarado Score (≥5) showed 91.7% sensitivity and 50% specificity for AA. There was a significant relationship between the Alvarado Score and the Ultrasound Scan for AA (p < 0.05). Histology results showed complicated AA in 68.6% (N = 94) of cases. The negative appendicectomy rate was 2.6%. ConclusionsThe Alvarado Score is an effective tool for the timely differential diagnosis of AA in our Samoan context. The high rate of complicated acute appendicitis warrants investigation to further improve the management of AA in the Pacific Island setting.

Impact of pile-to-cap fixity on the design and behavior of sensitive structures

This paper presents the results of analytical studies on the connection between piles and pile caps or footings. Two nonlinear finite element analysis software packages were used to investigate the behavior of the connection itself and the impact of connection assumptions on the overall behavior of different sensitive structures such as simple spans with uneven span lengths, segmental box girders with fixed pier tables, and straddle bents with temperature loading. Results show that the behavior of the connection is affected by variables such as pile size, pile embedment length, pile cap concrete strength, interface reinforcement, and distance between the edge of the pile and the edge of the pile cap. The study also demonstrated that significant moment can develop even with shallow pile embedment lengths. The assumed level of fixity between the pile and pile cap was found to significantly influence the behavior of some of the bridges investigated in this study.

Screening for prostate cancer: a study on the free and total prostate specific antigen.

Background: A variety of biomarkers have been developed to monitor growth of cancerous diseases and to detect them at an early stage. Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is a valuable prostate cancer biomarker that is now widely used for population screening, diagnosis, and monitoring of patients with prostate cancer. Other factors than prostate cancer can cause elevation of PSA levels therefore, free prostate specific antigen measurements in serum have been proposed in order to improve the specificity of laboratory identification of prostate cancer. Aim: The aim of our study was to evaluate the diagnostic significance of both total PSA and Free PSA in discriminating prostate cancer from other prostate diseases. Materials and methods: Our study group consisted of 1201 males admitted at outpatient clinic aged between 35 and 84 years old (mean age 63 years). All laboratory measurements were performed on serum samples. The data were statistically analyzed by using descriptive statistics for Windows. Results: The mean total PSA concentration evaluated among 1038 patients was 16.17 ng/mL whereas only Free PSA concentration was evaluated in 163 serum samples and resulted in a mean value of 2.67 ng/ml. In order to calculate the correlation between total and free PSA, data among 69 /1038 patients were further analyzed through statistical program software package for data analysis. Conclusions: Measuring serum free PSA concentrations along with PSA concentrations may provide higher accuracy for detecting prostate cancer and might eliminate unnecessary biopsies in the men with PSA of more than 4.0 ng/mL

A unified view on beamformers for M/EEG source reconstruction

Beamforming is a popular method for functional source reconstruction using magnetoencephalography (MEG) and electroencephalography (EEG) data. Beamformers, which were first proposed for MEG more than two decades ago, have since been applied in hundreds of studies, demonstrating that they are a versatile and robust tool for neuroscience. However, certain characteristics of beamformers remain somewhat elusive and there currently does not exist a unified documentation of the mathematical underpinnings and computational subtleties of beamformers as implemented in the most widely used academic open source software packages for MEG analysis (Brainstorm, FieldTrip, MNE, and SPM). Here, we provide such documentation that aims at providing the mathematical background of beamforming and unifying the terminology. Beamformer implementations are compared across toolboxes and pitfalls of beamforming analyses are discussed. Specifically, we provide details on handling rank deficient covariance matrices, prewhitening, the rank reduction of forward fields, and on the combination of heterogeneous sensor types, such as magnetometers and gradiometers. The overall aim of this paper is to contribute to contemporary efforts towards higher levels of computational transparency in functional neuroimaging.

Dose‐dependent relationship between social drinking and brain aging

Low-level alcohol consumption is commonly perceived as being inconsequential or even beneficial for overall health, with some reports suggesting that it may protect against dementia or cardiovascular risks. However, these potential benefits do not preclude the concurrent possibility of negative health outcomes related to alcohol consumption. To examine whether casual, non-heavy drinking is associated with premature brain aging, we utilized the Brain-Age Regression Analysis and Computational Utility Software package to predict brain age in a community sample of adults [n = 240, mean age 35.1 (±10.7) years, 48% male, 49% African American]. Accelerated brain aging was operationalized as the difference between predicted and chronological age (“brain age gap”). Multiple regression analysis revealed a significant association between previous 90-day alcohol consumption and brain age gap (β = 0.014, p = 0.023). We replicated these results in an independent cohort [n = 231 adults, mean age 34.3 (±11.1) years, 55% male, 28% African American: β = 0.014, p = 0.002]. Our results suggest that even low-level alcohol consumption is associated with premature brain aging. The clinical significance of these findings remains to be investigated.

Evaluation of atherosclerosis in patients with chronic kidney disease by measuring carotid intima media thickness: An observational study from a tertiary care center in India

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is associated with a substantial cardiovascular mortality and morbidity. Besides other factors, accelerated atherosclerosis plays a significant role in this. Carotid intima media thickness (CIMT) is an index of systemic atherosclerosis. By measuring the CIMT with the help of B mode ultrasound at common carotid artery, the overall atherosclerotic burden in CKD patients can be estimated. Accordingly patients at increased risk of premature mortality can be identified so that timely intervention can be taken. Aims and Objectives: The aim of the study was to measure the CIMT at the level of common carotid artery by B mode ultrasound for estimation of atherosclerotic burden in patients with CKD. Materials and Methods: It is a hospital based observational cross-sectional study involving 70 patients carried out in the department of General Medicine of Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata for a period of 1 year. Patients were selected on the basis of certain inclusion and exclusion criteria. They were evaluated based on clinical history, disease duration, physical examination findings and certain investigation parameters such as complete hemogram, renal function tests, serum potassium, lipid profile, urinalysis, urine for albumin-creatinine ratio, ultrasonography of kidney-ureter-bladder, and CIMT value as measured by B mode ultrasound of carotid artery. The data collected were analyzed with a suitable statistical analysis software package. Range, frequencies, percentage, mean, standard deviation, and P value were calculated. P&lt;0.05 was taken as significant. Results: The study showed a strong correlation between CIMT and BMI (r=0.533, P&lt;0.001). CIMT for serum triglyceride levels (≥150 mg/dl) were significantly (P&lt;0.001) high in patients (mean±SD=1.45±0.559) mg/dl in comparison with serum triglyceride levels (&lt;150 mg/dl) (0.98 ± 0.380 mg/d). Patients with high cholesterol of ≥200 mg/dl have a higher CIMT of 1.56±0.574 with P&lt;0.001. There is statistically significant relation of LDL with respect to mean CIMT as P&lt;0.001 at 1% level of significance. Hence, mean CIMT is more in LDL (≥130) than in LDL (&lt;130). CIMT for HDL levels (&lt;40 mg/dl) were high in CKD (mean=1.53±0.518 mg/dl) patients compared to HDL levels (≥40 mg/dl) (mean=10.88±0.291). It was found that mean CIMT was higher in the later stages of kidney disease (Stage 3B, 4 and Stage 5) as compared to early stages (Stages 1, 2, and 3). We also found that the Mean CIMT (1.214±0.531 was higher in patients with CKD compared to sonographically defined normal value (&lt;0.9 mm). Hence, CKD patients who have traditional risk factors for atherosclerosis such as higher BMI, higher serum total cholesterol level, higher serum triglyceride level, higher serum LDL level, and lower serum HDL level have a higher value of CIMT. Conclusion: B-mode ultrasound is a non-invasive sensitive tool for assessment of CIMT. Since CKD is associated with accelerated atherosclerosis and subsequent increased cardiovascular mortality, this modality may help us to identify patients with atherosclerotic burden so that timely intervention can be taken to reduce future cardiovascular complications in CKD patients.

GENDER DIFFERENCES IN THE ACHIVEMENTS OF CIVIL ENGINEERING STUDENTS

&amp;lt;jats:p&amp;gt;The paper analyzes gender differences in the length of study and average grade between the number of enrolled and graduated students at the Faculty of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy in Banjaluka, during the period from 1996 to 2015. It was concluded that women, in civil engineering studies, are just as successful as men. However, it is noticeable that women in Bosnia and Herzegovina, enroll much less in engineering studies. Engineering studies need to be more popularized among women. The results of the analysis are presented using the SPSS statistical analysis software package.&amp;lt;/jats:p&amp;gt;

Original software package for psychophysiological and cognitive functions analysis of children

Psychometry plays an important role when determining the state of psychophysiological and cognitive functions in children of different ages. Goal. To deliver an original software package for a psychophysiological computer complex (PCC) “Psychomat” for implementing an online analysis of psychophysiological and cognitive functions in children of different ages. Materials and methods. One hundred eighty-four conditionally healthy school children aged 6 to 17 years were examined using a set of psychophysiological tests and original methods for evaluating higher mental functions (24 tests, 66 parameters). Results. An original software package as the computer psychophysiological complex “Psychomat” was elaborated. The norm base was determined. Also, the testing mechanism and scoring system in points for psychophysiological functions assessment were developed. Thus, it became possible to establish the patterns of cognitive and psychophysiological functions development at different ages. Conclusion. This newly created software package can be used as a test system for mass examination of children of different ages.

Two-Dimensional Transient Heat Transfer Model for High-Temperature Laser-Scanning Confocal Microscopy

Abstract High-temperature laser-scanning confocal microscopy (HT-LSCM) has proven to be an excellent experimental technique through in situ observations of high temperature phase transformation to study kinetics and morphology using thin disk steel specimens. A 1.0 kW halogen lamp within the elliptical cavity of the HT-LSCM furnace radiates heat and imposes a nonlinear temperature profile across the radius of the steel sample. When exposed at the solid/liquid interface, this local temperature profile determines the kinetics of solidification and phase transformation morphology. A two-dimensional numerical heat transfer model for both isothermal and transient conditions is developed for a concentrically solidifying sample. The model can accommodate solid/liquid interface velocity as an input parameter under concentric solidification with cooling rates up to 100 K/min. The model is validated against a commercial finite element analysis software package, strand7, and optimized with experimental data obtained under near-to equilibrium conditions. The validated model can then be used to define the temperature landscape under transient heat transfer conditions.