Suitable Evaluation Method Research Articles

Assessing Subsoil Conditions with an ASABE Conform Vertical Penetrometer-Development and Evaluation.

Soil is the habitat for soil organisms and associated soil physical and chemical processes. The subsoil is a large reserve of water and nutrients. Soil and subsoil are thus significantly involved in the yield capacity of a site and its resilience in the case of unfavorable weather conditions. Subsoil can also retain water in drought phases and stores carbon. In times of climate change and scarcity of resources, many scientific activities involve subsoil and require sensors to assess subsoil conditions and properties. An electrically driven penetrometer with an integrated soil water content sensor could be an appropriate tool for such applications; however, such a subsoil measurement tool does not exist. One major reason for this is that, when penetrating compacted subsoil, high penetration forces (including friction) act on the penetrating thin rod (diameter 1 cm). The development of a tractor-mounted subsoil penetrometer for depths up to 2 m is described in this study. An ASABE standard cone is implemented, which can access heavy compacted layers. The rod, which includes wires for embedding an FDI moisture sensor in the cone tip, is covered by a protection tube. The penetration resistance measurement can be performed without being influenced by shaft friction. The rod, along with the sensor, is implemented in a tower that can be shifted laterally and can take probes in a single line without moving the tractor. To confirm the quality of the developed subsoil penetrometer, a suitable evaluation method is presented. Typical arable soil (loamy silt) was filled in boxes and compacted homogeneously using a hydraulic stamp so that different setups of the penetrometer could be compared and evaluated. The evaluation concludes that the distance between the free cone tip and the protection shaft should be at least 10 cm to measure the penetration resistance of soil without being influenced by the protection tube. Furthermore, the developed penetrometer has sufficient stability and precision for accessing subsoil. In field trials, the subsoil penetrometer was compared with a standard penetrometer and has proved its suitability.

Computer vision-based evaluation of dimensional accuracy for MEAM in new product development

Evaluation of dimensional accuracy for parts is a key component of quality assurance for material extrusion based additive manufacturing (MEAM) in new product development. Computer vision-based frameworks are currently the most suitable methods for MEAM dimensional accuracy evaluation due to their non-contact measurement characteristic, rapidity and high accuracy. However, the previous computer vision-based frameworks in MEAM had the limitations of high camera cost and strict installation requirements. To address this issue, a cheap and accurate computer vision-based framework is proposed for MEAM based on a single mobile phone camera without strict installation requirements. First, camera is calibrated to reduce the influence of lens distortion. Then, dimensions are measured through projective transformation and scaling. To find the best calibration pattern, three calibration pattern named checkerboard, symmetric circle and asymmetric circle are investigated. The proposed framework is validated experimentally through printing tests of a cube and a cylinder fabricated by a fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printer. The result shows that camera calibration using asymmetric circular grid pattern has the highest accuracy and the proposed computer vision framework is validated as the maximum relative error is less than 1%.

Impact of COVID-19 on perception and preparedness among clinical year Malaysian undergraduate dental students – A cross-sectional study

This study aimed to evaluate how quarantine affected final-year dental students' self-perceptions of preparation and assess how online training affected clinical students' education at SEGi University. Year 3 to 5 students (n=140) were asked to fill up an online questionnaire. The first part included the effects of online education experience between the academic years. The second section assessed the graduating class's self-perceived readiness in cognitive, communication and professional abilities. The Chi-square test was used to analyse the association between the groups regarding academic years, gender, and family income. Year 3 students missed educational experiences during lockdown significantly more than years 4 and 5 (p<0.001). In addition, 86% of year 5 students (p< 0.001) felt that online assessment was not a suitable evaluation method compared to the other clinical years. About two-thirds of the 5th year dental students were unsure of their confidence in their skills before graduation. Around half of the final-year students said they were unsure about starting their practice following graduation. After graduation, 80% of respondents preferred to spend a year in residence with sufficient training. Although students' self-perceived preparation was generally positive, they expressed reservations about the independent practice after graduation.

Land Evaluation for Acacia (Acacia mangium × Acacia auriculiformis) Plantations in the Mountainous Regions of Central Vietnam

In recent years, both scientists and local governments have been giving serious attention to land evaluation, especially in regard to the use of agricultural land. This is with the intention of increasing the sustainability of agricultural production. In Vietnam, acacia plantations play an important role in the livelihoods of farmers in mountainous regions. Therefore, identifying suitable areas for acacia plantations is an important consideration within mountainous areas. This research was conducted in Nam Dong district, Central Vietnam, using six physical soil criteria for land evaluation by the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and also the Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP). The results have shown that the ranking of selected criteria in both methods was the same, but the weighting of each criterion was different. Among the six physical soil criteria, soil depth has the highest priority, followed by slope, soil organic carbon content, soil texture, soil pH, and soil type. The suitability maps for acacia plantations within the area studied have shown that 9344 ha were not suitable, and 99 ha had low suitability for acacia plantation by both methods. For the AHP approach, 928 hectares were in the range of moderate suitability, and 3080 hectares were in the high suitability class. In contrast, the FAHP method determined 905 hectares to be of the moderate suitability class and 3102 hectares to be of the high suitability class. Based on the observed acacia’s productivity and the scores of the two methods, it shows that the FAHP has a stronger correlation than the of AHP. Within the six selected criteria, the FAHP method can increase the accuracy of land evaluation results by 4.62% in comparison to the original AHP method. Therefore, the FAHP is the most suitable method for land evaluation, especially for agricultural land planning. Further studies should be integrated into more social and economic criteria for comprehensive land evaluation scenarios.

Parametric study on the behaviour of RCC box girder bridge deck using IRC Codal provisions in CSI Bridge

In today’s modern highways due to its creative and cost-effective approaches to over passage, under passage, separation structures, and bridge deck systems, box girder bridges are among the most often utilised bridge deck systems. Various structural components make up a conventional box girder bridge. The current study focusses on parametric analysis of RCC box girder bridge deck. Many literatures suggest that finite element analysis is most suitable method for evaluation of box girder deck sections. Six box girder bridge models with varied depth and number of interior girders with constant span lengths is modelled in finite element method (FEM) based software CSI Bridge 2016 and is used for the parametric study. The cross section for varied depth consists of single cell RCC box section with constant span length of 30m. Static analysis of each model is done for IRC 6 load combinations, self-weight, super imposed dead load and impact factor. The bending moment (BM), shear force (SF) and displacement for the models are recorded. From the results it is found that BM, SF increases for increment in overall depth of the section but deflection reduces.

Applying risk matrices for assessing the risk of psychosocial hazards at work.

Although wide-ranging amendments in health and safety regulations at the European and national level oblige employers to conduct psychosocial risk assessment, it is still under debate how psychosocial hazards can be properly evaluated. For psychosocial hazards, an epidemiological, risk-oriented understanding similar to physical hazards is still missing, why most existing approaches for hazard evaluation insufficiently conceive psychosocial risk as a combination of the probability of a hazard and the severity of its consequences (harm), as found in traditional risk matrix approaches (RMA). We aim to contribute to a methodological advancement in psychosocial risk assessment by adapting the RMA from physical onto psychosocial hazards. First, we compare and rate already existing procedures of psychosocial risk evaluation regarding their ability to reliably assess and prioritize risk. Second, we construct a theoretical framework that allows the risk matrix for assessing psychosocial risk. This is done by developing different categories of harm based on psychological theories of healthy work design and classifying hazards through statistical procedures. Taking methodological and theoretical considerations into account, we propose a 3 × 3 risk matrix that scales probability and severity for psychosocial risk assessment. Odds ratios between hazards and harm can be used to statistically assess psychosocial risks. This allows for both risk evaluation and prioritizing to further conduct risk-mitigation. Our contribution advances the RMA as a framework that allows for assessing the relation between psychosocial hazards and harm disregarding which theory of work stress is applied or which tool is used for hazard identification. By this, we also contribute to further possible developments in empirical research regarding how to assess the risk of workplace stress. The risk matrix can help to understand how psychosocial hazards can be evaluated and organizations can use the approach as a guidance to establish a suitable method for psychosocial risk evaluation.

Multi-Criteria Comparison of Energy and Environmental Assessment Approaches for the Example of Cooling Towers

Cooling towers remove economically or technically unusable heat using considerable amounts of electricity and, in many cases, water. Several approaches, which vary in methodology, scope, and level of detail, are used for environmental evaluations of these cooling systems. Although the chosen approach has a significant impact on decisions made at the plant level, no methodology has yet been standardized for selecting the approach that best serves the objectives of the evaluation. Thus, this paper provides comparison criteria for the systematic selection of suitable evaluation methods for cooling towers and classifies how the methods score in this respect. These criteria, such as ‘life cycle thinking’, ‘inventoried physical quantities’, ‘temporal resolution’, ‘formalization’, and ‘data availability’, are grouped by overall evaluation objectives such as ‘thoroughness’, ‘scientific soundness’, and ‘usability’. Subsequently, these criteria were used to compare material flow analysis, energy analysis, environmental network analysis, life cycle inventory, life cycle assessment, environmental footprint methods, emergy analysis, exergy analysis, and the physical optimum method. In conclusion, material flow analysis is best suited for the analysis of cooling towers when impact assessment is not required; otherwise, life cycle assessment meets most of the defined criteria. Moreover, only exergy-based methods allow for the inclusion of volatile ambient conditions.

Construction and Evaluation Method of Key Indicators of Moral Character and Political Concept Education of Undergraduate Pupils Based on CIPP Model

It has always been our party’s fine tradition to focus on moral character and political concept education for undergraduate pupils. Since the founding of the Communist Party of China, the moral character and political concept education of undergraduate pupils has been attached great importance, no matter when the moral character and political concept education of undergraduate pupils in the primary position of education. With the development of modernization, the moral character and political concept education system of undergraduate pupils is quite different from the traditional system, so how to evaluate the moral character and political concept education of undergraduate pupils more accurately and fairly requires more suitable evaluation methods and key indicators. Today’s higher education is dominated by a pragmatic view, and one of its main goals is to produce pupils who contribute to society. The importance of which will need to practice, thus combining the domestic and foreign education view, and the specific ideological education present situation, we put forward the practice of the key indicators, based on the CIPP model built which is suitable for the modern undergraduate pupils’ ideological education evaluation system method; the results show that the presented evaluation method and undergraduate pupils’ ideological education level fit are 15% higher than the traditional methods, and it has stronger accuracy and fit degree.

In vitro evaluation of antibacterial nanomaterial-induced anaphylactoid reaction for indwelling catheters

BackgroundTo prevent tunnel infection of indwelling catheters, impregnation with antiseptics or antibiotics is effective. However, 13 patients using chlorhexidine–silver sulfadiazine-impregnated catheters experienced serious anaphylactic shock in Japan. Thus, it is necessary to select a suitable evaluation method for allergic reactions and develop a novel antibacterial coating material that does not cause anaphylactic reaction.MethodsTwo types of highly dispersible and antibacterial nanoparticles—fluorine (F)-doped hydroxyapatite (HAp) and zinc (Zn)-doped HAp—were tested using of the system and compared with compound 48/80 (c48/80) as a histamine releaser and chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) as an anaphylactic inducer.ResultsThe histamine concentrations secreted from HMC-1 cells remained mostly the same even with the addition of F-HAp and Zn-HAp. On the contrary, the levels of the chemical mediators from the cells by the addition of F-HAp and Zn-HAp were significantly lower than those of only c48/80 and CHG without the addition of HAp.ConclusionsThe assay was a well-evaluated method for quantifying histamine concentrations released from HMC-1 cells. Our study induced HMC-1 cells accompanied with and without the nanomaterials; the potential of F-HAp and Zn-HAp to induce allergic reactions was found to be quite low. Therefore, the antibacterial nanomaterials are expected to hardly induce anaphylactoid reactions.

Overview of therapeutic targets in management of dementia.

Dementia is defined as a gradual cognitive impairment that interferes with everyday tasks, and is a leading cause of dependency, disability, and mortality. According to the current scenario, millions of individuals worldwide have dementia. This review provides with an overview of dementia before moving on to its subtypes (neurodegenerative and non-neurodegenerative) and pathophysiology. It also discusses the incidence and severity of dementia, focusing on Alzheimer's disease with its different hypotheses such as Aβ cascade hypothesis, Tau hypothesis, inflammatory hypothesis, cholinergic and oxidative stress hypothesis. Alzheimer's disease is the most common type and a progressive neurodegenerative illness distinct by neuronal loss and resulting cognitive impairment, leading to dementia. Alzheimer's disease (AD) is considered the most familiar neurodegenerative dementias that affect mostly older population. There are still no disease-modifying therapies available for any dementias at this time, but there are various methods for lowering the risk to dementia patients by using suitable diagnostic and evaluation methods. Thereafter, the management and treatment of primary risk elements of dementia are reviewed. Finally, the future perspectives of dementia (AD) focusing on the impact of the new treatment are discussed.

Pomegranate (Punica granatum): affective memories and comfort

There are very interesting and helpful the biological and pharmacological activities of fruits of ancient trees which co-evoluted with planet to welfare for living beings and environment, as Punica granatum (Pomegranate). Pomegranate total aqueous extract is really effective besides a smooth action, as preliminarily observed at recovering of eroded soil. In parallel, at a period time of increasing of incidence of malignancies, types of anemia and cardiovascular diseases, its juice and its oilment shall be investigated aiming to be used as a complementary intervention during conventional specific treatment. Our professional experience with its use as functional food empirically suggested its metabolic regulation associated with immunemodulatory action. But, mainly, to ethnical elder people (Romani, Hebrew, Pakistanese, Japanese) evoked affective memories, something very hopefull in this period time of special attention to signals of collective major and minor depression previously existent besides medical news about decreased cognitive function post-Covid19, around the world. So our meaningfull qualitative strategy of psychosocial attention care seemed to be positive and, perhaps, stimulated neurotransmitters modulation way, as one probable mechanism of action. Analysis of this natural product effect and professional experience will be discussed, a posteriori, through the suitable method of evaluation.

A Grey Prediction Algorithm for Enterprise Human Resource Management Validity Model Construction and Improvement

With the deepening development of economic globalization and world economic integration, all enterprises are faced with an increasingly complex and competitive living environment. Therefore, it is particularly important to formulate a human resource strategy suitable for the enterprise’s own development to cope with the external challenges and external competition of the enterprise. However, in the current management practice of state-owned enterprises including power supply enterprises in our country, it is rare to make strategic decisions on human resources by applying scientific, effective, and complete mathematical models. Taking construction enterprises as an example, this study combines human resource management, enterprise management, project management, comprehensive evaluation, and grey system and other theories to systematically study the effect of human resource management in enterprises, and finally constructs a suitable evaluation method for construction enterprises, and an assessment model for diagnosing its human resource management status. We provide practical guidance for the management of human resources in construction enterprises, which is conducive to human resource workers to discover existing problems in time and make improvements, give full play to the potential of human resources, and improve the level of human resource management and the value of enterprises.

GIS Multimedia Technology in Regional Construction Land Suitability Evaluation in Mountainous Villages and Towns.

In order to explore the suitability evaluation of regional construction land in mountainous villages and towns, a method based on GIS technology is proposed. Supported by GIS and RS technology, the Delphi method is used to determine the natural, socioeconomic, and ecological security factors affecting the ecological suitability of regional construction land in mountainous villages and towns, and analytic hierarchy process is used to calculate the weight of relevant influencing factors. Following the principle of giving priority to ecological protection, a set of ecological suitability evaluation model system and method of regional construction land in mountainous villages and towns are established, based on which the basic ecological control areas of mountainous villages and towns in the study area are divided, so as to provide suggestions for rational and effective planning of land resources in mountainous villages and towns. The experimental results show that the K-means clustering method is divided into five categories: the most suitable land, the more suitable land, the basically suitable land, the unsuitable land, and the unavailable land. Finally, according to the suitability grade system of construction land, it is reclassified, the unsuitable land and unavailable land are divided into basic ecological control areas, the most suitable land and more suitable land are divided into construction control areas, and the basically suitable land is listed as ecological buffer areas. It is proved that the basic ecological control area determined by the model method is basically consistent with the current basic ecological control line of a city, which shows that the model is practical and scientific.

New Method for Sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) Variety Resources Evaluation by Projection Pursuit Clustering Model

In the breeding of new sugarcane varieties, the survey data do not always conform with a normal or linear distribution. To apply non-normal or non-linear data to evaluate new material requires a suitable evaluation model or method. The projection pursuit clustering (PPC) model is a statistical method that does not require making normal assumptions or other model assumptions on sample data, and is suitable to analyze high-dimensional, non-linear, and non-normal data. However, this model has been applied infrequently to crop variety evaluation. In this study, 103 varieties that have been bred over the last 70 years in China were planted, and their main industrial and agronomic traits were collected. Through the exploratory analysis of the data structure characteristics, the PPC model was used to evaluate these sugarcane varieties. The model provided good projection directions of agronomic and industrial traits, with accurate projection values. PPC models could evaluate sugarcane resources well, and the results were objective and reliable. Thus, the PPC model could be used as a new method for crop variety evaluation. At the same time, 51 excellent industrial and agronomic variety resources were screened for application in breeding.

Review on Methodologies Used for Knocking Detection and Intensity Evaluation in Internal Combustion Engines

Abstract: Extracting the knocks characteristics is the key of ignition control in auto-ignition compression engines, especially those severely suffered from abnormal consumption in the engine chamber. Most of the advanced detecting methods of knocking are generally related to the two main variables, including engine cylinder pressure signals and the engine cylinder block vibration signals, commonly measured using piezoelectric accelerometer sensors. Being familiar with different approaches capable of determining the engine knocking occurrence probability as well as providing suitable methods for knock intensity evaluation is significantly helpful to propose a comprehensive predicting model for measuring the level of oscillation pressure waves frequencies originated by the knocks. Following by predicting the knock intensity and extracting the knock feature, optimizing the engine operation in terms of fuel consumption, thermal efficiencies, and lifetime duration would be possible. For this aim, the current paper is addressed with overviewing upon the researches performed in the regard of developing high accurate models and optimized knock detection approaches. Keywords: auto-ignition, Internal combustion engine, Knocking detection approach, Knock intensity evaluation.

Designing cross-region ecological compensation scheme by integrating habitat maintenance services production and consumption—A case study of Jing-Jin-Ji region

Establishing a practicable ecological compensation scheme is crucial to raise sufficient funds for habitat conservation. This study proposes a cross-region ecological compensation scheme by integrating habitat maintenance services production and consumption. In addition, the suitability evaluation method and InVEST model of habitat quality were employed to estimate the habitat maintenance services production and consumption, respectively. We used 1980 as the benchmark year and applied the scheme to a three-level hierarchy of the Jing-Jin-Ji region for 2000, 2008 and 2013. At the provincial level, Beijing paid the most habitat maintenance services ecological compensation, with an increasing trend from 1.64 × 109 RMB to 2.22 × 109 RMB, and Hebei received the most, from 2.06 × 109 RMB to 2.72 × 109 RMB. At the municipal level, Chengde, which is the most underdeveloped region in Hebei, was the largest beneficiary, receiving 1.31 × 109 RMB, 1.42 × 109 RMB and 1.46 × 109 RMB, respectively, and the ratio of ecological compensation to fiscal revenue was 7.59%. At the county level, Fengning and Weichang, the top two underdeveloped counties in Chengde, received the highest compensation. The results are consistent with each region's ecological function positioning and economic development status of the Jing-Jin-Ji region. This study can clarify the ecological responsibilities and rights, and provides the suggestions for establishing the cross administrative region ecological compensation scheme and long-term funding mechanism for habitat conservation.

Optimal Allocation of Slope Ecological Restoration for the Climate Change Mitigation and Natural Function Improvement

The key to dealing with extreme problems at watershed or region scales in the context of climate change is the “de-extremalization” of hydrological processes. The foundation lies in how to optimize the allocation of ecological restoration on slopes to mitigate the extreme impacts of climate change on hydrological processes and improve ecological service functions. Previous studies focused on analyzing the direct effects of slope land use, vegetation distribution, or historical pattern of ecological restoration on runoff processes. This study developed a slope ecological restoration evaluation system to evaluate the naturalness, functional types, and functional coordination of slope ecological restoration at different historical stages and quantitatively identified the mitigation effect on climate change in the future, which was applied to the Huangshui River Basin (above Minhe County) in Qinghai Province, China. Based on the land suitability evaluation methods, a set of layout schemes were constructed. The runoff mutation and ecological function of different schemes under climate change were evaluated, and the highly suitable scheme was selected as the optimal scheme. Compared with the current situation, the coupling coordination degree index of the scheme would increase from 0.32 to 0.59. Meanwhile, the runoff and coefficient of variation would decrease by 30% and 60%, respectively, during the wet season under the high-emission scenario RCP8.5. This study closely links the ecological construction of slopes with the response to extreme climates, which provides technical methods and practical support for the optimization of regional ecological patterns and scientific water governance modes.

Self-Inserted Urethral Foreign Body

Self insertion of foreign body in a male urethra is rare. Foreign bodies are mostly inserted by intoxicated, confused, and sexually curious individuals. In addition to a suitable method of surgical removal, counseling and psychiatric evaluation are often necessary to prevent recurrences.

Suitability evaluation method of urban and rural spatial planning based on artificial intelligence

Abstract In order to realize the sustainable development of urban overall space, aiming at the increasingly serious environmental problems in the process of contemporary rapid urbanization, based on the relationship between urban and rural space and environmental capacity, a suitability evaluation method of urban and rural spatial planning based on artificial intelligence is proposed. This paper constructs the theoretical system of sustainable development evaluation of urban and rural spatial resources and uses artificial intelligence technology to reasonably select evaluation factors and standardize the evaluation indicators so as to achieve the research goal of accurately evaluating the suitability of urban and rural spatial planning. It analyzes the influencing factors of urban–rural spatial standard regional division, develops the design of the spatial planning suitability analysis system, and establishes the urban-rural spatial suitability evaluation. The scope of sustainability evaluation was extended to the level of urban and rural spatial planning and design, and the preliminary work was done to solve the problems of urban spatial structure and decision-making. The experimental results show that the planning method has high environmental adaptability and rationality.

Role of Telemental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Early Review

Context: The demand for remote psychologist services increased during the COVID-19 outbreak due to the emergence of multiple mental health problems. Many countries have applied telemental health approaches to managing and treating mental disorders. This review study aimed to investigate the role of information technology, especially telemental health, in managing psychological problems during the COVID-19 pandemic. Evidence Acquisition: This study was conducted in four phases: Identification, screening, eligibility, and inclusion. Keywords were selected from MeSH to search the principal medical databases. Finally, important information was extracted from nine selected papers, including the author names, study setting, purpose, technology, method, intervention, and results. Results: Some studies provided telepsychiatry to people whose mental problems developed during COVID-19. Another study explained the telepsychological service for patients with mental illness before the epidemic. Most articles signified the influential role of telehealth in screening and reducing social contacts. Besides, this technology played a significant role in providing mental health services. Conclusions: The study showed that telemental health and telepsychiatry approaches effectively promote the mental health and well-being of participants with various mental problems. In implementing these approaches, some items such as allocating sufficient funds, preparing appropriate infrastructure, providing training for users, defining suitable evaluation methods, and considering confidentiality and privacy need to be considered.