scholarly journals Tying the Delivery of Activity Step Instructions to Step Performance: Evaluating a Basic Technology System with People with Special Needs

Author(s):  
Giulio E. Lancioni ◽  
Mark F. O’Reilly ◽  
Jeff Sigafoos ◽  
Gloria Alberti ◽  
Giovanna Tenerelli ◽  
...  

Abstract Objectives This study assessed a new technology system that automatically presented instructions for multistep activities to people with intellectual and sensory disabilities. The instructions were presented one at a time, and tied to the participants’ performance of the activity steps. That is, a new instruction occurred only after the participant had carried out the previous step. Methods The new system involved a Samsung Galaxy A10 with Android 10.0 operating system equipped with Amazon Alexa, MacroDroid, and Philips Hue applications and a Philips Hue indoor motion sensor. The assessment of the new system was carried out with seven participants who were exposed to two or three pairs of activities. They performed one activity of each pair with the new system and the other with a system presenting instructions at preset time intervals according to an alternating treatments design that included a cross-over phase. Results The mean percentage of correct responses tended to be higher with the new system than with the control system. Paired t-tests carried out to compare the sessions with the new system with the sessions with the control system of each participant showed that the differences in correct responses between the two sets of sessions were statistically significant for all participants. Conclusions The new system may represent a useful (advantageous) tool for supporting people like those involved in this study in the performance of multistep activities.

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-10
Author(s):  
Gaurav Singh ◽  
Madan Mishra ◽  
Amit Gaur ◽  
Dhritiman Pathak

Background: Fractures of the mandible can be studied and described in anatomic terms, functional considerations, treatment strategies, and outcome measures. The performance of any fixation system depends on multiple factors including plate adaptation, screw placement, bone quality, drilling conditions, and postoperative patient compliance. Bite force assesses masticatory muscle function under clinical and experimental conditions. Method: 30 patients with isolated, noncomminuted mandibular fractures were randomly divided into two equal groups. Group 1 patients were treated using 3-dimensional locking miniplates and group 2 patients were treated with standard miniplates. The bite forces were recorded at definite time intervals: preoperatively, and second week, sixth week, third month, and sixth month postoperatively. Result: At 6 weeks postoperative, 3 month postoperative, and 6 month postoperative, the mean bite force was found to be significantly higher among group 1 patients as compared to those in group 2 in all the sites. While at 2 week postoperative, the mean bite force was found to be significantly higher in Group 2 as compared to Group 1 at incisor region. Conclusion: The overall results of the present study show better performance in bite force for the 3-dimensional locking miniplate when compared with standard miniplates.


1996 ◽  
Vol 14 (10) ◽  
pp. 2738-2746 ◽  
Author(s):  
T Saphner ◽  
D C Tormey ◽  
R Gray

PURPOSE To determine if the long-term increase of recurrence for breast cancer is stable or slowly decreasing, or if it ever reaches zero; and to determine the effect of prognostic factors on the hazard of recurrence. METHODS All patients entered onto the seven completed and unblinded Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) coordinated studies of postoperative adjuvant therapy for breast cancer were analyzed in terms of annual hazard of recurrence of breast cancer. RESULTS For the entire group, the peak hazard of recurrence occurred in the interval of 1 to 2 years. The hazard decreased consistently in the interval of 2 to 5 years. Beyond 5 years, the hazard of recurrence decreased very, very slowly through year 12. The average hazard of recurrence between years 5 and 12 for the entire population was 4.3% per year. The pattern of a peak hazard of recurrence during the first 5 years with a slowly decreasing hazard of recurrence beyond 5 years was also observed to varying degrees in most subsets. Higher risk subsets such as patients with more than three nodes positive had a higher hazard of recurrence at all time intervals, while lower risk subsets such as patients with negative nodes had a lower hazard of recurrence in all time periods. CONCLUSION Patients 5 years postsurgery for breast cancer appear to have a very slowly decreasing hazard of recurrence. The mean hazard of recurrence between years 5 to 12 postsurgery is 4.3% per year. This group of patients may be well suited for trials evaluating cytostatic drugs or differentiating agents.


2001 ◽  
Vol 123 (4) ◽  
pp. 339-345 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. J. Moriarty ◽  
A. J. Eggers, ◽  
K. Chaney ◽  
W. E. Holley

The effects of rotor scale and control system lag were examined for a variable-speed wind turbine. The scale study was performed on a teetered rotor with radii ranging between 22.5m and 33.75m. A 50% increase in radius more than doubled the rated power and annual energy capture. Using blade pitch to actively control fluctuating flatwise moments allowed for significant reductions in blade mass for a fixed fatigue life. A blade operated in closed-loop mode with a 33.75m radius weighed less than an open-loop blade with a 22.5m radius while maintaining the same fatigue life of 5×109 rotations. Actuator lag reduced the effectiveness of the control system. However, 50% reductions in blade mass were possible even when implementing a relatively slow actuator with a 1 sec. time constant. Other practical limits on blade mass may include fatigue from start/stop cycles, non-uniform turbulence, tower wake effects, and wind shear. The more aggressive control systems were found to have high control accelerations near 60 deg/s2, which may be excessive for realistic actuators. Two time lags were introduced into the control system when mean wind speed was estimated in a rapidly changing wind environment. The first lag was the length of time needed to determine mean wind speed, and therefore the mean control settings. The second was the frequency at which these mean control settings were changed. Preliminary results indicate that quickly changing the mean settings (every 10 seconds) and using a moderate length mean averaging time (60 seconds) resulted in the longest fatigue life. It was discovered that large power fluctuations occurred during open-loop operation which could cause sizeable damage to a realistic turbine generator. These fluctuations are reduced by one half or more when aerodynamic loads are actively controlled.


2012 ◽  
Vol 151 ◽  
pp. 510-513 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu Peng Yao ◽  
Ying Shi ◽  
Ji You Fei

Configuration technology is a new technology for monitoring in the current society; it is the result of the development of computer control technology. To traffic light control system, it is to combine the use of configuration technology and procedures related to PLC, and through software simulation and traffic lights light changes, traffic light control system could achieve the monitoring problem, and if the system is in good condition, its application can save a lot of labor powers and materials.


2009 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 116-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irena Kafeđiska ◽  
Dejan Spasovski ◽  
Todor Gruev ◽  
Mane Grličkov ◽  
Kočo Cakalaroski ◽  
...  

Association Between Osteoarticular Scores and Acute Phase Reactant Levels in Rheumatoid Arthritis The aim of this prospective control study was a quantitative evaluation of the activity of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in certain time intervals, using articular indexes (set of 28 sensitive and 28 swollen joints), laboratory parameters (Hb, Hct, Er, Le and Plt) and acute phase reactants (ESR, RF, CRP); to determine which of the acute phase reactants is the most useful biochemical marker for the evaluation of disease activity in RA; to quantify the therapeutical and laboratory differences in certain time intervals in the group with and without immunomodulatory therapy with Methotrexate. Sixty patients with RA were included, 27 of who were treated with non-steroid antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and Methotrexate (MTX). The control group consisted of 33 patients treated only with NSAIDs because of irregular controls. In the first group of patients the disease activity was estimated at four time intervals, and in the control group of patients at three time intervals following the scores of the articular indexes, blood cell counts, ESR and CRP in every patient. In the first group of patients decreased activity of RA was found upon every following control with a consecutive decrease in mean values of the scores of articular indexes with statistically significant differences at the four time intervals. Considering laboratory parameters, there were statistically significant differences in the mean values of Hb, Er, Plt, ESR, (p=0.0462, p=0.0076, p= 0.0058, p= 0.0003). Mean values of CRP did not show statistically significant differences, but the number of patients who were CRP negative increased (there were great standard deviations). In the group of patients treated only with NSAIDs, there were statistically significant differences in the mean values of the scores of articular indexes with an increse at every following control (in favour of progression of the disease). There were no statistically significant differences considering blood cell counts, ESR and CRP (in favour of permanently active disease). In conclusion, CRP is the most useful marker for the prospective follow-up of patients with RA.


1980 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. i-i
Author(s):  
Joe Wilson

Outlines the problems and self-questioning facing the process control engineer when deciding to replace the computer control system which he has found difficult to justify over the last decade. Should he return to conventional analogue instrumentation or choose a microprocessor based control system? Having highlighted in his mind the problems with his computer based system, has he missed the majority of the advantages which a digital system brings? Does he realise that a major manufacturer has been acutely aware of his problems and has sought to eliminate them with the design of any new system? Can his faith be restored?


2016 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 131-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenji Yoshida ◽  
Eri Tanaka ◽  
Hiroyoshi Kawaai ◽  
Shinya Yamazaki

To obtain effective infiltration anesthesia in the jawbone, high concentrations of local anesthetic are needed. However, to reduce pain experienced by patients during local anesthetic administration, low-pressure injection is recommended for subperiosteal infiltration anesthesia. Currently, there are no studies regarding the effect of injection pressure on infiltration anesthesia, and a standard injection pressure has not been clearly determined. Hence, the effect of injection pressure of subperiosteal infiltration anesthesia on local anesthetic infiltration to the jawbone was considered by directly measuring lidocaine concentration in the jawbone. Japanese white male rabbits were used as test animals. After inducing general anesthesia with oxygen and sevoflurane, cannulation to the femoral artery was performed and arterial pressure was continuously recorded. Subperiosteal infiltration anesthesia was performed by injecting 0.5 mL of 2% lidocaine containing 1/80,000 adrenaline, and injection pressure was monitored by a pressure transducer for 40 seconds. After specified time intervals (10, 20, 30, 40, 50, and 60 minutes), jawbone and blood samples were collected, and the concentration of lidocaine at each time interval was measured. The mean injection pressure was divided into 4 groups (100 ± 50 mm Hg, 200 ± 50 mm Hg, 300 ± 50 mm Hg, and 400 ± 50 mm Hg), and comparison statistical analysis between these 4 groups was performed. No significant change in blood pressure during infiltration anesthesia was observed in any of the 4 groups. Lidocaine concentration in the blood and jawbone were highest 10 minutes after the infiltration anesthesia in all 4 groups and decreased thereafter. Lidocaine concentration in the jawbone increased as injection pressure increased, while serum lidocaine concentration was significantly lower. This suggests that when injection pressure of subperiosteal infiltration anesthesia is low, infiltration of local anesthetic to the jawbone may be reduced, while transfer to oral mucosa and blood may be increased.


2007 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 457-462 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucélia Donatti ◽  
Edith Fanta

The Antarctic fish Trematomus newnesi (Boulenger, 1902) occurs from benthic to pelagic habitats, in seasonally and daily varied photic conditions that induce retinomotor movements. Fish were experimentally kept under constant darkness or light, and 12Light/12Dark for seven days. The retinomotor movement of the pigment epithelium was established through the pigment index, while that of the cones was calculated as the length of the myoid. The retinomotor movement of the pigment epithelium in T.newnesi,revealed that the adaptation to constant light occurred in the one hour of exposure, remaining constant for the next seven days. However, the adaptation to constant darkness, was slower. The difference between the mean values of the pigment indices in the time intervals of sampling was significant in the first hours of the experiment, and only after six hours they were not significant any more. The myoid of cones became elongated in darkness and contracted in light. In the experiments where T.newnesiwas exposed initially to 12 hours light followed by 12 hours darkness 12 was evidenced that the speed and intensity of the retinomotor movements was higher when darkness changed into light, than when light changed into darkness.


2016 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
pp. 580-585
Author(s):  
Masoumeh Golshan ◽  
Maryam Dastoorpour ◽  
Roshanak Rezaei Kalantary

Pseudomonas facilis and Pseudomonasspp., isolated on the basis of its ability to grow on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, was assayed for biosurfactant production (BP) potentials by measuring the surface tension (ST) of the culture supernatant at different time intervals. The strains in three levels of initial inoculum size (OD600 nm = 0.5, 1, 1.5) were added to medium to determine if bacterial inoculum size affects solubilization of phenanthrene (PHE).The result showed that although the two strains reduced the mean ST to less than 34.12 mN m−1 at the end of day 6, mean solubilization activity of PHE reached 77.05 mg L−1 on the sixth day. There was a significant increase in BP over time (P = 0.008); reaching its peak, 157.84 mg L−1, at the end of the sixth day. Mean solubilization activity of PHE was not significantly different for the two strains (P = 0.216). The time-course study revealed that the ST reduction and BP potential was enhanced as inoculation size increased, leading to higher PHE solubility during the incubation time. However, the trend of increase in PHE solubility was not totally in the same way to cell growth and BP. It may be suggested that more bacterial density needs to be inoculated for practical application of effective bioremediation.


2019 ◽  
pp. 20-23
Author(s):  
Serhii TKACHENKO ◽  
Olena POTYSHNIAK ◽  
Yevheniia POLIAKOVA

One of the reasons that at present in research and production associations and industrial enterprises, according to the degree of implementation, analysis is almost the most backward management function, in our opinion, is still insufficient attention on the part of economic services of these production links to issues of formation of analytical information processing. Having overcome, in principle, the psychological barrier of misunderstanding the advantages of using modern computer technology in production management, the economic services of enterprises in a number of cases have not yet realized that they should be both initiators of the functional development of the management system and direct participants in the new technology for the implementation of management functions, including and analysis function. The use of electronic digital machines in economic analysis is one of the indispensable conditions for achieving its efficiency and complexity. The problem of improving the function of economic analysis is becoming the subject of increasing attention, both from a large number of specialists, and from higher education institutions and various research organizations. The increasing attention to the problem of improving integrated economic analysis is evidenced by the fact that it is the subject of consideration at International, All-Ukrainian, Regional scientific and practical conferences, seminars and is significantly reflected in the recommendations of these forums. At the same time, it should be noted that the methodology of the approach, the breadth of coverage in solving the problem, the focus and depth of development in many cases by different authors are far from the same and not equivalent. Therefore, when conducting an analytical review of scientific publications, in our opinion, it is advisable to evaluate existing developments in a certain order, namely: firstly, works that emphasize the importance and need to improve the function of economic analysis without indicating specific ways to solve this problem; secondly, works examining specific forms of organizing economic analysis in management systems. The latter, in particular, include: works in which the dispersal and implementation of individual analysis tasks are proposed as part of various functional subsystems of the control system; works whose authors consider it possible to combine the tasks of economic analysis with the tasks of other management functions in one of the generally accepted subsystems of the management system; works in which the allocation of analysis tasks to an independent functional subsystem of the control system is justified.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document