Mounting a smartphone on a steering-wheel to facilitate ease of visibility of the navigation screen: A systematic product design approach

BACKGROUND: Both professional and personal car drivers use smartphones as In-Vehicle Infotainment System (IVIS) and generally mount it wherever they feel convenient. Inappropriate or sub-optimal positioning of navigation devices increases off-road eye-glance duration and fixation frequency. OBJECTIVE: The current research aimed to develop a smartphone holding device to facilitate the mobile-phone’s easy mounting on the steering wheel’s hub, ensuring the screen’s visibility at a comfortable viewing angle in a vertical upright position irrespective of the steering wheel’s rotation. METHODS: A systematic product design methodology was adopted to develop the final product. The morphological chart was adopted for generating the different concepts of the smartphone mounting device. A Pugh chart was used for screening the various concepts generated in the previous step. Finally, a prototype of the selected best concept was made. User acceptance was assessed by taking feedback from users, and System Usability Scale (SUS) was used for usability evaluation. RESULTS: The developed innovative mounting device was light-weight and easy to use (SUS score 83.5). The final prototype was very effective in changing the angle of the smartphone to facilitate easy visibility at a comfortable viewing angle through the use of a ball and socket mechanism at the base. A ball bearing system was used in the mobile-phone holder for maintaining vertical stationary position during steering wheel rotation. CONCLUSION: As the device is useful for mounting the smartphone on the steering wheel’s hub, it might reduce driver distraction.

Reproducibility and diagnostic value of a new wedge-guided bitewing image receptor-holding device

Objective To assess the reproducibility of a wedge-guided bitewing image receptor-holding device (IRHD-WG) compared to a commercially available bitewing image receptor-holding device (IRHD-XCP). Methods and materials Ten operators randomly acquired bitewing radiographs of four posterior regions (Premolar, Molar 1, Molar 2, Molar 3) distributed in two dry bone skulls and mandibles using 2 IRHDs (IRHD-WG and IRHD-XCP). The radiographs corresponding to the same region and IRHD but acquired by different operators were paired for reproducibility comparison. A total of 360 pairs of radiographs were randomized for analysis. Objective analysis consisted of extracting the pixel values from each radiograph and comparing the values between each pair by intraclass correlation coefficient. For subjective analysis, the IRHDs images were digitally removed. Five oral radiologists blinded for the study conditions classified the radiograph pairs according to their similarity and diagnostic value. The answers’ relative frequencies were compared by the chi-square test (α = 0.05). Results The IRHD-WG presented a higher reproducibility (Mean = 0.850; SD = 0.144) than the IRHD-XCP (Mean = 0.615; SD = 0.287) in the objective analysis. Radiographs acquired with the IRHD-WG were more similar than those acquired with the IRHD-XCP (p < 0.001). The diagnostic value of bitewing radiographs acquired with the IRHD-WG was considered superior to those acquired with the IRHD-XCP (p < 0.001). Conclusion For the objective and subjective analyses of reproducibility, the IRHD-WG performed better than the commercial IRHD-XCP.

Comparative Wear Resistance of Existing and Prospective Materials of Fast-Wearing Elements of Mining Equipment

The results of tests for resistance to abrasive wear on highly abrasive hard rock white electrocorundum are presented. The main material of fast-wearing elements of mining and processing equipment-110G13L steel (Gadfield steel) in comparison with other 9 grades of steel and cast iron, including specially developed wear-resistant foreign steels such as Hardox and Miiluks, is analyzed. The studies were carried out using an experimental stand for studying the material wearing process. On the stand the sample was fixed in a holding device and, after being brought into contact with the abrasive, it was rotated under a constant load. As a result of the experiments, it was confirmed that the order of placement of the tested materials in terms of increasing wear resistance coincides with their placement in terms of increasing hardness. At the same time, the wear resistance of the most resistant material – U8A steel after quenching – is about 4 times higher than this indicator for the least resistant components – low-carbon steel 25L, including gray and high-strength cast iron SCH21, VCH35. The wear resistance of 110G13L steel, as well as 65G, U8 steels in the hardened state, is from 1.5 to 2 times higher than that of foreign steels M400, H450, M500, H500. The results of the conducted studies allow us to evaluate the analyzed materials on the basis of their wear resistance and hardness indicators on the feasibility of using them in the manufacture of fast-wearing parts of mining equipment. Based on the research data, it seems promising to develop new ways to increase the wear resistance of domestic steel, including 110G13L steel traditionally used in mining.

Refractive index characteristics of edible oils based on spectrometry and effects of oil dispersion on OCT

It is necessary to investigate the wavelength-dependent variation rules of the refractive index of edible oils so as to explore the specificity of the dispersion in light propagation, imaging, and interference processes among different types of edible oil products. In this study, by deriving the refractive index equations of the double glass sheet holding device and oil, the reflectance spectra of three different types of oil samples, namely, peanut oil, colza oil, and kitchen waste oil, were measured via a spectrometer. Furthermore, the refractive index model of these different types of oil samples was investigated. Additionally, based on the oil dispersion characteristics, the dispersion of oil in optical coherence tomography (OCT) was compensated via deconvolution. In the wavelength range of [Formula: see text] (380, 1500)[Formula: see text]nm, the analytical expressions of the double glass sheet holding device and oils are featured by practical reliability. The refractive indexes of three different types of oils [Formula: see text] (1.38, 1.52) show normal dispersion characteristics. The Cauchy coefficient matrix of the oil refractive index can be used for oil identification; in particular, the healthy oil and waste oil differ significantly in terms of the Cauchy coefficient matrix in the infrared band. Oil dispersion has almost no influence on the phase spectra of oils but can enhance their amplitude spectra. The dispersion mismatch can be eliminated by calculating the convolution kernel. The envelope broadening factors of OCT interference signals of oil products are 0.84, 0.64, and 0.91, respectively. According to the present research results, the refractive index model of oil can effectively remove the influence of the holding device. The refractive indexes of three different types of oil samples show similar wavelength-dependent variation characteristics, which confirms the existence of many correlated components in these oil samples. The established refractive index model of oil in a wide spectral range, from the ultraviolet to the infrared band, can be adequately employed for identifying different types of oils. The numerical dispersion compensation based on the established refractive index model can enhance the axial resolution in OCT imaging.

DETERMINING THE INCREASE OF THE POWER SUPPLY OF THE PILED PIER THROUGH THE USE OF DRIVEN ANCHOR

The forest industry in the Russian Federation is actively developing. At the same time, technological and production equipment is being modernized, and timber supply chains are being optimized. A large number of timber industry enterprises have increased the volume of transportation of round timber by water modes of transport, in particular, in rafts in the North-West Federal District of the Russian Federation in recent years. Pile piers are used to prevent "drying" of rafts and fastening of forest transport units in a riverbed. In the case when the enterprise’s raid is at the mouth of the river, the pile pier is subjected to additional loads due to freezing of ice and fluctuation of the water level in the river as a result of tidal phenomena in the spring-winter period. ВAs a result, pile pier is dismantled by ice. It leads to the annual replacement of pile dolphins in spring after passing the ice drift. According to the authors, this is not economically profitable, as it forces enterprises to spend annually labor and material resources on the manufacture and installation of pile channel piers. However, their installation should be carried out in a short time. When studying the state of the issue, a pile pier with an increased holding force has been selected, which is additionally equipped with a holding device in the form of a driven anchor. The paper presents the results of a study of the state of the question under study, the research methodology, analysis of experimental data and the obtained mathematical dependencies. The obtained experimental data and dependences have been processed by standard statistical tools.

Scientific Racism 2.0 (SR2.0): An erroneous argument from genetics which inadvertently refines scientific racism

SR2.0 refers to a prominent argument made by some geneticists, often via social and popular media, which inadvertently amounts to a refinement of scientific racism. At face value it is an attack on racism in science. Upon closer inspection its primary, possibly unconscious, purpose appears to be to protect contemporary genetic research from the charge of racism. The argument is often made alongside an emphasis upon long-falsified errors of early science and open expressions of racism in wider society, rather than the intelligence and statistical theory which has informed both genetics and the social construct scientific racism for a century. The core argument is invalid. It also has profound epistemological failings, including misunderstanding the nature of social constructions and how they how they interact with empirical facts. Finally, the proponents do not fully support their own argument; this exposes the argument’s substantive function as a defensive holding device.