Concrete Filled Double Skinned Tubular Columns Subjected to Different Loading Conditions

The meteoric growth in light weight structures have opened on doors to many revolutionary concepts and innovations. Studies have manifested that the lowered weight of the structures somehow help to fight the material cost with a better seismic performance. The hollow core structures aimed reducing the structural weight with an improved structural performance as well. The Concrete filled double steel tubes (CFDST) can be taken as amalgamation of Hollow core columns and CFST i.e. single skinned columns. The co-relation of CFST and Hollow core columns gave birth to Concrete filled double skinned tubular columns (CFDST) which can possess the advantages of both the concepts. A sedulous review of concrete filled double skinned columns is being conveyed through this article. The behavior of confined concrete as well as the confining inner and outer steel in the CFDST model and its overall structural behavior is being succinctly reviewed in this article and a simultaneous comparison of CFDST columns to solid concrete/conventional columns is also being carried out where required.

Simultaneous Comparison of Sensitivities and Specificities of Two Diagnostic Tests Adjusting for Discrete Covariates

Adjusting for covariates is important in the study of the performance of diagnostic tests. In this manuscript, the simultaneous comparison of the sensitivities and specificities of two binary diagnostic tests is studied when discrete covariates are observed in all of the individuals in the sample. Four methods are presented to simultaneously compare the two sensitivities and the two specificities: a global hypothesis test and three other methods based on individual comparisons. The maximum likelihood method was applied to adjust the overall estimators of sensitivities and specificities. Simulation experiments were carried out to study the asymptotic behaviors of the four proposed methods when the covariate is binary, giving general rules of application. The results were applied to a real example.

Effectiveness of school-based interventions to prevent anxiety & depression in young people

Background The prevalence of anxiety and depression is increasing among children and young people (CYP). Evidence suggests 1/2 of mental illness is apparent by age 14 and 3/4 by early adulthood. Globally, there is growing interest in prevention of anxiety and depression in CYP. Methods We report the findings from a systematic review and network meta-analysis (NMA) of school-based interventions to prevent anxiety and depression in CYP. NMA enables the simultaneous comparison of multiple interventions in a single evidence synthesis, retaining the identity of each intervention analysed and ranking of interventions according to the probability that each is best for a given outcome. Bayesian analyses were conducted in OpenBUGS, & random effects NMA were conducted for the primary outcomes of post-intervention self-report anxiety and depression. Results NMA were conducted for universal and targeted populations, in primary, secondary & tertiary educational settings. In universal primary settings, there is no evidence that any intervention reduced depression or anxiety. In universal secondary settings, CBT & mindfulness-based interventions suggest a reduction in anxiety symptoms relative to usual curriculum but was not observed for depression symptoms. In targeted secondary settings, exercise appears effective for reducing anxiety symptoms relative to no intervention. For prevention of depression symptoms, CBT appears effective. In targeted primary settings, there is no evidence that any intervention is effective. Few tertiary institution-based interventions met our inclusion criteria. Conclusions standard meta-analyses require lumping over interventions such that intervention specific effects may be masked (e.g. psychological intervention vs control). This NMA has identified the specific interventions which may prevent anxiety and depression in CYP. However, we observed considerable uncertainty and no intervention appears effective across every population and setting. Key messages Network meta-analysis enables the simultaneous comparison of multiple interventions in a single evidence synthesis, retaining the distinct identity of each intervention analysed. We observed considerable uncertainty for effectiveness of school-based interventions to prevent anxiety and depression. No single intervention appears effective across every population and setting.

Trust and Decision Making in Turing's Imitation Game

Trust is an expected certainty in order to transact confidently. However, how accurate is our decision-making in human-machine interaction? In this chapter, the present evidence from experimental conditions in which human interrogators used their judgement of what constitutes a satisfactory response trusting a hidden interlocutor was human when it was actually a machine. A simultaneous comparison Turing test is presented with conversation between a human judge and two hidden entities during Turing100 at Bletchley Park, UK. Results of post-test conversational analysis by the audience at Turing Education Day show more than 30% made the same identification errors as the Turing test judge. Trust is found to be misplaced in subjective certainty that could lead to susceptibility to deception in cyberspace.

An Automated System for Determining the Optimal Conditions of Industrial Waste Fermentative Biodegradation

The task of automated searching for the optimal conditions of cellulose-containing waste fermentative biodegradation process has been considered. It has been proposed to use the system of lysed zone optical recognition to determine the ferment strength, and a software and hardware complex providing simultaneous comparison of several strains has been developed. The system of selecting the most effective decomposer and biodegradation conditions has been created. The proposed system may be used for optimization of cultivating the wide array of microorganisms, especially in conditions of frequent changing initial substrate sources.

Service quality function deployment by the C-shaped QFD 3D matrix

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the application of C-shaped QFD 3D Matrix in comparing process characteristics (PC), performance aspects (PA) and customer requirements, simultaneously and to prioritize the first two sets, respectively. Design/methodology/approach A three dimensional matrix has been developed with three sets of PC, PA and customers’ requirements and C-shaped matrix has been applied for simultaneous comparison of the dimensions and prioritization of the subsets of PC and PA. The proposed approach has been examined in a post bank. Findings Findings confirm the possibility of simultaneous comparison and prioritization of the three sets of dimensions of this study in post bank services. In addition, “growth and learning” and “bilateral relationship with suppliers” had the first priorities among PA and PC, respectively. Research limitations/implications While the proposed approach has many advantages, filling the matrixes is time-consuming. Since illustrating the 3D matrix was not possible, the matrix was separated into five two-dimensional matrixes. Originality/value Compared to the studied literature, the proposed approach is practically new in the post bank services.