MULTIMODAL IMAGING OF CORNEAL NEOVESSELS: OCT ANGIOGRAPHY IN COMPARISON TO FLUORESCEIN ANGIOGRAPHY ON 10 EYES AND REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

Introduction:The use of OCT angiography for the analysis of neovessels of the ocular surface is currently at the experimental stage. Through this work we evaluate the benefits of OCTA in the detection of corneal neovessels, their depth and surface, the signs suggestive of activity / quiescence in comparison to fluorescein angiography. Materials And Methods:10 patients (10 eyes) with corneal neovessels (CNV) were prospectively recruited to Ophthalmology B at the Rabat Specialty Hospital between June and September 2019. All patients received OCT A fluorescein angiography (AF) at two-week intervals. Results:The results of the OCT A matched the AF data by showing immature neovessel (NV) characteristics for the early-diffusing NVs, allowing the study of the structure : trunk, numbers of segments, and fractal divisions, the existence of apical loop. As well as the detection of the flow level, exudative phenomena and associated lesions in high resolution OCT B. Discussion:Few studies have evaluated the OCTA in the evaluation of NVC, the published articles analyze the feasibility and reproducibility of this technique. Our initial analyzes suggest that scans provide better penetration and resolution of NVCs, but this requires direct comparative studies between OCTA systems used to scan the same eyes. The learning curve seemed fast for this technique. Conclusion :The evaluation of antiangiogenic treatments and the risk of graft rejection, it should be noted when interpreting OCTA scans of the anterior segment that artifacts may appear in dense scars areas in addition to motion artifacts.Future software enhancements and optimization for anterior segment acquisition may reduce these artifacts even more and improve the resolution of the image.

Trochoidal Milling Path with Variable Feed. Application to the Machining of a Ti-6Al-4V Part

Trochoidal milling is a well-stablished machining strategy which still allows for the introduction of new approaches. This strategy can be applied to any kind of material, although it is usually associated to advanced materials, such as titanium and nickel alloys. This study is based on the adaptation of the feed speed of a milling tool with Ti-6Al-4V, so the chip width can be maintained constant without modifying the path geometry. A singularity in the experimental stage was to mill an Archimedes spiral groove instead of the conventional straight grooves. This made it possible to obtain a concave wall as well as a convex one and to optimize the amount of material used. The time efficiency compared to a constant feed, was slightly superior to 20%, reducing tool wear also. These techniques require milling machines with high mechanical and kinematic performance, as well as the absence of clearance between joints and a high acceleration capacity.

Improvement on modal curvatures methods for multiple damage identification in beams

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present a study on the application of four damage factors to several single and multiple damage scenarios of aluminium beams. Each one of these damage factors is defined by the information given by modal curvatures of the beams.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology consisted of a first experimental stage in which the modal rotations were measured with shearography and a subsequent numerical analysis in order to obtain the modal curvatures. To this end, three finite difference formulae were applied. The modal curvatures were then used to calculate the damage factors.FindingsIt was found that the profile of the damage factors varies according to the finite difference formula used. In view of the findings, the differences among the damage factors analysed are highlighted and some final recommendations to improve damage identifications via modal curvature-based are presented.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, the application and comparison of several finite difference formulae and corresponding optimal sampling has not been carried out before. With the proposed approach, it is possible to identify multiple damages, which is still a great challenge. The post-processing of shearography measurements with a numerical method, which is inherently a multidisciplinary approach, is also a substantial improvement upon other type of approaches found in the literature.

Neuropsychological Bases of Self-Improvement of Own Physical Health of Future Teachers in the Course of University Education

The article says that despite the decline in health as a professional value and self-realization, future teachers have neurobiological inclinations for self-improvement and reflection. In this regard, new pedagogical conditions and stages of the formation of students 'readiness for physical self-improvement are proposed, namely: students' awareness of the importance of health as a necessary prerequisite for personal and professional self-realization; their mastery of diagnostic techniques, reflective analysis and practical skills to improve their own physical condition; providing pedagogical support for students in physical self-improvement. The experimental stage used a set of methods and techniques: step ergometry, Rufier's and Cooper's tests, watching movies, photos, test tasks, observations, interviews, questionnaires, expert assessments and etc. The number of students being at the local reflexive level increased from 12.2% to 22.2% and at the adaptive algorithmic level – from 28.1% to 41.3%. The percentage of students at the directive empirical level of competency in physical self-improvement decreased from 52.4% to 21.4%. The effectiveness of the designed methodology for developing students’ competency in physical self-improvement was verified by the formative experiment. The hypothesis of the study, which was the subjective neurobiological basis of motivation to improve and reflect on future teachers, was also confirmed, which contributed to the choice of the appropriate profession in order to implement and transmit these personal values.

Experimental Evaluation and Theoretical Optimization of an Indirect Solar Dryer with Forced Ventilation under Tropical Climate by an Inverse Artificial Neural Network

In this theoretical–experimental study is presented a hybridization strategy based on the application of an inverse artificial neural network model (ANNi) coupled with metaheuristic optimization algorithms to optimize the drying velocity (vd) of an active indirect solar dryer for plantain and taro (Colocasia antiquorum). In the experimental stage, both fruits were evaluated in periods from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. under a humid tropical climate region, varying the voltage of the air extractor fan (at 6 V, 9 V, and 12 V) to control the fan velocity. The experimental results showed that the maximum drying velocities were reached at 9 V, achieving a drying velocity of 1.5, 0.9, and 0.55 g/min, with a total drying time of 465 min for the taro, and 1.46, 1.46, and 0.36 g/min, with a total drying time of 495 min, for the plantain. As a result of the drying curves, it was observed that the drying velocity is higher in taro than in plantain. Subsequently, an artificial neural network (ANN) architecture was trained using the database generated from the solar dryer’s experimental stage. Six environmental variables and one operational variable were considered as the model’s inputs, feeding the ANN to estimate the drying velocity (vd), obtaining a linear regression coefficient R = 0.9822 between the experimental and simulated data. A sensitivity analysis was performed to determine the impact of all the input variables. A hybrid strategy based on ANNi was developed and evaluated with three metaheuristic optimization algorithms; the best result was obtained by genetic algorithms (ANNi-GA) with an error percentage of 0.83% and an average computational time of 4.3 s. The scope of this optimization strategy was to obtain a theoretical result that allows predicting the behavior of the dryer and improving its performance for its practical application in future work through the implementation in development boards. Lastly, the optimization strategy presented is not limited to indirect solar dryers and opens a research window for evaluating other solar drying technologies.

Influence of tolerance to uncertainty on personal and professional development of pilots during aviation specialists’ training

The application of a new pragmatic educational model in the information environment of the higher technical education institution, which corresponds to the innovative and perspective model of society development, determined the transition from the process approach in the organisation of professional training of future aviation specialists to a reflective and effect–oriented one. It forms the basis of training objectives related to providing the country with specialists in aviation industry. The aim of the study is to theoretically substantiate, develop and experimentally test the effectiveness of the professional training model for future specialists under the conditions of uncertainty of the educational process of higher education institutions on the basis of a reflective approach. The result of the experimental stage of the study, as the foundation of the personal and professional development of the student, confirmed the effectiveness of the model based on the reflective approach. The systemically important core of the study considered the goals and results implemented in the educational and informational environment of the National Aviation University with the help of appropriately constructed psychological and pedagogical conditions, which were implemented at each stage of professional training with the innovative educational technologies.

The fundamental concepts of cultural anthropology applied in the theory and practice of the anthropological theater

This article explores the classical terms and concepts of cultural anthropology, which have found practical application in the performances, paratheatrical experiments and actions of the Polish experimental stage director Jerzy Grotowski (1933–1999) and collectives of the modern anthropological theater that continue the pursuits of Grotowski of the late XX century. The methods and terms of cultural (social) anthropology by A. van Gennep, V. Turner, M. Eliade, B. Malinowski and structural anthropology by C. Levi-Strauss give a better perspective on the specific terminological apparatus of Grotowski, unique practical discoveries of his works, and conceptual basis of theatrical anthropology as one of the paramount phenomena in the development of modern art. This article is first to discuss the problems of the emergence and formation of anthropological methodology as the framework for creating a scientific apparatus for understanding ritual-theatrical forms, as well as practical tool for artistic expression in the theatrical and paratheatrical experiments. Based on the fundamental works of the school of cultural anthropology, the author reveals the key terms of modern anthropological theater. As a result of studying the methods and approaches of cultural anthropology, the author determines the new unique technique of the modern Polish theater ensembles based not on the reconstruction of theatrical forms of the past, but rather reactualization of the mythological structures in the process of creating ritual-theatrical action.

Compressive Strength Prediction of Green Ultra-High Performance Concrete (GUHPC) Based on Adaptive Network-Based Fuzzy Inference System

Green ultra-high performance concrete (GUHPC) is considered to be a new generation of construction materialsthat adapt to sustainable development and is gradually being used in the fields of bridge reinforcement, housefacades, and paving.To improve the efficiency of green ultra-high performance concrete in the experimental stageand to save the component material, the prediction of the 28-day compressive strength of green ultra-highperformance concrete has become a challenging task. According to the published literature, the compressivestrength of concrete is closely related to the material composition such as cement, fly ash, silica fume, sand, etc. Soin this study, 175 groups of related data of GUHPC were collected to form a database, and an artificial neuralnetwork system combined with IF-THEN fuzzy rules was utilized to establish a model that could better predict the28-day compressive strength of GUHPC. Three evaluation indicators, RMSE, R2, and MAPE, indicate that theprediction of the compressive strength of green ultra-high performance concrete made by the model is completelyreliable. Overall,this study successfully proposes a fuzzy artificial neural network model for predicting the 28-daycompressive strength of GUHPC, which provides a viable prediction tool for GUHPC in the experimental stage.

An improved low-complexity DenseUnet for high-accuracy iris segmentation network

Iris segmentation is one of the most important steps in iris recognition. The current iris segmentation network is based on convolutional neural network (CNN). Among these methods, there are still problems with the segmentation networks such as high complexity, insufficient accuracy, etc. To solve these problems, an improved low complexity DenseUnet is proposed to this paper based on U-net for acquiring a high-accuracy iris segmentation network. In this network, the improvements are as follows: (1) Design a dense block module that contains five convolutional layers and all convolutions are dilated convolutions aimed at enhancing feature extraction; (2) Except for the last convolutional layer, all convolutional layers output feature maps are set to the number 64, and this operation is to reduce the amounts of parameters without affecting the segmentation accuracy; (3) The solution proposed to this paper has low complexity and provides the possibility for the deployment of portable mobile devices. DenseUnet is used on the dataset of IITD, CASIA V4.0 and UBIRIS V2.0 during the experimental stage. The results of the experiments have shown that the iris segmentation network proposed in this paper has a better performance than existing algorithms.

Implementation of Fish Farming in Buckets To Improve Softskill Teachers and Students In SMP N 4 Rantau Panjang, Ogan Ilir Regency

Fish farming in buckets or more popularly known as BUDIKDAMBER cultivates fish and vegetables in one bucket. In addition to increasing students' understanding of ecosystems, BUDIKDAMBER can also be a solution for teachers and students who have limited land for plant and fish cultivation. This activity aims to provide education and training to teachers and students regarding fish farming techniques currently used to solve small-scale fish farming. The implementation of this activity includes the preparation stage, the material delivery stage, and the experimental stage. Through soft skills training, it can increase knowledge and insight for teachers and students at SMPN 4 Rantau Panjang regarding the BUDIKDAMBER technique so that it is to motivate and attract teachers and students to try at home and pass on the knowledge gained to the surrounding community