Creation and Validation of Chronojump-Boscosystem: A Free Tool to Measure Vertical Jumps

Measuring the height of the vertical jump is an indicator of the strength and power of the lower body. The technological tools available to measure the vertical jump are black boxes and are not open to third-party verification or adaptation. We propose the creation of a measurement system called Chronojump-Boscosystem, consisting of open hardware and free software. Methods: A microcontroller was created and validated using a square wave generator and an oscilloscope. Two types of contact platforms were developed using different materials. These platforms were validated by the minimum pressure required for activation at different points by a strain gauge, together with the on/off time of our platforms in respect of the Ergojump-Boscosystem platform by a sample of 8 subjects performing submaximal jumps with one foot on each platform. Agile methodologies were used to develop and validate the software. Results: All the tools fall under the free software / open hardware guidelines and are, in that sense, free. The microcontroller margin of error is 0.1%. The validity of the fiberglass platform is 0.95 (ICC). The management software contains nearly 113.000 lines of code and is available in 7 languages.

Optimization and validation of a methodology to determine total arsenic, As(III) and As(V), in water samples, through graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry

The Graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GF AAS) was the technique chosen by the inorganic contamination laboratory (INCQ/ FIOCRUZ) to be validated and applied in routine analysis for arsenic detection and quantification. The selectivity, linearity, sensibility, detection, and quantification limits besides accuracy and precision parameters were studied and optimized under Stabilized Temperature Platform Furnace (STPF) conditions. The limit of detection obtained was 0.13 µg.L-1 and the limit of quantification was 1.04 µg.L-1, with an average precision, for total arsenic, less than 15% and an accuracy of 96%. To quantify the chemical species As(III) and As(V), an ion-exchange resin (Dowex 1X8, Cl- form) was used and the physical-chemical parameters were optimized resulting in a recuperation of 98% of As(III) and of 90% of As(V). The method was applied to groundwater, mineral water, and hemodialysis purified water samples. All results obtained were lower than the maximum limit values established by the legal Brazilian regulations, in effect, 50, 10, and 5 µg.L-1 para As total, As(III) e As(V), respectively. All results were statistically evaluated.

Development and validation of a method for detection and quantification of ochratoxin A in green coffee using liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry

A method using Liquid Chromatography Tanden Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) with matrix-matched calibration curve was developed and validated for determining ochratoxin A (OTA) in green coffee. Linearity was found between 3.0 and 23.0 ng.g-1. Mean recoveries ranged between 90.45% and 108.81%; the relative standard deviation under repeatability and intermediate precision conditions ranged from 5.39% to 9.94% and from 2.20% to 14.34%, respectively. The limits of detection and quantification were 1.2 ng.g-1 and 3.0 ng.g-¹, respectively. The method developed was suitable and contributed to the field of mycotoxin analysis, and it will be used for future production of the Certified Reference Material (CRM) for OTA in coffee.

Optimization and validation of a new 3D-US imaging robot to detect, localize and quantify lower limb arterial stenoses

L’athérosclérose est une maladie qui cause, par l’accumulation de plaques lipidiques, le durcissement de la paroi des artères et le rétrécissement de la lumière. Ces lésions sont généralement localisées sur les segments artériels coronariens, carotidiens, aortiques, rénaux, digestifs et périphériques. En ce qui concerne l’atteinte périphérique, celle des membres inférieurs est particulièrement fréquente. En effet, la sévérité de ces lésions artérielles est souvent évaluée par le degré d’une sténose (réduction >50 % du diamètre de la lumière) en angiographie, imagerie par résonnance magnétique (IRM), tomodensitométrie ou échographie. Cependant, pour planifier une intervention chirurgicale, une représentation géométrique artérielle 3D est notamment préférable. Les méthodes d’imagerie par coupe (IRM et tomodensitométrie) sont très performantes pour générer une imagerie tridimensionnelle de bonne qualité mais leurs utilisations sont dispendieuses et invasives pour les patients. L’échographie 3D peut constituer une avenue très prometteuse en imagerie pour la localisation et la quantification des sténoses. Cette modalité d’imagerie offre des avantages distincts tels la commodité, des coûts peu élevés pour un diagnostic non invasif (sans irradiation ni agent de contraste néphrotoxique) et aussi l’option d’analyse en Doppler pour quantifier le flux sanguin. Étant donné que les robots médicaux ont déjà été utilisés avec succès en chirurgie et en orthopédie, notre équipe a conçu un nouveau système robotique d’échographie 3D pour détecter et quantifier les sténoses des membres inférieurs. Avec cette nouvelle technologie, un radiologue fait l’apprentissage manuel au robot d’un balayage échographique du vaisseau concerné. Par la suite, le robot répète à très haute précision la trajectoire apprise, contrôle simultanément le processus d’acquisition d’images échographiques à un pas d’échantillonnage constant et conserve de façon sécuritaire la force appliquée par la sonde sur la peau du patient. Par conséquent, la reconstruction d’une géométrie artérielle 3D des membres inférieurs à partir de ce système pourrait permettre une localisation et une quantification des sténoses à très grande fiabilité. L’objectif de ce projet de recherche consistait donc à valider et optimiser ce système robotisé d’imagerie échographique 3D. La fiabilité d’une géométrie reconstruite en 3D à partir d’un système référentiel robotique dépend beaucoup de la précision du positionnement et de la procédure de calibration. De ce fait, la précision pour le positionnement du bras robotique fut évaluée à travers son espace de travail avec un fantôme spécialement conçu pour simuler la configuration des artères des membres inférieurs (article 1 - chapitre 3). De plus, un fantôme de fils croisés en forme de Z a été conçu pour assurer une calibration précise du système robotique (article 2 - chapitre 4). Ces méthodes optimales ont été utilisées pour valider le système pour l’application clinique et trouver la transformation qui convertit les coordonnées de l’image échographique 2D dans le référentiel cartésien du bras robotisé. À partir de ces résultats, tout objet balayé par le système robotique peut être caractérisé pour une reconstruction 3D adéquate. Des fantômes vasculaires compatibles avec plusieurs modalités d’imagerie ont été utilisés pour simuler différentes représentations artérielles des membres inférieurs (article 2 - chapitre 4, article 3 - chapitre 5). La validation des géométries reconstruites a été effectuée à l`aide d`analyses comparatives. La précision pour localiser et quantifier les sténoses avec ce système robotisé d’imagerie échographique 3D a aussi été déterminée. Ces évaluations ont été réalisées in vivo pour percevoir le potentiel de l’utilisation d’un tel système en clinique (article 3- chapitre 5).

Nitrifying Bioreactors Integrated into Shrimp and Prawn Hatchery Systems: Molecular Characterization of the Nitrifying Consortia,Reactor Kinetics, Modeling and Validation

National Centre for Aquatic Animal Health, Cochin University of Science and Technology

Model Development and Validation for Studying Consumer Preferences of Car Owners

Globalization and liberalization, with the entry of many prominent foreign manufacturers, changed the automobile scenario in India, since early 1990‟s. Manufacturers such as Ford, General Motors, Honda, Toyota, Suzuki, Hyundai, Renault, Mitsubishi, Benz, BMW, Volkswagen and Nissan set up their manufacturing units in India in joint venture with their Indian counterpart companies, by making use of the Foreign Direct Investment policy of the Government of India, These manufacturers started capturing the hearts of Indian car customers with their choice of technological and innovative product features, with quality and reliability. With the multiplicity of choices available to the Indian passenger car buyers, it drastically changed the way the car purchase scenario in India and particularly in the State of Kerala. This transformed the automobile scene from a sellers‟ market to buyers‟ market. Car customers started developing their own personal preferences and purchasing patterns, which were hitherto unknown in the Indian automobile segment. The main purpose of this paper is to come up with the identification of possible parameters and a framework development, that influence the consumer purchase behaviour patterns of passenger car owners in the State of Kerala, so that further research could be done, based on the framework and the identified parameters

Development and Validation of Bacterial Consortia for Bioremediation of Detritus in Aquaculture Systems

Cochin University Of Science And Technology

A dynamic knowledge-based decision support system to handle solids separation problems in activated sludge systems: development and validation

El sistema de fangs activats és el tractament biològic més àmpliament utilitzat arreu del món per la depuració d'aigües residuals. El seu funcionament depèn de la correcta operació tant del reactor biològic com del decantador secundari. Quan la fase de sedimentació no es realitza correctament, la biomassa no decantada s'escapa amb l'efluent causant un impacte sobre el medi receptor. Els problemes de separació de sòlids, són actualment una de les principals causes d'ineficiència en l'operació dels sistemes de fangs activats arreu del món. Inclouen: bulking filamentós, bulking viscós, escumes biològiques, creixement dispers, flòcul pin-point i desnitrificació incontrolada. L'origen dels problemes de separació generalment es troba en un desequilibri entre les principals comunitats de microorganismes implicades en la sedimentació de la biomassa: els bacteris formadors de flòcul i els bacteris filamentosos. Degut a aquest origen microbiològic, la seva identificació i control no és una tasca fàcil pels caps de planta. Els Sistemes de Suport a la Presa de Decisions basats en el coneixement (KBDSS) són un grup d'eines informàtiques caracteritzades per la seva capacitat de representar coneixement heurístic i tractar grans quantitats de dades. L'objectiu de la present tesi és el desenvolupament i validació d'un KBDSS específicament dissenyat per donar suport als caps de planta en el control dels problemes de separació de sòlids d'orígen microbiològic en els sistemes de fangs activats. Per aconseguir aquest objectiu principal, el KBDSS ha de presentar les següents característiques: (1) la implementació del sistema ha de ser viable i realista per garantir el seu correcte funcionament; (2) el raonament del sistema ha de ser dinàmic i evolutiu per adaptar-se a les necessitats del domini al qual es vol aplicar i (3) el raonament del sistema ha de ser intel·ligent. En primer lloc, a fi de garantir la viabilitat del sistema, s'ha realitzat un estudi a petita escala (Catalunya) que ha permès determinar tant les variables més utilitzades per a la diagnosi i monitorització dels problemes i els mètodes de control més viables, com la detecció de les principals limitacions que el sistema hauria de resoldre. Els resultats d'anteriors aplicacions han demostrat que la principal limitació en el desenvolupament de KBDSSs és l'estructura de la base de coneixement (KB), on es representa tot el coneixement adquirit sobre el domini, juntament amb els processos de raonament a seguir. En el nostre cas, tenint en compte la dinàmica del domini, aquestes limitacions es podrien veure incrementades si aquest disseny no fos òptim. En aquest sentit, s'ha proposat el Domino Model com a eina per dissenyar conceptualment el sistema. Finalment, segons el darrer objectiu referent al seguiment d'un raonament intel·ligent, l'ús d'un Sistema Expert (basat en coneixement expert) i l'ús d'un Sistema de Raonament Basat en Casos (basat en l'experiència) han estat integrats com els principals sistemes intel·ligents encarregats de dur a terme el raonament del KBDSS. Als capítols 5 i 6 respectivament, es presenten el desenvolupament del Sistema Expert dinàmic (ES) i del Sistema de Raonament Basat en Casos temporal, anomenat Sistema de Raonament Basat en Episodis (EBRS). A continuació, al capítol 7, es presenten detalls de la implementació del sistema global (KBDSS) en l'entorn G2. Seguidament, al capítol 8, es mostren els resultats obtinguts durant els 11 mesos de validació del sistema, on aspectes com la precisió, capacitat i utilitat del sistema han estat validats tant experimentalment (prèviament a la implementació) com a partir de la seva implementació real a l'EDAR de Girona. Finalment, al capítol 9 s'enumeren les principals conclusions derivades de la present tesi.

Functional verification: approaches and challenges

It's a fact that functional verification (FV) is paramount within the hardware's design cycle. With so many new techniques available today to help with FV, which techniques should we really use? The answer is not straightforward and is often confusing and costly. The tools and techniques to be used in a project have to be decided upon early in the design cycle to get the best value for these new verification methods. This paper gives a quick survey in the form of an overview on FV, establishes the difference between verification and validation, describes the bottlenecks that appear in the verification process, examines the challenges in FV and exposes the current FV technologies and trends.

Design and validation of a sheet metal shearing experimental procedure

Throughout the industrial processes of sheet metal manufacturing and refining, shear cutting is widely used for its speed and cost advantages over competing cutting methods. Industrial shears may include some force measurement possibilities, but the force is most likely influenced by friction losses between shear tool and the point of measurement, and are in general not showing the actual force applied to the sheet. Well defined shears and accurate measurements of force and shear tool position are important for understanding the influence of shear parameters. Accurate experimental data are also necessary for calibration of numerical shear models. Here, a dedicated laboratory set-up with well defined geometry and movement in the shear, and high measurability in terms of force and geometry is designed, built and verified. Parameters important to the shear process are studied with perturbation analysis techniques and requirements on input parameter accuracy are formulated to meet experimental output demands. Input parameters in shearing are mostly geometric parameters, but also material properties and contact conditions. Based on the accuracy requirements, a symmetric experiment with internal balancing of forces is constructed to avoid guides and corresponding friction losses. Finally, the experimental procedure is validated through shearing of a medium grade steel. With the obtained experimental set-up performance, force changes as result of changes in studied input parameters are distinguishable down to a level of 1%.

Translation, cultural adaptation to Brazil and validation of the venous leg ulcer quality of life questionnaire (VLU-QoL-Br)

Objetivo:traduzir o instrumento Venous legulcer quality of life questionnaire (VLU-QoL), adaptá-lo culturalmente para o português do Brasil e validá-lo com pacientes do Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina de Botucatu (FMB) da Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp). Métodos:o questionário foi traduzido por um tradutor profissional e por dois dermatologistas especialistas na área de úlceras venosas (UV), sendo reformulado em reunião com os três tradutores. O constructo (VLU-QoL-Br) foi submetido a pré-entrevista com 10 portadores de UV para a adaptação da linguagem. Posteriormente, foi aplicado em pacientes do HC-Unesp, e como teste-reteste para verificação de sua reprodutibilidade. Resultados:foram avaliados 82 pacientes, sendo 56 (68%) do sexo feminino. A idade média foi de 67,3 anos. O questionário foi traduzido, adaptado e aplicado aos pacientes. O constructo apresentou alta consistência interna (alfa= 0,94) e adequada correlação item-total. Quando avaliados os 32 retestes, observou-se correlação intraclasse para concordância de 0,78 (p < 0,01), indicando boa reprodutibilidade do constructo. A análise fatorial confirmatória corroborou as dimensões do questionário original: atividades, psicológico e sintomas. Escores do VLU-QoL-Br se associaram, independentemente, à área total das úlceras e a menor escolaridade dos sujeitos (p < 0,01). Conclusão:a tradução, a adaptação e a validação do questionário VLU-Qol-Br demonstrou boa performance psicométrica, permitindo seu uso clínico no Brasil. É importante avaliar seu desempenho em outras regiões e em diferentes amostras de indivíduos.

Quantitative high-resolution warm season rainfall recorded in varved sediments of Lake Oeschinen, northern Swiss Alps: calibration and validation AD 1901–2008

High-resolution, well-calibrated records of lake sediments are critically important for quantitative climate reconstructions, but they remain a methodological and analytical challenge. While several comprehensive paleotemperature reconstructions have been developed across Europe, only a few quantitative high-resolution studies exist for precipitation. Here we present a calibration and verification study of lithoclastic sediment proxies from proglacial Lake Oeschinen (46°30′N, 7°44′E, 1,580 m a.s.l., north–west Swiss Alps) that are sensitive to rainfall for the period AD 1901–2008. We collected two sediment cores, one in 2007 and another in 2011. The sediments are characterized by two facies: (A) mm-laminated clastic varves and (B) turbidites. The annual character of the laminae couplets was confirmed by radiometric dating (210Pb, 137Cs) and independent flood-layer chronomarkers. Individual varves consist of a dark sand-size spring-summer layer enriched in siliciclastic minerals and a lighter clay-size calcite-rich winter layer. Three subtypes of varves are distinguished: Type I with a 1–1.5 mm fining upward sequence; Type II with a distinct fine-sand base up to 3 mm thick; and Type III containing multiple internal microlaminae caused by individual summer rainstorm deposits. Delta-fan surface samples and sediment trap data fingerprint different sediment source areas and transport processes from the watershed and confirm the instant response of sediment flux to rainfall and erosion. Based on a highly accurate, precise and reproducible chronology, we demonstrate that sediment accumulation (varve thickness) is a quantitative predictor for cumulative boreal alpine spring (May–June) and spring/summer (May–August) rainfall (rMJ = 0.71, rMJJA = 0.60, p < 0.01). Bootstrap-based verification of the calibration model reveals a root mean squared error of prediction (RMSEPMJ = 32.7 mm, RMSEPMJJA = 57.8 mm) which is on the order of 10–13 % of mean MJ and MJJA cumulative precipitation, respectively. These results highlight the potential of the Lake Oeschinen sediments for high-resolution reconstructions of past rainfall conditions in the northern Swiss Alps, central and eastern France and south-west Germany.

Integrated program debugging, verification, and optimization using abstract interpretation (and the Ciao system preprocessor)

The technique of Abstract Interpretation has allowed the development of very sophisticated global program analyses which are at the same time provably correct and practical. We present in a tutorial fashion a novel program development framework which uses abstract interpretation as a fundamental tool. The framework uses modular, incremental abstract interpretation to obtain information about the program. This information is used to validate programs, to detect bugs with respect to partial specifications written using assertions (in the program itself and/or in system libraries), to generate and simplify run-time tests, and to perform high-level program transformations such as multiple abstract specialization, parallelization, and resource usage control, all in a provably correct way. In the case of validation and debugging, the assertions can refer to a variety of program points such as procedure entry, procedure exit, points within procedures, or global computations. The system can reason with much richer information than, for example, traditional types. This includes data structure shape (including pointer sharing), bounds on data structure sizes, and other operational variable instantiation properties, as well as procedure-level properties such as determinacy, termination, nonfailure, and bounds on resource consumption (time or space cost). CiaoPP, the preprocessor of the Ciao multi-paradigm programming system, which implements the described functionality, will be used to illustrate the fundamental ideas.

Creation and Validation of the Spanish Durum Wheat Core Collection.

Spanish wheat (Triticum spp.) landraces have a considerable polymorphism, containing many unique alleles, relative to other collections. The existence of a core collection is a favored approach for breeders to efficiently explore novel variation and enhance the use of germplasm. In this study, the Spanish durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L.) core collection (CC) was created using a population structure–based method, grouping accessions by subspecies and allocating the number of genotypes among populations according to the diversity of simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. The CC of 94 genotypes was established, which accounted for 17% of the accessions in the entire collection. An alternative core collection (CH), with the same number of genotypes per subspecies and maximizing the coverage of SSR alleles, was assembled with the Core Hunter software. The quality of both core collections was compared with a random core collection and evaluated using geographic, agromorphological, and molecular marker data not previously used in the selection of genotypes. Both core collections had a high genetic representativeness, which validated their sampling strategies. Geographic and agromorphological variation, phenotypic correlations, and gliadin alleles of the original collection were more accurately depicted by the CC. Diversity arrays technology (DArT) markers revealed that the CC included genotypes less similar than the CH. Although more SSR alleles were retained by the CH (94%) than by the CC (91%), the results showed that the CC was better than CH for breeding purposes.

Delphi study for the design and validation of a questionnaire about digital competences in higher education

The study of digital competence remains an issue of interest for both the scientific community and the supranational political agenda. This study uses the Delphi method to validate the design of a questionnaire to determine the perceived importance of digital competence in higher education. The questionnaire was constructed from different framework documents in digital competence standards (NETS, ACLR, UNESCO). The triangulation of non-parametric techniques made it possible to consolidate the results obtained through the Delphi panel, the suitability of which was highlighted through the expert competence index (K). The resulting questionnaire emerges as a good tool for undertaking future national and international studies on digital competence in higher education.