Project Energise: Using participatory approaches and real time computer prompts to reduce occupational sitting and increase work time physical activity in office workers

Objectives This efficacy study assessed the added impact real time computer prompts had on a participatory approach to reduce occupational sedentary exposure and increase physical activity. Design Quasi-experimental. Methods 57 Australian office workers (mean [SD]; age = 47 [11] years; BMI = 28 [5] kg/m2; 46 men) generated a menu of 20 occupational ‘sit less and move more’ strategies through participatory workshops, and were then tasked with implementing strategies for five months (July–November 2014). During implementation, a sub-sample of workers (n = 24) used a chair sensor/software package (Sitting Pad) that gave real time prompts to interrupt desk sitting. Baseline and intervention sedentary behaviour and physical activity (GENEActiv accelerometer; mean work time percentages), and minutes spent sitting at desks (Sitting Pad; mean total time and longest bout) were compared between non-prompt and prompt workers using a two-way ANOVA. Results Workers spent close to three quarters of their work time sedentary, mostly sitting at desks (mean [SD]; total desk sitting time = 371 [71] min/day; longest bout spent desk sitting = 104 [43] min/day). Intervention effects were four times greater in workers who used real time computer prompts (8% decrease in work time sedentary behaviour and increase in light intensity physical activity; p < 0.01). Respective mean differences between baseline and intervention total time spent sitting at desks, and the longest bout spent desk sitting, were 23 and 32 min/day lower in prompt than in non-prompt workers (p < 0.01). Conclusions In this sample of office workers, real time computer prompts facilitated the impact of a participatory approach on reductions in occupational sedentary exposure, and increases in physical activity.

Electric Field Modelling of Composite High Voltage Insulators

This paper deals with the two-dimensional electric field modelling and electric field stress calculations of different types of composite insulators used in high voltage distribution and transmission systems. The computer simulations are carried out by using a commercially available software package. The potential and electric filed results obtained for the actual insulator profiles for three types of composite/polymeric insulators are discussed and presented.

Missile battery placement for air defense: A dynamic programming approach

A procedure to evaluate surface-to-air missile battery placement patterns for air defense is presented. A measure of defense effectiveness is defined as a function of kill probability of the defense missiles and the nature of the surrounding terrain features. The concept of cumulative danger index is used to select the best path for a penetrating hostile aircraft for any given pattern of placement. The aircraft is assumed to be intelligent and well-informed. The path is generated using a dynamic programming methodology. The software package so developed can be used off-line to choose the best among a number of possible battery placement patterns.

Common underlying steering curves for motorcycles in steady turns

We study the steady turn behaviours of some light motorcycle models on circular paths, using the commercial software package ADAMS-Motorcycle. Steering torque and steering angle are obtained for several path radii and a range of steady forward speeds. For path radii much greater than motorcycle wheelbase, and for all motorcycle parameters including tyre parameters held fixed, dimensional analysis can predict the asymptotic behaviour of steering torque and angle. In particular, steering torque is a function purely of lateral acceleration plus another such function divided by path radius. Of these, the first function is numerically determined, while the second is approximated by an analytically determined constant. Similarly, the steering angle is a function purely of lateral acceleration, plus another such function divided by path radius. Of these, the first is determined numerically while the second is determined analytically. Both predictions are verified through ADAMS simulations for various tyre and geometric parameters. In summary, steady circular motions of a given motorcycle with given tyre parameters can be approximately characterised by just one curve for steering torque and one for steering angle.

Landslide Susceptible Locations in Western Ghats: Prediction through openModeller

Many shallow landslides are triggered by heavy rainfall on hill slopes resulting in enormous casualties and huge economic losses in mountainous regions. Hill slope failure usually occurs as soil resistance deteriorates in the presence of the acting stress developed due to a number of reasons such as increased soil moisture content, change in land use causing slope instability, etc. Landslides triggered by rainfall can possibly be foreseen in real time by jointly using rainfall intensity-duration and information related to land surface susceptibility. Terrain analysis applications using spatial data such as aspect, slope, flow direction, compound topographic index, etc. along with information derived from remotely sensed data such as land cover / land use maps permit us to quantify and characterise the physical processes governing the landslide occurrence phenomenon. In this work, the probable landslide prone areas are predicted using two different algorithms – GARP (Genetic Algorithm for Rule-set Prediction) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) in a free and open source software package - openModeller. Several environmental layers such as aspect, digital elevation data, flow accumulation, flow direction, slope, land cover, compound topographic index, and precipitation data were used in modelling. A comparison of the simulated outputs, validated by overlaying the actual landslide occurrence points showed 92% accuracy with GARP and 96% accuracy with SVM in predicting landslide prone areas considering precipitation in the wettest month whereas 91% and 94% accuracy were obtained from GARP and SVM considering precipitation in the wettest quarter of the year.

A study on the usefulness of Support Vector Machines for the realtime computational simulation of soft biological organs

Realistic and realtime computational simulation of soft biological organs (e.g., liver, kidney) is necessary when one tries to build a quality surgical simulator that can simulate surgical procedures involving these organs. Since the realistic simulation of these soft biological organs should account for both nonlinear material behavior and large deformation, achieving realistic simulations in realtime using continuum mechanics based numerical techniques necessitates the use of a supercomputer or a high end computer cluster which are costly. Hence there is a need to employ soft computing techniques like Support Vector Machines (SVMs) which can do function approximation, and hence could achieve physically realistic simulations in realtime by making use of just a desktop computer. Present work tries to simulate a pig liver in realtime. Liver is assumed to be homogeneous, isotropic, and hyperelastic. Hyperelastic material constants are taken from the literature. An SVM is employed to achieve realistic simulations in realtime, using just a desktop computer. The code for the SVM is obtained from [1]. The SVM is trained using the dataset generated by performing hyperelastic analyses on the liver geometry, using the commercial finite element software package ANSYS. The methodology followed in the present work closely follows the one followed in [2] except that [2] uses Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) while the present work uses SVMs to achieve realistic simulations in realtime. Results indicate the speed and accuracy that is obtained by employing the SVM for the targeted realistic and realtime simulation of the liver.

A study of the speed and the accuracy of the Boundary Element Method as applied to the computational simulation of biological organs

In this work, first a Fortran code is developed for three dimensional linear elastostatics using constant boundary elements; the code is based on a MATLAB code developed by the author earlier. Next, the code is parallelized using BLACS, MPI, and ScaLAPACK. Later, the parallelized code is used to demonstrate the usefulness of the Boundary Element Method (BEM) as applied to the realtime computational simulation of biological organs, while focusing on the speed and accuracy offered by BEM. A computer cluster is used in this part of the work. The commercial software package ANSYS is used to obtain the `exact' solution against which the solution from BEM is compared; analytical solutions, wherever available, are also used to establish the accuracy of BEM. A pig liver is the biological organ considered. Next, instead of the computer cluster, a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) is used as the parallel hardware. Results indicate that BEM is an interesting choice for the simulation of biological organs. Although the use of BEM for the simulation of biological organs is not new, the results presented in the present study are not found elsewhere in the literature. Also, a serial MATLAB code, and both serial and parallel versions of a Fortran code, which can solve three dimensional (3D) linear elastostatic problems using constant boundary elements, are provided as supplementary files that can be freely downloaded.

Dielectric elastomers: Asymptotically-correct three-dimensional displacement field

Asymptotically-accurate dimensional reduction from three to two dimensions and recovery of 3-D displacement field of non-prestretched dielectric hyperelastic membranes are carried out using the Variational Asymptotic Method (VAM) with moderate strains and very small ratio of the membrane thickness to its shortest wavelength of the deformation along the plate reference surface chosen as the small parameters for asymptotic expansion. Present work incorporates large deformations (displacements and rotations), material nonlinearity (hyperelasticity), and electrical effects. It begins with 3-D nonlinear electroelastic energy and mathematically splits the analysis into a one-dimensional (1-D) through-the-thickness analysis and a 2-D nonlinear plate analysis. Major contribution of this paper is a comprehensive nonlinear through-the-thickness analysis which provides a 2-D energy asymptotically equivalent of the 3-D energy, a 2-D constitutive relation between the 2-D generalized strain and stress tensors for the plate analysis and a set of recovery relations to express the 3-D displacement field. Analytical expressions are derived for warping functions and stiffness coefficients. This is the first attempt to integrate an analytical work on asymptotically-accurate nonlinear electro-elastic constitutive relation for compressible dielectric hyperelastic model with a generalized finite element analysis of plates to provide 3-D displacement fields using VAM. A unified software package `VAMNLM' (Variational Asymptotic Method applied to Non-Linear Material models) was developed to carry out 1-D non-linear analysis (analytical), 2-D non-linear finite element analysis and 3-D recovery analysis. The applicability of the current theory is demonstrated through an actuation test case, for which distribution of 3-D displacements are provided. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Crystals that count! Physical principles and experimental investigations of DNA tile self-assembly

Algorithmic DNA tiles systems are fascinating. From a theoretical perspective, they can result in simple systems that assemble themselves into beautiful, complex structures through fundamental interactions and logical rules. As an experimental technique, they provide a promising method for programmably assembling complex, precise crystals that can grow to considerable size while retaining nanoscale resolution. In the journey from theoretical abstractions to experimental demonstrations, however, lie numerous challenges and complications.

In this thesis, to examine these challenges, we consider the physical principles behind DNA tile self-assembly. We survey recent progress in experimental algorithmic self-assembly, and explain the simple physical models behind this progress. Using direct observation of individual tile attachments and detachments with an atomic force microscope, we test some of the fundamental assumptions of the widely-used kinetic Tile Assembly Model, obtaining results that fit the model to within error. We then depart from the simplest form of that model, examining the effects of DNA sticky end sequence energetics on tile system behavior. We develop theoretical models, sequence assignment algorithms, and a software package, StickyDesign, for sticky end sequence design.

As a demonstration of a specific tile system, we design a binary counting ribbon that can accurately count from a programmable starting value and stop growing after overflowing, resulting in a single system that can construct ribbons of precise and programmable length. In the process of designing the system, we explain numerous considerations that provide insight into more general tile system design, particularly with regards to tile concentrations, facet nucleation, the construction of finite assemblies, and design beyond the abstract Tile Assembly Model.

Finally, we present our crystals that count: experimental results with our binary counting system that represent a significant improvement in the accuracy of experimental algorithmic self-assembly, including crystals that count perfectly with 5 bits from 0 to 31. We show some preliminary experimental results on the construction of our capping system to stop growth after counters overflow, and offer some speculation on potential future directions of the field.

Modelling algal blooms

This is the final report on the research project to develop predictive models to quantify algal blooms in relation to environmental variables. The project's objectives were to develop models simulating the impact of vertical structure and mass transfer upon the dynamics of planktonic algae, including cyanobacteria, in lakes and reservoirs, to assess the potential of sedimentary phosphorus to sustain algal growth following reduction in external loading and to expand and enhance formulations to predict behaviour of blue-green algal populations and to incorporate these into a model software package. As part of the project a strategy for the production of a user-friendly packaging for the modelling software PROTEC-2 adaptable to particular sites was developed.

Use of macroinvertebrate communities to detect environmental stress in running waters

This paper presents an account of some current uses of RIVPACS (River Invertebrate Prediction and Classification System), a software package developed by the Institute of Freshwater Ecology (UK). Background information is also given on the unique data-set on which the system is based. Before discussing RIVPACS, we consider the range of environmental stresses encountered in flowing-water systems and some of the ways in which stresses may affect macroinvertebrate communities. The wide application and relevance of the RIVPACS approach was recognised when it was chosen as the biological method for use throughout the UK in the 1990 River Quality Survey (RQS). In the concluding section we list some lessons learnt both from the 1990 survey and from our own testing exercise, and we outline current developments which will lead to a new version of RIVPACS for use in the 1995 RQS.

An introduction to RIVPACS

RIVPACS (River InVertebrate Prediction And Classification System) is a software package developed by the Institute of Freshwater Ecology (IFE). The primary application is to assess the biological quality of rivers within the UK. RIVPACS offers site-specific predictions of the macroinvertebrate fauna to be expected in the absence of major environmental stress. The expected fauna is derived by RIVPACS using a small suite of environmental characteristics. The biological evaluation is then obtained by comparing the fauna observed at the site with the expected fauna. RIVPACS also includes a site classification based on the macroinvertebrate fauna of the component reference sites. New sites, judged by their fauna to be of high biological quality, may be allocated to classification groups within the fixed RIVPACS classification. This has potential for evaluating sites for conservation. In this chapter, the origins and history of the RIVPACS approach are described, including major scientific and operational developments over the life of the project. RIVPACS III is described in detail and predictions at different taxonomic levels are demonstrated. The value of the reference dataset for river management and conservation is examined, and the chapter concludes with a brief consideration of some future challenges.

Optimisation of the first principle code Octopus for massive parallel architectures: application to light harvesting complexes

150 p.

Estimating the food consumption of fishes: one step in linking a species with its ecosystem

Details are given of a new software package MAXIMS which may be used to estimate the daily food consumption of fish. The software estimates the feeding times, the rates of ingestion and evacuation and related parameters. Two applications of the program are described. The first pertains to anchovy (Engraulis ringens ) with one feeding period per day, and the second one to juvenile cod (Gadus morhua ), which feed during dawn and dusk.

Population dynamics and exploitation of Metapenaeus affinis in Kuwaiti waters

Length-frequency data of Metapenaeus affinis collected from the trawl catches of R/V Bahith in Kuwaiti waters from 1985 to 1989 were combined with estimates of monthly total catch by the commercial and small-scale fleets operating in Kuwait, and analyzed using the Compleat ELEFAN software package. A major recruitment pulse of M. affinis occurs in spring and a minor one in autumn. Optimum relative yield per recruit (Y'/R) is obtained with the length-at-first capture (L sub(c)) of 24.4 cm CL for females and < 17.6 m CL for males. Virtual population analysis results indicated that the biomasses have decreased during the last three-year period for which data were available.