Well-trained, healthy triathletes experience no adverse health risks regarding oxidative stress and DNA damage by participating in an ultra-endurance event

Also physical exercise in general is accepted to be protective, acute and strenuous exercise has been shown to induce oxidative stress. Enhanced formation of free radicals leads to oxidation of macromolecules and to DNA damage. On the other hand ultra-endurance events which require strenuous exercise are very popular and the number of participants is continuously increasing worldwide. Since only few data exists on Ironman triathletes, who are prototypes of ultra-endurance athletes, this study was aimed at assessing the risk of oxidative stress and DNA damage after finishing a triathlon and to predict a possible health risk. Blood samples of 42 male athletes were taken 2 days before, within 20 min after the race, 1, 5 and 19 days post-race. Oxidative stress marker increased only moderately after the race and returned to baseline after 5 days. Marker of DNA damage measured by the SCGE assay with and without restriction enzymes as well as by the sister chromatid exchange assay did either show no change or deceased within the first day after the race. Due to intake during the race and the release by the cells plasma concentrations of vitamin C and α-tocopherol increased after the event and returned to baseline 1 day after. This study indicates that despite a temporary increase in some oxidative stress markers, there is no persistent oxidative stress and no DNA damage in response to an Ironman triathlon in trained athletes, mainly due to an appropriate antioxidant intake and general protective alterations in the antioxidant defence system.

Engaging nursing students in a bioscience unit using a web-based response system, GoSoapBox

Nursing students used GoSoapBox, a web-based student response system to poll responses to multiple choice questions (MCQs) presented during bioscience lectures. Participation in GoSoapBox appears to have facilitated student engagement, interaction and learning. The majority of students surveyed appreciated the immediate feedback to the student responses and being able to participate anonymously. The use of this tool facilitated collaborative group and class discussion and clarification around any misconceptions or challenging concepts. Information collected using GoSoapBox provided the academic with feedback allowing for reflection, adjustment and improvement in framing of formative and summative MCQs.

Engaging nursing students in a bioscience unit using a web-based response system, GoSoapBox

Nursing students used GoSoapBox, a web-based student response system to poll responses to multiple choice questions (MCQs) presented during bioscience lectures. Participation in GoSoapBox appears to have facilitated student engagement, interaction and learning. The majority of students surveyed appreciated the immediate feedback to the student responses and being able to participate anonymously. The use of this tool facilitated collaborative group and class discussion and clarification around any misconceptions or challenging concepts. Information collected using GoSoapBox provided the academic with feedback allowing for reflection, adjustment and improvement in framing of formative and summative MCQs.

An Intelligent Driver Warning System

This chapter is focussed on the research and development of an intelligent driver warning system (IDWS) as a means to improve road safety and driving comfort. Two independent IDWS case studies are presented. The first study examines the methodology and implementation for attentive visual tracking and trajectory estimation for dynamic scene segmentation problems. In the second case study, the concept of driver modelling is evaluated which can be used to provide useful feedback to drivers. In both case studies, the quality of IDWS is largely determined by the modelling capability for estimating multiple vehicle trajectories and modelling driving behaviour. A class of modelling techniques based on neural-fuzzy systems, which exhibits provable learning and modelling capability, is proposed. For complex modelling problems where the curse of dimensionality becomes an issue, a network construction algorithm based on Adaptive Spline Modelling of Observation Data (ASMOD) is also proposed.

Multi-rotor with suspended load: System dynamics and control toolbox

There is an increasing demand for Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) to carry suspended loads as this can provide significant benefits to several applications in agriculture, law enforcement and construction. The load impact on the underlying system dynamics should not be neglected as significant feedback forces may be induced on the vehicle during certain flight manoeuvres. The constant variation in operating point induced by the slung load also causes conventional controllers to demand increased control effort. Much research has focused on standard multi-rotor position and attitude control with and without a slung load. However, predictive control schemes, such as Nonlinear Model Predictive Control (NMPC), have not yet been fully explored. To this end, we present a novel controller for safe and precise operation of multi-rotors with heavy slung load in three dimensions. The paper describes a System Dynamics and Control Simulation Toolbox for use with MATLAB/SIMULINK which includes a detailed simulation of the multi-rotor and slung load as well as a predictive controller to manage the nonlinear dynamics whilst accounting for system constraints. It is demonstrated that the controller simultaneously tracks specified waypoints and actively damps large slung load oscillations. A linear-quadratic regulator (LQR) is derived and control performance is compared. Results show the improved performance of the predictive controller for a larger flight envelope, including aggressive manoeuvres and large slung load displacements. The computational cost remains relatively small, amenable to practical implementations.

A computer-controlled hyperthermia system

Hyperthermia, raised temperature, has been used as a means of treating cancer for centuries. Hippocrates (400 BC) and Galen (200 BC) used red-hot irons to treat small tumours. Much later, after the Renaissance, there are many reports of spontaneous tumour regression in patients with fevers produced by erysipelas, malaria, smallpox, tuberculosis and influenza. These illnesses produce fevers of about 40 °C which last for several days. Temperatures of at least 40 °C were found to be necessary for tumour regression. Towards the end of the nineteenth century pyrogenic bacteria were injected into patients with cancer. In 1896, Coly used a mixture of erysipelas and B. prodigeosus, with some success...

RuleOMS: A rule-based online management system

We propose an architecture for a rule-based online management systems (RuleOMS). Typically, many domain areas face the problem that stakeholders maintain databases of their business core information and they have to take decisions or create reports according to guidelines, policies or regulations. To address this issue we propose the integration of databases, in particular relational databases, with a logic reasoner and rule engine. We argue that defeasible logic is an appropriate formalism to model rules, in particular when the rules are meant to model regulations. The resulting RuleOMS provides an efficient and flexible solution to the problem at hand using defeasible inference. A case study of an online child care management system is used to illustrate the proposed architecture.

A hybrid of modified PSO and local search on a multi-robot search system

Particle swarm optimization (PSO), a new population based algorithm, has recently been used on multi-robot systems. Although this algorithm is applied to solve many optimization problems as well as multi-robot systems, it has some drawbacks when it is applied on multi-robot search systems to find a target in a search space containing big static obstacles. One of these defects is premature convergence. This means that one of the properties of basic PSO is that when particles are spread in a search space, as time increases they tend to converge in a small area. This shortcoming is also evident on a multi-robot search system, particularly when there are big static obstacles in the search space that prevent the robots from finding the target easily; therefore, as time increases, based on this property they converge to a small area that may not contain the target and become entrapped in that area.Another shortcoming is that basic PSO cannot guarantee the global convergence of the algorithm. In other words, initially particles explore different areas, but in some cases they are not good at exploiting promising areas, which will increase the search time.This study proposes a method based on the particle swarm optimization (PSO) technique on a multi-robot system to find a target in a search space containing big static obstacles. This method is not only able to overcome the premature convergence problem but also establishes an efficient balance between exploration and exploitation and guarantees global convergence, reducing the search time by combining with a local search method, such as A-star.To validate the effectiveness and usefulness of algorithms,a simulation environment has been developed for conducting simulation-based experiments in different scenarios and for reporting experimental results. These experimental results have demonstrated that the proposed method is able to overcome the premature convergence problem and guarantee global convergence.

Development of a new ultrasound-based system for tracking motion of the human lumbar spine: Reliability, stability and repeatability during forward bending movement trials

The aim of this study was to develop a new method for quantifying intersegmental motion of the spine in an instrumented motion segment L4–L5 model using ultrasound image post-processing combined with an electromagnetic device. A prospective test–retest design was employed, combined with an evaluation of stability and within- and between-day intra-tester reliability during forward bending by 15 healthy male patients. The accuracy of the measurement system using the model was calculated to be ± 0.9° (standard deviation = 0.43) over a 40° range and ± 0.4 cm (standard deviation = 0.28) over 1.5 cm. The mean composite range of forward bending was 15.5 ± 2.04° during a single trial (standard error of the mean = 0.54, coefficient of variation = 4.18). Reliability (intra-class correlation coefficient = 2.1) was found to be excellent for both within-day measures (0.995–0.999) and between-day measures (0.996–0.999). Further work is necessary to explore the use of this approach in the evaluation of biomechanics, clinical assessments and interventions.

Dynamics of reverse salience as technological performance gap: An empirical study of the personal computer technology system

The evolution of technological systems is hindered by systemic components, referred to as reverse salients, which fail to deliver the necessary level of technological performance thereby inhibiting the performance delivery of the system as a whole. This paper develops a performance gap measure of reverse salience and applies this measurement in the study of the PC (personal computer) technological system, focusing on the evolutions of firstly the CPU (central processing unit) and PC game sub-systems, and secondly the GPU (graphics processing unit) and PC game sub-systems. The measurement of the temporal behavior of reverse salience indicates that the PC game sub-system is the reverse salient, continuously trailing behind the technological performance of the CPU and GPU sub-systems from 1996 through 2006. The technological performance of the PC game sub-system as a reverse salient trails that of the CPU sub-system by up to 2300 MHz with a gradually decreasing performance disparity in recent years. In contrast, the dynamics of the PC game sub-system as a reverse salient trails the GPU sub-system with an ever increasing performance gap throughout the timeframe of analysis. In addition, we further discuss the research and managerial implications of our findings.

No specific role for the manual motor system in processing the meanings of words related to the hand

The present study explored whether semantic and motor systems are functionally interwoven via the use of a dual-task paradigm. According to embodied language accounts that propose an automatic and necessary involvement of the motor system in conceptual processing, concurrent processing of hand-related information should interfere more with hand movements than processing of unrelated body-part (i.e., foot, mouth) information. Across three experiments, 100 right-handed participants performed left- or right-hand tapping movements while repeatedly reading action words related to different body-parts, or different body-part names, in both aloud and silent conditions. Concurrent reading of single words related to specific body-parts, or the same words embedded in sentences differing in syntactic and phonological complexity (to manipulate context-relevant processing), and reading while viewing videos of the actions and body-parts described by the target words (to elicit visuomotor associations) all interfered with right-hand but not left-hand tapping rate. However, this motor interference was not affected differentially by hand-related stimuli. Thus, the results provide no support for proposals that body-part specific resources in cortical motor systems are shared between overt manual movements and meaning-related processing of words related to the hand.

Provisioning a 3.3 MW PhotoVoltaic generation system onto a distribution authority’s 11 kV rural feeder

This paper describes part of an engineering study that was undertaken to demonstrate that a multi-megawatt Photovoltaic (PV) generation system could be connected to a rural 11 kV feeder without creating power quality issues for other consumers. The paper concentrates solely on the voltage regulation aspect of the study as this was the most innovative part of the study. The study was carried out using the time-domain software package, PSCAD/EMTDC. The software model included real time data input of actual measured load and scaled PV generation data, along with real-time substation voltage regulator and PV inverter reactive power control. The outputs from the model plot real-time voltage, current and power variations throughout the daily load and PV generation variations. Other aspects of the study not described in the paper include the analysis of harmonics, voltage flicker, power factor, voltage unbalance and system losses.

Impact of electric energy storage scheduling on reliability of distribution system

The development of Electric Energy Storage (EES) integrated with Renewable Energy Resources (RER) has increased use of optimum scheduling strategy in distribution systems. Optimum scheduling of EES can reduce cost of purchased energy by retailers while improve the reliability of customers in distribution system. This paper proposes an optimum scheduling strategy for EES and the evaluation of its impact on reliability of distribution system. Case study shows the impact of the proposed strategy on reliability indices of a distribution system.

A Web-based system enabling the integration, analysis, and 3D sub-surface visualization of groundwater monitoring data and geological models

The 3D Water Chemistry Atlas is an intuitive, open source, Web-based system that enables the three-dimensional (3D) sub-surface visualization of ground water monitoring data, overlaid on the local geological model (formation and aquifer strata). This paper firstly describes the results of evaluating existing virtual globe technologies, which led to the decision to use the Cesium open source WebGL Virtual Globe and Map Engine as the underlying platform. Next it describes the backend database and search, filtering, browse and analysis tools that were developed to enable users to interactively explore the groundwater monitoring data and interpret it spatially and temporally relative to the local geological formations and aquifers via the Cesium interface. The result is an integrated 3D visualization system that enables environmental managers and regulators to assess groundwater conditions, identify inconsistencies in the data, manage impacts and risks and make more informed decisions about coal seam gas extraction, waste water extraction, and water reuse.