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Comparative study of factors influencing tension lap splices in reinforced concrete beams
Get PDFThe practice of splicing reinforcing bars in reinforced concrete structures to manage insufficient bar length is a common approach, which is mainly due to transportation limitations on bar length. The splicing of reinforcing bars side by side offers a simple and economical solution to the problem of continuity. This paper examines the influence of different structural parameters such as concrete cover, lap splice length, shear links confinement and concrete strength on the lap splices based on an extensive experimental database of laps and anchorage. The current study shows that increasing the lap splices beyond 50∅ has no additional benefit for increasing its strength. The results also show that relative to the measured stress, specimens with larger concrete side covers shows higher splice stress compared to the samples with smaller concrete covers
Prevalence and risk factors of childhood anemia in Nepal: A multilevel analysis
Get PDFIntroduction
Anemia is a common problem in children particularly in developing countries and taking steps to tackle it is one of the major public health challenges for Nepal. The objective of this study is to investigate the prevalence of individual, household and community level determinants of childhood anemia in Nepal.
Methods
Data was taken from a nationally representative sample of 1,942 Nepalese children aged from 6–59 months. The Chi-square test was used to determine the bivariate relationship between the selected variables and childhood anemia and a multilevel logistic regression model with a random intercept at household and community level was used to identify important determinants of this kind of anemia.
Results
The results showed that 52.6% (95% CI: 49.8%-55.4%) of the children were anemic while 26.6% (95% CI: 24.0%-29.3%) of them were moderate to severe. The prevalence of overall
anemia was higher among children aged less than 11 months as well as in underweight children, children of underweight, anemic and uneducated mothers and those in the terrain ecological regions. Multivariable analysis showed that children aged less than 11 months, who were underweight and had anemic mothers were more likely to have moderate or severe anemia. Children in the hilly ecological region were less likely to have it compared to mountain and terrain ecological regions. Children in middle-class families and children of mothers who completed secondary education were more likely to have anemia.
Conclusion
Nepal is facing a serious public health problem due to the high prevalence of childhood anemia. This adverse situation occurs due to socio-demographic and geographical factors such as age, malnutrition status, mother’s anemia status, socio-economic status and regional variations. Prevention of childhood anemia should be given top priority in Nepal and should be considered as a major public health intervention
Computational neuroscience meets optogenetics: Unlocking the brain’s secrets
Get PDFWorking at the interface between engineering and neuroscience, Professor Simon Schultz and Dr Konstantin Nikolic at Imperial College London are developing tools to help us understand the intricate workings of the brain. Combining a revolutionary technology – optogenetics – with computational neuroscience, the team are developing powerful tools to study the real-time physiology of individual neurons and their function. Their work is unlocking the complex secrets of the circuitry of the brain and has significance for debilitating neural disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease
Software reliability and quality assurance challenges in cyber physical systems security
Get PDFSoftware Reliability is the probability of failure-free software operation for a specified period of time in a specified environment. Cyber threats on software security have been prevailing and have increased exponentially, posing a major challenge on software reliability in the cyber physical systems (CPS) environment. Applying patches after the software has been developed is outdated and a major security flaw. However, this has posed a major software reliability challenge as threat actors are exploiting unpatched and insecure software configuration vulnerabilities that are not identified at the design phase. This paper aims to investigate the SDLC approach to software reliability and quality assurance challenges in CPS security. To demonstrate the applicability of our work, we review existing security requirements engineering concepts and methodologies such as TROPOS, I*, KAOS, Tropos and Secure Tropos to determine their relevance in software security. We consider how the methodologies and function points are used to implement constraints to improve software reliability. Finally, the function points concepts are implemented into the CPS security components. The results show that software security threats in CPS can be addressed by integrating the SRE approach and function point analysis in the development to improve software reliability
Clinical effectiveness of the START (STrAtegies for RelaTives) psychological intervention for family carers and the effects on the cost of care for people with dementia: 6-year follow-up of a randomised controlled trial
Get PDFThe START (STrAtegies for RelaTives) intervention reduced depressive and anxiety symptoms of family carers of relatives with dementia at home over 2 years and was cost-effective.
Aims
To assess the clinical effectiveness over 6 years and the impact on costs and care home admission.
Method
We conducted a randomised, parallel group, superiority trial recruiting from 4 November 2009 to 8 June 2011 with 6-year follow-up (trial registration: ISCTRN 70017938). A total of 260 self-identified family carers of people with dementia were randomised 2:1 to START, an eight-session manual-based coping intervention delivered by supervised psychology graduates, or to treatment as usual (TAU). The primary outcome was affective symptoms (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, total score (HADS-T)). Secondary outcomes included patient and carer service costs and care home admission.
Results
In total, 222 (85.4%) of 173 carers randomised to START and 87 to TAU were included in the 6-year clinical efficacy analysis. Over 72 months, compared with TAU, the intervention group had improved scores on HADS-T (adjusted mean difference −2.00 points, 95% CI −3.38 to −0.63). Patient-related costs (START versus TAU, respectively: median £5759 v. £16 964 in the final year; P = 0.07) and carer-related costs (median £377 v. £274 in the final year) were not significantly different between groups nor were group differences in time until care home (intensity ratio START:TAU was 0.88, 95% CI 0.58–1.35).
Conclusions
START is clinically effective and this effect lasts for 6 years without increasing costs. This is the first intervention with such a long-term clinical and possible economic benefit and has potential to make a difference to individual carers
Towards sustainable water resource management in rural Nigeria: The role of communities
Get PDFAccess to water is crucial for healthy living and survival. In developing countries such as Nigeria, rural communities often suffer from a severe shortage of the supply of fresh, potable water. The need to change the tide has led to the inclusion of the adequate availability of water for all
as one of the 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Evidence shows that the lack or poor supply of freshwater could lead to a prevalence of waterborne diseases and might negatively affect economically important activities. While water sustainability deals with ensuring adequate supply of water for the present and future generations, water resource management is the strategy for achieving water sustainability. Considering the above, this article examines the literature on water resource management vis-à-vis the legal framework for water management in Nigeria. The article notes that rural communities in the country have a critical role to play in water resource management in the country and in the quest to attain the goals for water. It is recommended that policies should be implemented to provide for sustainable management of water as well as a strategy for educating rural communities on what they must do to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals for water management in Nigeria at the rural community level. For example, there is a need to provide for private sector led water development projects in rural areas backed by government subsidy as well as programmes to enlighten community leaders on their role in ensuring water sustainability
Predicting likelihood of legitimate data loss in email DLP
Get PDFThe volume and variety of data collected for modern organizations has increased significantly over the last decade necessitating the detection and prevention of disclosure of sensitive data. Data loss prevention is an embedded process used to protect against disclosure of sensitive data to external uncontrolled environments. A typical Data Loss Prevention (DLP) system uses custom policies to identify and prevent accidental and malicious data leakage producing large number of security alerts including significant volume of false positives. Consequently, identifying legitimate data loss can be very challenging as each incident comprises of different characteristics often requiring extensive intervention by a domain expert to review alerts individually. This limits the ability to detect data loss alerts in real-time making organisations vulnerable to financial and reputational damages. The aim of this research is to strengthen data loss detection capabilities of a DLP system by implementing a machine learning model to predict the likelihood of legitimate data loss. We conducted extensive experimentation using Decision Tree and Random Forest algorithms with historical email incident data collected by a globally established telecommunication enterprise. The final model produced with Random Forest algorithm was identified as the most effective as it was successfully able to predict approximately 95% data loss incidents accurately with an average true positive value of 90%. Furthermore, the proposed solution successfully enables identification of legitimate data loss in email DLP whilst facilitating prioritisation of real data loss through human-understandable explanation of the decision thereby improving the efficiency of the process
QoE of cross-modally mapped mulsemedia: an assessment using eye gaze and heart rate
Get PDFA great deal of research effort has been put in exploring crossmodal correspondences in the field of cognitive science which refer to the systematic associations frequently made between different sensory modalities (e.g. high pitch is matched with angular shapes). However, the possibilities cross-modality opens in the digital world have been relatively unexplored. Therefore, we consider that studying the plasticity and the effects of crossmodal correspondences in a mulsemedia setup can bring novel insights about improving the human-computer dialogue and experience. Mulsemedia refers to the combination of three or more senses to create immersive experiences. In our experiments, users were shown six video clips associated with certain visual features based on color, brightness, and shape. We examined if the pairing with crossmodal matching sound and the corresponding auto-generated haptic effect, and smell would lead to an enhanced user QoE. For this, we used an eye-tracking device as well as a heart rate monitor wristband to capture users’ eye gaze and heart rate whilst they were experiencing mulsemedia. After each video clip, we asked the users to complete an on-screen questionnaire with a set of questions related to smell, sound and haptic effects targeting their enjoyment and perception of the experiment. Accordingly, the eye gaze and heart rate results showed significant influence of the cross-modally mapped multisensorial effects on the users’ QoE. Our results highlight that when the olfactory content is crossmodally congruent with the visual content, the visual attention of the users seems shifted towards the correspondent visual feature. Crosmodally matched media is also shown to result in an enhanced QoE compared to a video only condition
Efficient Energy Managemet System Based on Demand Shifts in Domestic Grid Considering Emission and Tax on Carbon
Get PDFNowadays, there is a global need for energy management to reduce cost, planet damage and dependence on fossil fuels to save energy. In this paper, we suggest an efficient Energy Management System (EMS) with an emphasis on Demand Response (DR), the planning of generation units in the grid and exchanges between the grid and the upstream network, with the aim of reducing the Market Clearing Price (MCP), Emission Reduction (ER) and consequently reductions of Tax on Carbon (ToC). In the proposed problem, technical and economic constraints include any producer/consumer equipment, as well as the DR, ER, ToC, MCP and grid connection requirements to the main upstream network. To find the best possible solution, Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) methodology is applied. The obtained results showed a noticeable decrease in MCP and ER by 37% and 55%, respectively