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Background: Surface electromyography (sEMG) is primarily used to analyze individual and neighboring muscle activity. However, using a broader approach can enable simultaneous measurement of multiple muscles, which is essential for understanding muscular coordination. Using the "bull's-eye electrode," which allows bipolar derivation without directional dependence, enables wide-area multipoint sEMG measurements. This study aims to establish a multipoint measurement system and demonstrate its effectiveness and evaluates forearm fatigue and created topographic maps during a grasping task. Methods: Nine healthy adults with no recent arm injuries or illnesses participated in this study. They performed grasping tasks using their dominant hand, while bull's-eye electrodes recorded their muscle activity. To validate the effectiveness of the system, we calculated the root mean squares of muscle activity and entropy, an indicator of muscle activity distribution, and compared them over time. Results: The entropy analysis demonstrated a significant time-course effect with increased entropy over time, suggesting increased forearm muscle uniformity, which is possibly indicative of fatigue. Topographic maps visually displayed muscle activity, revealing notable intersubject variations. Discussion: Bull's-eye electrodes facilitated the capture of nine homogeneous muscle activity points, enabling the creation of topographic images. The entropy increased progressively, suggesting an adaptive muscle coordination response to fatigue. Despite some limitations, such as inadequate measurement of the forearm muscles' belly, the system is an unconventional measurement method. Conclusion: This study established a robust system for wide-area multipoint sEMG measurements using a bull's-eye electrode setup. This system effectively evaluates muscle fatigue and provides a comprehensive topographic view of muscle activity. These results mark a significant step towards developing a future multichannel sEMG system with enhanced measurement points and improved wearability. Trial registration: This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Chiba University Graduate School of Engineering (acceptance number: R4-12, Acceptance date: November 04, 2022). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An improved method is proposed to reflect the relationship between entropy heat coefficient and battery SOC continuity. The SOC of the battery is continuously adjusted at 20°C and 30°C with very small charge/discharge multipliers. Meanwhile, the entropy heat coefficient, charge state and terminal voltage are recorded under dynamically changes of SOC. The entropy heat coefficient dU/dT could be obtained based on calculation of the open circuit voltage. In addition, different charge/discharge rates and battery materials are examined for their effects on the entropy heat coefficient. The results show that this method can be used to calculate the entropy-thermal coefficient of the battery, especially in small charge/discharge multipliers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• 42 urban nature measures were used in 115 pedestrian health studies reviewed. • Reviewed studies predominantly used objective and aerial-level measures. • Perceptual, eye-level, and quality measures of urban nature were underutilized. • Area/proportion and proximity were the most common disaggregate measurement types. • Normalized Difference Vegetation Index was the most popular composite variable. Walking and access to nature are two of the most effective health promotion and disease prevention strategies. There has been a growing interest in the dynamic pathways among access to nature, walking, and health. Effective measurement of these variables is the prerequisite to advancing our understanding of such pathways. However, contrasting to the rigorous methods available for walking and health measures, methods to quantify nature have been limited. This study uses a systematic literature review to synthesize urban nature measures (UNMs) used in published studies linking urban nature with pedestrian health outcomes (e.g. walking, physical activity, physical health, mental health). A survey of experts (n = 30) was used to identify additional and emerging methods. The literature search identified 115 articles and 48 UNMs most of which (40 or 83%) were objective measures. Results showed no consensus on the optimal UNMs for pedestrian health research, but certain measures such as NDVI, proximity to green spaces, and area/proportion of green spaces, were popularly used in previous studies. Experts suggested emerging methods including LiDAR, GPS, high-resolution imagery, virtual/augmented reality, and context-sensitive ecological momentary assessment. Major gaps in current UNMs included the shortage of eye-level and quality-related measures. While experts acknowledge the promise of emerging technologies, they shared concerns related to privacy, digital divide, confidentiality, and bias. This study offers insights into the UNMs available to quantify nature for pedestrian health research, which can serve to facilitate future research, community actions, and policy changes aimed at promoting walking and nature access for healthier urban communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: speed skating continues to expand its research needs, given the growing interest in knowing the factors related to sports performance at early ages. Objective: to evaluate the effect of a didactic proposal oriented towards the development of strength and flexibility, seeking to improve the technical foundation of the spagatta in a sample of Colombian skaters aged 12 and 13 years old. Method: The selected sample comprised 18 children between 12 and 13 years of age (transition category) with an age of 12.55±0.68 years, a body mass of 44.94±6.68 kilograms and a height of 153.49±7.12 centimeters, who were divided into a control group (n:9) and an experimental group (n:9). Quantitative approach study, quasi-experimental design and descriptive study type, with a pseudo-random intentional sampling. Quantitative approach study, descriptive study type and quasi-experimental design. The statistical data were processed using the ® program version 4.1.0 in different phases; descriptive analysis, an Anova analysis of variance and the correlation method. The significance value was set at p value <0.01. Results: In relation to the objective established for the present investigation, significant differences were found for each of the variables under study, related to the static test right leg front Spagatta p=0.000, static left leg front Spagatta p=0.000, Squat Jump p=0.004, flexibility in the Sit and Reach test p=0.001 and in Kinovea p=0.000 to measure the technical foundation of the spagatta. Discussion: Thus, the didactic proposal of the present research is based on the search for alternatives for learning the technical basis of spagatta. In this sense, there are several investigations aimed at the variability of methods to promote learning in speed skating. Conclusion: The effect of the didactic proposal focused on the development of strength and flexibility for the improvement of the technical foundation of the spagatta in skaters of 12 and 13 years old, was effective, significantly improving the strength, flexibility and amplitude of the skater's technical foundation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Chinese Journal of Applied Ecology / Yingyong Shengtai Xuebao is the property of Chinese Journal of Applied Ecology and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In the ecosystem public opinion communication network composed of individual nodes and their propagation paths, each network node is not equally important in the process of ecological public opinion dissemination. It is of great significance for the control and management of ecological public opinion communication network to study and analyze the key network nodes and their mutual ecological public opinion communication relations in the ecological public opinion communication network. Based on the investigation of the complex network environment theory, this paper constructs the ecological public opinion communication network map. This paper measures the nodes of ecological public opinion communication network from the aspects of degree centrality, betweenness centrality, kernel centrality, eccentricity centrality, compactness centrality and eigenvector centrality. Finally, a simplified diagram of part of the structure of the ecological public opinion communication network is analyzed. The verification results show that different measurement methods and indicators can better measure and identify the key nodes in the ecological public opinion communication network from different angles. The results provide a reference for researchers and managers to analyze the ecological public opinion communication network and identify key nodes from the local and overall perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Japan, where a safe and secure society has been established, stab proof clothing that are suitable for police and security officers supporting are required. So far, most of the stab-proof clothing is made of the metal plate or thick multi-layered fabric with high-strength fibers. It is commonly used as a stab-proof vest because it cannot cope with the large deformations, which caused by the joints such as arms or neck. This research aims to develop high flexible stab-proof clothing that can be applied in large-deformation part such as joints with high stab-proof performance. We developed a testing device that can measure bending characteristics under the same conditions as when the stab proof clothing is actually worn on the human body. The usefulness of the evaluation method was confirmed. And the factors that affect the bendability of the elbow joint were also be studied. The mechanical properties of the material and the gap between the arm and the cylindrical structure are greatly affected, and the effect of each bending angle on the bending moment is different. We considered the deformation of the material when it bending and then proposed a new stab-resistant material structure and trial production. The cylindrical bending test shows that the flexibility of the new structure is greatly improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Harbin Institute of Technology. Social Sciences Edition / Haerbin Gongye Daxue Xuebao. Shehui Kexue Ban is the property of Harbin Institute of Technology and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Shanghai Physical Education Institute / Shanghai Tiyu Xueyuan Xuebao is the property of Shanghai Physical Education Institute and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The structure of the intellectual system and methods of automated measurements of active dielectric parameters are proposed. The intelligent system automates the process of measuring the dielectric parameters of materials depending on the temperature and electric field strength; decides on the choice of measurement methods; processes the measurement results and calculates the porosity of the measurement results. The original methods of measuring the capacitance and the active component of the resistance of a ferroelectric capacitor characterizing its dielectric losses are developed. Both methods are based on the modification of the Sawyer-Tower scheme proposed by the authors. The intelligent system implements methods for measuring the temperature dependences of the dielectric parameters of the active dielectrics. The algorithms, based for the methods, are founded on the measurement of the inverse dielectric susceptibility depending on temperature and are different for ferroelectrics with the phase transition of the first and second kind. These methods allowed to increase the measurements efficiency 3 times by reducing the number of measurement procedures, performing measurements in a narrow temperature range and modeling dielectric parameters in the desired temperature range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a common physical phenomenon, frost deposition is inevitable and always has significant negative effects in many industry fields, such as aerospace, aviation, and HVAC&R, etc. To accurately predict and control a frosting-defrosting cycle, the frost layer thickness should be firstly obtained, which is the most fundamental and important parameter. During the last several decades, frost layer thickness measurement methods and different correlations were widely reported, basing on experimental, semi-empirical, theoretical, and numerical approaches. To provide an overview of the analytical tools for scholars, researchers, product developers, and policy designers, a review and comparative analysis of frost layer thickness studies were conducted. The existing gaps in the frost research are identified and recommendations are made as authors’ outlooks in final conclusions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the study of a turbine blade profile and roughness measurement processes - the task every manufacturer of this part needs to resolve. The blade is one of the most complex parts to manufacture because of its complex profile. This profile should be measured in several sections on the feather of all profile elements - the suction side, pressure surface, leading and trailing edges of a blade. If the blade has a shroud platform, its profile should be also measured (and possibly, the gland packing profile as well). It is also necessary to measure the feather end and the blade profile base. Finally, a separate independent task is the blade tang profile measurement. Surface roughness should be also measured on all the blade surfaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The β-angle, formed by the intersection of a line on the floor of the supraspinatus fossa and glenoid fossa line, has been described as a reliable measurement tool in the clinical setting to analyze glenoid inclination on the anteroposterior (AP) view of the shoulder. The purpose of this study was to compare the accuracy of the β-angle measurement using different imaging modalities with a validated 3-dimensional (3D) software tool. Materials and methods The β-angle was measured on AP radiographs, unformatted 2-dimensional (2D) computed tomography (CT) scan, and reformatted 2D CT scan in the scapular plane for 51 shoulders of 49 patients undergoing primary total shoulder arthroplasty. Comparison to the glenoid inclination angle calculated by the 3D software was performed. Results The β-angle measured on reformatted CT scan was found to be the most accurate measurement method, with a mean difference of 1° (standard deviation [SD], 0.5°) with respect to 3D measurement. On AP radiographs, the β-angle was not as accurate, with a mean difference of 3° (SD, 0.7°; P < .006). The β-angle on unformatted 2D CT scan was not a reliable method to measure glenoid inclination, with a mean difference of 10° (SD, 0.9°; P < .0001). Conclusion The β-angle measured with 2D CT scan formatted in the scapular plane was the most accurate method for measuring glenoid inclination. The β-angle on the AP radiograph is less accurate and reliable. Measurement of the β-angle on an unformatted 2D CT scan is not an acceptable method to determine glenoid inclination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Fibres & Textiles in Eastern Europe is the property of Sciendo and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Coal seam gas content is one of the basic parameters for gas disaster prevention and gas utilization in underground coal mines. It is also an important index for coal seam outburst danger evaluation and gas extraction effect investigation, which require a lot of measuring work and must be tested in large areas in underground coal mines. Due to the calculated error of the lost gas in the direct method and difficulties in accurately measuring the gas pressure used to calculate the gas content in the indirect method, the accurate determination of gas content remains a difficult problem. In this paper, the main component of gas content and current measurement methods used in China were discussed, and a new method of coal seam gas content measurement based on the small gap of gas adsorption and desorption characteristics of coal seams in the same geologic unit was proposed. In this new method, we first established a reasonable calculation model for the lost and residual gas contents based on laboratory measurements of desorption characteristics; an accurate and rapid determination of the underground gas content could then be directly obtained. This method requires a small workload and a short measuring time and is particularly applicable to a single underground coal seam with a demand for large quantity measurement. From an engineering perspective, this method not only can rapidly determine coal seam gas content but also can reflect the real gas pressure, satisfying the large area multi-point measurement of coal seam gas content with higher reliability and safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Risk is the major reason for the failure of software development projects. The risk measurement can provide the decision-making data for the risk management and control. The traditional risk measurement method usually assesses in terms of the occurrence probability and the loss of the risk factors, which usually are assessed by experts subjectively. Therefore, they are greatly influenced by artificial factors. In this way, it is difficult to realize the objective and effective measurement. This paper proposes one risk measurement method of software development project based on information entropy, which makes up for the shortcomings of the former studies. This method makes use of information entropy to measure the amount of information so as to measure the software development project risk. In this paper, a new risk checklist is given. First of all, it obtains the risk information through the checklist. Then it obtains the information amount of risk factors by aid of information entropy. This paper concludes that the larger the information amount of the risk factors is, the larger the removed uncertainty is, the smaller the information entropy is and the smaller the risk is. In short, there is a positive correlation between risk and entropy. This paper demonstrates the scientificity and rationality of the method theoretically. Compared with other risk measurement methods, this method manifests certain advantage. The case analysis prove the rationality and feasibility of this method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The goal of this study was to investigate the impact of computing parameters and the location of volumes of interest (VOI) on the calculation of 3D noise power spectrum (NPS) in order to determine an optimal set of computing parameters and propose a robust method for evaluating the noise properties of imaging systems. Noise stationarity in noise volumes acquired with a water phantom on a 128-MDCT and a 320-MDCT scanner were analyzed in the spatial domain in order to define locally stationary VOIs. The influence of the computing parameters in the 3D NPS measurement: the sampling distances b x,y,z and the VOI lengths L x,y,z , the number of VOIs N VOI and the structured noise were investigated to minimize measurement errors. The effect of the VOI locations on the NPS was also investigated. Results showed that the noise (standard deviation) varies more in the r-direction (phantom radius) than z-direction plane. A 25 × 25 × 40 mm3 VOI associated with DFOV = 200 mm (L x,y,z = 64, b x,y = 0.391 mm with 512 × 512 matrix) and a first-order detrending method to reduce structured noise led to an accurate NPS estimation. NPS estimated from off centered small VOIs had a directional dependency contrary to NPS obtained from large VOIs located in the center of the volume or from small VOIs located on a concentric circle. This showed that the VOI size and location play a major role in the determination of NPS when images are not stationary. This study emphasizes the need for consistent measurement methods to assess and compare image quality in CT. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

To verify the impact of disaster reduction engineering on the agricultural output, we use the grey relational analysis algorithm and the measurement model to standardize many indicators in the agricultural production system, such as waterlogging control, irrigating, embankment and reservoir, and forming the assessment of the degree of the indicator association. At the same time, on the basis of the Cobb-Douglas production function, each indicator is included in the regression analysis, and the quantitative evaluation of waterlogging control and other indicators which affect the output of the agricultural production are completed. The empirical study has shown that the impact of the agricultural disaster reduction engineering on the agricultural production can be arranged from largest to smallest as waterlogging area, irrigating area, embankment length, salinization of arable land improvement area, reservoir capacity, and soil erosion control area; expanding the waterlogging control area, building the reservoir and increasing the length of the embankment can increase the total value of the agricultural output, and the waterlogging control has the greatest utility to increase agricultural output in these measures. The natural disaster hinders the development of agricultural production. And increasing the input of the disaster reduction engineering can be conducive to increase the output of agricultural production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowing the program timing characteristics is fundamental to the successful design and execution of real-time systems. The Worst-Case Execution Time (WCET) of a program is the longest execution time that will ever be observed when the program is run on its target hardware. The WCET is needed for many different types of system analysis for real-time systems. Timing becomes the most important factor while considering the distributed automotive embedded real-time systems. Handling real-time constraints to add more functionality to a vehicle is required while modelling these systems. In this present study the WCET estimate is obtained by measurement-based method using in-circuit emulator for a given set of input data. Many existing methods of WCET analysis require the availability of the source code of the program in order to estimate WCET. Here, the measurement-based analysis is performed which is solely based on execution traces of the program and is independent of the program semantics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new method to measure surface tension coefficient using microfluidic chip is proposed and the fabrication process of microfluidic chip was conducted. Taking the polycarbonate track-etched ( PCTE ) membrane as the template, the pores were filled with PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane) prepolymer via capillarity-driven. After bonding with microchamber, microposts array was released by dissolving the membrane in organic solvent. When the surface tension balance was broken due to evaporation, the tips of the microposts array submerged in aqueous solvent were pulled and displaced at the liquid-air interface. By processing the microposts' deformation images, the surface tension coefficient could be calculated. The experiment results show that the proposed method is effective and the measurement resolution can reach in the order of nN/µm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A review of different methods for measuring carbon emissions and SCC. • SCC model improvement and decision support research are developing in China. • The differences in existing and future research direction were emphasized. With increasing international attention on the coupling system of carbon emission and social economy, governments need to formulate relevant policies and measures to control carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions. The social cost of carbon (SCC) can form the basis for such steps. To investigate research on SCC, this paper examines relevant literature in China and abroad for different methods to measure carbon emissions. It further reviews research methods for studying SCC, the effects of model parameters on SCC, and the application of SCC to policymaking. The purpose of researching the measurement of carbon emissions is to select the most appropriate, accurate, and precise methods to enhance data support for research on carbon emissions (including the measurement of social costs). Recording different models facilitates the estimation of SCC for more suitable and exact estimation methods. Analyzing the effects of model parameters on SCC clarifies decision-making and exogenous variables regarding estimating SCC, including the impact of equity weight, uncertainty, risk aversion, and discount and time preference rates on the value of SCC. Therefore, this paper reviews existing research on SCC policy to help frame policymaking appropriately, using the social cost of carbon emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the comparison of the comparator carriage vibration velocity measurement methods. There were two measurement systems which were used for vibration velocity measurement. The results revealed that the dominant amplitudes in the frequency range from eight-10 Hertz (Hz) with the use of accelerometer, shifted to the frequency range from 11-12 Hz using laser interferometer. The absolute measurement method of vibration velocities indicated vibro activity of the carriage.

The human body is an important source of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), especially in densely occupied environments. This research provides an experimental method for separately measuring the whole-body skin emissions of an individual person under controlled conditions. The designed experimental device consisted of a 1.5 m3 stainless steel test chamber and a transition chamber surrounding it. The environmental parameters such as temperature and background concentrations were controlled in both the test chamber and the transition chamber. During measurement, a human subject with standard clothing sat calmly in the test chamber operating in an airtight mode, and breathed through the respiratory channel with a mask tightly covering the face. A male subject was tested to verify the feasibility and repeatability of this experimental method. The results showed that VOCs emitted from the whole-body skin had accumulated in the test chamber air and changed linearly, indicating that the whole-body skin was a nearly stable source of VOCs during the experimental period. The 37 VOCs emitted from this subject's skin showed clear qualitative results, including alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, alkanes, aromatics, esters, alkenes, and acids, and the first three kinds contributed the most to the emissions. The reported VOC emission rates ranged from 0.8 to 86.3 μg/h, and were highly consistent in magnitude with those of the same compounds in the literature. The high repeatability of this experimental method suggested its applicability to explore human skin emissions of more subjects and under various conditions in the future. • An experimental method was proposed to measure VOC emissions from whole-body skin of a single person. • The method can effectively separate the skin and breath emissions. • High detectability and repeatability of the method showed good potential for studying human emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]