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Purpose The Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ) is a widely used tool to quantify autistic traits in the general population. This study aims to report the distribution, group differences and factor structure of autistic traits in Indian general population. The work also assesses the criterion validity of AQ across three patient group samples – autism spectrum disorder (ASD), obsessive-compulsive disorder and social anxiety disorder. Design/methodology/approach In this study, psychometric properties of the adapted AQ were assessed among 450 neurotypical university students matched for age. Confirmatory factor analysis was done to see if the adapted AQ fits the original factor structure. Test–retest, internal consistency reliability and criterion validity were found out. Group differences (gender and field of study) in AQ were also assessed. Findings Autistic traits were found to be continuously distributed in the population, and patterns of group differences were consistent with previous studies. The adapted AQ had five factors resembling the original factor structure with a good fit, and 38 items instead of the original 50 items. Acceptable reliability coefficients were demonstrated along with criterion validity across clinical groups. Originality/value This work is the first to present the pattern of distribution and factor structure of autistic traits among neurotypical adults from Eastern India, a culturally different population, as well as a reliable and valid tool to assess autistic traits in Bengali, a language with 300 million speakers. The findings add to the growing literature on AQ measurement and the concept of autism as a quantitative trait, examined outside of the western samples.

Addressed to the $N-k_{1}-k_{2}$ cascading outages, it is computationally burdensome for the reliable calculation of active and reactive power flows. This paper builds a comprehensive framework with three algorithms, including the distribution factor (DF), the Newton-Raphson (NR), and the first iteration of NR algorithm (termed as 1J). Classifiers are designed to determine whether the NR algorithm should be employed for accuracy. Classifier features are extracted upon the analytical error of 1J. As reactive power is partially considered in the 1J but neglected in the DF algorithm, the deviation between the solutions is taken as one crucial feature. The support vector machine (SVM) is then utilized for classifier training. As the deep integration of the causal inference and the statistical paradigm, this framework calculates active and reactive power flows rapidly, reliably, and robustly. The effectiveness and robustness are fully validated in three typical IEEE systems.

The quality of similar sample data determines the accuracy of photovoltaic (PV) power forecasting. However, under different time and space scales, the main meteorological characteristics affecting PV power and their mechanisms are different, which seriously affects the quality of similar samples. An adaptive classification strategy is proposed to filter historical similar samples. Firstly, path analysis (PA) adaptation is utilized to determine the main meteorological characteristics affecting PV power at different spatial and temporal scales, as well as the determining coefficient of each meteorological characteristic on PV power. Secondly, a negative feedback strategy based on the distribution factor and fitness function value of the forecasting model is claimed, which can adaptive adjust the selection time range of the historical similar samples until the forecasting model with higher fitting degree obtained based on the hybrid optimization support vector regression (HO-SVR) algorithm training. Finally, the validity and practicability of the forecasting model are verified by historical measured meteorological data and power data of a PV power plant.

The current study is aimed to estimate the diagnostic reference dose levels (DRLs), the volume computer tomogram dose index (CTDIvol), the CT air kerma-length product (PKL,CT) and the effective dose (E) for head, chest and chest-abdomen-pelvic CT examinations performed on adults in King Abdullah Medical City (KAMC), Saudi Arabia. Demographic parameters (such as age, gender, weight, height) for a sample of 535 computed tomography (CT) patients and physical scan parameters (such as patient tube voltage (kV), reference and effective mill ampere-second (mAs), scan length, number of slices, and pitch factor) were collected from a picture archiving and communication system (PACS). CTDIvol and PKL,CT were studied for different patients weights (40 -60 kg, 60-80 kg, 80-100 kg and 100-120 kg). Mean CTDIvol, PKL,CT and effective dose for a standard weight (70 kg ±10%) was evaluated according to the three CT protocols considered and the results were, as follows: for head examinations – 61.8 mGy, 1212 mGy.cm and 2.55 mSv, respectively; for chest examinations- 13.1 mGy, 657.5 mGy.cm and 9.21 mSv, respectively; for chest-abdomen-pelvic examinations - 13.9 mGy, 782.5 mGy.cm and 11.73 mSv, respectively. The effective dose for the chest examinations was lower than the corresponding value communicated by the European study group under European Commission. The effective dose for head examinations, was slightly higher than the one communicated by the European Commission study due to differences in the scan length. It needs optimizing the radiation dose delivered to patients via periodical review of scan parameters for a protocol under study.

Increased penetration level of plug-in electrical vehicles (PEVs), necessitates the need for more PEVs charging stations. However, by high penetration of charging stations, distribution power systems may have more challenges, such as high power loss and deteriorated voltage profile. So far, optimal sizing and sitting of charging stations have been utilized to improve the features of the power systems affected by charging stations. While, our studies show that distributed arrangements of charging stations can also play an important role. This role is more highlighted, when vehicle-to-grid (V2G) capability is also considered. To this aim, in this paper, considering total charging and discharging capacities of stations, a factor known as distribution factor is proposed. Then, the effect of different distribution factors, considering grid-to-vehicle (G2V) and V2G modes of PEVs, is discussed. Numerical results verify that distribution factor and hence distributed arrangements of charging stations can affect power loss and voltage profile of the host power system.

With the development of the Internet, the Internet applications represented by Peer-to-Peer (P2P) streaming systems bring more and more communication overhead. In order to alleviate communication pressure of the Internet, and improve the user’s access experience, we aim at taking full advantage of peer upload bandwidth contributions with a cache on each peer. While, the size of such a cache on each peer is limited, it is necessary to design the cache replacement strategy in such P2P Systems. In this paper, we implemented a collaborative caching mechanism for P2P streaming networks. Firstly, we designed some measurement experiments for the existing large-scale P2P streaming systems to find some features and problems. Then, we proposed the collaborative caching strategy based on the chunk value and requesting distribution factor to address the existing problems. Our goal is to keep those chunks with high requesting frequency and farther away from the current peer in order to achieve higher cache hit rate and load balancing. Compare to the measured P2P streaming systems, the simulation results show that the proposed method has better performance on multiple metrics such as cache hits, system load and peer collaboration.

A live-load test was conducted on an in-service bridge containing flat precast concrete slabs. The purpose of the test was to evaluate transverse load distribution and efficiency of the lon...

The existing studies have shown that parapets have great influence on the girder distribution factor (GDF) of bridges. However, there is no method in the design guide to estimate the GDF considering the effect of parapets. This research aims to develop a simplified method for estimating the GDF by considering the effect of parapets. First, a simply supported steel-concrete composite girder bridge was tested to investigate the effect of parapets on the GDF. Then, finite-element (FE) model was established and verified by the field test data of strain and deflection. In addition, error study showed that the bending stiffness of the bridge was increased by about 92% and 19.1%, respectively, due to the effects of parapet and continuous layer. As the effect of the continuous layer on each girder was relatively uniform, the simplified method was optimized only considering the effect of the parapet. Finally, the effect of the parapet on the GDF was compared and discussed. Considering the effect of the parapet, the GDF of the exterior girder calculated by the simplified method and FE analysis decreased by about 26.92% and 23.53%, respectively, and the adjacent interior girder decreased by about 15.22% and 12.77%, respectively. Comparing the GDF calculated by the AASHTO LRFD specifications, the GDF calculated by the simplified method decreased by about 30.77% in the exterior girder and 41.30% in the interior girder, respectively. The results indicate that the method of calculating the GDF without considering the effect of the parapet in AASHTO LRFD specifications is conservative. The GDF calculated by the simplified method was basically close to the field test results, meaning that the proposed simplified method considering the effect of the parapet was relatively accurate.

A series of 3D finite element (FE) analyses were performed to estimate the peak penetration resistance of spudcan foundations in sand over clay soil profiles. Elasto-perfectly plastic models following Mohr&ndash, Coulomb and Tresca failure criteria were used for sand and clay layers, respectively. The coupled Eulerian&ndash, Lagrangian (CEL) approach was used to simulate the large deformation in soil that occurs during the spudcan penetration. The performance of the numerical model was validated against centrifuge test results. A parametric study with a broad range of strength parameters for sand and clay was performed. The numerical results were used to assess the influence of sand thickness (Hs), the diameter of spudcan (D), friction angle of sand, and undrained shear strength of clay (su). A wide range of su was utilized to predict the resistance both of the soft and stiff clays. The calculated peak resistances are compared with a published analytical model. It is demonstrated that the model highly overestimates the peak resistance for stiff clays, most likely because it was developed specifically for soft clays and, therefore, does not account for the influence of su. One of the parameters of the model is revised to account both for su. Comparisons highlight that the modified model is able to capture the simulated peak penetration resistance for both soft and stiff clays.

in this paper, we present a design on a 30 GHz 100 kW-level gyrotron. The cold-cavity of the gyrotron has been studied by using an in-house gyrotron simulation code and CST microwave studio, respectively. Meanwhile, in the hot-cavity analyses, the behavior of multi-mode beam-wave interaction has been studied in detail by using PIC simulation with the help of CST particle studio. The results present that the gyrotron can operate at TE 0.3 mode stably with the output power of 150 kW under the operating conditions: beam voltage of 50 kV, beam current of 10 A, magnetic field of 1.14 T, and pitch factor of 1.3.

The simulation results of parameters of a helical electron beam formed by a low-voltage adiabatic magnetron injection gun for 400 GHz gyrotron have been presented. The results of beam-wave interaction show the possibility of the efficient low-voltage operation of 400 GHz gyrotron with a single helical electron beam. The simulations have been performed in the accelerating voltage range from 2.5 kV to 7 kV and for the helical electron beam current of 200 mA.

Live load tests were conducted on an in-service bridge containing decked Northeast Extreme Tee (NEXT-D) girders. The purpose of the tests was to evaluate transverse load distribution and to...

The use of mineral fillers in the paper industry has attracted much attention due to its low cost and ability to improve optical properties and printability. Besides the filler characteristics, paper properties, such as bulk, tensile, and opacity, are greatly affected by filler distribution in the z-direction. Therefore, optimization of filler distribution is an effective way to maximize the value of fillers. In this work, a filler distribution factor (Fc) was proposed to quantitatively describe the concentrated degree of filler distribution in the z-direction. The reduction in Fc resulted in an increase in paper bulk, porosity, and opacity, due to the generation of more interfaces between fibers and fillers. When filler particles were concentrated in one layer (Fc = 1), the tensile strength of the filled paper increased between 26 to 40% in comparison to the paper with various Fc values. For a given Fc, better tensile and opacity properties were achieved by increasing filler concentration on the surface layer of paper.

In this paper, a new representation for the chi-squared distribution has been derived over wireless sensor networks (WSN). The underlying correlated data proliferation protocols have strong influence on performance of the deployed system. A proposed model has been deployed to investigate the WSN system over the data proliferation aspect. Initially, the degree of freedom (DOF) factor has been evaluated with respect to scalability issue in the proposal. Further, the factors affecting the outcome of the WSN system assessing data proliferation have been investigated. Moreover, sensor node operations namely: sense count, transmit count and receive redundant count have also been evaluated. Finally, extensive simulation analysis has been carried out to prove the validity of the proposed innovative scheme. However, it has also been investigated that chi-distribution for wireless sensor networks seems intractable with the degree of freedom, when varied with a specific number of nodes.

Maintenance of bridges in use is essential and measuring the live load distribution factor (LLDF) of a bridge to examine bridge integrity and safety is important. A vehicle loading test has been used to measure the LLDF of a bridge. To carry this out on a bridge in use, traffic control is required because loading must be performed at designated positions using vehicles whose details are known. This makes it difficult to measure LLDF. This study proposed a method of estimating the LLDF of a bridge using the vertical displacement response caused by traveling vehicles under ambient vibration conditions in the absence of vehicle control. Since the displacement response measured from a bridge included both static and dynamic components, the static component required for the estimation of LLDF was extracted using empirical mode decomposition (EMD). The vehicle loading and ambient vibration tests were conducted to verify the validity of the proposed method. It was confirmed that the proposed method can effectively estimate the LLDF of a bridge if the vehicle type and driving lane on the bridge are identified in the ambient vibration test.

Contents of As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn were determined in the material collected in sandboxes of seven spa resorts located in S Poland (CCE) and their results used to establish a health risk of children. After sieving out grains > 2 mm, the bulk samples were quantitatively separated into four grain fractions: 2000–1000, 1000–200, 200–63 and

The characteristics of hot particles in the ambient environment are presented: activity, propagation, size, and density as well as contribution to the total activity of contaminants, distribution factor, leach rate, and deposition rate. The differences of suspensions, bottom deposits, and hot particles are shown. The equations governing the transport of radionuclides are formulated for systems, consisting of hot particles and suspensions, in water and bottom deposits. The coefficients in the equations are determined and the possibility of radionuclides being removed from bays by tides is taken into account. Solutions are obtained for the transport equations and the average sizes of the activity spots owing to hot particles and ordinary suspensions are determined. The possibility of transport of hot particles over large distances in a river floodplain is examined. The water circulation rate at which hot particles are carried out of flooded objects is determined.

This article describes a method of identifying combustion chamber temperature field ripple by the preparation of the set of nozzles in the engine. It shows combustion chamber temperature field ripple with a divergent nozzle and a convergent one used in the burner. The design of the combustion chamber and that of the burners are described. Diagrams are plotted that show variation in circular and radial temperature field ripple depending on the engine behavior. The combustor exit temperature field non-uniformity is assessed using such parameters as the overall temperature distribution factor, the radial temperature distribution factor and the circumferential temperature distribution factor. Comparative analysis of the results of testing two combustion chambers with different modifications of burners is carried out. Conclusions about the effect of the burner design on the temperature field ripple are made.

We have analytically investigated the nonparaxial propagation of an Airy-Gaussian beam (AiGB) in uniaxial crystal orthogonal to the optical axis. The analytical expressions of the three components are obtained, and the numerical examples are demonstrated. The influences of the uniaxial crystal and the distribution factor of AiGB are investigated. When the distribution factor is small, the AiGB tends to be an Airy beam, which has different accelerating properties on different directions in uniaxial crystal. When the distribution factor is large, the AiGB tends to be a Gaussian beam, which has different shapes in the x-direction and the y-direction in uniaxial crystal. And in different uniaxial crystals, the AiGB obeys different propagation regulations, and the accelerating property of the AiGB can be modulated by the uniaxial crystals.

At present, analysis from the data of researchers' publications and their citations is an important method for researchers' evaluation. As scientific cooperation is more and more common, the research of credit distribution in papers is increasingly important. The purpose of this paper is to analyze diversified methods of credit distribution according to the authors' rank in published papers. Among several methods mentioned in this paper, the A-index is too subjective to make the cr edit distribution convincing. Besides, the application of Geometric Counting, Proportional Counting and Correct Credit Distribution which don't take corresponding authors into account is a bit limited. In addition, these methods are not quite suitable to papers with large amounts of co-authors. However, the rest of the methods consider corresponding authors. Moreover, the parameters in Combined Credit Allocation and Network-based Allocation changes when referred to the different disciplines. By comparison, these two methods are much more rational with flexibility and discipline-adaptation.

In a recent contribution, the authors show that the uncertainty in heat transfer results obtained using the Monte Carlo ray-trace (MCRT) method is related to the median of the radiation distribution factor probability density function (PDF). The value of this discovery would be significantly enhanced if the median could be known a priori without first computing the distribution factors. This would allow the user to determine the number of rays required to achieve the desired accuracy of a subsequent heat transfer analysis. The current contribution presents a correlation for the median of the distribution factor PDF as a function of emissivity and the number of surface elements defining an enclosure. The correlation involves a single parameter whose value is unique for a given enclosure geometry. We find that the radiation behavior of a given enclosure can be classified on a scale ranging from reflection-dominated to geometry-dominated. The correlation is shown to work well for reflection-dominated enclosures but less well for geometry-dominated enclosures.