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1 – 10 of over 3000Andreas Barchanski, Markus Clemens, Herbert De Gersem, Till Steiner and Thomas Weiland
Improved numerical calculation techniques for low‐frequency current density distributions within high‐resolution anatomy models caused by ambient electric or magnetic fields or…
Abstract
Purpose
Improved numerical calculation techniques for low‐frequency current density distributions within high‐resolution anatomy models caused by ambient electric or magnetic fields or direct contact to potential drops using the finite integration technique (FIT).
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology of calculating low‐frequency electromagnetic fields within high‐resolution anatomy models using the FIT is extended by a local grid refinement scheme using a non‐matching‐grid formulation domain. Furthermore, distributed computing techniques are presented. Several numerical examples are analyzed using these techniques.
Findings
Numerical simulations of low‐frequency current density distributions may now be performed with a higher accuracy due to an increased local grid resolution in the areas of interest in the human body voxel models when using the presented techniques.
Originality/value
The local subgridding approach is introduced to reduce the number of unknowns in the very large‐scale linear algebraic systems of equations that have to be solved and thus to reduce the required computational time and memory resources. The use of distributed computation techniques such as, e.g. the use of a parallel solver package as PETSc follows the same goals.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine the characteristics and functions of images in scientific practices and how scientific images differ to other types of representation (e.g…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the characteristics and functions of images in scientific practices and how scientific images differ to other types of representation (e.g. textual, numerical or artistic images). To address these questions, the study looks into the illustration practice of the Swedish researcher Gaston Backman, who wrote several books on the origin of the human species, human anatomy, physical anthropology and race biology in the beginning of the twentieth century.
Design/methodology/approach
A comparative and functional analytical method is applied to show how the images act in his writings and how rhetorical and technical circumstances affect the way the images communicate and document scientific facts and ideas. Theoretically, the study relates to ideas suggesting: images to be serious partakers and vehicles of representation in the practice of science; and the need for images to be schematic and more abstract in comparison to an iconic image in order to work in this practice.
Findings
The findings of this study show that Backman used both schematic and iconic images in his research writings, and that these different image expressions had different functions: where the former was based on facts and had an informative and scientific function, the latter was based on fantasy/myth and used to promote ideological values and ideas.
Originality/value
This study stresses the importance of images in the practice of science, i.e. how images alongside verbal or numerical expressions act as important information and knowledge carriers in the work of science. Even though images intermingle with verbal and numerical expression, they also have a unique and specific, a role that needs to be taken seriously and investigated further in the realm of information studies and document studies. The authors also need to be aware that images can have different functions in the scientific practice, and are not always there to carry scientific facts or ideas, but ideologies and fantasies.
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Fariha Ejaz, Justin Ryan, Megan Henriksen, Lillee Stomski, Megan Feith, Michele Osborn, Stephen Pophal, Randy Richardson and David Frakes
– The purpose of this study was to develop and apply new physical heart defect models (PHDMs) that are patient-specific and color-coded with an optimized map.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to develop and apply new physical heart defect models (PHDMs) that are patient-specific and color-coded with an optimized map.
Design/methodology/approach
Heart defect anatomies were segmented from medical images and reconstructed to form virtual models, which were then color-coded and rapid prototyped. The resulting PHDMs were used in a medical educational study to evaluate their pedagogical efficacy and in clinical case studies to investigate their utility in surgical planning.
Findings
A growing library of 36 PHDMs (including the most common defects) was generated. Results from the educational study showed that the PHDMs enabled uniquely effective learning, and the clinical case studies indicated that the models added value as surgical planning aids.
Research limitations/implications
The education study involved a limited number of students, so future work should consider a larger sample size. The clinical case studies favored use of the PHDMs in surgical planning, but provided only qualitative support.
Practical implications
Workflow optimization is critical for PHDMs to be used effectively in surgical planning because some operations must be performed in emergently.
Social implications
Because PHDMs have potential to influence surgeons’ actions as surgical planning aids, their use in that context must be thoroughly vetted.
Originality/value
The proposed models represent the first PHDMs that are patient-specific and fully color-coded with a standardized map optimized for the human visual system. The models enhanced medical education and facilitated effective surgical planning in this study.
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Punjan Dohare, Amol P. Bhondekar, Anupma Sharma and C. Ghanshyam
The purpose of this paper is to understand the effect of airflow dynamics on vortices for different flow rates using the human nose three-dimensional model.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to understand the effect of airflow dynamics on vortices for different flow rates using the human nose three-dimensional model.
Design/methodology/approach
Olfaction originates with air particles travelling from an external environment to the upper segment of the human nose. This phenomenon is generally understood by using the nasal airflow dynamics, which enhances the olfaction by creating the vortices in the human nose. An anatomical three-dimensional model of the human nasal cavity from computed tomography (CT) scan images using the MIMICS software (Materialise, USA) was developed in this study. Grid independence test was performed through volume flow rate, pressure drop from nostrils and septum and average velocity near the nasal valve region using a four computational mesh model. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was used to examine the flow pattern and influence of airflow dynamics on vortices in the nasal cavity. Numerical simulations were conducted for the flow rates of 7.5, 10, 15 and 20 L/min using numerical finite volume methods.
Findings
At coronal cross-sections, dissimilar nasal airflow patterns were observed for 7.5, 10, 15 and 20 L/min rate of fluid flow in the human nasal cavity. Vortices that are found at the boundaries with minimum velocity creates deceleration zone in the nose vestibule region, which is accompanied by flow segregation. Maximum vortices were observed in the nasal valve region and the posterior end of the turbinate region, which involves mixing and recirculation and is responsible for enhancing the smelling process.
Practical implications
The proposed analysis is applicable to design the sensor chamber for electronic noses.
Originality/value
In this paper, the influence of airflow dynamics on vortices in the human nasal cavity is discussed through numerical simulations.
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The purpose of this paper is to explore characteristics of human‐computer interaction when the human body and its movements become input for interaction and interface control in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore characteristics of human‐computer interaction when the human body and its movements become input for interaction and interface control in pervasive computing settings.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper quantifies the performance of human movement based on Fitt's Law and discusses some of the human factors and technical considerations that arise in trying to use human body movements as an input medium.
Findings
The paper finds that new interaction technologies utilising human movements may provide more flexible, naturalistic interfaces and support the ubiquitous or pervasive computing paradigm.
Practical implications
In pervasive computing environments the challenge is to create intuitive and user‐friendly interfaces. Application domains that may utilize human body movements as input are surveyed here and the paper addresses issues such as culture, privacy, security and ethics raised by movement of a user's body‐based interaction styles.
Originality/value
The paper describes the utilization of human body movements as input for interaction and interface control in pervasive computing settings.
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Nismah Panjaitan, Ab-Samat Hasnida and Amir Yazid Ali
This study aims to find work concepts and mesoergonomic stages that are not well known and are not widely used in solving problems related to ergonomics using macro and micro…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to find work concepts and mesoergonomic stages that are not well known and are not widely used in solving problems related to ergonomics using macro and micro ergonomics.
Design/methodology/approach
The study used a questionnaire distributed to several ergonomists who were able to provide opinions on meso ergonomics, especially in determining what aspects affected meso ergonomics so that the meso stages could be determined.
Findings
The results of data collection show that aspects that affect meso ergonomics are closely related to macro and micro ergonomics, aspects that are found to have similarities between the three because meso ergonomics is between them.
Research limitations/implications
Determine the stages of meso ergonomics and clarify the limits of meso ergonomics using a questionnaire distributed to several respondents who understand ergonomics.
Practical implications
This paper can be applied to organizations that have a tiered organizational structure so that departments in the organization are divided into several parts to be observed and related to each other in carrying out organizational functions.
Social implications
Provides convenience for researchers in observing organizations with the presence of mesoergonomics which is a bridge between macro and micro ergonomics.
Originality/value
The stages of meso ergonomics are arranged based on aspects and meso ergonomics variables that have been obtained from previous studies which now have added some considerations in the preparation of mesoergonomic stages such as the macroergonomic analysis design on macro ergonomics.
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Zhelong Wang, Sen Qiu, Zhongkai Cao and Ming Jiang
Due to the complex mechanism during walking, human gait takes plenty of information reflecting human motion. The method of quantitative measurement of gait makes a profound…
Abstract
Purpose
Due to the complex mechanism during walking, human gait takes plenty of information reflecting human motion. The method of quantitative measurement of gait makes a profound influence in many fields, such as clinical medicine, biped robot control strategy and so on. The purpose of this paper is to present a gait analysis system based on inertial measurement unit (IMU) and combined with body sensor network (BSN).
Design/methodology/approach
The authors placed two wireless inertial nodes on the left and right ankles, so that the acceleration and angular velocity could be obtained from both sides at the same time. By using the kinematical model of the human gait, many methods such as time series analysis, pattern recognition and numerical analysis, are introduced to fuse the inertial data and estimate the sagittal gait parameters.
Findings
The gait parameters evaluation gains a practical precision, especially in the gait phase detection and the process of how the two feet cooperate with each other has been analyzed to learn about the mechanism of biped walking.
Research limitations/implications
The gait analysis procedure is off line, so that the system ensures sampling at a high rate.
Originality/value
This gait analysis system can be utilized to measure quantitative gait parameters. Further, the coordination of dual gait pattern is presented. Last but not least, the system can also be put into capturing and analyzing the motion of other parts of the body.
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The Science Reference Library Classification was developed during the middle of the 1960s as a scheme to arrange books on the shelves of a large open‐access library integrating…
Abstract
The Science Reference Library Classification was developed during the middle of the 1960s as a scheme to arrange books on the shelves of a large open‐access library integrating the whole of Science and Technology in a single collection. It is intended to help in the retrieval of information which is not indexed elsewhere, by abstracting and bibliographic services, and to make ‘browsing’ by the large number of readers (one‐third, according to the National Libraries Committee report) who enter the library without a specific reference in mind as fruitful as possible.
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Emmanuel E. Baro, Benake‐ebide C. Endouware and Janet O. Ubogu
The aim of this paper is to investigate whether undergraduate students in the College of Health Sciences in Niger Delta University are information literate, and to determine…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to investigate whether undergraduate students in the College of Health Sciences in Niger Delta University are information literate, and to determine whether they are aware of and use different information resources including electronic ones, and to assess their ability to evaluate information before use.
Design/methodology/approach
Questionnaire and interview methods were used to collect data from the students.
Findings
The students mostly rely on textbooks, medical journals, the internet, colleagues, and the Nigerian National University Commission's virtual library for information. They rarely use electronic resources such as MEDLINE, HINARI, the Cochrane Library, and EbscoHost. This could be because of a lack of awareness and skills necessary to search databases. Problems such as lack of time, the challenge of locating “good citable stuff”, inability to use effectively the medical library, and poor skills in information searching were mentioned. The study recommends that medical librarians and faculty should collaborate in integrating information literacy skills into the medical school curriculum.
Originality/value
This paper may help inform discussion about students' competences for locating, selecting, evaluating and using information essential for lifelong learning.
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