Industrially oriented voice control system

The purpose of my research was to develop a novel voice control system for the use in the robotized manufacturing cells as well as to create tools providing its simple integration into manufacturing. A comprehensive study of existing problems and their possible solutions has been performed. Unlike some other works, it focused on the specific requirements that should be fulfilled by industrially oriented voice control systems. Analysis of existing solutions related to the natural language processing and those related to various voice control applications has been performed. Its goal was to establish the optimal method of voice command analysis for industrially oriented systems. Finally, a voice control system for manufacturing cells has been developed, implemented and practically verified in the laboratory. Unlike many other solutions, it takes into consideration almost all aspects of voice command processing (speech recognition, syntactic and semantic analysis and spontaneous speech effects) and – most importantly – their mutual influence. To provide the simple system customization (integration into any particular manufacturing cells), a special format for quasi-natural sublanguage syntax definition has been developed. A novel algorithm for semantic analysis, using specific features of voice commands used for controlling industrial devices and machines, has been incorporated into the system. Successful implementation in the educational robotized machining cell shows that industrial applications should be possible in the very next future.     

Stable time step estimates for mesh‐free particle methods

Real‐time computational biomechanics for medicine usually uses explicit time integration, because of its efficiency and suitability for parallel implementation. Explicit time integration is only conditionally stable and therefore requires an estimation of the maximum stable time step that can be used. In this paper we develop a method of estimating the stable time step for mesh‐free particle methods for a specific case of mass lumping: the mass associated with an integration point is distributed equally to all nodes found in the support domain of that integration point. Two estimates of the stable time step for each integration point are developed: one that is very accurate but more costly to compute and one less accurate but easier to implement. The results are also valid for the FEM and beyond computational biomechanics for medicine. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effect of Oxygen Pressure on Thermoelectric Properties of p-Type CuAlO<Subscript>2</Subscript> Films Fabricated by Pulsed Laser Deposition

We focus on the growth of p-type CuAlO₂ thin films and its thermoelectric properties. Thin films are deposited by pulsed laser deposition technique on single-crystal sapphire substrates varying the oxygen partial pressure. Thin film deposited at oxygen partial pressure of 200 mTorr presents bigger grains (about 10 μm in size) and shows Seebeck coefficient as high as 270 µV/K with a conductivity of about 0.8 S/cm so that its power factor is about 5.7 µW/mK² at 800 K, twice than observed in the film deposited at 60 mTorr of oxygen.     

Release of phosphorous impurity from TiO2 anatase and rutile nanoparticles in aquatic environments and its implications

Phosphorus-bearing materials as an additive have been popularly used in nanomaterial synthesis and the residual phosphorus within the nanoparticles (NPs) can be of an environmental concern. For instance, phosphorus within pristine commercial TiO₂ NPs greatly influences the surface charge and aggregation behavior of the host TiO₂ in aquatic environments; however, it is unknown whether and how fast phosphorus is released. In this study, we focus on the phosphorus release kinetics from five types of TiO₂ NPs (i.e., 5, 10, and 50 nm anatase and 10 × 40, 30 × 40 nm rutile) under the influence of varying solution chemistries. The 50 nm anatase has the highest quantity of P (8.05 g/kg) and most leachable P dissolves within the first 2 h (i.e., 5.01 g/kg), which presents a potential pollutant source of P. Higher pH favors the phosphorus release (release order: pH 11.2 > pH 8.2 > pH 2.4), while variations in the environmentally relevant ionic strengths (0.01 M NaCl + 0.01 M NaHCO₃ and 0.04 M NaCl + 0.01 M NaHCO₃) and the presence of dissolved natural organic matter (10 mg/L) do not affect release rate greatly. X-ray Absorption Near Edge Structure results suggest that phosphate adsorbed on the pristine 50 nm anatase desorbs, and some dissolved phosphate again re-sorbs as a surface precipitate. The findings from this research may have important environmental implications such as accidental release of TiO₂ NPs and other nanomaterials that are synthesized using phosphorus containing chemicals as an ingredient.     

Analytical and numerical methods of solution of three-dimensional problem of elasticity for functionally graded coated half-space

In the present paper, a three-dimensional problem of elasticity for homogeneous half-space with gradient coating is considered. Poisson's ratio of the layer is constant and its Young's modulus is a power function of the distance from the surface of the half-space. The surface of non-homogeneous half-space is under tangential loading applied in circular area. Analytical solution is obtained using Fourier integral transform technique. The analytical solution of the problem in continuous dependence of the Young modulus is compared with the solution of the problem in which the inhomogeneous layer is modeled by the package of homogeneous layers. In sub-layers of a package and in substrate is constructed an analytical solution satisfying the conditions of ideal mechanical contact at interlines. Good agreement between results is obtained.     

The relationship between employment-related self-efficacy and quality of life following traumatic brain injury.

Objectives: This study examines the relative contribution of employment-related and general self-efficacy to perceptions of quality of life (QoL) for individuals with traumatic brain injury. Design: Correlational. Setting: Community-based research and training center. Participants: 427 individuals with self-reported TBI under the age of 65 were included in analysis. Main Outcome Measure: Employment-related self-efficacy, general self-efficacy, perceived quality of life (PQoL), unmet important needs (UIN). Results: Significant correlations were found between income, injury severity, age at injury, and employment and the QoL variables. In addition, employment-related and general self-efficacy correlated positively with both PQoL and UIN. Employment-related and general self-efficacy accounted for 16% of the variance in PQoL and 9.5% of the variance in UIN, over and above other variables traditionally associated with QoL. Conclusions: These findings highlight the importance of including subjective appraisals of employment, such as perceived self-efficacy at the workplace, in assessing QoL and successful return to work following TBI. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of feedback, casual attributions, and self-efficacy in goal revision.

An important issue in work motivation is how, when, and why individuals revise their goals up or down over time. In the current study, the authors examine feedback, causal attributions, and self-efficacy in this process. Although self-efficacy has frequently been suggested as a key explanatory variable for goal revision, its role has yet to be directly evaluated. Additionally, although attributions have been shown to influence goal revision following failure, the extent to which attributions influence goal revision following success remains unclear. In the current study, the authors address these issues by experimentally manipulating goal progress via performance feedback and tracking the resulting changes in self-efficacy and goal revision over time. In so doing, the authors also address several interpretive ambiguities present in the existing research. Results support the hypothesized model, finding that performance feedback and attributions interactively influenced self-efficacy, which in turn influenced goal revision. These results suggest that interventions targeting attributions, and self-efficacy more directly, may have meaningful influences on goal setting and pursuit, particularly following feedback. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Quality of life in dialysis: A Malaysian perspective

There is a growing interest to use quality of life as one of the dialysis outcome measurement. Based on the Malaysian National Renal Registry data on 15 participating sites, 1569 adult subjects who were alive at December 31, 2012, aged 18 years old and above were screened. Demographic and medical data of 1332 eligible subjects were collected during the administration of the short form of World Health Organization Quality of Life questionnaire (WHOQOL‐BREF) in Malay, English, and Chinese language, respectively. The primary objective is to evaluate the quality of life among dialysis patients using WHOQOL‐BREF. The secondary objective is to examine significant factors that affect quality of life score. Mean (SD) transformed quality of life scores were 56.2 (15.8), 59.8 (16.8), 58.2 (18.5), 59.5 (14.6), 61.0 (18.5) for (1) physical, (2) psychological, (3) social relations, (4) environment domains, and (5) combined overall quality of life and general health, respectively. Peritoneal dialysis group scored significantly higher than hemodialysis group in the mean combined overall quality of life and general health score (63.0 vs. 60.0, P < 0.001). Independent factors that were associated significantly with quality of life score in different domains include gender, body mass index, religion, education, marital status, occupation, income, mode of dialysis, hemoglobin, diabetes mellitus, coronary heart disease, cerebral vascular accident and leg amputation. Subjects on peritoneal dialysis modality achieved higher combined overall quality of life and general health score than those on hemodialysis. Religion and cerebral vascular accident were significantly associated with all domains and combined overall quality of life and general health.