background: physical wedges are still widely used as beam modifiers in external beam radiotherapy. however the presence of them in the beam trace may cause beam hardening which may not be considered in many treatment planning systems. the aim of this study is to investigate the beam hardening effect generated by physical wedges via different beam quality indexes as photon spectrum, half value l...

Due to the complexity of assembly processes, a high ratio of tasks is still performed by human workers. Short-cyclically changing work contents due to smaller lot sizes, especially in the varied series assembly, increases both the need for information support as well as the risk of rising physical and psychological stress. The use of technical and digital assistance systems can counter these ch...

This study tested several relationships predicted by the Health Action Process Approach (HAPA) in a sample of 175 generally healthy, inactive, middle-aged women (40-65 yrs old) over a 12 week period. Participants' physical activity, risk perceptions, outcome expectancies, action self-efficacy and intention were measured at baseline. Planning and maintenance self-efficacy were measured 4 weeks l...

Many real-world problems can be expressed in terms of states and actions that modify the world to reach a certain goal. Such problems can be solved by automated planning. Numeric planning supports numeric quantities such as resources or physical properties in addition to the propositional variables from classical planning. We approach numeric planning with heuristic search and introduce adaptat...

Robotic manipulation is important for real, physical world applications. General Purpose manipulation with a robot (eg. delivering dishes, opening doors with a key, etc.) is demanding. It is hard because (1) objects are constrained in position and orientation, (2) many non-spatial constraints interact (or interfere) with each other, and (3) robots may have multidegree of freedoms (DOF). In this...

there are many evident that people are more interested in walking in attractive urban spaces and inappropriate physical and psychological condition can reduce their presence in a remarkable amount. the current research investigates the influence of physical design and psychological elements and their criteria on selective physical activity and specifically walking in urban public spaces. howeve...

A recent legal trend involves the resolution of disputes between health plans and nonparticipating providers. These individuals have not entered into a formal participation or services agreement with the health plan, but they may be eligible for and legally entitled to reimbursement for services rendered to plan participants. Resolution of these disputes can hinge on a number of factors, includ...