Identifying the gender of a person is one of the fundamental tasks in forensic medicine. One possible application is right after a catastrophic event such as a mass disaster with a high victim count. In such cases it is necessary to identify the people involved which can require a high number of forensic experts, depending on the scale of the event. With panoramic dental x-ray images the biological gender of a person can be estimated by analyzing skeletal structures that express sexual dimorphism. Current methods require the manual measurement of a wide array of mandibular parameters which are then manually compared to references based on these measurements and assumed ethnicity of the people involved. We propose an automated solution based on deep learning techniques using convolutional neural networks. Our data consists of 4000 panoramic dental x-ray images of patients with European origin, with the images being taken by a wide range of orthopantomographs. Our automated method can estimate 64 images per second on contemporary hardware, it doesn't require human intervention for estimation and it achieves state-of-the-art results with an accuracy of 96.87% ± 0.96%.

Age estimation in living individuals has attained importance in forensic sciences from legal proceedings and has been a frequent request from concerned authorities to ascertain whether the person in question has reached the age of imputability and legal responsibility. The purpose of age estimation is not just limited to juvenile or sub-adult delinquents but also required in situations like a violation of child rights such as child employment, commercial sexual exploitation involving minor girls. Indian Law strictly forbids any employment of the children under the age of 14 and sexual exploitation of minor girls (<18 years). In this study, we assessed the skeletal and dental ages and correlate to reported chronological ages in a sample of 85 male child labourers and 31 female commercial sex workers. Statistical analysis of the results was performed to verify the similarities or differences between reported and biological age. The results had revealed a statistically significant difference between the reported age, skeletal, dental, and calculated biologic age (p < 0.05). The results indicate the need to establish a more reliable method for determining the biological age in an age-specific population.

BACKGROUND Adverse life experiences (ALE; eg, discrimination and sexual abuse) may contribute to cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in sexual minority women (SMW), but few studies have tested whether ALE explain the association of sexual identity with cardiovascular health (CVH) markers in women. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to examine sexual identity differences in CVH among women and the role of ALE. METHODS In the Epidemiologic Study of Risk in Women, we used multinomial logistic regression to assess sexual identity differences (SMW vs heterosexual women [reference group]) in CVH markers (ideal vs poor, intermediate vs poor) using the American Heart Association's Life's Simple 7 metric and the total score. Next, we tested whether the association of sexual identity with the total CVH score was attenuated by traditional CVD risk factors or ALE. RESULTS The sample consisted of 867 women (395 heterosexual, 472 SMW). Sexual minority women were more likely to have experienced discrimination (P < .001) and lifetime sexual abuse (P < .001) than heterosexual women. Sexual minority women were also less likely to meet ideal CVH criteria for current tobacco use (adjusted odds ratio, 0.43; 95% confidence interval, 0.24-0.73) or intermediate CVH criteria for body mass index (adjusted odds ratio, 0.60; 95% confidence interval, 0.40-0.92). Sexual minority women had a lower cumulative CVH score (B [SE] = -0.35 [0.14], P < .01) than heterosexual women. This difference was not explained by traditional CVD risk factors or ALE. CONCLUSIONS Smoking, body mass index, and fasting glucose accounted for much of the CVH disparity due to sexual identity, but those differences were not explained by ALE. Health behavior interventions tailored to SMW should be considered.

In this paper impact of the tower arrangements on the mitigation of the increased values of the electric field intensity at high-voltage transmission line conductors was investigated. Several configurations of high-voltage towers (horizontal, delta, reverse delta, vertical and split-phase configurations) were analyzed. It assumed that the same height of the lowest phase conductors above the ground and the same value of the connected 400 kV voltage. The calculations were carried out for the values of the electric field intensity on the surface of the conductor and its immediate vicinity. A charge simulation method was used to calculate the electric field intensity on the surface of the stranded conductors and their immediate vicinity.

This paper presents a new approach to the optimal placement of power quality monitors (PQMs) for voltage sag detection. Determining the optimal number and arrangement of PQMs is necessary since the installation of monitors at all buses in a network is an uneconomical option. The optimization problem is defined by the concept of topological monitor reach area. A new cost function is defined in order to simultaneously determine the required number of PQMs and their arrangement. Four optimization methods are implemented to solve the problem: Genetic Algorithm, Binary Particle Swarm Optimization, Binary Dragonfly Algorithm and Binary Bat Algorithm. The presented approach is tested on one part of the power distribution network in the capital city of our country. Simulations proved that the Binary Bat Algorithm has the best performance in terms of computational time, convergence and the probability rate of finding the global optimum.

This paper presents a new approach to determine the optimal number and arrangement of power quality monitors (PQMs) for voltage sag detection. It is necessary to determine the optimal number and arrangement of PQMs since their installation at all buses in a network is an uneconomical option due to relatively high price of PQMs. The appropriate mathematical model, that describes the considered optimization problem, is created by using the concept of topological monitor reach area. A new definition of the cost function is presented in the paper in order to simultaneously determine the required number of PQMs and their best arrangement. Also, the effect of setting different values of monitor's coverage control parameter on the obtained results is analyzed. Four optimization methods are implemented to solve the considered problem: Binary Bat Algorithm, Binary Dragonfly Algorithm, Binary Particle Swarm Optimization and Genetic Algorithm. The presented approach is tested on the IEEE 34-node test system. Simulations proved that the Binary Bat Algorithm has the best performance in terms of computational time, convergence and the probability rate of finding the global optimum.

Some usual hydrological methods and the hydrological model EBA4SUB are used in the paper to determine the design peak discharge for various return periods for catchments in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The aim of the paper is to test for the first time the EBA4SUB model in the selected catchments. The results obtained by the EBA4SUB model compare well with other related methods. The advantages of the model lie in the fact that it takes into account physical processes taking place in the catchment, influencing formation of surface runoff.

The desired flexibility of industrial automation systems foresees among others flexible deployment and execution of control applications on distributed control nodes. This task can be performed more efficiently by an automated deployment algorithm yielding a valid deployment and optimizing non-functional objectives.Although extensively investigated, automated deployment approaches for the automotive domain cannot be translated to industrial control applications, due to a different execution semantics. Thus, in this paper, we present a method of satisfiability modulo theories (SMT)-based automated deployment of the industrial automation systems. We formalize and implement domain-relevant constraints and objectives. Our contribution is threefold: 1) we formalize the functional coupling and end-to-end deadline constraints and objectives while considering the semantics of control applications, 2) we encode the deployment problem into an SMT form, and 3) we validate the approach on an abstract example and a domain-relevant use case.The results obtained in this paper will allow application engineers to fulfill functional and real-time requirements by automatically solving the deployment problem.

An asset administration shell (AAS), as a key concept of the Industry 4.0, provides a machine-accessible interface to any kind of asset. An application implementing the devices functionality should be able to interact with different AASs.In this work, we specify the function blocks (FBs) for accessing properties and invoking operations of AASs. We analyzed the nature and requirements of such FBs while focusing on REST/HTTP- and OPC UA-based AASs and provided IEC 61499-based implementation.The results obtained in this paper will ease interaction with the complex AAS structure from the low-level devices.

The purpose of this research article is to provide the fresh evidence on the link between energy consumption (ENE) and economic growth (GDP) while controlling for the impact of CO2 emissions (CO) in the case of GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries. To conduct the empirical study we have employed the panel VAR methodology in the period 1980-2014. The results suggest that economic growth increases the energy consumption. However, the negative link between CO2 emissions and economic growth is reported, implying the great awareness of the GCC countries on the environmental problems connected with the fossil fuels based energy. Thus, there is a serious incentive in these countries to deal with the potential environmental issues. One of the good alternatives is renewable energy. In addition, the increase in the energy efficiency is considered to be an important task in the future.

Abstract Paper deals with seasonal changes in heavy metal bioaccumulation (Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn and Pb) in Utricularia vulgaris L. and Salvinia natans (L.) All. of two localities (Necik and Sinjak – active fishpond basins) in the area of Bardača fishpond. According to our results, the better accumulator of Fe (3035 mg/kg) and Zn was S. natans (163.55 mg/kg), whereas Utricularia vulgaris better accumulates Mn (620 mg/kg) and Cu (10.18 mg/kg). Amounts of Pb in both investigated macrophyte were below the detection level (<0.51 mg/kg). The values of the bioaccumulation factor (BAC) of the tested metals were >1 or ~1 for both species, and the BAC values decreased in the following order in both investigated species: Fe > Mn > Cu > Zn. The results obtained indicated that tested macrophyte show very good characteristics as bioaccumulators and, thanks to this fact, they could be used in phytoremediation technique successfully in water-polluted ecosystem.

Analysis of the Temple Scroll reveals another technology used to produce the Dead Sea Scrolls and potential preservation concerns. The miraculously preserved 2000-year-old Dead Sea Scrolls, ancient texts of invaluable historical significance, were discovered in the mid-20th century in the caves of the Judean desert. The texts were mainly written on parchment and exhibit vast diversity in their states of preservation. One particular scroll, the 8-m-long Temple Scroll is especially notable because of its exceptional thinness and bright ivory color. The parchment has a layered structure, consisting of a collagenous base material and an atypical inorganic overlayer. We analyzed the chemistry of the inorganic layer using x-ray and Raman spectroscopies and discovered a variety of evaporitic sulfate salts. This points toward a unique ancient production technology in which the parchment was modified through the addition of the inorganic layer as a writing surface. Furthermore, understanding the properties of these minerals is particularly critical for the development of suitable conservation methods for the preservation of these invaluable historical documents.

This paper presents a design of the mobile robot motion framework using slightly modified Vector Field Histogram (VFH) algorithm. The VFH algorithm provides both local motion planning and obstacle avoidance based on on-board sensors measurements. This framework utilizes Robot Operating System (ROS) for the software implementation and simulation purposes. The effectiveness of the proposed framework was verified in both static and dynamic unknown environments. The obtained simulation results indicate a proficiency of the VFH algorithm in navigating the mobile robot from the start to the goal position avoiding collision with obstacles. Trajectories obtained using the designed framework are smooth and without oscillations even in the presence of moving obstacles.

This paper treats a path planning problem for the mobile robot with differential constraints using modified RRT (Rapidly exploring random tree) algorithm based on Dubin’s curves. In this paper, the planning problem is considered as a problem of finding a feasible path between the initial and goal point in a static environment with obstacles. Modifications on basic RRT algorithm are necessary due to differential constraints of non-holonomic car-like robot. Dubin’s vehicle is selected as robot model, which represents special case of Simple car that moves only forward with constant velocity and can only make left and right turns. Algorithm is implemented in ROS (Robot Operating System) and tested through realistic simulations in 2D environment consisted of free space and obstacles. The simulation setup was conducted using a 2D Stage simulator in ROS and RViz tool for visualization. Pioneer 3AT robot model was used as Dubin’s car for simulation purposes.