It is well established in the epidemiological literature that individual behaviors have a significant effect on the spread of infectious diseases. Agent-based models are increasingly being recognized as the next generation of epidemiological models. In this research, we use the ability of agent-based models to incorporate behavior into simulations by examining the relative importance of vaccination and social distancing, two common measures for controlling the spread of infectious diseases, with respect to seasonal influenza. We modeled health behaviour using the result of a Health Belief Model study focused on influenza. We considered a control and a treatment group to explore the effect of education on people's health-related behaviors patterns. The control group reflects the behavioral patterns of students based on their general knowledge of influenza and its interventions while the treatment group illustrates the level of behavioral changes after individuals have been educated by a health care expert. The results of this study indicate that self-initiated behaviors are successful in controlling an outbreak in a high contact rate location such as a university. Self-initiated behaviors resulted in a population attack rate decrease of 17% and a 25% reduction in the peak number of cases. The simulation also provides significant evidence for the effect of an HBM theory-based educational program to increase the rate of applying the target interventions (vaccination by 22% percent and social distancing by 41%) and consequently to control the outbreak.

No abstract

This paper addresses the issue of real-time collision detection between pairs of convex polyhedral objects undergoing fast rotational and translational motions. Accurate contact information between objects in virtual reality based simulations such as product design, assembly analysis, performance testing and ergonomic analysis of products are critical factors to explore when desired realism is to be achieved. For this purpose, fast, accurate and robust collision detection algorithms are required. The method described in the text models the exact collision detection problem between convex objects as a linear program. One of the strengths of the proposed methodology is its capability of addressing high speed interframe collision. In addition to the interframe collision detection, experimental data demonstrate that mathematical programming approaches offer promising results in terms of speed and robustness as well.

No abstract

An automotive seat must provide the occupant with a comfortable environment in which driving can be performed in a safe and comfortable manner. The characterisation of the interactions between the occupant and the seat under various conditions thus constitutes an important goal for enhancing the knowledge of essential design factors that could yield improved seating comfort. This paper investigates the occupant-seat interactions through measurements and analyses of the distributed contact force, contact area and peak and mean pressure responses at the body-seat-pan and body-backrest interfaces of three different automotive seats. User's perceived comfort levels for various seating configurations were acquired through a survey and results were analysed through analytical hierarchy process (AHP) in order to derive a quantitative expression for the perceived comfort level. A strong correlation between perceived comfort and the peak and mean pressures on the seat-pan enabled us to derive an explicit formulation of seating comfort.