Limited Capacity Research Articles

Ultrasound-guided combined intra-articular corticosteroids injection and suprascapular nerve block for pain control in patients with frozen shoulder

BackgroundFrozen shoulder is an incapacitating disease that causes pain and limitation in the shoulder joint functional capacity. This work aimed to assess the efficacy of ultrasound-guided combined intra-articular corticosteroids (CS) injection and suprascapular nerve block (SSNB) in pain control in patients with frozen shoulders.ResultsOur prospective study included 40 patients, equally divided into two groups: group A; managed with combined ultrasound (US) guided intra-articular corticosteroids injection (IACSI) and SSNB, and group B patients managed with US-guided SSNB. The visual analog scale score statistically significantly improved after both injections. This success was maintained and showed mild improvement at 8-week intervals (with increased patient capability to do physiotherapy after pain control). Similarly, improvement in the functional capacity of the shoulder joint was identified and assessed by the Oxford shoulder score (OSS) in both groups. Mean OSS was statistically significantly higher at 4-week intervals than before the nerve block for groups A and B. At 8 weeks interval, this favorable result was sustained (p < .001).ConclusionsUS-guided SSNB is an effective, radiation-free method to alleviate frozen shoulder-related pains. However, US-guided combined SSNB and IACSI was more effective than SSNB alone in both pain alleviation and improved shoulder joint function.

Consensus-based economic dispatch for DC microgrids incorporating realistic cyber delays

This paper introduces a distributed control approach for optimizing the operation of islanded DC microgrids (µGs), accounting for cyber delays and network failures. Initially, an integrated network emulation platform is utilized to calculate realistic cyber delays for islanded DC µGs employing IEC 61850 communication standard. To address the instability issues arising from cyber delays, the Artstein-Kwon-Pearson reduction technique is employed to convert the system with cyber delays into one without delays. The Subsequently, a consensus-based generation-cost optimization algorithm is designed for maintaining the economic operation of the µG. This algorithm efficiently equalizes the incremental costs (ICs) of all distributed generators (DGs) in a fully distributed manner, while adhering to the DGs capacity limits. Additionally, a fully distributed voltage regulation control is developed to stabilize µG average voltage, ensuring the balance between generation and demand. The efficacy of the formulated control technique is substantiated through diverse case studies, thereby underscoring its superior operational performance.

Assessment of electrochemical removal mechanisms of diverse transition metal dichalcogenides for caesium ion removal in wastewater treatment.

Abstract Effective treatment of radioactive wastewater is crucial for broader nuclear energy adoption, with caesium radionuclides (most exist in the form of caesium chloride) presenting challenges due to their long half-life and biological hazards. Conventional adsorbents like zeolites and carbon-based materials, including graphene, face limitations in adsorption capacity due to the formation of electric double layers (EDL). This has led to the investigation of alternatives such as transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) e.g., MoS2, MoSe2, and WSe2, which offer promising galleries for caesium ion removal. Aside from extensively studied MoS2, there is limited research on the adsorption mechanisms and capacities of other TMDs like MoSe2 and WSe2. Here, we conduct a comparative study examining the removal mechanisms and capacities of exfoliated MoS2, MoSe2, and WSe2 nanosheets, alongside an evaluation of these properties in relation to graphene. Our investigation reveals distinct removal mechanisms and capacities among these three materials for capturing caesium ions in a variety of mechanisms. MoS2 nanosheets primarily utilise a pseudocapacitive charge storage mechanism via intercalation, as evidenced by a total charge storage of 0.78 C g1, with only 2.6% stored via EDL formation. In contrast, MoSe2 predominantly relies on EDL formation, with almost 60% of the total 0.54 C g1 charge storage attributed to this mechanism. Lastly, WSe2 exhibits a combination of both charge storage behaviours, with a total charge storage of 0.77 C g1, of which 14% is due to EDL formation. This research highlights the potential efficacy of TMDs as viable materials for caesium removal, offering an appealing alternative to conventional adsorbents and likely fostering advancements in water treatment technologies.

Tactical capacity planning under uncertainty - a capacity limitation analysis.

Tactical capacity planning is crucial when hospitals must cope with substantial changes in patient requirements, as recently experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, there is only little understanding of the nature of capacity limitations in a hospital, which is essential for effective tactical capacity planning. We report a detailed analysis of capacity limitations at a Norwegian tertiary public hospital and conducted 22 in-depth interviews. The informants participated in capacity planning and decision-making during the Covid-19 pandemic. Data are clustered into categories of capacity limitations and a correspondence analysis provides additional insights. Personnel and information were the most mentioned types of capacity limitations, and middle management and organizational functions providing specialized treatment felt most exposed to capacity limitations. Further analysis reveals that capacity limitations are dynamic and vary across hierarchical levels and organizational functions. Future research on tactical capacity planning should take interdisciplinary patient pathways better into account as capacity limitations are dynamic and systematically different for organizational functions and hierarchical levels. We argue that our study possesses common characteristics of tertiary public hospitals, including professional silos and fragmentation of responsibilities along patient pathways. Therefore, we recommend operations managers in hospitals to focus more on intra-organizational information flows to increase the agility of their organization. Our detailed capacity limitation analysis at a tertiary public hospital in Norway during the Covid-19 pandemic provides novel insights into the nature of capacity limitations, which may enhance tactical capacity planning.

Investigation of Optical Interconnects for nano-scale VLSI applications

The relentless trend toward miniaturization has brought interconnects to the brink of communication bottlenecks, operating at or near their ampacity (current carrying capacity) limits. This degradation in performance necessitates novel technologies with increased ampacity. This study explores optical interconnect (OI) as a potential future technology, offering high-bandwidth communication and low latency. This study models and simulates OI, integrating recent optical device advancements with modest modulator and detector capacitance (50 fF). Performance metrics including signal delay, power dissipation, and power-delay-product (PDP) are compared across copper (Cu) and single-wall carbon nanotube bundle (SWCNT-B) interconnects at 22 nm and 14 nm technology nodes. Results consistently show OI, with an active voltage current feedback (AVCF) based regulated gain cascode (RGC) transimpedance amplifier (TIA) receiver, outperforms Cu and SWCNT-B interconnects at global lengths and beyond. For instance, at 1000 μm and 22 nm, OI exhibits 88.47 % and 62.15 % delay improvements over Cu and SWCNT-B, respectively. This trend persists at 14 nm, with OI showing 93.68 % and 84.29 % delay improvements, respectively. Additionally, OI surpasses Cu and SWCNT-B in power efficiency beyond a critical length. As interconnects extend to global scales and beyond, the differences in delay, power, and PDP between OI and electrical interconnect increases, highlighting OI's advantages for future VLSI IC applications.

Effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical interventions for COVID-19 in USA

Worldwide, governments imposed non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) during the COVID-19 pandemic to contain the pandemic more effectively. We examined the effectiveness of individual NPIs in the United States during the first wave of the pandemic. Three types of analyses were performed. First, a prototypical Bayesian hierarchical model was employed to gauge the effectiveness of five NPIs and they are gathering restriction, restaurant capacity restriction, business closure, school closure, and stay-at-home order in the 42 states with over 100 deaths by the end of the wave. Second, we examined the effectiveness of the face mask mandate, the sixth and most controversial NPI by counterfactual modeling, which is a variant of the prototypical Bayesian hierarchical model allowing us to answer the question of what if the state had imposed the mandate or not. The third analysis used an advanced Bayesian hierarchical model to evaluate the effectiveness of all six NPIs in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and thereby provide a full-scale estimation of the effectiveness of NPIs and the relative effectiveness of each NPI in the entire United States. Our results have enhanced the collective knowledge on the general effectiveness of NPIs in arresting the spread of COVID-19.

Making sense of negotiation and AI: The blossoming of a new collaboration

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI), including the recent appearance of revolutionary large language models (LLMs), marks a transformative era in the field of negotiations, reshaping traditional practices and presenting a range of opportunities and challenges. This article delves into the evolving interplay between negotiation and various AI technologies, as they now combine massive computational power with user-friendly interfaces capable of fluent, multi-topic conversations. The article categorizes AI's role in negotiation into assistance, semi-automation, and automation, each offering unique advantages and addressing different negotiation needs. While AI's ability to compensate for human limitations in rationality, emotion, and computational capacity is promising, it also raises concerns regarding biases, ethical considerations, and the reliability of automated decision-making. The burgeoning AI and negotiation collaboration necessitates a balanced approach, harnessing AI's potential to enhance negotiation outcomes while conscientiously navigating its challenges. This article aims to foster understanding of and influence the future trajectory of negotiation and AI, highlighting the need for ongoing research and development to ensure ethical, effective, and equitable negotiation practices in an AI-augmented future.

Modeling the differential functional responses and selectivity of a marine copepod to nano/microplastics in mixture

Nano- and microplastics (NMPs) pollution is widespread in the oceans, posing potential risks to marine species. This study examined the accumulation capacity and selectivity potentials of NMPs by a marine copepod Parvocalanus crassirostris under different food mixtures by modeling the combined biokinetic and functional response. We investigated two sizes of NMPs (200 nm and 5 µm) across a concentration gradient (0 - 5000 µg/L) and varying diatom abundances (0, 104, 105 cells/mL). Fluorescence imaging and quantification revealed that P. crassirostris actively ingested NMPs at low concentration. Accumulation increased with NMPs concentration but eventually saturated due to gut capacity limits, following a Holling type II functional response (i.e., hyperbolic curve). Our novel functional response model estimated the key parameters and demonstrated that the maximum accumulation reached 5.3 % of dry weight with averaged half-saturation constants of 229 µg/L. The size of NMPs did not significantly affect the total accumulation or satiety levels. The presence of diatoms influenced the feeding selectivity and decreased the microplastic accumulation by 73 % at 105 cells/mL, while facilitating nanoplastic accumulation by 81 % at 104 cells/mL. This study enhanced our understanding of NMPs bioavailability and environmental fate in marine ecosystems.

Computationally optimized multi‐port antenna systems for WLAN/Wi‐Fi (IEEE 802.11a/h/j/n/ac/ax), 5G (mid‐band), and UWB applications

SummaryThis paper presents computationally optimized 2‐element and 4‐element Multiple‐Input, Multiple‐Output (MIMO) antennas for WLAN/Wi‐Fi, 5G, and UWB applications. The antenna configuration is constructed with the orthogonal placement of sawtooth‐shaped circular monopole radiating elements. The Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Covariance Matrix Adaptation Evolution Strategy (CMA‐ES) optimization techniques are employed to achieve the best performance and size of the proposed antenna. Among these optimization techniques, CMA‐ES is identified as the better approach. The final optimized geometry of the 2‐element and 4‐element MIMO antennas is 49.40 mm × 24.22 mm and 49.44 mm × 45 mm, respectively. Both optimized antennas are fabricated and experimentally verified. The fractional bandwidth of the antenna is more than 110.3%, and more than −20 dB isolation is attained without employing any decoupling method. The Envelop Correlation Coefficient (ECC), Directivity Gain (DG), Total Active Reflection Coefficient (TARC), and Channel Capacity Limit (CCL) are 0.0001, 9.99, &lt; −15 dB, and 0.1 bits/s/Hz, respectively. The proposed antenna is a good candidate for numerous current wireless applications due to its size and performance.

Olfaction modulates cortical arousal independent of perceived odor intensity and pleasantness

Throughout history, various odors have been harnessed to invigorate or relax the mind. The mechanisms underlying odors’ diverse arousal effects remain poorly understood. We conducted five experiments (184 participants) to investigate this issue, using pupillometry, electroencephalography, and the attentional blink paradigm, which exemplifies the limit in attentional capacity. Results demonstrated that exposure to citral, compared to vanillin, enlarged pupil size, reduced resting-state alpha oscillations and alpha network efficiency, augmented beta-gamma oscillations, and enhanced the coordination between parietal alpha and frontal beta-gamma activities. In parallel, it attenuated the attentional blink effect. These effects were observed despite citral and vanillin being comparable in perceived odor intensity, pleasantness, and nasal pungency, and were unlikely driven by semantic biases. Our findings reveal that odors differentially alter the small-worldness of brain network architecture, and thereby brain state and arousal. Furthermore, they establish arousal as a unique dimension in olfactory space, distinct from intensity and pleasantness.

Analisis Gambaran Durasi Kerja dan Masa Kerja dengan Kelelahan Kerja pada Driver Perusahaan Distributor Gas di Gresik

Fatigue can be caused by personal stress factors. Based on observations and interviews, it is known that 5 drivers at the Gas Distributor Company in Gresik experienced work fatigue. The drivers complained that working hours that exceeded capacity limits and the pressure to continue making deliveries caused fatigue and increased turnover rates in the company. This study aims to analyze the description of work duration and work period with work fatigue in drivers of the Gas Distributor Company in Gresik. This study uses a quantitative descriptive method. The number of samples in this study was determined by a total sampling of 30 drivers. The method of obtaining research data was carried out by filling out a questionnaire. Based on the results of the analysis of the description of work period with work fatigue, 21 people with a work period of ≥5 years were obtained 5 people had high work fatigue and 4 people had very high work fatigue and 21 people &lt;5 years were obtained 20 people had high work fatigue and 1 person had very high work fatigue. Analysis of the description of work duration with work fatigue showed that 6 people who worked &lt;8 hours were obtained 3 people had high work fatigue and 3 people had very high work fatigue. Then from 24 people who worked ≥8 hours, 22 people had high work fatigue and 2 people had very high work fatigue. Based on the results of the work period analysis, most drivers worked &lt;5 years as many as 20 drivers and in the results of the work duration analysis, most drivers worked ≥8 hours as many as 22 drivers.

Manipulating micropore structure of hard carbon as high‐performance anode for Sodium-Ion Batteries

Hard carbon (HC) is the most promising anode material for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs), but its low initial coulombic efficiency (ICE) and specific capacity limit its practical application. Herein, a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) strategy is used to address these challenges via filling the micropores of sucrose-based HC with pyrolysis by-products from acetonitrile, thereby reducing the specific surface area of HC microspheres. This approach mitigates the formation of solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) film leading to an enhancement in ICE. Moreover, the conversion of open micropores into closed pores creates additional storage space for sodium ions, effectively extending the specific capacity within the plateau region. Specifically, the HC prepared with a deposition duration of 1 h demonstrates the most favorable electrochemical performance. The optimal HC anode manifests an enhanced specific capacity of 307.6 mAh g−1 with an ICE of 66.01 % and exhibits excellent cycle stability (84.9 % capacity retention after 200 cycles at 100 mAh g−1). This study provides a feasible approach to optimize hard carbon anode materials for SIBs.

Determining calf traceability and cow–calf relationships in extensive farming using geolocation collars and BLE ear tags

Extensive farming is often considered very beneficial to animals for its potential to enhance animal welfare, providing animals with free-range access to their natural environment where they can engage in innate behaviors like grazing and exploration. However, despite these benefits, extensive production still faces welfare and health challenges due to unpredictable weather conditions and limited supervision by stockholders. Moreover, increasing consumer demand for information regarding food quality, safety, and production conditions poses a challenge for extensive farming, where animals are less controlled. Precision livestock farming (PLF) emerges as a possible solution by enabling the continuous real-time monitoring of the health, welfare, and behavior of animals. A novel approach combining geolocation collars for cows and Bluetooth low energy (BLE) ear tags for calves appears promising to enhance traceability and monitoring in extensive farming. Nevertheless, challenges persist, including limitations in the data transmission capacity and associated costs. This study evaluated the effectiveness of combining geolocation collars and BLE ear tags for monitoring calf traceability and cow–calf relationships across three scenarios: 1) Equilibrated: same collar/ear tag ratio; good coverage; 2) intermediate: more collars than ear tags; fair coverage; 3) worst: more ear tags than collars; lousy coverage. Our results indicate that the equilibrated scenario (ES) with an equal number of geolocation collars and BLE ear tags, was the best scenario, demonstrating the highest fix rate (22%) and the longest mean consecutive days of detecting the same ear tag (22.30 days), followed by the intermediate scenario (IS) and the worst scenario. In all scenarios, there was a mean period of 14–15 d without detecting a calf. However, this shortcoming can be overcome as calves usually graze alongside their mothers, ensuring comprehensive traceability in farm breeding. Additionally, by comparing differences in the number of ear tags received from offspring compared to other calves, the BLE ear tags successfully associated every mother with their calf in the ES and IS. Finally, this valuable information, would enable the development of a traceability system that ensures transparency and reliability throughout the supply chain and could allow consumers to access to product information related to animal welfare.

According to Which Criteria Should We Determine Whether and When IACUCs Are Sufficient for Protecting the Welfare of Nonhuman Animals Used in Research?

Nonhuman animals used in biomedical research frequently suffer and are harmed as part of their use as experimental models. The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) of a given institution is meant to ensure that research protocols follow federal guidelines, but research protocols such as those described in this case can generate unnecessary suffering; this problem suggests limitations of IACUCs' capacity to protect nonhuman animals' welfare. This commentary on the case considers how to more fully protect nonhuman animals used in scientific research and identifies barriers to more comprehensive protection of nonhuman animals' welfare.

Dissociable functional responses along the posterior-anterior gradient of the frontal and parietal cortices revealed by parametric working memory and training.

While the storage capacity is limited, accumulating studies have indicated that working memory (WM) can be improved by cognitive training. However, understanding how exactly the brain copes with limited WM capacity and how cognitive training optimizes the brain remains inconclusive. Given the hierarchical functional organization of WM, we hypothesized that the activation profiles along the posterior-anterior gradient of the frontal and parietal cortices characterize WM load and training effects. To test this hypothesis, we recruited 51 healthy volunteers and adopted a parametric WM paradigm and training method. In contrast to exclusively strengthening the activation of posterior areas, a broader range of activation concurrently occurred in the anterior areas to cope with increased memory load for all subjects at baseline. Moreover, there was an imbalance in the responses of the posterior and anterior areas to the same increment of 1 item at different load levels. Although a general decrease in activation after adaptive training, the changes in the posterior and anterior areas were distinct at different memory loads. Particularly, we found that the activation gradient between the posterior and anterior areas was significantly increased at load 4-back after adaptive training, and the changes were correlated with improvement in WM performance. Together, our results demonstrate a shift in the predominant role of posterior and anterior areas in the frontal and parietal cortices when approaching WM capacity limits. Additionally, the training-induced performance improvement likely benefits from the elevated neural efficiency reflected in the increased activation gradient between the posterior and anterior areas.

Design of Nested Linear/Lattice Code using Field-size Reduction

Abstract It has been demonstrated that lattice-code based communication strategies are beneficial to multi-user multi-hop networks. This paper considers a practical nested linear/lattice code design that achieves near-capacity performance. We propose a new field-size reduction method to realize code nesting for users with different rates. Then, a multi-code extrinsic information transfer (EXIT) chart is executed to design optimized degree distributions. Simulation results demonstrate enhanced BER performance compared to the existing method, and the nested code is less than 0.8 dB to capacity limits. The performance improvement in multi-user systems is demonstrated with linear physical-layer network coding multiple access (LPNC-MA) framework.

Multi-chamber Parenteral Nutrition (PN) bags are safe and cost-effective in replacing compounded PN regimens in hospitalised patients

Background & AimsThere is varied international practice in the use of ready-made multi-chamber bags (MCBs) and compounded parenteral nutrition (PN). Recent national aseptic pharmacy capacity limitations have restricted compounded PN production so we aimed to explore outcomes associated with the increased use of MCB vs compounded regimens during a period of change in PN supplies. MethodsThis was a point prevalence study conducted over two time periods, Period 1: 01.01.2022 – 31.03.2022 and Period 2: 01.10.2022 – 31.12.2022. Data were collected on PN regimen, outcomes, cost and aseptic time required to prepare PN bags. Results263 patients were included: 132 in Period 1 and 131 in Period 2. Overall, 2263 PN bags were utilised; 1179 in Period 1 and 1084 in Period 2. In Period 1, of all utilised bags, 138 (11.7%) were compounded PN, 356 (30.2%) supplemented MCBs and 685 (58.1%) manipulated MCBs whereas in Period 2, 0 were compounded PN, 546 (50.3%) supplemented MCBs and 538 (49.6%) manipulated MCBs. There were no significant differences in the proportion of patients with deranged blood tests between the study periods. In both periods there were only two episodes of catheter-related blood stream infection. The total cost saved in Period 2 compared to Period 1 was £20,684 and total aseptic staff time saved was 191 hours. ConclusionWider use of in-hospital MCB PN regimens could lead to a reduction in the need for compounded PN produced by aseptic pharmacy facilities, saving costs while maintaining good patient outcomes.

An improved similarity method for stiffened plates subjected to combined loads of longitudinal compression and lateral pressure

Structures’ ultimate strength has been increasingly valued in the past few decades. The model test is an important and reliable way to estimate the ultimate strength. For large and complex structures, like ship hull structures, the test subject is usually scale models due to the limitation of loading capacity and space of laboratories. Therefore, the similarity method and the design of scale models are of great importance. The stiffened plate is the minimum unit that makes up thin-walled structures. The similarity method of the ultimate strength of stiffened plates is the base of the similarity method of large and complex structures. This paper is a further study of an existing similarity method proposed in our previous work. A stiffened plate from a real ship is taken as the subject. 22 combinations of scale ratios are used to design scale models. The 23 models (including the original model) are subjected to a combined load of longitudinal compression and lateral pressure. The non-linear finite element method is used to analyze these models. The results revealed that the previous method is only suitable for scale models with small degrees of geometrical distortion. It didn't consider the effect of geometrical distortions. An improved similarity method and scale model design method are proposed to solve these problems. The improved methods consider the geometrical distortion of scale models and are applicable to more geometrically distorted scale models. More numerical examples are performed to verify the correctness and advantage of the improved methods.

Comprehensive evaluation of malaria reactive surveillance and response strategies in Lao People’s Democratic Republic: a mixed-methods study

ObjectivesTo achieve malaria elimination by 2030, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) adopted a reactive surveillance and response (RASR) strategy of malaria case notification within 1 day, case investigation and...

A fuzzy multi-objective programming model for the delivery and distribution of humanitarian relief materials

Disaster relief presents many unique logistics challenges, including damaged transportation infrastructure, multiple conflicting goals, and secondary disasters caused by spontaneous disaster relief. The delivery and distribution of humanitarian relief materials faced by nonprofit organizations (NPOs) poses a critical challenge due to the highly unpredictable nature of disasters, conflicting missions, and the need to navigate government regulations in disaster management. In this paper, we propose a novel multi-objective disaster relief modeling system for NPOs, considering (1) prioritization (providing medical services to seriously injured victims), (2) effectiveness (degree of satisfaction), (3) efficiency (operational costs), and (4) equity (cost of maintaining order). To incorporate the practical constraints of disaster relief operations, we include factors such as road damage, transportation capacity limitations, and route flow saturation as part of the model formulation. We then utilize fuzzy multi-objective programming to optimize the proposed disaster relief model, considering two relief distribution schemes: a common NPOs' spontaneous relief scheme and a newly designed traffic control scheme with government regulation. Based on the real-world scenario of the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, we demonstrate that the designed traffic control scheme exhibited remarkable improvement among the NPOs' four objectives compared to the spontaneous relief scheme. Moreover, in the process of solving fuzzy multi-objective programming problems, artificial intelligence technology is employed to handle the fuzziness in multi-objective and automatically adjust parameters, making the solution results better and in line with practical situations. And we also validate the proposed model can be solved in polynomial time, meeting the engineering practice requirements, and can be easily extend to most disaster relief distribution scenarios.