Different Types Of Devices Research Articles

Integration of distributed controllers: Power reference tracking through charging station and building coordination

An influx of controllable devices and sensor information can provide both barriers and opportunities for an improved electric grid. When operating by themselves, it has been shown that these devices can provide individual benefits, maintaining some level of convenience, grid stability, and quality of life. However, a clean and sustainable energy future requires the coordinated control of these edge devices on a large scale with state-of-the art control and optimization theory innovation integrated with abundant sensor information. In this work, we take a step toward this vision by proposing a method to explore whether two different types of devices can coordinate to reach consensus on a global objective while continuing to provide their individual benefits. Due to their high impact on the grid and quality of life, this proof-of-concept work focuses on the optimal control of buildings and electric vehicle charging. It is shown that the novel algorithm, termed Network Lasso - Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers - Limited Communication Distributed Model Predictive Control (NALD), successfully achieves the global objective by tracking a power reference from the grid. Simultaneously, the peak electric vehicle charging load is minimized while fully charging each electric vehicle and the internal building temperature is regulated within specified temperature bounds. Results indicate that this can be achieved in the selected example consisting of three charging stations and one large office building.

Artificial Intelligence Monitoring System Using ZigBee Wireless Network Technology in Warehousing and Logistics Innovation and Economic Cost Management

The study expects to reduce the development cost and energy consumption of the storage environment monitoring and improve the efficiency of the storage monitoring environment. Firstly, the storage environment monitoring system is designed in detail using ZigBee. It includes the design of terminal nodes, router nodes, coordinator nodes, and upper computer software. Here is a detailed description of the process of establishing a communication network for three different types of devices in the ZigBee network. The address allocation mechanism of the ZigBee network is introduced. Then, through the application of activity-based costing, the cost reduction is achieved as expected. Finally, the evaluation model of the storage logistics cost level is established, and the various reasons that affect the storage logistics cost are analyzed. The completed warehouse environment monitoring system is a tree topology network composed of a ZigBee coordinator, several ZigBee routing nodes, and terminal devices through the above design. The coordinator in the network is responsible for establishing the network, and it can communicate with the host computer through the serial port. The terminal node collects environmental parameter information and feeds the data back to the ZigBee coordinator through wireless multihop. The ZigBee routing node is mainly used to expand the range of the network to achieve the purpose of wireless monitoring of the entire storage environment. This provides a reference for the combination of wireless communication technology and sensor technology.

Smart operators: How augmented and virtual technologies are affecting the worker's performance in manufacturing contexts

Purpose: The correct interaction between the workforce and augmented, virtual, and mixed reality technologies represents a crucial aspect of the success of the smart factory. This interaction is, indeed, affected by the variability of human behavior and its reliability, which can strongly influence the quality, safety, and productivity standards. For this reason, this paper aims to provide a clear and complete analysis of the impacts of these technologies on the performance of operators.Design/methodology/approach: A Systematic Literature Review (SLR) was conducted to identify peer-reviewed papers that focused on the implementation of augmented and virtual technologies in manufacturing systems and their effects on human performance.Findings: In total, 61 papers were selected and thoroughly analyzed. The findings of this study reveal that Augmented, Virtual and Mixed Reality can be applied for several applications in manufacturing systems with different types of devices, that involve various advantages and disadvantages. The worker’s performance that are influencing by the use of these technologies are above all time to complete a task, error rate and mental and physical workload. Originality/value: Over the years Augmented, Virtual and Mixed Reality technologies in manufacturing systems have been investigated by researchers. Several studies mostly focused on technological issues, have been conducted. The role of the operator, whose tasks may be influenced positively or negatively by the use of new devices, has been hardly ever analyzed and a deep analysis of human performance affected by these technologies is missing. This study represents a preliminary analysis to fill this gap. The results obtained from the SLR allowed us to develop a conceptual framework that investigates the current state-of-the-art knowledge about the topic and highlights gaps in the current research.

Ponderous, Proficient or Professional? Survey Experience and Smartphone Effects in Stated Preference Research

Stated preference surveys are increasingly conducted online using internet panel samples, where a fast-growing share of respondents answer on smartphones. These panel members range from novices to “professionals” in terms of previous survey experience. Little is known about the potential effects of smartphone responding and survey experience on the data quality of stated preference surveys. This paper uses a discrete choice experiment dataset on the Norwegian population’s willingness to pay to plant climate forests to explore how these two factors affect data quality. These data by type of response device, gathered using a probability-based internet panel, were combined with a unique dataset obtained from the survey company on respondents’ actual experience answering surveys on different types of devices. Our results show that differences in elicited preferences between smartphone and computer respondents are not caused by the device used, suggesting that initial concerns about smartphone responses may be exaggerated. Furthermore, more experience is associated with an increasing scale parameter (indicating lower error variance), but at a decreasing rate; and a higher propensity to choose the status quo (indicating possible simplifying strategies employed by respondents). Combined this suggest some optimal level of experience that is neither too high nor too low. We discuss the implications of our results for stated preference research and provide a few avenues for future research.

The Effect of Device Type on Achievement: Evidence from a Quasi-Experimental Design

ABSTRACT As more states move to universal computer-based assessments, an emergent issue concerns the effect that device type might have on student results. Although, several research studies have explored device effects, most of these studies focused on the differences between tablets and desktops/laptops. In the current study, we distinguish between different types of devices to better examine the differences. Specifically, we used Indiana state assessment results from grades 3 and 8 and a propensity score weighting method to see if a student took the assessment on another device, would they have received the same score? Our findings suggest that there are significant differences by device type in both grades. In particular, iPad and Chromebook devices produced higher achievement when compared to Mac and PC devices. At the extreme, these differences amounted to close to a third of a standard deviation on the achievement scale.

Search for preventive strategies in the fight against smoking based on the analysis of smoking rates among medical students

In recent years, the problem of smoking is still relevant. The advent of electronic smoking devices on the market has led to a significant increase in their use, especially among young people. The undeniable social and economic hazards, morbidity and mortality associated with smoking require an analysis of the causes and factors affecting the increase in the prevalence of various types of smoking, which will help to set the focus in the development of preventive measures. In this study, based on an interview of medical students, an analysis of the prevalence of smoking among young people was carried out, the frequency of occurrence and reasons for choosing different types of devices for smoking were evaluated, the age of initiation of smoking, as well as the reasons for not being able to give up smoking were studied. On the basis of the data obtained, directions to focus attention in the development of preventive measures against smoking have been proposed.

Gibbs Sampling Detection for Large MIMO and MTC Uplinks with Adaptive Modulation.

Wireless networks beyond 5G will mostly be serving myriads of sensors and other machine-type communications (MTC), with each device having different requirements in respect to latency, error rate, energy consumption, spectral efficiency or other specifications. Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems remain a central technology towards 6G, and in cases where massive antenna arrays or cell-free networks are not possible to deploy and only moderately large antenna arrays are allowed, the detection problem at the base-station cannot rely on zero-forcing or matched filters and more complex detection schemes have to be used. The main challenge is to find low complexity, hardware feasible methods that are able to attain near optimal performance. Randomized algorithms based on Gibbs sampling (GS) were proven to perform very close to the optimal detection, even for moderately large antenna arrays, while yielding an acceptable number of operations. However, their performance is highly dependent on the chosen “temperature” parameter (TP). In this paper, we propose and study an optimized variant of the GS method, denoted by triple mixed GS, and where three distinct values for the TP are considered. The method exhibits faster convergence rates than the existing ones in the literature, hence requiring fewer iterations to achieve a target bit error rate. The proposed detector is suitable for symmetric large MIMO systems, however the proposed fixed complexity detector is highly suitable to spectrally efficient adaptively modulated MIMO (AM-MIMO) systems where different types of devices upload information at different bit rates or have different requirements regarding spectral efficiency. The proposed receiver is shown to attain quasi-optimal performance in both scenarios.

Multi-objective robust energy management for environment powered unmanned surface vehicles

The environment powered unmanned surface vehicle (EPUSV) is capable of achieving large-range and long-term marine operations by harvesting abundant environment energy. However, considering the intermittency of environment energy, limitation on battery capacity and varieties of loads, it is necessary to control and coordinate the electric devices of EPUSV to exploit energy efficiently. To address this issue, an optimization-based energy management strategy (EMS) is proposed in this paper to achieve optimal management for the devices of EPUSV. The operation constraints and relevant objectives of different types of devices are firstly modeled through mix-integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) method. The uncertainty parameters in the model are addressed by robust optimization method. Then various task modes are defined based on the preference for different objectives. Simulations indicate that the proposed method is able to achieve optimal scheduling for each device while satisfying the underlying operation constraints. Besides, the adaptability for different kinds of tasks and the robustness to the fluctuation of uncertainty parameters of the proposed EMS is analyzed and discussed.

Hydrodynamic performance of a heaving oscillating water column device restrained by a spring-damper system

The performance of a heaving oscillating water column (OWC) device restrained by a spring-damper system is explored based on linear wave theory. The matching conditions along the common interfaces are employed, and the power take-off model and heaving motion equation are incorporated into the solution procedure. The device, allowed fully-free heaving, restrained by a linear spring and by a spring-damper system, are successively examined under the ideal turbine condition. To achieve practical sense, the performance between different types of devices from a practical turbine strategy is compared as well. The results show that the proper spring value is not only helpful for triggering dual peak efficiencies, but also for expanding the frequency bandwidth relative to the fully-free heaving device. Though the extra inclusion of the damper system can only supplement power extraction, it is beneficial for reducing the horizontal loads on the front lip-wall thus enhance the structure safety. Additionally, under the practical turbine strategy, the heaving device restrained by a spring-damper system is more flexible to be deployed in the maritime spaces dominated by waves with different frequencies relative to the stationary device.

Напружено-деформований стан проксимального відділу великогомілкової кістки дитини при tibia vara в умовах однобічного блокування проксимальної росткової зони фіксаторами різних типів

Актуальність. Сучасним стандартом хірургічного лікування фронтальних епіметафізарних деформацій колінного суглоба у дітей є метод керованого росту. Для тимчасового блокування росткової зони використовуються різні фіксатори: скоби Блаунта, пластини з гвинтами. Проте дослідження, присвячені вивченню напружено-деформованого стану при використанні зазначених фіксаторів, відсутні.Мета: дослідження напружено-деформованого стану моделі проксимального відділу великогомілкової кістки дитини при однобічному блокуванні росткової зони фіксаторами різних типів в умовах навантажень, характерних для tibia vara.Матеріали і методи. За допомогою програми Solid Works створена і проаналізована методом кінцевих елементів 3D-модель проксимального відділу великогомілкової кістки дитини з латеральним блокуванням одним із 3 фіксаторів: скоба Блаунта, блокована пластина, стандартна пластина в умовах навантаження, характерних для tibia vara.Результати. В умовах навантаження, характерних для tibia vara, відзначено збільшення напружень у медіальній частині росткової зони. При однобічному блокуванні фіксаторами виявлено нові зони підвищених навантажень у кістковій тканині метаепіфіза нижче від росткової зони. Найбільше напруження у фіксаторах відзначено в зоні контакту проксимального гвинта з пластиною, а також у верхній частині скоби.Висновок. Варусна деформація проксимального відділу великогомілкової кістки веде до підвищення навантажень у медіальній частині проксимальної росткової зони. Використання різних фіксаторів для однобічного блокування проксимальної росткової зони великогомілкової кістки призводить до появи відмінних напружень у проксимальному її епіметафізі. До мінімального підвищення напружень у кістковій тканині метафіза приводять варіанти фіксації із застосуванням пластин, а використання скоб Блаунта значно підвищує напруження в кістковій тканині в ділянці розташування скоб.

Safety of Occlutech Septal Occluder ACCELL Flex II for Transcatheter Closure of Secundum Atrial Septal Defects in Children: A Long-Term Follow-Up

Objectives To assess the long-term safety and efficacy of the Occlutech® ACCELL® Flex II device used for atrial septal defect (ASD) closure. This device differs from the regular device by having two very thin patches that are made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET). These patches enhance faster sealing of the defect. Background Transcatheter closure has become the method of choice to manage most patients with secundum ASDs. There are different types of devices. The regular Occlutech device used to close an ASD is called the Occlutech Figulla Flex II. A newer modification of this device (Occlutech® ACCELL® Flex II) has been designed to eliminate/reduce thrombus formation and to enhance faster sealing. Methods Thirty patients were followed up after occlusion of secundum ASD using the Occlutech® ACCELL® Flex II Device. The follow-up period ranged from 5.2–5.5 years with median of 5.3 years. Detailed history and full clinical examination, twelve-lead electrocardiogram (ECG), plain chest radiograph, and full 2D transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) were performed at discharge, at one month, six months, and yearly thereafter. Results The mean age of the study group at the last follow-up was 10.4 ± 4.6 years, with 63.3% (nineteen patients) females. There were no residual shunts or complications encountered immediately after the procedure and at the latest follow-up. Conclusion This study confirmed the transcatheter closure (TCC) of secundum ASDs using the Occlutech® ACCELL® Flex II device to be safe and effective with no complications detected in children and adolescents.

Food Tourism Planning Support System within Urban Sightseeing Areas in Japan

The present study aimed to design, develop, operate and evaluate a tourism planning support system that can be used to decide on places to eat lunch and dinner, sightseeing spots to visit along the way, and routes for visiting these destinations. This system was developed by integrating a web geographic information system (Web-GIS) and a sightseeing plan creation system (an eatery search system and a sightseeing route creation system). Additionally, the system was operated for one month in Central Yokohama City of Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan, and the total number of users was 79. Based on the results of the web questionnaire survey, user evaluations were particularly high for the function of sightseeing spot selection and the function of display of sightseeing plan information, and also for the entire system. From the results of the access analysis of users’ log data, the total number of sessions in the system was 263, 67% used mobile devices, and smartphones were used most frequently. Therefore, it is evident that the system was used by different types of devices just as it was designed for, and that the system was used according to the purpose of the present study, which is to support the food tourism planning of users.

The boon of nasoalveolar molding (NAM) treatment in early management of cleft lip and palate patients

Patients with different types of labio-maxillo-palatine clefts go through a lifelong series of multidisciplinary therapeutic procedures; this “journey” sometimes begins prenatally and extends into adulthood. Presurgical orthopedic treat­ment (PSO) is one of the first stages of this therapeutic plan. The nasoalveolar molding technique (NAM) is a new method of approach, from the field of pre-surgical or­tho­pe­dics, in­sti­tu­ted at a very young age (infant), and aims to reduce the initial severity, the level of alveolar cleft and/or the degree of nasal deformity. This approach enables the primary surgical restore of the nostril and lip to heal beneath minimum ten­sion, thereby reducing scar for­ma­tion and enhancing the esthetic result. The NAM tech­nique is the non-surgical, pas­sive method of bringing the gum and lip together by re­di­rec­ting natural growth forces. NAM has been shown to be an effective adjunctive the­ra­py for reducing pain, de­for­mity and the level of soft tissue tearing before surgery. This paper reviews the basic principles of NAM therapy, the different types of devices used in this therapy, the protocol followed and a critical eva­lua­tion of the advantages and disadvantages of this tech­nique. As an example, finally, we present the case of an infant with a unilateral labio-maxil­lary cleft, to which a NAM-type orthopedic device was applied with the aim of reducing tensions at the level of the tissues with the de­fect, to minimize the extent of the sur­gi­cal intervention and to minimize the risk of postsurgical re­trac­tile scars. World­wide, the authors of various studies agree on the positive out­come of NAM for better aesthetics after surgical repair of cleft lip and palate (DLP). However, what still remains, at this moment, unfounded equivocal is whether the pre-sur­gi­cal reduction of the cleft sizes and the modeling ma­ni­pu­la­tion of the nasal complex benefit our patients in the long term. Despite a relatively small amount of high-level evi­dence, NAM appears to be a promising technique that de­serves further research.

How Materials and Device Factors Determine the Performance: A Unified Solution for Transistors with Nontrivial Gates and Transistor-Diode Hybrid Integration.

Advanced field‐effect transistors (FETs) with nontrivial gates (e.g., offset‐gates, mid‐gates, split‐gates, or multi‐gates) or hybrid integrations (e.g., with diodes, photodetectors, or field‐emitters) have been extensively developed in pursuit for the “More‐than‐Moore” demand. But understanding their conduction mechanisms and predicting current–voltage relations is rather difficult due to countless combinations of materials and device factors. Here, it is shown that they could be understood within the same physical picture, i.e., charge transport from gated to nongated semiconductors. One proposes an indicator based on material and device factors for characterizing the transport and derives a unified and simplified solution for describing the current–voltage relations, current saturation, channel potentials, and drift field. It is verified by simulations and experiments of different types of devices with varied materials and device factors, employing organic, oxide, nanomaterial semiconductors in transistors or hybrid integrations. The concise and unified solution provides general rules for quick understanding and designing of these complex, innovative devices.

Energy-Efficient Resource Allocation in Multi-UAV Networks With NOMA

This paper investigates the energy efficiency (EE) optimization in a wireless communication network where multiple UAVs serve different types of devices, namely, information receivers (IRs) and energy receivers (ERs). The UAVs transmit power signals towards the ERs, and then enable data transmission to IRs on the downlink and from ERs on the uplink with non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA). The optimization problem to maximize the overall EE is formulated and solved using Lagrangian optimization and gradient-descent methods. The optimization is decomposed into two sub-problems. Firstly, by connecting the path loss of the devices’ channels with their rate demands, the UAVs’ optimal positions are obtained. Then, based on the obtained UAVs’ optimal positions and a closed-form expression for the EE, a resource allocation aiming to maximize EE is developed. For the simulations, two main scenarios for single and multiple UAVs are considered. Numerical results and comparisons are provided. In particular, for the single-UAV scenario, the results show an enhancement in EE for the operation with NOMA compared with OMA. For the multiple-UAV scenario, several cases depending on different combinations of the devices’ rate requirements are considered. The results show the superiority of NOMA over OMA in all use cases. The results also reveal the effect of considering the devices’ rate requirements on the EE, where the case with equal rate requirements has the best performance.

Design of a system to detect the force applied by tourniquets in a manikin's limb.

Massive hemorrhage remains the number one cause of preventable death in trauma worldwide. However, immediate intervention by a bystander can significantly improve the survival of the injured person. In this context, the tourniquets represent the most quick and effective devices for stopping arterial and venous blood flow. The aim of this study was to implement a system to detect the force applied by a tourniquet on a simulated limb, without blood flow. The system we designed is characterized by four low-cost force sensing resistors placed on each lower limb of a manikin, below the groin. Tests on 21 tourniquets, revealed that our system is able to detect the force applied for 60 minutes, also discriminating between turns. Hence, this system can be used to compare the performance of different types of devices, but also to assess proper tourniquet placement in trainees and trauma care providers, thus making it a versatile low-cost device.

Multi-Time-Scale Optimal Scheduling in Active Distribution Network with Voltage Stability Constraints

The uncertainty associated with loads and renewable-energy sources affects active distribution networks in terms of the operation and voltage stability on different time scales. To address this problem, a multi-time-scale voltage stability constrained optimal scheduling framework is proposed, which includes a day-ahead model with a coarse-grained time resolution and an intra-day model with a fine-grained time resolution. The day-ahead economic-scheduling model maps out a scheme to operate different types of devices with the aim of minimizing the network losses. Following the scheme, the intra-day corrective-adjustment model based on model predictive control is proposed to regulate the flexible devices, such as the energy storage systems and the photovoltaic converters. In particular, the proposed optimal scheduling framework embeds a voltage stability constraint which is constructed by using a novel index, defined based on the Distflow model Jacobian. As the index at each bus is a linear function of the locally measurable power flow variables, the proposed constraint does not introduce additional computational burdens. Simulation results demonstrate the necessity and effectiveness of the proposed multi-time-scale voltage stability constrained optimal scheduling model. The results also show that the variation trend of the proposed index is consistent with that of the commonly used voltage stability index.

Analisis Faktor Penerimaan Media Internet sebagai Sumber Informasi Kesehatan dengan Model UTAUT dan HBM

People are increasingly turning to the internet for health-related information. It is very easy to perform or obtain health-related services or information on the internet using different types of devices. This study's goal is to assess public acceptance of the internet as a source of health information by combining the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) with the Health Belief Model (HBM). SEM techniques were used to analyze data collected from 324 respondents via online questionnaires. Two factors from the HBM model: self efficacy (SE) and cues to action (CA) were found as the strongest factors behind the acceptance of the internet as a source of health information. Two other factors from UTAUT model; Social Influence (SI) and Performance Expectancy (PE) also had significant effects, albeit not as strong, on the acceptance of internet media as a source of health information. This study's findings also point to the possibility of incorrect self-medication when excessive perceived self-efficacy (SE) is combined with symptoms as cues to action (CA) and social influence (SI) when looking up health information online

Incidence rate of Healthcare Associated Infections in a COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit

BackgroundIntensive Care Units (ICU) faced a high pressure under the COVID-19 pandemic. It is recognized that patients admitted in these wards are more susceptible to Healthcare Associated Infections (HAIs). This study aims at comparing the incidence of HAIs in a COVID-19 ICU to a No-COVID ward.MethodsA retrospective cohort study including patients admitted to the ICU of the Teaching Hospital Policlinico Umberto I in Rome from April 2020 to March 2021 was performed. Data on age, gender, hospitalization, different types of devices (ventilation, central venous and urinary catheter), number and type of device-related HAI were collected. Statistical analyses were performed with Episheet and STATA 13.ResultsOut of 347 patients admitted in the ICUs, 329 were included in the study (217 had COVID-19 and 112 had not). In the COVID-19 group, patients were mainly male (69.58%) with a mean age of 62.5±13.5 years, whereas the other group was slightly older (63.2±16.2 years) and more balanced between the two sexes (52.68% male). A total of 133 patients developed at least one HAI, 94 of which were SARS-CoV-2 positive. Globally, 246 HAIs were diagnosed: 163 occurred in the COVID group and 83 in the No-COVID one. The cumulative days of hospitalization were 3233 for the COVID group and 2134 for the No-COVID. The incidence of HAI considered for 1000 days of hospitalization among COVID patients was 50.42 (IC 95%: 42.97-58.78), compared to 38.89 (IC 95%: 30.98-48.22) for the No-COVID one, for an incidence rate ratio of 1.30 (IC 95%: 0.99-1.71).ConclusionsEven though the confidence interval contains the value 1, the results point out that there is an increase in the incidence rate of HAI among COVID-19 patients. Further investigations are needed to better understand the reasons behind the present findings.Key messages Patients admitted to Intensive Care Units are more susceptible to Healthcare Associated Infections. Our study aims at describing the impact of COVID-19 on the risk of developing such conditions.Being infected with COVID-19 leads to an increase in the incidence rate of Healthcare Associated Infections. Further studies are needed to understand the underlying reasons.

Controlled Growth and Self-Assembly of Multiscale Organic Semiconductor.

Currently, organic semiconductors (OSs) are widely used as active components in practical devices related to energy storage and conversion, optoelectronics, catalysis, and biological sensors, etc. To satisfy the actual requirements of different types of devices, chemical structure design and self-assembly process control have been synergistically performed. The morphology and other basic properties of multiscale OS components are governed on a broad scale from nanometers to macroscopic micrometers. Herein, the up-to-date design strategies for fabricating multiscale OSs are comprehensively reviewed. Related representative works are introduced, applications in practical devices are discussed, and future research directions are presented. Design strategies combining the advances in organic synthetic chemistry and supramolecular assembly technology perform an integral role in the development of a new generation of multiscale OSs.