Extra Measures Research Articles

Snippet-based result merging in federated search

In federated search, the central broker simultaneously forwards the search query to multiple resources. The returned results from those resources are then merged into a single ranked list. An autonomous resource in a federated search system usually does not provide scores for the retrieved documents; even if some of them do, scores from different resources are incomparable due to the heterogeneity in many aspects of those resource involved such as retrieval models and corpus statistics. Many results merging approaches have been proposed in the literature to deal with this problem. However, to the best of our knowledge, none of them has utilised snippets. This article proposes a snippet-based weighting scheme for the query terms involved. It quantifies the importance of each query term from two angles: the frequency of the term and the part in which the term occurs inside a snippet. Three parts – which are URL, title, and description – are given different weights. Experiments are conducted with the TREC 2013 FedWeb data set. The results show that the proposed methods consistently outperform several baseline models. We also find in many instances, a further small slight performance improvement is achievable by an extra measure of weighting each of the resources involved, which can be done in the phase of resource selection.

Simultaneous determination of source term and the initial value in the space-fractional diffusion problem by a novel modified quasi-reversibility regularization method

This paper deals with an inverse problem of determining source term and initial data simultaneously for a space-fractional diffusion equation in a strip domain, with the aid of extra measurement data at a fixed time. The uniqueness results are obtained by a simple trick based on the linear property of the proposed equation. Since this problem is ill-posed, a modified quasi-reversibility method is obtained by employing the Fourier transform. Error estimates for source term and initial value are obtained from a suitable parameter choice rule. Finally, several numerical examples show that the proposed regularization method is effective and stable.

Pattern of COVID 19 Infection among Front line Health Workers and Contact Tracing Done among them. Our Experience in a Tertiary Care Hospital

Background: A considerable number of front-line workers are under risk due to repeated infection and exposure.The pattern of COVID 19 infection among the front-line workers was important, so that more focus would be laidon protecting them. Contact tracing is one key strategy for interrupting chains of transmission of SARS-CoV-2.This study aimed to find the pattern of COVID 19 infection among front line health workers and describe theprocess of contact tracing.Methodology: The list of front-line workers with possible symptoms of COVID-19 or had come in direct contactwith a “case” was shared with the department of community medicine for contract tracing activity as per theguidelines. The front-line workers who were categorized as High Risk were quarantined immediately and thosewho were categorized as Low-Risk were advised to be vigilant regarding the development of symptoms and wereasked to continue with their routine duties with extra precautionary measures as they form a very vital part of theresource in this combat against COVID-19.Result: About 138 front line health workers were affected by COVID-19 among which staff nurses (51) amountedto the maximum number who were affected.Conclusion: COVID-19 was high among front-line workers and had a large number of high-risk contacts. Nurseswere found to be most affected with COVID 19 infection.

Measurement-Based Identification of Lumped Parameter Thermal Networks for sub-Kw Outer Rotor PM Machines

This work is on deriving precise lumped parameter thermal networks for modeling the transient thermal characteristics of electric machines under variable load conditions. The goal is to facilitate an accurate estimation of the temperatures of critical machines' components and to allow for running the derived model in real time to adapt the motor control based on the load history and maximum permissible temperatures. Consequently, the machine's capabilities can be exhausted at best considering a highly-utilized drive. The model shall be as simple as possible without sacrificing the exactness of the predicted temperatures. Accordingly, a specific lumped parameter thermal network topology was selected and its characteristics are explained in detail. The measurement data based optimization of its critical parameters through an evolutionary optimization strategy, and the therefore utilized experimental setup will be described in detail here. Measurement cycles were recorded for modeling and verification purposes including both static and dynamic test cycles with changing load torque and speed requirements. Applying the proposed hybrid approach for determining the model's parameters through involving physics-based equations as well as numerical optimization followed a significant improvement of the preciseness of the predicted motor temperatures compared to solely determining the networks's coefficients based on expert knowledge. Thereby, the validation included both the original measurement data as well as extra measurement runs. The proposed and applied strategy provides an excellent basis for future thermal modeling of electric machines.

High-Gain Like Observer Design for Nonlinear Systems Applied to Vehicle Motion Estimation

This work investigates the problem of state estimation for nonlinear triangular systems having additional output measurements. The main objective of this paper is to propose observer design strategies that account for the available additional information, which is difficult to consider using the standard high-gain observer methodology. To deal with this challenge, we propose a novel observer design method to handle the additional output measurements. This method can be thought of as an extension of the standard high-gain observer by introducing a weighting matrix as a tuning parameter, which uses both the high-gain methodology and the LPV/LMI technique. The proposed approach was applied to a nonlinear longitudinal dynamic model that uses extra measurement information, in addition to the measured longitudinal position of the vehicle.

Genotoxic repercussion of high-intensity radiation (x-rays) on hospital radiographers.

Recent technological advances in the medical field have increased the plausibility of exposing humans to high-intensity wavelength radiations like x-rays and gamma rays while diagnosing or treating specific medical maladies. These radiations induce nucleotide changes and chromosomal alterations in the exposed population, intentionally or accidentally. A radiological investigation is regularly used in identifying the disease, especially by the technicians working in intensive care units. The current study observes the genetic damages like chromosomal abnormalities (CA) in clinicians who are occupationally exposed to high-intensity radiations (x-rays) at their workplaces using universal cytogenetic tools like micronucleus assay (MN), sister chromatid exchange and comet assay. The study was conducted between 100 exposed practitioners from the abdominal scanning, chest scanning, cranial and orthopedic or bone scanning department and age-matched healthy controls. We observed a slightly higher rate of MN and CA (p < .05) in orthopedic and chest department practitioners than in other departments concerning increasing age and duration of exposure at work. Our results emphasize taking extra precautionary measures in clinical and hospital radiation laboratories to protect the practitioners.

Balancing Unicycle Travelling on an Inclined Surface

A self-balancing unicycle robot is equipped with roll stabilizing unit and a wheel which is in charge of simultaneous unicycle frame upright holding and path tracking. Linear quadratic regulators (LQR) are designed for the roll, pitch and path tracking to make the vehicle successfully perform its desired operations. Even though control loops in general and LQR in specific subdue disturbances such as road slope, still some extra strong measures may be required. The road tilt alters the device dynamic and exerts forces influencing its behavior against reference commands. In this respect, gain scheduling LQR is designed and its impact on the system performance with regard to the conventionally designed LQR is discussed. Simulation results are used to validate the propositions.

PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS APPLİCATIONS OF SOME IMAGE ENCRYPTION TECHNIQUES

Data security is now the most vital and most important issue of governments, companies and individuals in the technology age we live in. Among the data types, images have a special importance because of the important information they contain. Transferring or storing images requires extra security measures. In this study, the performances of the image encryption methods were compared with each other by applying them to the most popular and most used images in the image processing area. Four different experiments were carried out. Performance of the seven particular encryption methods compared to each other and the obsevations and measurements was presented.

The Bucharest 9 Format between Rational Ambitious Goals and Real Influence

"The 2014 invasion of Crimea, plus the hard policies displayed by Russia in the East Europe produced concern in the region. Most of the states located there, even NATO members felt they need extra defence measures, more cooperation and more help from the alliance. One major step was the formation of the Bucharest Nine format, which, despite its rather informal feature, tried to increase security benefits of its members. The article aims to analyse in a holistic manner the formation, goals, achievements and future perspectives of the B9 format. Keywords: Bucharest Nine format, NATO, security, Eastern Flank, Ukraine."

The association between different blood group systems and susceptibility to COVID-19: a single center cross-sectional study from Saudi Arabia.

Since the beginning of COVID-19 pandemic, many associated factors have been investigated to clarify the susceptibility and severity among the affected individuals. Biological markers can play an important role in identification of individual susceptibility to such pandemic. Growing evidence suggest the influence of different blood group systems on susceptibility to COVID-19 virus, with a particular blood type conferring selection advantage. The study aimed to determine the association of ABO, Rhesus (D) and P1 blood groups with COVID-19 susceptibility in Taif city, Western Saudi Arabia. ABO, D and P1 blood antigens were determined in 104 blood samples of COVID-19 patients versus 100 control samples using either automated immunohematology analyser or test tube method. Statistical differences between patients and control samples were calculated based on p-value where results of ≤ 0.05 were considered significant. O+ve blood group constituted the predominant type among the studied samples. Determination of P1 antigen showed significant association where Anti-P1 was positive in 76.9% of patients compared to 61.0% of controls with a P value of 0.01 conferring the susceptibility of P1+ve patients to COVID-19. Although our study showed no significant association between ABO and D, and susceptibility to COVID-19, there was a significant association between P1+ve and COVID-19. P1+ve participants were 2.131 times more associated with the risk of COVID-19 infection than those with Anti P1-ve. Thus, P1 antigen can be used as a biological marker for identification of individuals susceptibility to COVID-19. It is strongly advised that such individuals should consider extra protective measures. Further studies on other contributing factors should also be considered for more scientific clarity.

Cubature Kalman filter with closed-loop covariance feedback control for integrated INS/GNSS navigation

Cubature Kalman Filter (CKF) offers a promising solution to handle the data fusion of integrated nonlinear INS/GNSS (Inertial Navigation System/Global Navigation Satellite System) navigation. However, its accuracy is degraded by inaccurate kinematic noise statistics which originate from disturbances of system dynamics. This paper develops a method of closed-loop feedback covariance control to address the above problem of CKF. In this method, the posterior state and its covariance are fed back to the filtering process to constitute a closed-loop structure for CKF covariance propagation. Subsequently, based on the maximum likelihood principle, a control scheme of the prior state covariance is established by using the feedback state and covariance within an estimation window and further adopting a proportional coefficient to amplify the feedback terms in recent time steps for the full use of new information to reflect actual system characteristics. Since it does not directly use kinematic noise covariance, the proposed method can effectively avoid the adverse impact of inaccurate kinematic noise statistics on filtering solutions. Further, it can also guarantee the prior state covariance to be positive semi-definite without involving extra measures. The efficacy of the proposed method is validated by simulations and experiments for integrated INS/GNSS navigation.

Land use as an important indicator for water quality prediction in a region under rapid urbanization

Land use and land cover (LULC) have significant impacts on river water quality, particularly in regions subjected to rapid urbanization. However, it is unclear whether LULC (LULC type and pattern index) can be used as an effective indicator to predict water quality over the rapid urbanization regions. Here, we investigated the spatiotemporal changes of LULC and their impacts on the water quality of a river flowing through a rapidly developed area in China. Then, a cellular automata-Markov model was established to predict the LULC, which was used as a key indicator to predict future water quality by a multiple linear regression model. The results showed that construction land experienced rapid growth between 2000 and 2010 taking over arable land to a great extent, and the number of patch (NP) showed a significant downward trend during 2000–2010. The biochemical oxygen demand in five days (BOD5), total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP) exhibited significantly positive correlations with construction land, while dissolved oxygen (DO) showed a significantly negative correlation with construction land. The DO exhibited a significantly positive correlation with the number of patch (NP), but TN and TP showed significantly negative correlations with NP. The water quality prediction model based on LULC performed well, especially TN prediction has a coefficient of determination of 0.691 and a mean relative error of 12.14%. The prediction of water quality in 2030 indicated that TN will not increase further, but TP will exhibit a remarkable increase in Zhenjiang city if the current development trend continues and no extra pollution control measures are taken.

Different Efforts but Similar Insights in Battery R&amp;D: Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy vs Galvanostatic (Constant Current) Technique

Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) using alternating currents is a widely established technique to investigate kinetic aspects of batteries and their components, though it requires an interruption of battery operation with extra measurement time and effort. In this work, EIS is compared with the conventional galvanostatic (constant current) technique, which is based on direct currents, being the standard operation mode of batteries. Data from constant current measurements not only are representing application conditions but also are automatically and continuously generated during routine charge/discharge processes, i.e., without extra measurement efforts, and do give kinetic insights via the characteristic overvoltage (= resistance-reasoned voltage rise/decrease), as well. In fact, distinguishing between even very similar values for ohmic (RΩ), charge transfer (Rct), and mass transport (Rmt) resistances can be done via analysis of overvoltage data from constant current measurements, as exemplarily demonstrated in symmetric Li||Li and LiNi0.6Mn0.2Co0.2O2 (NMC622)||Li cells with poly(ethylene oxide)-based solid polymer electrolyte, finally proving their validity. From a practical point of view, direct-current methods can be beneficial for R&D of kinetic aspects in batteries, as data is directly obtained and, thus, application-oriented.

Qualitative study to explore UK medical students’ and junior doctors’ experiences of occupational stress and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic

ObjectivesThis qualitative study aimed to explore the occupational experiences of medical students and junior doctors working during the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, the research sought to identify factors which mediated...

Clinical Pharmacological Activity of Ayurvedic Treatments in an Osteoarthritis and it’s Benefits Outcomes: Ethnopharmacology Review

Ayurveda is the world’s oldest clinical gadget and the maximum extensively used remedy for alopecia area, mainly in rural India, wherein 68-75% of the populace lives. Ayurveda performed an increasing number of critical functions in Europe and North America because it unfolds to Western international locations withinside the twentieth century. This approach is presently one of the fastest-developing CAM remedies withinside the world. Osteoarthritis is the maximum not unusual place form of arthritis that frequently happens in antique age. Osteoporosis is known as sandy Vata in Ayurveda. It is a joint sickness that reasons pain, swelling, and stiffness whilst the bones are driven into the joint because of abrasion of the cartilage and the bones rub in opposition to every other. The maximum not unusualplace joints are the knee, pelvis, arm, and spine. Osteoarthritis is a main purpose of incapacity withinside the elderly, affecting about 18-26 years of age in adults 22-27 years of age. The occurrence of osteoarthritis is 38tween a long time of forty and forty-five and 76tween a long time of 60 and 65, and the superiority and effect on fitness growth with age. Drug remedy is a complete symptomatic remedy for osteoarthritis of the knee and frequently keeps the person's mobility. This article reviews hints and recommendation on knee implant remedy withinside the new hints of the Asian Medical Association, highlights a few critical aspects, and discusses decision-making considerations. By realistically comparing the effectiveness of remedy, it plans to lessen the threat of clinical mistakes and preventable facet results and take extra meticulous measures.

Marburg Virus Disease

Marburg virus disease (MVD) is a rare but severe hemorrhagic fever which affects both people and non-human primates. MVD is caused by the Marburg virus, a genetically unique zoonotic (or, animal-borne) RNA virus of the filovirus family1. The six species of Ebola virus are the only other known members of the filovirus family. Marburg virus was first recognized in 19671. Two fatal cases of Marburg virus disease (MVD) were reported from Ashanti region, Ghana. On 28 June 2022, these cases were notified to health authorities as suspected viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF) cases and tested positive for Marburg virus on 1 July 20222. The reservoir host of Marburg virus is the African fruit bat, Rousettus aegyptiacus. Marburg virus is the causative agent of Marburg virus disease (MVD), a disease with a case fatality ratio of up to 88%, but can be much lower with good patient care. Marburg and Ebola viruses are both members of the Filoviridae family (filovirus). Though caused by different viruses, the two diseases are clinically similar1. The incubation period (interval from infection to onset of symptoms) varies from 2 to 21 days2. Many patients develop severe haemorrhagic manifestations between 5 and 7 days, and fatal cases usually have some form of bleeding, often from multiple areas. It can be difficult to clinically distinguish MVD from other infectious diseases such as malaria, typhoid fever, shigellosis, meningitis and other viral haemorrhagic fevers. Currently there are no vaccines or antiviral treatments approved for MVD2. However, supportive care – rehydration with oral or intravenous fluids – and treatment of specific symptoms, improves survival. Healthcare workers caring for patients with suspected or confirmed Marburg virus should apply extra infection control measures to prevent contact with the patient’s blood and body fluids and contaminated surfaces or materials such as clothing and bedding2.

A Control Strategy of LCL-Type Grid-Connected Inverters for Improving the Stability and Harmonic Suppression Capability

The conventional inverter-side current single-loop feedback control scheme is weak in suppressing the grid-side current harmonics, posing a challenge for an inverter to inject high-quality current under distorted grid voltage. With capacitor current compensation added, the control scheme achieves controllability of the grid-side current harmonics so that it can effectively suppress some specific harmonic components. However, due to the stability requirements, only a few low-order harmonic resonance controllers can be applied, which limits the mitigation of high-order harmonics. To tackle this problem, the grid-side current feedback control with inductor–capacitor–inductor (LCL) resonance damping is proposed in this paper. In this case, a higher LCL resonance frequency can be set compared to the inverter-side current single-loop feedback control scheme. Thereby, more resonance controllers can be applied to suppress high-order grid-side current harmonics. The active damping method of capacitor current proportional feedback plus capacitor voltage proportional feedback is adopted because of its high robustness to grid impedance variations. Furthermore, this paper reveals that the applied active damping method has a limitation in that it only considers a single inverter under inductive grid impedance, which cannot eliminate the risk of resonance caused by the interaction of multiple inverters and the grid. To address this issue, a phase lead compensator (PLC) is proposed, eliminating the resonance risk by removing the non-passive region of the inverter output admittance. To retain the advantage of the inverter-side current single-loop feedback control scheme, i.e., only a few measuring devices are required, a digital differentiator is used to calculate the capacitor current from the capacitor voltage. The difference between the measured inverter-side current and the calculated capacitor current is taken to approximate the grid-side current for the feedback control. The control performance is comparable to using the grid-side current for feedback. Simulation and experimental results demonstrate that the proposed control scheme endows the inverter with good stability and current quality without extra measurement devices.

Comparison of carotid and vertebral artery doppler measurements in supine and sitting positions.

Carotid and vertebral Doppler ultrasonography (USG) is the primary diagnostic tool for the detection of extra cranial atherosclerotic disease and measurement of posterior fossa blood flow volume. The examination is performed while the patient lies on supine position. However, in daily practice we occasionally encounter patients who are not able to lie down on supine position for different reasons, such as kyphosis, severe dyspnea, or severe back pain. We aimed to compare the doppler spectral measurements of carotid and vertebral arteries obtained in supine and sitting positions. Fifty-three patients were recorded in the first group, to whom carotid and vertebral (CV) Doppler Ultrasound examination was initially performed while sitting, and another 52 patients were examined as the second group where initial measurements were done in a supine position. Peak systolic velocity (PSV), end diastolic velocity (ED) from each vessel, internal carotid artery (ICA)/common carotid artery (CCA) ratio, and volume flow of vertebral artery (VA) were measured in supine and sitting positions. Also, another 83 patients with a complaint of vertigo were included in the third group but only VA measurements were compared. In the first group, there was a difference between sitting and supine positions in right ICA diastolic, right and left VA diastolic, and left CCA diastolic velocities (P < 0.05). In the second group, there was a difference in sitting and supine positions in right CCA systolic, right CCA diastolic, and left CCA diastolic velocities (P < 0.05). In the third group, there was a difference in sitting and supine positions in right and left VA diastolic velocities, left VA volume flow, and total VA volume flow (P < 0.05). A strong correlation was detected between supine and sitting positions regarding right and left ICA stenoses. Alterations in waveforms were noted in three patients' unilateral VAs, in supine and sitting positions. Our results suggest that CV doppler examinations may be performed in the sitting positions. Examination in the sitting position may be helpful in recognizing pre-steal and retrograde flows.

A Non-Convex Compressed Sensing Model Improving the Energy Efficiency of WSNs for Abnormal Events' Monitoring.

The wireless sensor network (WSN), a communication system widely used in the Internet of Things, usually collects physical data in a natural environment and monitors abnormal events. Because of the redundancy of natural data, a compressed-sensing-based model offers energy-efficient data processing to overcome the energy shortages and uneven consumption problems of a WSN. However, the convex relaxation method, which is widely used for a compressed-sensing-based WSN, is not sufficient for reducing data processing energy consumption. In addition, when abnormal events occur, the redundancy of the original data is destroyed, which makes the traditional compressed sensing methods ineffective. In this paper, we use a non-convex fraction function as the surrogate function of the ℓ0-norm, which achieves lower energy consumption of the sensor nodes. Moreover, considering abnormal event monitoring in a WSN, we propose a new data construction model and apply an alternate direction iterative thresholding algorithm, which avoids extra measurements, unlike previous algorithms. The results showed that our models and algorithms reduced the WSN's energy consumption during abnormal events.

Open‐circuit submodule fault diagnosis in MMCs using support vector machines

Series connection of semiconductor submodules (SM) in a modular multilevel converter (MMC) makes the MMC prone to open-circuit (OC) IGBT failures inside SMs. If left undetected, these faults degrade the operation of the MMC and lead to its instability. This article proposes a method to detect, localise, and classify single OC SM faults in an MMC using support vector machines (SVM) trained with data obtained from the capacitor voltage balancing block of the MMC control system. The proposed method relies on data extracted from the sorted capacitor voltage arrays of the upper and lower phase arms. Therefore, it does not require extra measurements and hardware. Additionally, it offers a fixed time for detecting and localising OC SM faults. This method is easy to implement as SVM has a simple decision function. Time-domain simulation case studies are performed on a three-phase nine-level MMC to evaluate the performance of the proposed method.