High Duty Research Articles

Self-Reported Mental Health of Nurses at Dr. M.M. Dunda Hospital, Gorontalo Regency

Mental Health is a condition where an individual can develop physically, mentally, spiritually and socially so that the individual is aware of his or her own abilities, can handle pressure, can work productively, and is able to contribute to his or her community. Several factors cause mental disorders, namely a work environment with a high risk of violence, facing various types of stress and an uncomfortable workplace. Mental disorders can take the form of changes in the mental and emotional atmosphere which have an impact on physical disorders and are rarely recognized by sufferers, including nurses. Nursing is a profession that has a very high risk of stress, because nurses have very high duties and responsibilities for the safety of human life. The aim of the research is to determine the self-reporting of mental health of nurses at RSUD Dr. M.M Dunda Limboto, Gorontalo Regency. The research design is a descriptive design, with a sampling technique using non-probability sampling, namely snowball sampling. The sample in this study using the Slovin formula obtained 175 respondents. The results of this research showed that 131 respondents (74.9%) were not indicated, and 44 respondents were indicated (25.1%). The conclusion of this study shows that the majority of nurses at RSUD M.M. Dunda Limboto has no indication of a mental health disorder which is known from the Self Reporting Questionnaire assessment. It is hoped that nurses can maintain mental health by doing self-rewards to increase their capacity as nurses.

Thalamic Roles in Conscious Perception Revealed by Low-Intensity Focused Ultrasound Neuromodulation.

The neural basis of conscious perception remains incompletely understood. While cortical mechanisms of conscious content have been extensively investigated, the role of subcortical structures, including the thalamus, remains less explored. We aim to elucidate the causal contributions of different thalamic regions to conscious perception using transcranial low-intensity focused ultrasound (LIFU) neuromodulation. We hypothesize that modulating different thalamic regions would result in distinct perceptual outcomes. We apply LIFU in human volunteers to investigate region-specific and sonication parameter-dependent effects. We target anterior (transmodal-dominant) and posterior (unimodal-dominant) thalamic regions, further divided into ventral and dorsal regions, while participants perform a near-threshold visual perception task. Task performance is evaluated using Signal Detection Theory metrics. We find that the high duty cycle stimulation of the ventral anterior thalamus enhanced object recognition sensitivity. We also observe a general (i.e., region-independent) effect of LIFU on decision bias (i.e., a tendency toward a particular response) and object categorization accuracy. Specifically, high duty cycle stimulation decreases categorization accuracy, whereas low duty cycle shifts decision bias towards a more conservative stance. In conclusion, our results provide causal insight into the functional organization of the thalamus in shaping human visual experience and highlight the unique role of the transmodal-dominant ventral anterior thalamus.

Optimal initial duty for improved MPPT under change in irradiances and partial shading conditions

Abstract Solar photovoltaic cells are widely used in renewable energy power generation. The efficient operation of these photovoltaic (PV) system is based on maximum power point tracking (MPPT). Various MPPT methods have been proposed to increase the output of a PV system. But confusion arises when choosing the optimal MPPT algorithm and its parameters such as perturbation time and initial duty. This paper examines the optimal initial duty and perturbation time to improve the performance of conventional MPPT techniques under uniform shading and partial shading. During the change in irradiances, at the initial irradiance the Modified P&O tracked MPPT faster because the modified P&O had less settling time during changes in irradiance for different initial duty ratios. During partial shading conditions, the TCT generates more power than the S and SP topologies and modified P&O tracked the MPPT in less time. However, at the high duty ratio, the P&O and INC gave similar results, which were better than the modified P&O. It was also observed that the initial duty ratio (Di) in the MPPT algorithm had a negligible effect on TCT configuration under partial shading conditions. These findings help in various applications for PV systems.

Response of variation of electrical control parameters to coatings prepared in organo-silicon electrolyte by plasma electrolytic oxidation

This study aims to explore the influence of control parameters from the perspective of the amorphous ceramic coating formation process. Three preparation processes were preferred based on the thickness, appearance and corrosion resistance of the coatings by orthogonal experiment. The surface morphology, cross-sectional structure, phase composition and micro-hardness of PEO coatings were examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM)/Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffractometry (XRD) and hardness measurement techniques. Findings indicate that voltage exerts the most significant impact on coating thickness and appearance, whereas the influence of other parameters becomes more pronounced as the voltage increases. Three amorphous ceramic coatings prepared in 20 min with thicknesses of 27.4 μm, 83.2 μm and 193.3 μm increased the surface hardness of 6061 aluminium alloy by 6–8 times, and decreased the corrosion current density of 6061 aluminium alloy by 3 orders of magnitude in 1 mol L−1 HCl solution. Moreover, the thickening of the coating primarily occurs within a few minutes after the voltage reaches its peak, and high frequency and low duty ratio are prerequisites for better appearance under higher voltage conditions.

CIRCUMVENTION DALAM PERDAGANGAN INTERNASIONAL: IMPLIKASI TUDUHAN VIETNAM TERHADAP INDONESIA

Cross-border trade is something that can no longer be avoided in today's era of globalization. Countries conduct business activities in order to advance their economic activities. In these activities, many countries do things that harm business principles. One of them is the evasion action. This research aims to determine the regulation of circumvention measures in international trade. This article uses normative legal research methods based on the international economic legal framework. The research results show that circumvention measures constitute a form of evasion of anti-dumping import duties. These actions involve manipulation or changes in the way trade is conducted to avoid paying high import duties. In Indonesia, anti-dumping regulations do not specifically regulate circumvention issues.

The Impact of the National Export Strategy on the Plastics and Packaging Industry in Malawi

ABSTRACT: Export-led industrialization is crucial for economic growth, emphasizing the shift from primary production to manufacturing. Malawi aims for industrialization through its National Export Strategy (NES), focusing on oilseed and sugarcane products and manufacturing. However, research gaps exist on export promotion programs’ impact, especially in less developed countries like Malawi and specific sectors like plastics and packaging. A mixed-method approach was employed, combining qualitative and quantitative methods for robust analysis. All 13 firms in Malawi’s plastics and packaging industry were surveyed in Blantyre and Lilongwe to assess the impact of the National Export Strategy (NES). A questionnaire with 37 questions across six sections, adapted from prior research, was used to gather comprehensive data on various aspects such as employment, production, and investment. Ethical clearance was obtained, and completed questionnaires underwent thorough review before data analysis. Results are presented in subsequent sections. The impact of Malawi’s National Export Strategy (NES) on its plastics and packaging industry highlights vital challenges. Employment suffers from a lack of skilled labor, stemming from a mismatch with training institutions. Firms struggle with limited access to finance and high borrowing costs, hindering investment. High taxes and duties hamper export competitiveness, while unreliable energy supply increases operational costs. Additionally, transportation expenses impede raw material imports, exports, and local distribution. These findings underscore the need to address skill mismatches, enhance financial access, reduce trade barriers, and improve infrastructure to bolster the industry’s resilience and competitiveness under the NES. Policy implications include collaborating with financial institutions to enhance access to grants and affordable credit, imposing higher import taxes on finished products to protect local producers, improving energy supply, enhancing transportation infrastructure, introducing incentives for investment in support services, raising awareness of NES benefits, and establishing industry-specific meetings to address sector-specific issues. These measures aim to bolster the plastics and packaging industry’s competitiveness and support its growth under the NES.

High Power GaN Doubler with High Duty Cycle Pulse Based on Local Non-Reflection Design

High Power GaN Doubler with High Duty Cycle Pulse Based on Local Non-Reflection Design

Effect of power supply parameters on discharge characteristics and sterilization efficiency of magnetically driven rotating gliding arc

Plasma sterilization is a new generation of high-tech sterilization method that is fast, safe, and pollution free. It is widely used in medical, food, and environmental protection fields. Home air sterilization is an emerging field of plasma application, which puts higher requirements on the miniaturization, operational stability, and operating cost of plasma device. In this study, a novel magnetically driven rotating gliding arc (MDRGA) discharge device was used to sterilize Lactobacillus fermentation. Compared with the traditional gas-driven gliding arc, this device has a simple structure and a more stable gliding arc. Simulation using COMSOL Multiphysics showed that adding permanent magnets can form a stable magnetic field, which is conducive to the formation of gliding arcs. Experiments on the discharge performance, ozone concentration, and sterilization effect were conducted using different power supply parameters. The results revealed that the MDRGA process can be divided into three stages: starting, gliding, and extinguishing. Appropriate voltage was the key factor for stable arc gliding, and both high and low voltages were not conducive to stable arc gliding and ozone production. In this experimental setup, the sterilization effect was the best at 6.6 kV. A high modulation duty ratio was beneficial for achieving stable arc gliding. However, when the duty ratio exceeded a certain value, the improvement in the sterilization effect was slow. Therefore, considering the sterilization effect and energy factors comprehensively, we chose 80% as the optimal modulation duty ratio for this experimental device.

A dual-mode digital controller with a high accuracy load current estimator and Gaussian adaptive duty cycle switching for fast transient recovery in DC-DC buck converters

To improve the dynamic performance, this paper proposes a dual-mode digital controller with a high accuracy load current estimator and Gaussian adaptive duty cycle switching for DC-DC buck converters with an auxiliary power stage. The proposed digital controller has two operating modes: steady state and transient. In steady-state mode, a conventional PID control module is used to regulate the main power stage and the output voltage. In transient mode, a charge balance control module is responsible for controlling the auxiliary power stage to improve the dynamic performance. A long short-term memory (LSTM)-based load current estimator is proposed to obtain high accuracy load current. It employs a multiple-to-one structure and estimates the load current based on time series data (a sequence of data points indexed in time order). A Gaussian adaptive duty cycle switching is proposed to suppress the output voltage chattering when transitioning between the auxiliary and the main power stages. Simulation and experimental results demonstrate that the proposed controller has a superior dynamic performance when compared to controllers using linear-based load current estimator and direct duty cycle switching. The overshoot/undershoot and settling time can be reduced by over 50 % for a 1.9 A load transient in a 5 to 1.8 V buck converter operating switching at 2 MHz..

Experimental validation of an analytical transient model for saturated boosting gain in DC–DC converters with variable duty cycle

This paper presents an innovative approach to characterize the boosting gain saturation phenomenon in DC–DC converters with variable duty cycles, a crucial component in energy management applications such as renewable energy systems and IoT devices. While existing literature predominantly relies on steady-state models to explain boosting gain behaviour, this study reveals discrepancies between theoretical predictions and experimental observations, particularly at high duty cycles. The research introduces an analytical model to accurately capture the boosting gain dynamics of a boost chopper converter, addressing the limitations of traditional steady-state analyses. Through experimental validation and numerical simulations using CAD tools, a significant boosting gain saturation of approximately 2.2 is empirically observed, highlighting the necessity for a transient model approach. By providing a comprehensive understanding of the boosting ratio constraints in practical boost converters, this work contributes to advancing the analytical modelling techniques in the field. The mathematical model’s validation through rigorous experimental measurements and simulation analyses underscores its reliability and applicability in real-world scenarios. The structured organization of the paper elucidates the development and verification process, culminating in insightful conclusions that underscore the significance of transient modelling in enhancing the performance and efficiency of DC–DC converters.

채무불이행의 면책사유로서의 불가항력 - 프랑스에서의 논의를 중심으로 -

The French Civil Code provides for strict liability and exemption from force majeure for damages resulting from non-performance. However, in practice, the cases of force majeure are expanded and interpreted to operate similarly to the non-performance liability principle. In French academic circles, there is also a strong view that force majeure, which is a ground for exemption from non-performance, is the same as no fault. The liability for damages resulting from non-performance is a variation of the original obligation, and the occurrence of the liability for damages is determined by the standards of the duty of care of the original obligation. On the one hand, imposing a good manager's duty of care, but on the other hand, saying that liability for damages arises if a higher duty of care is not fulfilled can be seen as a contradiction. In particular, it should be noted that the degree of duty of care may be changed by law or agreement of the parties. It is not reasonable to ignore these changes and unconditionally require irresistibility, impose a very high duty of care, and pay compensation for damages if this is not done. Even our civil law is based on the duty of care of a good manager (Articles 374 and 681). However, in some cases, the duty of care could be seen as a duty of care towards one's own property. (Articles 695 and 922). In addition, the degree of duty of care may be strengthened by agreement between the parties through strict liability, or the degree of duty of care may be weakened by indemnification for non-performance of obligations due to negligence. Uniformly in all cases, it is difficult to find a valid reason to impose a very high duty of care on the debtor, and force the debtor to perform the obligation unless performance is virtually impossible. If the debtor has fulfilled the duty of care or duty of good faith required by the provisions of the law or the agreement of the parties, it would be reasonable and appropriate to exempt the debtor from liability for damages even if there is a non-performance.

Tailoring the visible light band of Watt-level SCs pumped via picosecond pulse with different Raman extent

We investigate the supercontinuum (SC) tailoring property by varying the transmission fiber length after the master oscillator power amplifier system. The conversion efficiency of the visible light band is effectively enhanced via tailoring the Raman extent of the injected 30 ps pulse into the nonlinear photonic crystal fiber (PCF). Experimentally, a 3.6 W all-fiber SC spanning from 414 nm to over 1750 nm (@20 dB) is accomplished by using a high duty cycle domestic PCF through precisely controlling the extent of Raman effect. The proposed method is instructive for the further realization of high power SC with an enhanced spectral intensity in the visible light band.

Switch-2 determines Mg2+ADP-release kinetics and fine-tunes the duty ratio of Dictyostelium class-1 myosins.

Though myosins share a structurally conserved motor domain, single amino acid variations of active site elements, including the P-loop, switch-1 and switch-2, which act as nucleotide sensors, can substantially determine the kinetic signature of a myosin, i.e., to either perform fast movement or enable long-range transport and tension generation. Switch-2 essentially contributes to the ATP hydrolysis reaction and determines product release. With few exceptions, class-1 myosin harbor a tyrosine in the switch-2 consensus sequence DIYGFE, at a position where class-2 myosins and a selection of myosins from other classes have a substitution. Here, we addressed the role of the tyrosine in switch-2 of class-1 myosins as potential determinant of the duty ratio. We generated constitutively active motor domain constructs of two class-1 myosins from the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum, namely, Myo1E, a high duty ratio myosin and Myo1B, a low duty ratio myosin. In Myo1E we introduced mutation Y388F and in Myo1B mutation F387Y. The detailed functional characterization by steady-state and transient kinetic experiments, combined with in vitro motility and landing assays revealed an almost reciprocal relationship of a number of critical kinetic parameters and equilibrium constants between wild-type and mutants that dictate the lifetime of the strongly actin-attached states of myosin. The Y-to-F mutation increased the duty ratio of Moy1B by almost one order of magnitude, while the introduction of the phenylalanine in switch-2 of Myo1E transformed the myosin into a low duty ratio motor. These data together with structural considerations propose a role of switch-2 in fine-tuning ADP release through a mechanism, where the class-specific tyrosine together with surrounding residues contributes to the coordination of Mg2+ and ADP. Our results highlight the importance of conserved switch-2 residues in class-1 myosins for efficient chemo-mechanical coupling, revealing that switch-2 is important to adjust the duty ratio of the amoeboid class-1 myosins for performing movement, transport or gating functions.

Impact of functional electrical stimulation on nerve-damaged muscles by quantifying fat infiltration using deep learning.

Quantitative imaging in life sciences has evolved into a powerful approach combining advanced microscopy acquisition and automated analysis of image data. The focus of the present study is on the imaging-based evaluation of the posterior cricoarytenoid muscle (PCA) influenced by long-term functional electrical stimulation (FES), which may assist the inspiration of patients with bilateral vocal fold paresis. To this end, muscle cross-sections of the PCA of sheep were examined by quantitative image analysis. Previous investigations of the muscle fibers and the collagen amount have not revealed signs of atrophy and fibrosis due to FES by a laryngeal pacemaker. It was therefore hypothesized that regardless of the stimulation parameters the fat in the muscle cross-sections would not be significantly altered. We here extending our previous investigations using quantitative imaging of intramuscular fat in cross-sections. In order to perform this analysis both reliably and faster than a qualitative evaluation and time-consuming manual annotation, the selection of the automated method was of crucial importance. To this end, our recently established deep neural network IMFSegNet, which provides more accurate results compared to standard machine learning approaches, was applied to more than 300 H&E stained muscle cross-sections from 22 sheep. It was found that there were no significant differences in the amount of intramuscular fat between the PCA with and without long-term FES, nor were any significant differences found between the low and high duty cycle stimulated groups. This study on a human-like animal model not only confirms the hypothesis that FES with the selected parameters has no negative impact on the PCA, but also demonstrates that objective and automated deep learning-based quantitative imaging is a powerful tool for such a challenging analysis.

Effects of HiPIMS Duty Cycle on Plasma Discharge and the Properties of Cu Film.

In this paper, Cu thin films were deposited on Si (100) substrates by the high-power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiIPMS) technique, and the effects of different duty cycles (from 2.25% to 5.25%) on the plasma discharge characteristics, microstructure, and electrical properties of Cu thin films were investigated. The results of the target current test show that the peak target current remains stable under 2.25% and 3% duty cycle conditions. Under the conditions of a 4.5% and 5.25% duty cycle, the target peak current shows a decreasing trend. The average power of the target shows a rising trend with the increase in the duty cycle, while the peak power of the target shows a decreasing trend with the increase in the duty cycle. The results of OES show that with the increase in the duty cycle, the total peak intensity of copper and argon emissions shows an overall increasing trend. The duty cycle from 3% to 4.5% change in copper and argon emission peak total intensity change is not obvious. The deposition rate and surface morphology of the copper film were investigated by scanning electron microscopy, and the deposition rate of the copper film increased with the increase in the duty cycle, which was mainly due to the increase in the average power. The surface roughness of the copper film was evaluated by atomic force microscopy. X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used to analyze the grain size and texture of the Cu film, and the results showed that the average grain size of the Cu film increased from 38 nm to 59 nm on the (111) and (200) crystal planes. Four-probe square resistance test copper film resistivity in 2.25%, 3% low duty cycle conditions of the copper film resistivity is generally higher than 4.5%, 5.25% high duty cycle conditions, the copper film resistivity shows the trend of change is mainly affected by the copper film grain size and the (111) face of the double effect of the optimal orientation. The lowest resistivity of the copper film measured under the 4.5% duty cycle condition is 1.7005 μΩ·cm, which is close to the intrinsic resistivity of the copper film of 1.67 μΩ·cm.

Measurements of momentum halo due to the reduced RFQ voltage during the LIPAc beam commissioning

The Linear IFMIF Prototype Accelerator, LIPAc, is being commissioned aiming at validating the RFQ up to 5 MeV beam acceleration. Eventually, the nominal beam of 5 MeV–125 mA in 1 ms length and 1 Hz rate pulsed mode was achieved in 2019. The beam operation has been resumed since July 2023 after a long maintenance including recovery from unexpected problems in the RFQ-RF system. This new phase aims at the commissioning of the full configuration except SRF LINAC, which is replaced by a temporary beam transport line. Focusing on the RFQ behavior, it will be interesting to operate it at higher duty, especially for longer pulses. Furthermore, a beam simulation study suggested that the beam extracted from the RFQ includes considerable momentum halo when the vane voltage reduces by more than 5 %, with a slight decrease of the mean energy. It can be a potential source of a quench like the mismatched beam in the cryomodule. This could be studied by measuring the energy from the Time-of-Flight among multiple BPMs while monitoring beam loss around the dipole, where momentum halo should be lost. During the beam commissioning phase, we studied them by scanning the RFQ voltage.

A High Step-Up Resonant Converter Based on Current-Fed Voltage Multiplier Technique

An extendable non-isolated resonant dc-dc converter based on current-fed voltage multiplier (VM) technique is proposed in this paper for high step-up applications. These VM cells capacitors participate in a resonant network; therefore, no additional elements are required to provide a resonant tank circuit to realize soft switching conditions for power switches. Zero voltage switching (ZVS) and zero current switching (ZCS) conditions are realized here for switches and diodes, respectively. Consequently, MOSFETs dominant switching losses and the diodes reverse recovery problems are well overcome. Furthermore, the input source current waveform is continuous. Also, using the VM cells reduces the power devices voltage stresses. Accordingly, low voltage rating devices can be used, which reduce conduction losses and cost, and improve the converter efficiency. Also, by using more VM cells, the proposed converter can be used for high-voltage applications, without using extremely high duty cycle values to regulate the output voltage. The operation principles, steady-state analysis, design guidelines, and main characteristics of the proposed converter are given here, in detail. Finally, an 800 W prototype converter, with 80–100V input voltage and 2 kV output voltage, has been implemented to validate the given analyses, simulation results, as well as to show the proposed converter main advantages.

Anti-interrupted-sampling repeater jamming method based on frequency agility waveform and sparse recovery

Interrupted-sampling repeater jamming (ISRJ) is a type of intra-pulse coherent jamming that poses a significant threat to radar detection and tracking of targets. This paper proposes an ISRJ suppression method based on frequency agile waveform and sparse recovery, starting from the temporal discontinuity and modulation characteristics of ISRJ. This method is particularly suitable for scenarios with high jamming duty ratio (JDR) and high jammer sampling duty ratio (SDR). By dividing the transmitted waveform into sub-pulses with different carrier frequencies and applying a two-round block sparse algorithm, the method accurately recovers three parameters of ISRJ, achieving effective jamming identification, reconstruction, and cancellation. Additionally, a target detection technique based on robust sparse recovery is proposed, significantly improving the stability and accuracy of target detection. Comparative experimental results conducted in three scenarios confirm the effectiveness and superiority of this method under high JDR and SDR conditions.

Achievement of high-current continuous-wave deuteron injector for linear IFMIF prototype accelerator (LIPAc)

The Linear IFMIF (International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility) Prototype Accelerator (LIPAc) is aiming at demonstrating the low-energy section of a 40 MeV/125 mA IFMIF deuteron accelerator up to 9 MeV with a full beam current in continuous-wave operation. For such a high-power beam, the LIPAc injector is required to produce a beam current of 140 mA and 100 keV D+ beams. The injector commissioning to reach high beam current has been progressing at high duty cycle operation, then stable operation for many hours at a beam condition of 150 mA total extracted current. This result demonstrates that the LIPAc injector can meet the required performance for nominal 125 mA long pulse deuteron beam acceleration.

A switched‐capacitor‐based active‐interleaved‐network with high voltage gain

SummaryA high voltage gain characteristic is required in fuel cell vehicles to achieve voltage matching between low voltage fuel cell and high voltage DC‐link bus. In this paper, a non‐isolated high step‐up dc‐dc converter based on switched‐capacitor (SC) and active‐interleaved‐network (AIN) is proposed. The main advantages of the converter are the high voltage gain without an extremely high duty cycle, automatic current sharing of inductors, reduced input current ripple, and lower device voltage stress when compared to the topologies with the same output voltage. Detailed descriptions of the converter including operation principle and dynamic response analysis are presented in this manuscript. To verify the correctness of the theoretical analysis and feasibility of the proposed converter, a 500 W prototype with 20 V input and 200 V output is built.