Improved Method Research Articles

Research on the Current Status and Improvement Methods of Electrolytes for Lithium ion Batteries

Owing to their high energy density among other beneficial features, lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) enjoy extensive application across sectors including aerospace engineering, civil transportation, and electronic device manufacturing. Nonetheless, the LIBs electrolyte presents certain drawbacks, which contribute to the diminishing performance of these batteries and pose risks to environmental safety. Considering these issues, the paper begins by presenting the operational principles of LIBs and examining the constituents of the electrolyte and discusses the roles of the individual components. Then, the causes of the problems and proposes improvement strategies are summarized. The working stability of LIBs at extreme temperatures can be improved by a series of measures, such as adding flame retardants and optimizing the composition of electrolytes. The aim of the research is to resolve the current problems with LIBs electrolytes and enhance the applicability and stability of LIBs in various practical situations.

Eliminating Error in Central Line Scheduling and Placement Using Quality Improvement Methods.

The Joint Commission defines a sentinel event as "surgery or other invasive procedure performed at the wrong site, on the wrong patient, or that is the wrong (unintended) procedure for a patient regardless of the type of procedure or the magnitude of the outcome." At our institution, we observed a low but consistent rate of incorrect surgical line placement for pediatric patients with cancer. Following quality improvement methodology and using the resources available on a large academic medical campus we designed and implemented a new multi-factorial process to schedule and place surgical central lines for pediatric patients with cancer. Changes included re-defining responsibilities, adding staff, and redesigning the process with workflows supported by modifications to the electronic medical record. Our primary outcome measures were incorrect central line placement or near miss event per quarter and days between these events. After implementation the rate of incorrect line placement and near miss events was reduced to zero with 1018 days since the last incorrect line placement. As a result of our multi-factorial quality improvement initiative in the scheduling and placement of central lines, we were able to eliminate surgical line placement sentinel events and improve care for pediatric patients with cancer.

Optimizing Hierarchical Condition Category-Risk Adjustment Factor Management in Population Health Using Rapid Process Improvement Methods.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services provides reimbursement through Hierarchical Condition Category (HCC) coding. Medical systems strive toward risk adjustment optimization, often implementing costly chart review processes. Previously, our organization implementing countermeasures through workflows was complex and performed in silos. Our goal was to put in place HCC-Risk Adjustment Factor (RAF) improvement tools to optimize HCC-RAF management in Population Health using rapid process improvement methods. In this quality improvement analysis (IRB#806198), we used Lean methodology to develop tools and implement streamlined processes for providers to manage, document, and code high-risk HCC conditions. Rather than applying costly countermeasures, Transformational Healthcare conducted a Rapid Process Improvement Workshop (RPIW), with workgroups implementing proposed changes, to improve processes. Each of these tools was embedded in standard work, for teams to use in practice. Tools included the development of RPIW-inspired work groups, a Provider Education website, tip sheets, clinical champions, trainings, audits, practice alerts, smart phrases, schedule view tools, severity scores, reports, dashboards, on-screen decision-support tools, coding expertise, and HCC standard work. Quantitatively, Year 1 showed enterprise HCC-RAF scores improved by 4.1%. We were able to develop tools for providers and team members to allow for more optimized pathways. Although quantitatively we realized an improvement in enterprise HCC-RAF score, our overall aim was to improve process flow and limit waste. Leveraging Lean improvement methods for the collective design of tools has supported culture change. In the end, we found that providers are indeed willing to adopt these newly built tools. These tools have optimized operations, allowing providers to work smarter, not harder.

SPLASH: Split-Body Randomized Clinical Trial of Poly-l-Lactic Acid for Adipogenesis and Volumization of the Hip Dell.

Injectable poly-l-lactic acid (PLLA-SCA) increases extracellular matrix to improve skin quality. The hip dell is an underappreciated element of gluteal aesthetics. Adipose tissue has roles in aesthetics and skin functioning. To investigate the efficacy of PLLA-SCA treatment to induce adipogenesis and volumize the hip dell. This was a double-blinded, split-body trial of 15 women with hip dell volume deficits. Each subject was randomized to have 1 hip dell treated with 150 mg of PLLA-SCA while the contralateral hip dell received the equivalent volume of saline. Subjects received 3 treatments at 1-month intervals and were followed for 9 months. Assessments included physician global aesthetic improvement scale, ultrasonography, and histologic examination. Blinded investigators rated PLLA-SCA-treated hip dells as improved and much improved. The dermis and adipose layers increased in thickness by 26.1% and 27%. These measures, in addition to collagen and elastic fiber quality, were significantly improved compared with saline-treated hip dells, which did not change from baseline. Subject satisfaction was also significantly greater on the PLLA-SCA-treated side. No subject experienced significant adverse effects. Poly-l-lactic acid is a safe and effective method for durable volumization and aesthetic improvement of the hip dell. PLLA-SCA may promote adipogenesis and elastogenesis.

A Microgrid Stability Improvement Method by Applying Virtual Adaptive Resistor Paralleling with a Grid-Connected Inverter

An increase in renewable energy generation in the microgrid can cause voltage oscillation problems. To address this issue, an equivalent circuit of the microgrid was established, including a synchronous generator, grid-connected inverter, and constant power load. Then, the impact of different renewable energy generation ratios, different direct current (DC) voltage loops, and phase-locked loop control bandwidths of the grid-connected inverter on microgrid stability were analyzed. The results indicate that an increase in the renewable energy generation ratio leads to a decrease in the stability margin of the microgrid. A microgrid stability improvement method involving the parallel connection of a virtual resistor with the grid-connected inverter was proposed. The resistance value of the virtual resistor was obtained through an adaptive algorithm. This method ensures the stable operation of the microgrid under different renewable energy generation ratios.

Improving the method for calculating carbon emissions from waste incineration: confirmed with carbon-14 testing of flue gas

An improved method was developed to calculate direct emissions from seven municipal solid waste incineration plants by adjusting the physical compositions of waste by invoking the proportion of co-incinerated waste and the bottom ash yield. The fossil carbon fractions of the waste components were determined by carbon-14 (14C) testing. Based on the improved method, direct emissions were in the range of 222–610 kg CO2-eq/t waste, corresponding to reductions of 3.4–221 kg CO2-eq/t waste compared with the method without waste composition adjustment. The 14C contents of the flue gas before and after gas cleaning were tested to validate the improved method, and indicated fossil CO2 emissions of 249–446 and 233–405 kg CO2-eq/t waste, respectively. The direct emissions obtained by the improved method were closer to the results of 14C testing, due to more accurate estimations of the actual waste composition. The method was further combined with a life cycle analysis of the waste incineration process, obtaining total carbon emissions in the range from –33.2 to 483 kg CO2-eq/t waste. The findings provide a new means of accurately calculating carbon emissions from waste incineration.Graphical

Joint Mixing Data Augmentation for Skeleton-based Action Recognition

Skeleton-based action recognition is beneficial for understanding human behavior in videos, and thus has received much attention in recent years as an important research area in action recognition. Current research focuses on designing more advanced algorithms to better extract spatio-temporal information from skeleton data. However, due to the small amount of data in the existing skeleton dataset and the lack of effective data augmentation methods, it is easy to lead to overfitting in model training. To address this challenge, we propose a mix-based data augmentation method, Joint Mixing Data Augmentation (JMDA), which can generally improve the effectiveness and robustness of various skeleton-based action recognition algorithms. In terms of spatial information, we introduce SpatialMix (SM), a method that projects the original 3D skeleton discrete information into a 2D space. Then, SM mixes the projected spatial information between two random samples during the training process to achieve the spatial-based mixing data augmentation. Concerning temporal information, we propose TemporalMix (TM). Leveraging the temporal continuity in skeleton data, we perform a temporal resize operation on the original skeleton data, and then merge two random samples during training to achieve the temporal-based mixed data augmentation. Additionally, we analyze the Feature Mismatch (FM) problem caused by introducing mix-based data augmentation into skeleton data. Then we propose a new data preprocessing method called Feature Alignment (FA) to effectively address this problem and improve model performance. Moreover, we propose a novel training pipeline, Joint Training Strategy (JTS), which combines multiple mix-based data augmentation methods for further improvement of model performance. Specifically, our proposed JMDA is plug-and-play and widely applicable to skeleton-based action recognition models. At the same time, the application of JMDA does not increase the model parameters and there is almost no additional training cost. We conduct extensive experiments on NTU RGB+D 60 and NTU RGB+D 120 datasets to demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed JMDA on several mainstream skeleton-based action recognition algorithms.

Telepharmacy and remote medication management: An empirical study from patients' perspectives.

Background: Telepharmacy has emerged as a vital tool in healthcare, allowing remote medication management, especially for patients in rural areas. Despite its growing adoption, there is limited empirical evidence on its effectiveness and patient experiences in diverse healthcare settings. Aim: This study aims to investigate telepharmacy and remote medication management through the lens of patients, shedding light on their attitudes, challenges, and preferences. Methods: A cross-sectional survey design is adopted in this study. Survey participants included outpatients aged above 18 years, accessing telepharmacy services from public hospitals in Saudi Arabia. The survey questionnaire focuses on evaluating patients' experiences and perspectives regarding telepharmacy services for remote medication management. Excluding incomplete responses resulted in a final sample of 403. Results: Participants reported positive experiences with telepharmacy, rating it moderately to very effective (Mean = 3.12-3.21) across various factors. Significant age-related differences were observed, with younger participants perceiving telepharmacy more favorably (P < 0.0001). Education levels did not significantly affect perceptions. Residential location also showed no significant impact. Patients suggested technical support and improved communication methods to enhance telepharmacy services. Implementing these suggestions increased patients' likelihood of future telepharmacy use. Conclusion: Telepharmacy, by utilizing telecommunication technology, offers a transformative approach to remote medication management, significantly improving patient care across various healthcare environments.

Nanostructured poplar wood via delignification and ammonium dihydrogen phosphate-SiO2 modification towards remarkable flame retardant performance: Synergistic effect and enhanced mechanism

Developing efficient methods to prepare high-performance flame retardant and smoke suppression wood is crucial for the application. Herein, nanostructured poplar wood (DWI-4) with remarkable flame retardant and smoke suppression performance was fabricated by impregnating ammonium dihydrogen phosphate (ADP) and nano-silica (SiO2) into delignified wood (DW-4). With the delignification treatment, lignin was partially removed, and numerous pores and cracks were developed on the cell wall of wood, allowing more ADP-SiO2 particles to be impregnated into wood. As a result, ADP-SiO2 particle was not only anchored in the lumens (pores) of wood, but also was penetrated and embedded into the cell wall, achieving the synergistic modification of the lumen and cell wall of wood. As anticipated, the produced DWI-4 featured outstanding flame retardant and smoke suppression performance. The peak heat release rate (pHRR) of DWI-4 was as low as 38.2 kW m−2, which was only 8 % of that of natural wood (NW). And the total heat release (THR) and total smoke production (TSP) demonstrated reductions of 73.9 % and 64.4 % comparing to NW. Moreover, the compressive strength of DWI-4 increased by 31.4 % comparing to NW. The structure of residual char of DWI-4 was more stable and the gas intensity produced by the combustion of DWI-4 decreased remarkably. Therefore, the synergy of delignification and ADP-SiO2 impregnation significantly enhanced the flame retardant and smoke suppression performance of wood and the enhanced mechanism was revealed. The nanostructured poplar wood with excellent flame retardant and smoke suppression performance was prepared, providing an effective method for the functional improvement of wood and expanding the fields of application.

Enhancement of Water Productivity and Energy Efficiency in Sorption-based Atmospheric Water Harvesting Systems: From Material, Component to System Level.

To address the increasingly serious water scarcity across the world, sorption-based atmospheric water harvesting (SAWH) continues to attract attention among various water production methods, due to it being less dependent on climatic and geographical conditions. Water productivity and energy efficiency are the two most important evaluation indicators. Therefore, this review aims to comprehensively and systematically summarize and discuss the water productivity and energy efficiency enhancement methods for SAWH systems based on three levels, from material to component to system. First, the material level covers the characteristics, categories, and mechanisms of different sorbents. Second, the component level focuses on the sorbent bed, regeneration energy, and condenser. Third, the system level encompasses the system design, operation, and synergetic effect generation with other mechanisms. Specifically, the key and promising improvement methods are: synthesizing composite sorbents with high water uptake, fast sorption kinetics, and low regeneration energy (material level); improving thermal insulation between the sorbent bed and condenser, utilizing renewable energy or electrical heating for desorption and multistage design (component level); achieving continuous system operation with a desired number of sorbent beds or rotational structure, and integrating with Peltier cooling or passive radiative cooling technologies (system level). In addition, applications and challenges of SAWH systems are explored, followed by potential outlooks and future perspectives. Overall, it is expected that this review article can provide promising directions and guidelines for the design and operation of SAWH systems with the aim of achieving high water productivity and energy efficiency.

Overview of the Balanced Suspension Patents

Background: The suspension has the role of transmitting and carrying the forces and moments between the wheels and the frame and controlling the wheel runout, thus providing the car with good comfort and operational stability. Objective: Through the analysis of the current situation of suspension research, we summarize the research line and specific technical solutions of suspension, and finally, we provide an outlook on the future development direction of suspension, which in turn can provide some reference value for readers. Methods: The existing suspensions are classified into passive suspensions, semi-active suspensions, and active suspensions, and their improvement methods are described to compare the advantages and disadvantages of different improvement methods. Results: By comparing the results of suspension studies, semi-active suspension can effectively improve the smoothness and handling stability of the vehicle. Semi-active suspension has the advantages of low energy consumption, simple control, lower cost, easy implementation, and high reliability, while the effect of vibration control can be close to active suspension to some extent and far better than passive suspension. Conclusion: This paper introduces passive suspension, semi-active suspension, and active suspension in three categories and describes the working principle, functions, problem-solving advantages, and shortcomings of the three suspensions, respectively. Semi-active suspension is more suitable for the future development trend of suspension.

Swelling problems in immobilized filler: an improvement method and comparative study of the effect of different fillers on biotrickling filters.

Immobilized fillers have been increasingly utilized in biotrickling filters (BTFs) due to their positive impact on shock load resistance and recovery performance. However, due to the inherent characteristics of its immobilized carrier, the immobilized filler is prone to swelling during the long-term operation of the system, resulting in increased pressure drop. Polyurethane (PU) sponge was used as the cross-linked skeleton of immobilized filler and compared with direct emulsified cross-linked immobilized filler for treating ethylbenzene gas. In the early stage, both fillers can maintain good performance despite changes in the inlet concentration and short-term stagnation. However, on the 107th day of operation, the immobilized filler experienced swelling, and the pressure drop sharply increased to 137.2 Pa, while the PU immobilized filler was still able to maintain a low-pressure drop level. The results of the microbial diversity analysis revealed that the microbial community structure of PU immobilized fillers remained relatively stable when responding to the fluctuations in operating conditions. PU sponges as the skeleton can effectively prolong the service life of the immobilized filler and improve the performance of the biotrickling filter.

Vibration optimization methods of dredger engine room

Abstract Due to the large number and heavy weight of equipment, as well as the high center of gravity in the cabin area of dredgers, the concentrated arrangement of equipment is prone to local vibration problems in the cabin area. Additionally, there are many devices that need to be placed under the deck in the cabin area, which imposes significant constraints on the placement of supports. Using the finite element method to analyze the vibration problem of a certain dredger, we studied the influence of different equipment arrangements and structural reinforcement methods on vibration. This allowed us to summarize the characteristics of vibration under different improvement methods, providing feasible solutions for improving the vibration problem in the cabin area of dredgers. After adjusting the equipment layout and reinforcing local structures, the vibration in the dredger’s cabin area ultimately meets the design requirements satisfactorily.

GWO-ANFIS-RD3PG: A reinforcement learning approach with dynamic adjustment and dual replay mechanism for building energy forecasting

Reliable prediction of building energy consumption is essential for effective and sustainable energy management. Traditional forecasting methods, however, face challenges when dealing with sudden changes in energy consumption. To address the above-mentioned issue, we introduce the GWO-ANFIS-RD3PG prediction model in this paper. This model aims to ensure global forecasting accuracy while minimizing prediction errors at sudden change points. A Grey Wolf Optimization (GWO) algorithm with the Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) is proposed to predict the energy consumption type and its fluctuation magnitude for the next time step. Within the Recurrent Dual Experience Replay Buffer DDPG (RD3PG) prediction module, we employ Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM), as the actor network in the Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient (DDPG), to account for long-term dependencies in time series data. Notably, we introduce an adaptive action modification mechanism that allows the agent to optimize actions based on the output of the aforementioned ANFIS, enabling real-time adjustments during sudden change. To further enhance the model’s performance, we adopt a dual experience replay mechanism to store data samples from sudden change points, capturing insight information during these anomalies. Experimental results on two real-world datasets demonstrate that this method reduces MAE by 5.81% and 13.47%, and RMSE by 5.69% and 15.21% compared to the state-of-art models, showing the significance of the proposed method for energy efficiency improvement in real-world building operations.

Start-up investigation and heat transfer enhancement analysis of a loop thermosyphon with biomimetic honeycomb-channel evaporator

Loop thermosyphon has the ability of heat transfer without external energy input, which has good application potential in many areas. Biomimetic flow channel is an effective way for heat transfer enhancement and resistance optimization, therefore it is a promising method to improve the performance of loop thermosyphon. While currently few studies have been conducted in this field. In this paper, the start-up stages, flow patterns and heat transfer performance of a loop thermosyphon with biomimetic honeycomb-channel evaporator are experimentally investigated, and compared with a loop thermosyphon with parallel-flow evaporator. The results show that the start-up of can be divided into three stages: stage dominated by heat conduction, stage dominated by boiling and stage transited to stable operation; For the steady-state performance, the heating power of the optimal point with the lowest thermal resistance increases from 90 W to 150 W with the increase of the filling ratio from 50% to 70%; Compared to loop thermosyphon with parallel-flow evaporator, loop thermosyphon with biomimetic honeycomb evaporator has lower thermal resistance. The decline of thermal resistance is 4.1%-21.6%, and is more significant under small heating power. This paper provides a simple and affordable method for heat transfer improvement of loop thermosyphon.

Minimal Clinically Important Differences in the Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaires in Patients with Head and Neck Cancer

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to determine the magnitude of change that is clinically meaningful in the EORTC QLQ-C30 and EORTC QLQ-HN35 instruments in head and neck cancer patients. Methods: Two hundred and twenty-two patients completed the EORTC QLQ-C30 and EORTC QLQ-HN35 at baseline and follow-up one to two months later. Minimal clinically important differences (MCIDs) were calculated through anchor- and distribution-based methods for improvement and deterioration. Karnofsky Performance status (KPS) was used as the anchor to determine meaningful change. Results: In the group of patients who deteriorated, more scales and symptoms demonstrated statistically significant meaningful change. EORTC QLQ-C30 meaningful change values for deterioration with KPS anchor ranged from 7.2 (physical functioning) to 16.7 units (Global Health Status), and for improvement ranged from 10.0 (role functioning) to 16.7 units (Global Health Status). Conclusions: We report—for the first time, to the best of our knowledge—MCID for EORTC QLQ-C30 and QLQ-HN35 in head and neck cancer patients. Knowledge of meaningful change in these questionnaires allows physicians to assess patient change over time, along with evaluating the impact of treatment on quality of life.

A Novel Sensitivity Improvement Method for the Electromagnetic Micro-Debris Detector Using Nanocrystalline Iron Cores

A Novel Sensitivity Improvement Method for the Electromagnetic Micro-Debris Detector Using Nanocrystalline Iron Cores

IMPROVING METHODS FOR DEVELOPING HEALTHY THINKING

This article discusses the essence of the concept of healthy thinking, methods for improving healthy thinking, principles, directions of healthy thinking, and individual characteristics of thinking.

RUDIE: Robust approach for underwater digital image enhancement

Processing underwater digital images is critical in ocean engineering, biology, and environmental studies, focusing on challenges such as poor lighting, image de-scattering, and color restoration. Due to environmental conditions on the sea floor, improving image contrast and clarity is essential for underwater navigation and obstacle avoidance. Particularly in turbid, low-visibility waters, we require robust computer vision techniques and algorithms. Over the past decade, various models for underwater image enrichment have been proposed to address quality and visibility issues under dynamic and natural lighting conditions. This research article aims to evaluate various image improvement methods and propose a robust model that improves image quality, addresses turbidity, and enhances color, ultimately improving obstacle avoidance in autonomous systems. The proposed model demonstrates high accuracy compared to traditional models. The result analysis indicates the proposed model produces images with greatly improved visibility and exceptional color accuracy. Furthermore, research can unlock new possibilities for underwater exploration, monitoring, and intervention by advancing the state-of-the-art models in this domain.

Self-powered wireless sensing system with cylindrical high voltage side electric field energy harvesting by discharge circuit

To warn of overcurrent heating, temperature wireless sensor node (WSN) need to be deployed on the overhead lines of the power grid. The sustainable power supply of WSN is difficult. Using the electric field energy around the transmission line to power the sensor has the advantages of stability, reliability and sustainability, but the electric field energy harvesting (EFEH) power need to be improved. This paper studies the principle of energy harvesting by displacement current and discharge method, and analyzes the influencing factors of the output power of the EFEH unit. The power improvement method of the EFEH unit is proposed by improving the coupling capacitor and the energy storage capacity discharge voltage. The relationship between the structural parameters of energy cylinder and induced potential and coupling capacitance is explored by COMSOL simulation software. A low-cost, self-driven and adjustable high voltage undervoltage lock (UVLO) circuit is proposed. A 10kV high voltage generation platform is built in the laboratory, and the wireless temperature and humidity sensor is self-powered by the EFEH with power of 2.04mW. This research has important theoretical and application value for the high voltage side EFEH powered WSN.