Innovative Design Strategies Research Articles

Analysis of the Design and Application of a Novel CT Secondary Cable Line Calibrator

With the rapid development of electrical power systems, ensuring the accuracy and reliability of power transmission has become particularly crucial. The secondary cable line calibrator for current transformers (CT) plays an essential role in calibrating electrical power systems. It is not only related to the safe operation of the system but also directly impacts the accuracy of energy metering. This study aims to design and analyze an efficient CT secondary cable line calibrator to explore its application effects in the power system. By thoroughly analyzing the characteristics of CT secondary cable lines and the design requirements of the calibrator, this paper proposes an innovative design scheme for the calibrator. This device demonstrates significant effects in enhancing the accuracy and stability of power system calibration, providing robust technical support for the optimization and upgrade of the power system. This research not only offers a theoretical basis and practical guidance for the design and application of CT secondary cable line calibrators but also contributes new ideas and methods for the precise calibration and efficient management of the power system.

Optimizing Energy Efficiency in Indian Buildings: A Comprehensive Analysis of Current Norms and Proposed Guidelines for Strategic Placement and Orientation

The concept of energy-efficient buildings is increasingly critical in today's world, where energy conservation and environmental sustainability are paramount. Energy-efficient buildings are designed to minimize the use of energy for heating, cooling, lighting, and other operations without compromising on comfort or utility. This approach not only helps in reducing the overall energy demand but also contributes significantly to mitigating climate change by lowering carbon emissions. This research focuses on optimizing energy efficiency in residential buildings, recognizing the crucial role of the residential sector in overall energy consumption. The study investigates innovative approaches, technologies, and design strategies to enhance energy performance while ensuring occupant comfort and cost-effectiveness. Key Word: Energy efficient, Glazing system, Solar radiation, Energy consumption, Green practice.

Adaptive Architecture and Infection Prevention in Hospitals

In healthcare facility design, especially in hospitals, infection control is paramount due to the vulnerability of patients to nosocomial or healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). Despite advancements in medical practices and infection control measures, HAIs remain a significant challenge to patient safety and public health, particularly within hospital settings. Integrating adaptive architecture principles into hospital design and infrastructure presents a promising approach to addressing this issue. This paper examines the intersection of adaptive architecture and infection prevention in hospitals, with a focus on designing and constructing healthcare facilities to effectively curb the spread of infections. By incorporating adaptive architecture, hospitals can create environments that are responsive to the dynamic needs of patients, staff, and infection control protocols. Design elements such as flexible room layouts, easily adaptable ventilation systems, and antimicrobial surfaces can help minimize the risk of HAIs by reducing pathogen transmission and promoting cleanliness. Additionally, strategic placement of hand hygiene stations, isolation rooms, and patient flow pathways can optimize infection control practices and enhance patient safety. Strategically locating hand hygiene stations, isolation rooms, and patient flow pathways optimizes infection control practices and improves patient safety. By combining innovative design strategies and advanced technology, hospitals can better combat HAIs, fostering safer environments for patients and healthcare staff. This paper investigates how the collaboration of adaptive architecture and infection prevention can yield more robust and efficient healthcare facilities in the fight against HAIs. Keywords - HAIs, Adaptive Architecture, Infection, adaptable ventilation, flexible layouts, antimicrobial surfaces.

Recent Design Strategies for M‐N‐C Single‐Atom Catalysts in Oxygen Reduction: An Entropy Increase Perspective

AbstractRecently, a diverse array of novel metal‐nitrogen‐carbon (M‐N‐C) single‐atom catalysts (SACs) have rapidly evolve, particularly in the realm of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Despite the plethora of proposed design and improvement strategies for SACs, a comprehensive review systematically compiling the components in M‐N‐C from a unified perspective is notably absent. For the first time, a thorough examination of each component in M‐N‐C is conducted, focusing on the perspective of entropy increase in the active sites of SACs. For the single M‐N4 sites and the whole M‐N‐C system, an increase in entropy implies an elevated degree of disorder and chaos. Broadly, the entropy‐increasing modification of M (single mental sites) and guest groups entails an augmentation of chaos, with the most effective co‐catalytic synergy achieved by establishing multiple active sites through a “cocktail effect”. Concerning N (nitrogen and other heteroatoms) and C (carbon supports), the entropy increase modification induces heightened disorder, with symmetry breaking more likely to drive M‐N4 toward adsorbing oxygen molecules to attain an equilibrium symmetric structure. All these innovative design strategies have led to a remarkable improvement in the ORR activity and stability and offer a guiding criterion for the future preparation of SACs.

In-situ mechanical and microstructural characterization of miniaturized Al-Mg-Sc-Zr and AlSi10Mg specimens processed by laser powder-bed fusion (PBF-LB)

Manufacturing through powder-bed fusion laser-beam (PBF-LB) enables innovative part design strategies, facilitating weight reduction, and capitalizing on the metallurgical conditions developed during the manufacturing of designed alloys. Consequently, Al-based light alloys hold enormous potential for reducing fuel consumption in the transport industry. Fabricating such small features has a significant impact on heat dissipation, thereby affecting microstructure, porosity, and, consequently, mechanical properties. This study proposes the use of near-net shape miniaturized tensile specimens in both horizontal and vertical orientations to characterize Al-Mg-Sc-Zr, commercially known as Scalmalloy®, and AlSi10Mg, two aluminum alloys typically employed in PBF-LB. The size and distribution of both grains and pores were analyzed and compared, with Al-Mg-Sc-Zr exhibiting a more competitive set of properties compared to AlSi10Mg. This difference also influences mechanical properties. Al-Mg-Sc-Zr demonstrated double the Ultimate Tensile Strength (UTS) of AlSi10Mg (450 MPa versus 225 MPa) and higher hardness values (142 HV30 versus 75 HV30), with similar elongation in both alloys (approximately 12–16%), owing to its fine microstructure and low porosity of the near-net shape miniaturized tensile specimens. Neither material exhibited any form of anisotropy. In-situ SEM tensile tests were conducted to monitor damage evolution, allowing continuous observation of crack nucleation and propagation through imperfections typically encountered in PBF-LB. Despite differences in static strength, the fracture surfaces of the samples displayed a ductile behavior in both materials.

학습자 중심의 교육을 위한 하이브리드 강의설계 전략

Objectives The purpose of this study is to examine a hybrid lecture design strategy that selects and combines various teaching methods to enable learner or student-centered education among the various methods being applied to university classes as part of innovative teaching methods.
 Methods This case study analyzes the ‘hybrid innovative lecture design strategy of teaching method’ using the E (Empathy) - D (Design) - I (Implement), 3-Tier stage model and seeks to discover the teaching capabilities required for it. For this purpose, a hybrid lecture design was designed by this researcher, and the subjects of the Division of International Trade in the College of Commerce & Public Affairs at Incheon National University, ‘International Marketing (opened in the second semester of 2022, English course, 57 students in total)’ and ‘Global Korean Wave and Business Strategy for Entertainment’ (Opened in the first semester of 2023, 66 students in total)” was examined. Both subjects were designed to cover learners’ diverse learning backgrounds (nationality, age, grade, gender, major, basic learning orientation and background level, and learning behavior). As a result of the hybrid lecture, learners' class satisfaction scores were 4.853/5 and 5/5, respectively, and both subjects were selected as excellent lectures in the major subjects at Incheon National University.
 Results As a result of the research analysis, it can be seen that a strategy of combining various teaching methods ranging from PBL (Problem/Project-Based Learning), MBL (Media-Based Learning), Flipped Learning, Teamwork, Action Learning, Design Thinking, Capstone Design, leadership, communication, career planning feedback, and career development guidance was used depending on the learning progress. Through it, this study examines how a diverse range of teaching competencies and students’ essential core competencies could be matched with teaching methods.
 Conclusions This case study examines a hybrid lecture design that combines various teaching methods to achieve learner-centered education (student agency) and the resulting teaching capabilities. Hybrid strategies for lecture design play a pivotal role in reflecting the needs of learners and the changed educational environment in changing learner attitudes from passive and mechanical to active, creative, proactive, and constructive ones.

Design and development of speckle-free high-power laser-driven phosphor converted compact automotive headlamp module

The applicability of diode-lasers in automobile headlights is an advanced innovation for the automobile illumination industry due to the extraordinary properties of laser light over conventional light sources, such as high brightness, wide colour gamut, high directionality, low energy consumptions and long lifetime. Lasers are highly coherent in nature, so they encounter the problem of unwanted speckles and spurious fringes and always require a high level of opto-thermal engineering along with speckle reduction mechanisms for high lumen laser applications. Targeting such challenges, in this paper, we report an innovative design and development scheme for a high lumen laser-based automotive headlamp module. The headlamp prototype comprises a set of four cylindrical diffusers which distribute the high energy laser radiation via scattering along the length of the diffusers within a metallic mirro-based pyramidal cavity reflector. The scattered laser light from cylindrical diffusers interacts with a remote phosphor layer that prevents phosphor–resin burning. The pyramidal cavity reflector plays an important role in making the laser light uniform and speckle-free, via spatial and angular diversity, as light exits from the cavity after multiple internal reflections. This reflector redirects the highly concentrated white light over a long range without using any projection lens. The design and performance of the headlight system was studied using TracePro simulation software and tested experimentally in a photometric laboratory. The International Commission on Illumination (CIE) coordinates of the light generated by the headlamp was (0.3947, 0.4908) and the correlated colour temperature was 4240 K, which represents warm white light illumination.

Molecular Deformation Is a Key Factor in Screening Aggregation Inhibitor for Intrinsically Disordered Protein Tau.

Direct inhibitor of tau aggregation has been extensively studied as potential therapeutic agents for Alzheimer's disease. However, the natively unfolded structure of tau complicates the structure-based ligand design, and the relatively large surface areas that mediate tau-tau interactions in aggregation limit the potential for identifying high-affinity ligand binding sites. Herein, a group of isatin-pyrrolidinylpyridine derivative isomers (IPP1-IPP4) were designed and synthesized. They are like different forms of molecular "transformers". These isatin isomers exhibit different inhibitory effects on tau self-aggregation or even possess a depolymerizing effect. Our results revealed for the first time that the direct inhibitor of tau protein aggregation is not only determined by the previously reported conjugated structure, substituent, hydrogen bond donor, etc. but also depends more importantly on the molecular shape. In combination with molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations, a new inhibition mechanism was proposed: like a "molecular clip", IPP1 could noncovalently bind and fix a tau polypeptide chain at a multipoint to prevent the transition from the "natively unfolded conformation" to the "aggregation competent conformation" before nucleation. At the cellular and animal levels, the effectiveness of the inhibitor of the IPP1 has been confirmed, providing an innovative design strategy as well as a lead compound for Alzheimer's disease drug development.

Construction of intramolecular and interfacial built-in electric field in a donor-acceptor conjugated polymers-based S-scheme heterojunction for high photocatalytic H2 generation

Engineering a robust built-in electric field (IEF) is favorable for boosting carrier separation and achieving high photocatalytic performance. Herein, we developed a donor-acceptor conjugated polymer-based S-scheme heterojunction, utilizing both intramolecular and interfacial IEF to enhance carrier separation and achieve superior photocatalytic performance. Specifically, the intramolecular IEF was established by introducing 1,6-dibromopyrene into carbon nitride (CN) to form 1,6-dibromopyrene grafted CN (CNPy). Concurrently, the S-scheme heterojunction was formed by coupling CNPy with CdSe nanoparticles to create an interfacial IEF. Experimental findings demonstrated that the combined effect of intramolecular and interfacial IEF within the CdSe/CNPy heterojunction significantly improved the carrier separation and retained strong redox capacity. Benefiting from these advantages, the optimized composite, 100%CdSe/CNPy-0.2, showed the highest H2 generation rate of 1.16 mmol·g−1·h−1, surpassing those of pure CNPy-0.2, CdSe and 100%CdSe/CN by 58, 2.2 and 2.32 times, respectively. This study introduces an innovative design strategy for IEF-regulated conjugated polymer-based materials, paving the way for efficient solar-to-chemical energy conversion.

From High Discipline Referrals to High-Engagement Classrooms: A Design-Based Approach to Creating a Campus-Wide Culture of Positive Learning Support for At-Risk Student Populations through Transforming Educators’ Instructional Teaming Practices

Instructional leaders in many school districts throughout the United States are increasingly confronted with spiraling numbers of discipline referrals from teachers who are unable to manage the off-task behaviors and discipline infractions of the growing percentages of diverse, academically at-risk students populating their classrooms. Many of these at-risk students, who come from families that are economically disadvantaged and have culturally rich and linguistically diverse backgrounds, have become stigmatized and minoritized by an education system whose curricula are often woefully inadequate in being able to meet the unique social and academic support needs of these diverse learners. This article profiles how one high school principal and his instructional turnaround leadership task force colleagues working in a high diversity urban school district utilized multi-leveled data analysis investigative thinking and innovative professional learning program design strategies derived from the education improvement science literature to implement a comprehensive intervention program for ninth through twelfth grade teams of core content teachers and their instructional supervisors. The specific goals of the intervention program were to: 1) change educators’ entrenched pedagogical thinking and instructional planning mindsets regarding the motivation levels and learning capabilities of the high discipline referral students who regularly engage in off-task disruptive behaviors in their classrooms; and 2) transform teachers’ instructional data teaming practices to better serve the academic learning support needs of the campus’s minoritized students. The design-based approach to instructional improvement employed in the high school case study leveraged the use of multiple cycles of new knowledge and skills acquisition, critical self-reflection, and immersive professional learning to assist educators in exploring how to engage together in authentic data teaming and data analysis–informed differentiated instructional planning to craft high-engagement classroom learning environments and interactive instructional units to effectively address the academic development and support needs of the campus’s diverse, at-risk learners.

A Review of Innovative Design Strategies for Prefabricated Green Buildings

Prefabricated green buildings are becoming a trend in the construction industry of China. The prefabricated components are made using modern technologies like green materials, artificial intelligence, and low-carbon and energysaving techniques. This makes them an important aspect of the development of the construction industry in China, representing modernization and sustainable development. This article presents a study on the innovative design of prefabricated green buildings. This article serves to promote sustainable development on a macro level.

Evaluating airflow dynamics in common vertical circulation spaces of a multi-floor apartment building for mitigating airborne infection risks: A CFD modeling study

As more people increasingly inhabit indoor spaces, the importance of interior environment design has grown significantly. The focus of this research is to assess the air flow and air change per hour (ACH) within common service vertical circulation spaces in apartment buildings, emphasizing the potential role of these spaces in mitigating airborne infections. The intricate relationships between the design parameters of these spaces and variables related to air circulation are examined. To achieve this goal, the investigation employed a simulation-based approach, utilizing computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis to scrutinize the prevalent design of common vertical circulation spaces. The simulation outcomes unequivocally reveal that the design of these spaces has a direct impact on air circulation patterns, often influencing suboptimal conditions. Armed with these insights, this research advocates for a reevaluation of design considerations of common service vertical circulation in forthcoming housing projects. Furthermore, this research proposes innovative design solutions and strategies aimed at enhancing natural ventilation and overall air flow within common service vertical circulation spaces while evaluating their performance.

Multiscale Micro‐Nano Hierarchical Porous Germanium with Self‐Adaptive Stress Dispersion for Highly Robust Lithium‐Ion Batteries Anode

AbstractThe manipulation of stress in high‐capacity microscale alloying anode materials, which undergo significant volumetric variation during cycling, is crucial prerequisite for improved their cycling capability. In this work, an innovative structural design strategy is proposed for scalable fabrication of a unique 3D highly porous micro structured germanium (Ge) featuring micro‐nano hierarchical architecture as viable anode for high‐performance lithium‐ion batteries (LIBs). The resultant micro‐sized Ge, consisting of interconnected nanoligaments and bicontinuous nanopores, is endowed with high activity, decreased Li+ diffusion distance and alleviated volume variation, appealing as an ideal platform for in‐depth understanding the relationship between structural design and stress evolution. Such a micro‐sized Ge being highly porous delivers a record high initial Coulombic efficiency of 92.5%, large volumetric capacity of 2,421 mAh cm−3 at 1.2 mA cm−2, exceptional rate capability (805.6 mAh g−1 at 10 Ag−1) and cycling stability (over 90% capacity retention after 1000 cycles even at 5 A g−1), largely outperforming the reported Ge‐based anodes for LIBs. Furthermore, its underlying Li storage mechanism and stress dispersion behavior are explicitly revealed by combined substantial in situ/ex situ experimental characterizations and theoretical computation. This work provides novel insights into the rational design of high‐performance and durable alloying anodes toward high‐energy LIBs.

Infectious Diseases Training in the 21st Century: A Glass Half Full or Half Empty?

The percentage of infectious diseases (ID) fellowship positions filled has declined in the last years despite a relatively stable number of applicants. The data are concerning since this could impact an already strained workforce. A recent survey of ID fellowship program directors provides insight into the perceptions of program directors about factors that might have affected the match rate in 2023 and could also be applicable to the recent 2024 match. Here, we discuss the results of this survey and discuss the complex factors that might influence the choice of ID as an specialty. Although concerning, recent fellowship match results provide new opportunities to reassess current models of ID training and design innovative strategies for ID fellowship and education.

Innovative strategy for controlling resonant frequencies of syntactic polymer foams regulating by hollow microspheres

This study aims to precisely control the resonant frequency of synthetic composite foam materials with fixed dimensions. By incorporating rigid hollow glass microspheres XLD3000(XLD) and flexible hollow polymer microspheres MFL-81GCA(MFL) into the base resin (EP), we prepared synthetic composite foams containing different volume fractions of hollow microspheres (EP-XLD and EP-MFL). We conducted tests and analyses on the density, mechanical properties, resonant frequency, and microstructure of the EP-XLD and EP-MFL systems. Results indicate that as the volume fraction of hollow microspheres increases, the flexural specific modulus of the EP-XLD and EP-MFL systems, respectively, exhibits a linear increase and decrease, and the resonant frequency shifts linearly towards higher and lower frequencies. This trend aligns with theoretical predictions, affirming that the material’s resonant frequency is closely related to its flexural modulus. This research not only deepens the understanding of the control mechanisms for the resonant frequency of synthetic composite foams but also proposes an innovative material design strategy with broad application potential, particularly in the fields of acoustics, damping, and structural materials, where it promises to significantly enhance material performance and meet specific engineering needs.

N,S,O triply-doped carbon with nanotubes-interwoven nanosheets encapsulated Co nanoparticles for robust antibiotic destruction via activating peroxymonosulfate

The development of facile and effective approaches to regulate the stability and reusability of metallic Co catalytic materials towards peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation for remediating antibiotic pollutants remains challenging. In this study, we develop a one-step pyrolysis strategy to fabricate three-dimensional porous architecture assembled with N,S,O-codoped carbon nanotube-interwoven hierarchically porous carbon nanosheets encapsulated Co nanoparticles (Co@NSOC), which serve as chainmail catalysts for stable and reusable degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH) through PMS activation. The optimal Co@NSOC-700-activated PMS system presents an excellent removal efficiency of 94.1 % for TCH within 10 min and a high cycling efficiency of 92.9 % after eight cycles. The encapsulated structure, abundant catalytic sites, superior hydrophilicity and strong magnetism contribute to the high performance. Further investigation demonstrates that both radical and nonradical pathways contribute to the TCH destruction, and 1O2 is verified as the dominant reactive substance. The possible degradation pathways and the toxicity of intermediates for TCH are evaluated. This work offers an innovative structure design and surface modulation strategy to fabricate robust catalysts towards environmental remediation.

Installation Technique and Numerical Simulation of Stress on High-Pile Footings During the Translation of Offshore Booster Stations

The foundation of the offshore substation mainly adopts the structure of a conductor support frame, and the installation of the upper blocks of the offshore substation mainly employs a lifting vessel for hoisting. The “Zhegen Sha 300 MW Offshore Wind Power Project” adopts a high-pile cap foundation for the offshore substation, making use of a translational installation method for the upper blocks. The innovative foundation design and installation scheme together form the basis of this project, which is explored in detail in this paper. Numerical simulations examining the bearing performance of the high-pile cap foundation during the translational process of the upper blocks are also performed, allowing finer insights into the design and construction of offshore wind power projects.

Three-dimensional dual-layered conductive binder enables stable and high performance of SiOx/C anodes

Among practical anode materials for next-generation lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), SiOx has garnered substantial attention owing to its relatively low volumetric variation and high theoretical capacity. Nevertheless, the volumetric change of micro-SiOx remains a formidable challenge for existing adhesives. Here, we propose an innovative design strategy that amalgamates both rigidity and flexibility, in which rigid anion gum Arabic (GA), flexible acrylic random copolymer (ARC), and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) interwoven into a 3D network with strong interfacial adhesion and excellent mechanical properties. These attributes effectively restrict SiOx particles and favor a stable solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) layer formed on SiOx. Here, GA plays a pivotal role in dispersing CNTs and maintaining their consistent proximity to SiOx, thereby establishing stable electron conduction networks. The SiOx electrode still sustains a specific capacity of 760 mAh g−1 after 350 cycles under a high current of 1C. Additionally, at 0.2C, the SiOx electrode attains a notably high capacity of 1105 mAh g−1 with a capacity retention of 72.9 % at the 300th cycle, while exhibiting an excellent areal capacity of 1.4 mAh cm−2 even after 400 cycles. This work develops a straightforward yet highly efficacious approach for fabricating high areal capacity electrodes and offers promising prospects for improving the stableness of Si-based anodes.

Microarchitected Compliant Scaffolds of Pyrolytic Carbon for 3D Muscle Cell Growth.

The integration of additive manufacturing technologies with the pyrolysis of polymeric precursors enables the design-controlled fabrication of architected 3D pyrolytic carbon (PyC) structures with complex architectural details. Despite great promise, their use in cellular interaction remains unexplored. This study pioneers the utilization of microarchitected 3D PyC structures as biocompatible scaffolds for the colonization of muscle cells in a 3D environment. PyC scaffolds are fabricated using micro-stereolithography, followed by pyrolysis. Furthermore, an innovative design strategy using revolute joints is employed to obtain novel, compliant structures of architected PyC. The pyrolysis process results in a pyrolysis temperature- and design-geometry-dependent shrinkage of up to 73%, enabling the geometrical features of microarchitected compatible with skeletal muscle cells. The stiffness of architected PyC varies with the pyrolysis temperature, with the highest value of 29.57±0.78GPa for 900°C. The PyC scaffolds exhibit excellent biocompatibility and yield 3D cell colonization while culturing skeletal muscle C2C12 cells. They further induce good actin fiber alignment along the compliant PyC construction. However, no conclusive myogenic differentiation is observed here. Nevertheless, these results are highly promising for architected PyC scaffolds as multifunctional tissue implants and encourage more investigations in employing compliant architected PyC structures for high-performance tissue engineeringapplications.

Hesitancy among Iranian nursing students regarding future career trajectory: a qualitative analysis

BackgroundThe shortage of skilled nurses is a major concern for health systems worldwide. This may be partly due to the hesitancy of some nurses to enter or remain in the nursing career. This shortage consequently reduces the quality of standard patient care, increases patients’ length of stay in a hospital, increases medical costs, and results in patients’ dissatisfaction. This study aimed to explore hesitancy among senior undergraduate nursing students to pursue a career in nursing.MethodsThis qualitative study adopted a thematic analysis approach. The population comprised senior undergraduate nursing students at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Iran, who indicated that they were hesitant to pursue a career in nursing. The study sampling was performed from May 2021 till February 2022 and continued until data saturation. Twenty-four interviews were conducted with the selected students. The attributes related to hesitancy among senior undergraduate nursing students to pursue a career in nursing were extracted as themes and sub-themes.ResultsFour themes were identified: academic idiosyncrasies, individual characteristics, poor nursing market regulations (sub-themes: nursing as a tough and intense career, and unfavorable employment contracts), and the peculiarities of the workplace (sub-themes: conflict within work environment, and barriers to professional nursing practice).ConclusionsThe findings of this study showed that senior undergraduate nursing students weigh their future career options from various academic, personal, professional, and work environment dimensions. The findings provide new insights for decision makers to design and implement innovative strategies to promote retention in nursing careers. We recommend to provide academic counseling for all students and applicants of nursing before they enter the nursing education. Furthermore, we suggest to improve study and work environments, and to implement incentive programs to enhance enthusiasm of nursing students for pursuing a nursing career.