This paper presents an integrated monitoring system for the driver and the vehicle in a single case of study easy to configure and replicate. On-board vehicle sensors and remote sensors are combined ...to model algorithms for estimating polluting emissions, fuel consumption, driving style and driver's health. The main contribution of this paper is the analysis of interactions among the above monitored features highlighting the influence of the driver in the vehicle performance and vice versa. This analysis was carried out experimentally using one vehicle with different drivers and routes and implemented on a mobile application. Compared to commercial driver and vehicle monitoring systems, this approach is not customized, uses classical sensor measurements, and is based on simple algorithms that have been already proven but not in an interactive environment with other algorithms. In the procedure design of this global vehicle and driver monitoring system, a principal component analysis was carried out to reduce the variables used in the training/testing algorithms with objective to decrease the transfer data via Bluetooth between the used devices: a biometric wristband, a smartphone and the vehicle's central computer. Experimental results show that the proposed vehicle and driver monitoring system predicts correctly the fuel consumption index in 84%, the polluting emissions 89%, and the driving style 89%. Indeed, interesting correlation results between the driver's heart condition and vehicular traffic have been found in this analysis.
At present, optimization algorithms are used extensively. One particular type of such algorithms includes random-based heuristic population optimization algorithms, which may be created by modeling ...scientific phenomena, like, for example, physical processes. The present article proposes a novel optimization algorithm based on Hooke’s law, called the spring search algorithm (SSA), which aims to solve single-objective constrained optimization problems. In the SSA, search agents are weights joined through springs, which, as Hooke’s law states, possess a force that corresponds to its length. The mathematics behind the algorithm are presented in the text. In order to test its functionality, it is executed on 38 established benchmark test functions and weighed against eight other optimization algorithms: a genetic algorithm (GA), a gravitational search algorithm (GSA), a grasshopper optimization algorithm (GOA), particle swarm optimization (PSO), teaching–learning-based optimization (TLBO), a grey wolf optimizer (GWO), a spotted hyena optimizer (SHO), as well as an emperor penguin optimizer (EPO). To test the SSA’s usability, it is employed on five engineering optimization problems. The SSA delivered better fitting results than the other algorithms in unimodal objective function, multimodal objective functions, CEC 2015, in addition to the optimization problems in engineering.
Twenty two carbon materials of different origins (e.g., graphite, graphene, carbon black, hydrochars, activated carbons, carbon nanotubes and nanofibers) and with varied physicochemical ...characteristics (e.g., electrical conductivity, structural order, surface functionalization, porosity) were investigated as cathodes in the electrochemical production of hydrogen peroxide. A screening of the electrocatalytic performance was carried out in 0.2 cm2 (inks casted on a glassy carbon) and 4 cm2 electrodes (Toray paper). The highest H2O2 production yields were obtained for carbon nanotubes and carbon nanofibers, outperforming common carbon benchmarks for this application -i.e., carbon black, carbon felt-. Furthermore, a good catalytic activity was obtained with low-cost and disordered carbon cathodes with moderate electrical conductivity and density of structural defects (e.g., nanoporous carbons), both in terms of overall production rate, selectivity and energy consumption. Data also revealed that the H2O2 production yield and the faradaic efficiency are closely related to the structural parameters of the carbon materials (i.e., density of structural defects), rather than to the electrical conductivity, composition or porous features. An AD/AG threshold value of 1.5 can be used to discriminate the electrocatalytic activity of carbon cathodes for the production of H2O2 through a 2e-ORR, in terms of high production rates and good faradaic efficiencies.
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Service Robots: Trends and Technology Gonzalez-Aguirre, Juan Angel; Osorio-Oliveros, Ricardo; Rodríguez-Hernández, Karen L. ...
Applied sciences,
11/2021, Letnik:
11, Številka:
22
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The 2021 sales volume in the market of service robots is attractive. Expert reports from the International Federation of Robotics confirm 27 billion USD in total market share. Moreover, the number of ...new startups with the denomination of service robots nowadays constitutes 29% of the total amount of robotic companies recorded in the United States. Those data, among other similar figures, remark the need for formal development in the service robots area, including knowledge transfer and literature reviews. Furthermore, the COVID-19 spread accelerated business units and some research groups to invest time and effort into the field of service robotics. Therefore, this research work intends to contribute to the formalization of service robots as an area of robotics, presenting a systematic review of scientific literature. First, a definition of service robots according to fundamental ontology is provided, followed by a detailed review covering technological applications; state-of-the-art, commercial technology; and application cases indexed on the consulted databases.
Microfluidic fuel cells that use microorganisms to oxidize different organic substances to generate electricity are gaining importance due to their versatility to use different fuels. Saccharomyces ...cerevisiae has used for various purposes due to its capacity to ferment broad spectrum of carbohydrates. In this research, the development of bioanodes based on the immobilization of this yeast was carried out to apply them in the evaluation of a paper lateral-flow microfluidic fuel cell. Immobilization was performed using two different supports, Vulcan carbon and graphene oxide, and four carbohydrates as fuel (saccharose, glucose, fructose, and maltose). The results indicated that the yeast is better distributed and reaches a higher capacity to oxidize carbohydrates when is immobilized on graphene oxide, this bioanode shows better performance in the microfluidic device, reaching a potential above 0.9V when saccharose are used as fuel, representing a promising approach to use microbial bioanodes in small energy conversion devices.
•Electrodes based on the Saccharomyces cerevisiae immobilization were used to make paper lateral-flow microfluidic fuel cells.•Immobilization was performed using Vulcan carbon (VC) and graphene oxide (GO) as supports.•Saccharose, glucose, fructose, and maltose were used as fuel in the microfluidic device.•The GO-based bioanode shows better performance, reaching a potential greater than 0.9V when saccharose is supplied.
Keeping bio‐alive in geography education Morales‐Ramirez, Carlos A.; Wang, Yi‐Chen
Area (London 1969),
March 2022, 2022-03-00, 20220301, Letnik:
54, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
With the rapid changes our planet is undergoing, biogeography plays a key role in addressing real‐world issues such as species distribution change. However, biogeography is a discipline lacking a ...strong presence in education. This paper examines various curricula from Asia, the United Kingdom, and United States to understand the current status of biogeography education. We found that while some biogeographic concepts, especially those around biodiversity, are included in some geography and biology curricula, there is not a strong focus on the discipline. Some individuals only find out about the discipline from their graduate studies. Our questionnaire survey conducted with students at a university in Singapore showed that only 25% of the students had some understanding of the discipline’s focus, and they associated the discipline with keywords of plants, animals, organisms, environment, biology, and geography. Even incorrect responses included similar words associating biogeography with ecosystems and the environment. Based on the results, we make some recommendations, including the addition of biogeography in school standards and the availability of education tools and resources for educators. It is imperative for researchers to make educational materials and training tools easily accessible.
This research investigates the state of biogeography in education through the analysis of several curricula and literature. It incorporates a knowledge‐based questionnaire provided to university‐level students to support the need for stronger connections of the discipline within education.
Background
The COVID-19 pandemic has become an important cause of morbimortality, and healthcare workers are at the highest risk of infection. As a result, policies and guidelines have been issued, ...and behavioral changes have been crucial in hospitals. Among these measures, the implementation of personal protective equipment (PPE) and its appropriate use in the workplace is key to avoiding contagion, as is understanding new measures regarding patient admission, distribution, constant education on virtual platforms, among others, and changing conduct to reduce contagion. However, behavioral change interventions in healthcare workers are challenging as contextual characteristics, attributes of the intervention, and psychological factors are involved.
Study objectives
The issue under investigation is the impact of COVID-19 on frontline healthcare workers in the emergency department of the Fundación Cardioinfantil (FCI). The objective was to describe their behavioral changes by studying and monitoring SARS-CoV-2 infection and their relationship through the tracing process in 2020.
Methods
We conducted a case study to identify and relate the SARS-CoV-2 infection rate within the personnel in the department and the response of healthcare workers to the implementation and adherence to the use of PPE through the analysis of the different variables that contributed to behavioral change. Data were collected by a single author and analyzed by two authors using both the individual-level logic model technique and the triangulation of information, with approval from the institutional review board.
Discussion
Several interventions for behavior change were registered in the data collection process. The data obtained indicated that implementation, embedding, and integration were perceived as collective and individual behavioral processes. This was supported by evidence from healthcare interventions, such as education, incentivization, training, restriction, environmental restructuring, modeling, and enablement.
Conclusion
Behavioral science should be part of public health responses, as the theoretical basis suggests that change may modify the response to avoid the transmission of infectious diseases. Therefore, individuals at the highest risk appear to adopt guidance with targeted behavior adaptation interventions. Efforts to inform, instruct, and motivate healthcare workers must be continuous, and actions at the community level must be strengthened, as it is human behavior that determines the spread and mortality of infectious diseases, where community compliance to preventive behaviors plays a crucial role.
The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to assess the prevalence of hypertension in populations living at altitude in Latin America and the Caribbean. We conducted a systematic ...search from January 1, 2000 to January 10, 2023 in Web of Science (WoS)/Core Collection, WoS/Medline, WoS/Scielo, Scopus, PubMed and Embase databases. We included studies that assessed the prevalence of hypertension in altitude populations (>1500 m.a.s.l.) and these were meta-analyzed using a random-effects model. To assess the sources of heterogeneity, we performed subgroup and meta-regression analyses. Thirty cross-sectional studies (117 406 participants) met the inclusion criteria. Studies used different cut-off points. The prevalence of hypertension in the studies that considered the cut-off point of greater than or equal to 140/90 mmHg in the general population was 19.1%, greater than or equal to 130/85 mmHg was 13.1%, and greater than or equal to 130/80 mmHg was 43.4%. There was a tendency for the prevalence of hypertension to be higher in men. In meta-regression analyses, no association was found between altitude, mean age, year of publication, risk of bias and prevalence of hypertension. The prevalence of hypertension in the altitude population of Latin America and the Caribbean is lower than that reported in populations living at sea level and lower than other altitude populations such as Tibetans.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
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