Innovative computational and graphical tools have been implemented for advancing the crystal structure solution process from powder diffraction data using the EXPO software. These improve the ...capacity of EXPO to tackle challenging solution cases and make the structural study of microcrystalline materials more user friendly. The novel features concern the structure solution both in reciprocal space and in direct space. For reciprocal‐space solution, the new capability to solve an unknown structure from a mixture composed of one unknown structure and one or more phases with known structures is particularly valuable. For direct‐space structure solution, EXPO has been enhanced by parallelized simulated annealing with the aim of both reducing the execution time of the solution process and providing a successful result when several degrees of freedom must be varied. Many other new tools, functional for overcoming practical difficulties usually encountered during the solution process, have also been completed. In particular, a new tool for searching and importing structures from the Crystallography Open Database is effective for supporting the solution process in direct space. The advances in EXPO aim to provide software with improved reliability, expanded operation and greater speed.
New computational and graphical tools have been implemented in the EXPO software to improve the structure solution process from powder diffraction data with reciprocal‐ as well as direct‐space methods.
There is a trend of combining agile and traditional project management practices for technology-based product and service development in the search for more agility. Although there are, in the ...literature, hybrid models that propose combinations of traditional and agile approaches, there are no studies that discuss the impact of the adoption of this approach in organizations in practice. Consequently, guidance on the selection of the most appropriate project management approach has remained largely theoretical, rather than based on companies’ experiences. The objective of this research is to analyze how organizations that develop technology-based products and services apply hybrid approaches to project management, their characteristics, advantages, and disadvantages, conducting a literature review and multiple case studies as research methods. Results reveal that hybrid approaches to project management are currently fundamental for companies in order to deal with distinct organizational cultures, specific processes, customer contractual requirements, and project specificities. This study also led to a consolidated list of the characteristics of hybrid approaches to project management.
With rapid urbanization and economic development, the world has been experiencing an unprecedented increase in energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. While reducing energy consumption ...and GHG emissions is a common interest shared by major developed and developing countries, actions to enable these global reductions are generally implemented at the city scale. This is because baseline information from individual cities plays an important role in identifying economical options for improving building energy efficiency and reducing GHG emissions. Numerous approaches have been proposed for modeling urban building energy use in the past decades. This paper aims to provide an up-to-date review of the broad categories of energy models for urban buildings and describes the basic workflow of physics-based, bottom-up models and their applications in simulating urban-scale building energy use. Because there are significant differences across models with varied potential for application, strengths and weaknesses of the reviewed models are also presented. This is followed by a discussion of challenging issues associated with model preparation and calibration.
•Advances in urban buildings energy models are reviewed.•Strengths and weaknesses of urban building energy models are discussed.•The workflow of physics-based bottom-up models are illuminated.•Challenges and future research avenues in urban buildings energy use modeling are highlighted.
Over the past few years, wireless sensor networks have gained significant attention. They have been distributed in the real world in order to collect valuable raw sensed data. Due to high density, ...WSNs (Wireless Sensors Networks) are exposed to faults and nasty attacks. Likewise, the sensors readings are inaccurate and unreliable, which make Wireless Sensor Networks vulnerable to outliers. Abnormal data, outliers or anomalies are usually considered to be those sensor readings that have deviated significantly from normal behavior. However, the challenge is to ensure data quality, secure monitoring and reliable detection of interesting and critical events. In this survey, we describe a comprehensive overview of existing outlier detection techniques specifically used for the wireless sensor networks. Moreover, we present a comparative table used as a guideline to select which technique is adequate for the application in terms of characteristics such as detection mode, architectural structure and correlation extraction.
Lithium-ion battery is an appropriate choice for electric vehicle (EV) due to its promising features of high voltage, high energy density, low self-discharge and long lifecycles. The successful ...operation of EV is highly dependent on the operation of battery management system (BMS). State of charge (SOC) is one of the vital paraments of BMS which signifies the amount of charge left in a battery. A good estimation of SOC leads to long battery life and prevention of catastrophe from battery failure. Besides, an accurate and robust SOC estimation has great significance towards an efficient EV operation. However, SOC estimation is a complex process due to its dependency on various factors such as battery age, ambient temperature, and many unknown factors. This review presents the recent SOC estimation methods highlighting the model-based and data-driven approaches. Model-based methods attempt to model the battery behavior incorporating various factors into complex mathematical equations in order to accurately estimate the SOC while the data-driven methods adopt an approach of learning the battery's behavior by running complex algorithms with a large amount of measured battery data. The classifications of model-based and data-driven based SOC estimation are explained in terms of estimation model/algorithm, benefits, drawbacks, and estimation error. In addition, the review highlights many factors and challenges and delivers potential recommendations for the development of SOC estimation methods in EV applications. All the highlighted insights of this review will hopefully lead to increased efforts toward the enhancement of SOC estimation method of lithium-ion battery for the future high-tech EV applications.
Among the conventional loss minimisation algorithms (LMAs), the model-based approaches have the advantages of fast response and high accuracy. Here, a novel online model-based power losses ...minimisation approach is presented for indirect field-oriented control (IFOC) of induction motor (IM) drives. The proposed method is introduced as maximum torque per power losses (MTPPL) in which the power losses for a given torque are minimised. The results demonstrate that the proposed approach preserves the LMA merits, while the criterion for the MTPPL scheme is achieved. The mentioned criterion is investigated by a gradient approach so that while the gradient vectors of the torque and power losses are parallel, the MTPPL strategy is realised. The closed-loop IFOC of the MTPPL approach is implemented in real time for a laboratory 2.2 kW three-phase IM drive. The experimental results show the capability and validity of the proposed control scheme.
This book explores the diversity of methodological approaches to researching ageing, considering which methodological paradigm best captures the phenomenon. Interdisciplinary in scope, it brings ...together research from scholars from Austria, Canada, France, Hong Kong, Israel, Poland, UK and USA to uncover the conditions under which qualitative and quantitative approaches to research on ageing can best be reconciled and rendered complementary. Presenting international reflection on methods for studying old age from a variety of research backgrounds, Researching Ageing showcases the latest research in the field and will appeal to scholars across the social sciences, including sociology, demography, psychology, economics and geography, with interests in gerontology, ageing and later life.
Objectives
By comparing the endoscopy‐assisted transoral approach (EATA) with external approaches (EAs) for the resection of parapharyngeal space tumors (PPSTs), we determined whether the EATA has ...advantages in terms of operation time, intraoperative bleeding volume, postoperative hospitalization, drainage volume, and complications. At the same time, we summarized the surgical indications for the EATA.
Methods
Systematic literature retrieval was performed in the PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, CNKI, Wanfang, and CQVIP databases up to February 2020. We calculated the mean difference (MD) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) for continuous outcomes and pooled odds ratio (OR) with 95% CI for dichotomous outcomes. The measured outcomes were operative time, bleeding volume, postoperative hospitalization, drainage volume, and complications.
Results
Seven studies involving 318 patients were eligible. Of these patients, 145 patients underwent EATA and 173 patients underwent EA surgery. All the former tumors were benign and located medial or anteromedial to the carotid sheath except for the unrecorded tumors. Compared with EAs, the EATA significantly shortened the operation time (MD = −5.56 min, 95% CI: −9.58 to −1.55), shrank the bleeding volume (MD = −89.02 ml, 95% CI: −126.16 to −51.88), shortened the postoperative hospitalization (MD = −2.44 days, 95% CI: −3.37 to −1.51), reduced the drainage volume (MD = −32.97 ml, 95% CI: −36.24 to −29.70), and lowered the incidence of complications (OR = 0.30, 95% CI: 0.16 to 0.59).
Conclusion
As for PPSTs, with an appropriate and precise patient selection, the EATA is a safe, effective, minimally invasive, and aesthetic surgical modality. Laryngoscope, 131:2246–2253, 2021
Transdermal gene delivery holds significant advantages as it is able to minimize the problems of systemic administration such as enzymatic degradation, systemic toxicity, and poor delivery to target ...tissues. This technology has the potential to transform the treatment and prevention of a range of diseases. However, the skin poses a great barrier for gene delivery because of the “bricks-and-mortar” structure of the stratum corneum and the tight junctions between keratinocytes in the epidermis. This review systematically summarizes the typical physical and chemical approaches to overcome these barriers and facilitate gene delivery via skin for applications in vaccination, wound healing, skin cancers and skin diseases. Next, the advantages and disadvantages of different approaches are discussed and the insights for future development are provided.
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The risk of posterior interosseous nerve (PIN) injury during surgical approaches to the lateral elbow varies depending on the chosen approach, level of dissection, and rotational position of the ...forearm. Previous studies evaluated the trajectory of the PIN in specific surgical applications to reduce iatrogenic nerve injuries. The goal of this study is to examine the location of the PIN using common lateral approaches with varying forearm rotation.
The Kaplan, extensor digitorum communis (EDC) split, and Kocher approaches were performed on 18 cadaveric upper extremity specimens. Measurements were recorded with a digital caliper from the radiocapitellar (RC) joint and the lateral epicondyle to the point where the PIN crosses the approach in full supination, neutral, and full pronation with the elbow at 90°. The ratio of the nerve’s location in relation to the entire length of the radius was also evaluated to account for different-sized specimens.
The PIN was not encountered in the Kocher interval. For Kaplan and EDC split, with the forearm in full supination, the mean distance from the lateral epicondyle to the PIN was 52.0 ± 6.1 mm and 59.1 ± 5.5 mm, respectively, and the mean distance from the RC joint to the PIN was 34.7 ± 5.5 mm and 39.3 ± 4.7 mm, respectively; with the forearm in full pronation, the mean distance from the lateral epicondyle to the PIN was 63.3 ± 9.7 mm and 71.4 ± 8.3 mm, respectively, and the mean distance from the RC joint to the PIN was 44.2 ± 7.7 mm and 51.1 ± 8.7 mm, respectively.
The PIN is closer to the lateral epicondyle and RC joint in the Kaplan than EDC split approach and is not encountered during the Kocher approach. The PIN was not encountered within 26 mm from the RC joint and 39 mm from the lateral epicondyle in any approach and forearm position and is generally safe from iatrogenic injury within these distances.
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