Haris: an Advanced Autonomous Mobile Robot for Smart Parking Assistance

This paper presents Haris, an advanced autonomous mobile robot system for tracking the location of vehicles in crowded car parks using license plate recognition. The system employs simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) for autonomous navigation and precise mapping of the parking area, eliminating the need for GPS dependency. In addition, the system utilizes a sophisticated framework using computer vision techniques for object detection and automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) for reading and associating license plate numbers with location data. This information is subsequently synchronized with a back-end service and made accessible to users via a user-friendly mobile app, offering effortless vehicle location and alleviating congestion within the parking facility. The proposed system has the potential to improve the management of short-term large outdoor parking areas in crowded places such as sports stadiums. The demo of the robot can be found on https://youtu.be/ZkTCM35fxa0?si=QjggJuN7M1o3oifx.Comment: Accepted in 2024 IEEE International Conference on Consumer Electronics (ICCE), Las Vegas, NV, USA, 202

Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P < 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely

Development of a self-regulated bubble irrigation system to control the size and shape of wetting fronts

The main objectives of this study were to introduce a bubble irrigation system, compare the wetting fronts created by the bubble and free-flow systems, and test the viability of a bubble irrigation system. Two laboratory experiments were conducted using 2D flow to measure the wetting fronts. The first experiment measured the free-flow infiltration using an inverted, open plastic bottle. The second experiment tested the bubble-flow technique using an inverted, closed plastic bottle (ICPB). The results showed that the bubble-flow system created a larger width of wetting fronts at the beginning of the infiltration and then expanded less than that of the free-flow system. In contrast, the infiltration depth of the wetting fronts created by the bubble-flow system was much lower than that of the free-flow system. In conclusion, the wetting front width and depth in the bubble-flow system were slightly smaller than those in the free-flow system. In addition, the wetting fronts created by the ICPB were not moved upwards significantly, which proves the ability of specific distribution of the bubble-flow system on the wetting fronts. Therefore, the bubble irrigation system can be used as an alternative for distributing the moisture content in soil profiles

Development of a self-regulated bubble irrigation system to control the size and shape of wetting fronts

The main objectives of this study were to introduce a bubble irrigation system, compare the wetting fronts created by the bubble and free-flow systems, and test the viability of a bubble irrigation system. Two laboratory experiments were conducted using 2D flow to measure the wetting fronts. The first experiment measured the free-flow infiltration using an inverted, open plastic bottle. The second experiment tested the bubble-flow technique using an inverted, closed plastic bottle (ICPB). The results showed that the bubble-flow system created a larger width of wetting fronts at the beginning of the infiltration and then expanded less than that of the free-flow system. In contrast, the infiltration depth of the wetting fronts created by the bubble-flow system was much lower than that of the free-flow system. In conclusion, the wetting front width and depth in the bubble-flow system were slightly smaller than those in the free-flow system. In addition, the wetting fronts created by the ICPB were not moved upwards significantly, which proves the ability of specific distribution of the bubble-flow system on the wetting fronts. Therefore, the bubble irrigation system can be used as an alternative for distributing the moisture content in soil profiles

Novel synthesis and characterization of magnesium-doped CoFe2O4 nanoparticles –SiO2 –3-aminopropylethoxysilane– gallic acid magnetic nanocomposite for effective removal of cationic dyes

Magnesium-doped CoFe2O4 nanoparticles (MgCF)@SiO2-NH-COOH were prepared through a step-wise procedure for the removal of two cationic dyes from real wastewater. MgCF was successfully synthesized through the co-precipitation technique. Subsequently, these nanoparticles were coated within a silica (SiO2) shell and functionalized with amino groups utilizing 3-Aminopropylethoxysilane (APTES). To assess its adsorption capabilities, the nanocomposite underwent further modification with Gallic acid (GA). MgCF@SiO2-NH-COOH has a well-developed pore structure with a BET surface area of 31.655m2/g, which also has a crystalline structure. Adsorption tests revealed the excellent performance of MgCF@SiO2-NH-COOH in removing Methylene Blue (MB) and Rhodamine B (RhB) dyes. Kinetic studies demonstrated that the adsorption of MB and RhB followed the Boyd kinetic model. The Langmuir isotherm model provided the best fit for the experimental data, with a maximum adsorption capacity of 103 mg/g and 89 mg/g for MB and RhB, respectively. Moreover, recycling tests established the high stability and reusability of MgCF-SiO2-APTES-GA nanocomposites, with consistent adsorption performance over at least five cycles. At the first stage, the adsorption was 98.6 % for MB and 95.3 % for RhB, and after five regenerations, the adsorption was 82.5 % for MB and 79.6 % for RhB. This research offers a cost-effective compound that addresses pressing environmental concerns related to the removal of organic dyes from wastewater