Cultural Competence in Student Registered Nurse Anesthetists in Illinois

Objective: To determine the level of perceived cultural competence in student registered nurse anesthetists (SRNAs) in Illinois and make educational recommendations. Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional study was completed using the Clinical Cultural Competency Questionnaire (CCCQ) to evaluate the perceived level of cultural competence among SRNAs in Illinois. Four domains of clinical cultural competency [knowledge, skills, attitudes (awareness), and encounters] were evaluated and reported. Results: The survey response rate was 16.7% (N=57). A statistically significant positive correlation was observed between cultural knowledge and age (p=0.03). There is a statistically significant difference in cultural knowledge between students attending a nurse anesthesia program in suburban Northeastern Illinois and students attending a large, urban university in the city of Chicago, with CCCQ knowledge Mean Rank scores of 38.44 and 13.77, respectively. The overall level of perceived clinical cultural competence of SRNAs was low (M=3.13; SD=0.54; Range=2.17 to 4.89) in this study. Conclusion: SRNAs need additional cultural education and training in their program of study to enhance their perceived level of cultural competence and to deliver culturally competent anesthesia care. The desire to become culturally competent coupled with deficient levels of cultural knowledge among SRNAs merits further work

The Critical Success Factors of IS Implementation: Saudi Managers’ Perspective

Recently, the use of information technology has become important and critical, for organizations, as it enhance the quality of products and integrity of organizational services. However, the implementation of such systems is still problematic. Due to globalization and the variation in the monetary, social and technological environments, Information Systems (IS) have turned out to be an imperative feature and high priority for different kind of organizations. In this regard, critical success factors play a vital role in successful implementation of IS. This paper evaluates and analyzes the critical success factors (CSFs) of IS implementation from the Saudi managers’ perspective in different industries in Saudi Arabia. This study will also present the illustration or identification of 19 critical success factors, which are based on a review of literatures and the first phase of a study in Saudi industries. The study will also rank those 19 factors in a logical way and will characterize them into three categories of factors, including organisational, human and technological factors

Design and Development of a Multi-Sided Tabletop Augmented Reality 3D Display Coupled with Remote 3D Imaging Module

This paper proposes a tabletop augmented reality (AR) 3D display paired with a remote 3D image capture setup that can provide three-dimensional AR visualization of remote objects or persons in real-time. The front-side view is presented in stereo-3D format, while the left-side and right-side views are visualized in 2D format. Transparent glass surfaces are used to demonstrate the volumetric 3D augmentation of the captured object. The developed AR display prototype mainly consists of four 40 × 30 cm2 LCD panels, 54% partially reflective glass, an in-house developed housing assembly, and a processing unit. The capture setup consists of four 720p cameras to capture the front-side stereo view and both the left- and right-side views. The real-time remote operation is demonstrated by connecting the display and imaging units through the Internet. Various system characteristics, such as range of viewing angle, stereo crosstalk, polarization perseverance, frame rate, and amount of reflected and transmitted light through partially reflective glass, were examined. The demonstrated system provided 35% optical transparency and less than 4% stereo crosstalk within a viewing angle of ±20 degrees. An average frame rate of 7.5 frames per second was achieved when the resolution per view was 240 × 240 pixels

Design and Development of a Multi-Sided Tabletop Augmented Reality 3D Display Coupled with Remote 3D Imaging Module

This paper proposes a tabletop augmented reality (AR) 3D display paired with a remote 3D image capture setup that can provide three-dimensional AR visualization of remote objects or persons in real-time. The front-side view is presented in stereo-3D format, while the left-side and right-side views are visualized in 2D format. Transparent glass surfaces are used to demonstrate the volumetric 3D augmentation of the captured object. The developed AR display prototype mainly consists of four 40 × 30 cm2 LCD panels, 54% partially reflective glass, an in-house developed housing assembly, and a processing unit. The capture setup consists of four 720p cameras to capture the front-side stereo view and both the left- and right-side views. The real-time remote operation is demonstrated by connecting the display and imaging units through the Internet. Various system characteristics, such as range of viewing angle, stereo crosstalk, polarization perseverance, frame rate, and amount of reflected and transmitted light through partially reflective glass, were examined. The demonstrated system provided 35% optical transparency and less than 4% stereo crosstalk within a viewing angle of ±20 degrees. An average frame rate of 7.5 frames per second was achieved when the resolution per view was 240 × 240 pixels

Investigation on SVM-Backstepping sensorless control of five-phase open-end winding induction motor based on model reference adaptive system and parameter estimation

This paper deals with a new control technique applied to five-phase induction motor under open-end stator winding (FPIM-OESW) topology using the backstepping nonlinear control. The main objective is to improve the dynamics of this kind of machine, which is intended to be used in high power industrial application, where the maintenance is difficult and the fault tolerant is needed to ensure the continuous motor operating mode with minimized number of interruption. This control technique is combined with the Space Vector Pulse Width Modulation (SVPWM) to maintain a fixed switching frequency. In addition, the Model Reference Adaptive System (MRAS) concept is used for the estimation of the load torque, the rotor flux and the rotor speed to overcome the main drawbacks presented with the previous sensorless systems concepts. However, the great sensitivity to the changes of the motor internal parameters and it operating instability problems, especially in low-speed operating region, that causes an estimation error of the rotor speed, is the most disadvantage of the MRAS technique. Therefore, to solve this problem, an estimation method of the motor internal parameters such as the rotor resistance, the stator resistance and the magnetizing inductance, is proposed in this paper. Where, the main aim is to improve furthermore the control performance, to reduce the computational complexity and to minimize the rotor speed estimation error. The obtained simulation results confirm the enhanced performance and the clear efficacy of the proposed control technique under a variety of cases of different operating conditions. - 2019 Karabuk UniversityScopu

Towards the Development of a Capability Assessment System for Flood Risk Management

Having in place adequate levels of emergency management capabilities (EMCs) underpins a managed civil emergency response, especially during a flooding event(s). Good EMC is either built on having the right internal capabilities or by exploiting existing emergency capabilities from other responders. In some countries, such as Saudi Arabia, there is a noted lack of decision‐making in the Civil Defence (CD) Authority about generating effective mutual‐aid requests. Three core areas of EMC include having the right types and levels of response equipment to hand, ensuring sufficient Human Resources, can be maintained throughout a sustained event, and developing adequate Training capabilities. Other factors impacting on Saudi Arabia include both stress and a lack of work experience. In this chapter, we examine the effectiveness of a prototype IT System in the case of Saudi CD Authority as a tool for addressing the availability and adequacy of mutual‐aid for EMC, Human Resources (HR), and training capabilities against scalable levels of flood risk event(s). The proposed IT System is built using the ‘fuzzy expert system’ approach

Do the quadriceps and hamstring muscles have an effect on patella stability in trochlear dysplasia?

Introduction: Trochlear dysplasia (TD) is a condition that is characterized by the presence of either a flat or convex trochlear, which impedes the stability of the patellofemoral joint (PFJ). The PFJ function is dependent on many different structures that surround the knee joint. The aim of this study was to analyse all the muscle components around the PFJ and identify whether gross muscle imbalance could contribute to the stability of the patella in TD. Material and methods: The average cross-sectional area (CSA) and cross-sectional area ratio (CSAR) of each muscle of the thigh region in subtypes of TD was evaluated and compared to normal knee joints. Ninety-eight patients (196 knees in total) were included in the study. Results: Of the 196 knee joints that were reviewed, 10 cases were found to be normal. In total, 186 cases were positive for TD. The majority consisted of type C. The hamstring muscles showed variable results. The vastus medialis muscle was larger in comparison to the vastus lateralis muscle over all the different TD subtypes; however, no statistical significance was identified. There was a marked statistical significance between the quadriceps and hamstring muscles, especially when comparing this to the normal knees within our cohort. Conclusions: This study revealed no significant difference in the effect of the thigh muscle CSA on the stability of the PFJ in TD. Further research is required to establish the roles of the different muscles around PFJ in the prevention of TD dislocation

State estimation technique for a planetary robotic rover

Given the long traverse times and severe environmental constraints on a planet like Mars, the only option feasible now is to observe and explore the planet through more sophisticated planetary rovers. To achieve increasingly ambitious mission objectives under such extreme conditions, the rovers must have autonomy. Increased autonomy, obviously, relies on the quality of estimates of rover's state i.e. its position and orientation relative to some starting frame of reference. This research presents a state estimation approach based on Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) to fuse distance from odometry and attitude from an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), thus mitigating the errors generated by the use of either system alone. To simulate a Sun-sensor based approach for absolute corrections, a magnetic compass was used to give absolute heading updates. The technique was implemented on MotherBot, a custom-designed skid steered rover. Experimental results validate the application of the presented estimation strategy. It showed an error range within 3% of the distance travelled as compared to about 8% error obtained from direct fusion

Low-Cost Resistivity Meter for Groundwater Exploration Using High Voltage Experimentations

26 March, 2018 Accepted: 17 September, 2019Abstract: Resistivity survey is very well known for the exploration of groundwater and to determine the depth ofbedrock. Generally, in Pakistan local drillers rarely use resistivity meter due to high cost of commercially availableequipment. Therefore, most of the wells for groundwater are drilled without any feasibility survey, which causeseconomic and time loss. An inexpensive resistivity meter has been developed that can help the local community toconduct a survey for groundwater. This designed equipment is handy, portable, easy to operate and can bemanufactured locally. This equipment costs 500 US Dollars (USD), whereas commercially available equipment costs2500 to 50000 USD. The designed portable device comprises of a 12V DC battery, an inverter, multiplier circuit,DPDT switch and electrodes. A 12V DC battery is fed to an inverter to achieve AC supply of 220V. The achieved ACvoltage is rectified to DC-voltage which is further enhanced up-to 1300 volts using voltage multiplier circuit. This highDC voltage is called High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC). HVDC is switched at very low frequency of 1Hz.Automatic switching is being accomplished by means of DPDT relay and its control circuitry. HVDC at low frequencyis applied to the earth through electrodes to determine resistivity for different materials lying inside the ground with apenetration depth of 100 meters. This portable instrument would be useful to map surface lithological layers, determinequality of groundwater and bedrock level in accurate and inexpensive way