Burnout among surgeons before and during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: an international survey

Background: SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has had many significant impacts within the surgical realm, and surgeons have been obligated to reconsider almost every aspect of daily clinical practice. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study reported in compliance with the CHERRIES guidelines and conducted through an online platform from June 14th to July 15th, 2020. The primary outcome was the burden of burnout during the pandemic indicated by the validated Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure. Results: Nine hundred fifty-four surgeons completed the survey. The median length of practice was 10 years; 78.2% included were male with a median age of 37 years old, 39.5% were consultants, 68.9% were general surgeons, and 55.7% were affiliated with an academic institution. Overall, there was a significant increase in the mean burnout score during the pandemic; longer years of practice and older age were significantly associated with less burnout. There were significant reductions in the median number of outpatient visits, operated cases, on-call hours, emergency visits, and research work, so, 48.2% of respondents felt that the training resources were insufficient. The majority (81.3%) of respondents reported that their hospitals were included in the management of COVID-19, 66.5% felt their roles had been minimized; 41% were asked to assist in non-surgical medical practices, and 37.6% of respondents were included in COVID-19 management. Conclusions: There was a significant burnout among trainees. Almost all aspects of clinical and research activities were affected with a significant reduction in the volume of research, outpatient clinic visits, surgical procedures, on-call hours, and emergency cases hindering the training. Trial registration: The study was registered on clicaltrials.gov "NCT04433286" on 16/06/2020

Selection of Micro-Controller for 3rd Generation Wireless Device

The primary objective of this report is to develop a strategy for selecting a micro-controller for a Smart Phone and then to recommend the best suitable micro-controller for use in this device. The major goal is to create a Smart Phone that will have strong sales as a high-end cell phone/personal organizer and to minimize the production cost

Low-Cost, Open-Source, Emoncms-Based SCADA System for a Large Grid-Connected PV System

This article describes a low-cost Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system for a PV plant with local data logging. Typically, SCADA systems that are available on the market are proprietary (commercial), which are expensive and individually configured for a particular site. The main objective of this paper is to design a low-cost and open-source monitoring solution (hardware and software) to meet the requirements. The hardware used for this SCADA consisted of Arduino, Raspberry Pi, sensors, serial communication cables, and an open-source web view platform. This open-source platform manipulates, logs, and visualizes PV and environmental data. Emoncms runs on the Debian operating system. Field instruments were connected to two remote terminal units (RTUs). A PV array provided data to the RTU1, while an inverter output provided data to the RTU2, and the Raspberry Pi received the collected data in JSON format. As these data arrived, Emoncms used Emonhub as its main module, which refines data and then displays it on Emoncms’s WebView. The Raspberry Pi also stores data locally. Data logging was tested for 6 h, but the final results showed that data logging can last much longer. From an hour to a year, the data trend can be viewed on a user-friendly dashboard

Assessment of corrosion protection and performance of bio-based polyurethane acrylate incorporated with nano zinc oxide coating

In this study, a series of UV-curable anticorrosive PUA coatings embedded with varying concentrations of inorganic ZnO fillers have been successfully prepared from jatropha-based polyol. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and Tafel polarisation analysis revealed that increasing fillers composition lead to the improvement of the anticorrosive property of the hybrid coatings. Meanwhile, the salt spray test results were found to correlate with the EIS of Cc (F cm−2) was 2.71 × 10−9, Bode plot - 106 Ω cm2 and Tafel polarisation results 7.56 × 10−6 MPY at 3 wt% of ZnO. Physical properties of 3 wt% loading of ZnO fillers in hardness test obtained 6H which was strongly attributed to the low interfacial interaction and poor dispersion of the fillers within the polymer matrix

Strategy & Policy Issues: Telecommunication Industry

Introduction: This is the era of communications. The impact cannot be overstated. This is one of the most rapidly growing segments of high-tech industry. Rapid changes are taking place the communication market to meet the new demands and to achieve revenue growth. It has also fueled growth and expansion in many other areas of high-tech industry. Once upon a time, information technology (IT) and telecommunication were two separate and discrete entities. Information technology was a means of tracking and storing information, while telecommunication was just a means of keeping us all connected. During past several years, these and other technologies are rapidly converging. The convergence of voice, video and data networks, has created further opportunities and threats for service providers. This convergence with deregulation has created a market where the broadcasters, satellite companies, Internet / service providers and other service providers are looking to provide integrated services to consumers and businesses. In this report, we will outline the telecommunication industry, review the market trends and identify the strategic and policy issues faced by the telecommunications industry.