Scheduling for Urban Air Mobility using Safe Learning

This work considers the scheduling problem for Urban Air Mobility (UAM) vehicles travelling between origin-destination pairs with both hard and soft trip deadlines. Each route is described by a discrete probability distribution over trip completion times (or delay) and over inter-arrival times of requests (or demand) for the route along with a fixed hard or soft deadline. Soft deadlines carry a cost that is incurred when the deadline is missed. An online, safe scheduler is developed that ensures that hard deadlines are never missed, and that average cost of missing soft deadlines is minimized. The system is modelled as a Markov Decision Process (MDP) and safe model-based learning is used to find the probabilistic distributions over route delays and demand. Monte Carlo Tree Search (MCTS) Earliest Deadline First (EDF) is used to safely explore the learned models in an online fashion and develop a near-optimal non-preemptive scheduling policy. These results are compared with Value Iteration (VI) and MCTS (Random) scheduling solutions.Comment: In Proceedings FMAS2022 ASYDE2022, arXiv:2209.1318

Global, regional, and national life expectancy, all-cause mortality, and cause-specific mortality for 249 causes of death, 1980-2015 : a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015

Background Improving survival and extending the longevity of life for all populations requires timely, robust evidence on local mortality levels and trends. The Global Burden of Disease 2015 Study (GBD 2015) provides a comprehensive assessment of all-cause and cause-specific mortality for 249 causes in 195 countries and territories from 1980 to 2015. These results informed an in-depth investigation of observed and expected mortality patterns based on sociodemographic measures. Methods We estimated all-cause mortality by age, sex, geography, and year using an improved analytical approach originally developed for GBD 2013 and GBD 2010. Improvements included refinements to the estimation of child and adult mortality and corresponding uncertainty, parameter selection for under-5 mortality synthesis by spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression, and sibling history data processing. We also expanded the database of vital registration, survey, and census data to 14 294 geography-year datapoints. For GBD 2015, eight causes, including Ebola virus disease, were added to the previous GBD cause list for mortality. We used six modelling approaches to assess cause-specific mortality, with the Cause of Death Ensemble Model (CODEm) generating estimates for most causes. We used a series of novel analyses to systematically quantify the drivers of trends in mortality across geographies. First, we assessed observed and expected levels and trends of cause-specific mortality as they relate to the Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a summary indicator derived from measures of income per capita, educational attainment, and fertility. Second, we examined factors affecting total mortality patterns through a series of counterfactual scenarios, testing the magnitude by which population growth, population age structures, and epidemiological changes contributed to shifts in mortality. Finally, we attributed changes in life expectancy to changes in cause of death. We documented each step of the GBD 2015 estimation processes, as well as data sources, in accordance with Guidelines for Accurate and Transparent Health Estimates Reporting (GATHER). Findings Globally, life expectancy from birth increased from 61.7 years (95% uncertainty interval 61.4-61.9) in 1980 to 71.8 years (71.5-72.2) in 2015. Several countries in sub-Saharan Africa had very large gains in life expectancy from 2005 to 2015, rebounding from an era of exceedingly high loss of life due to HIV/AIDS. At the same time, many geographies saw life expectancy stagnate or decline, particularly for men and in countries with rising mortality from war or interpersonal violence. From 2005 to 2015, male life expectancy in Syria dropped by 11.3 years (3.7-17.4), to 62.6 years (56.5-70.2). Total deaths increased by 4.1% (2.6-5.6) from 2005 to 2015, rising to 55.8 million (54.9 million to 56.6 million) in 2015, but age-standardised death rates fell by 17.0% (15.8-18.1) during this time, underscoring changes in population growth and shifts in global age structures. The result was similar for non-communicable diseases (NCDs), with total deaths from these causes increasing by 14.1% (12.6-16.0) to 39.8 million (39.2 million to 40.5 million) in 2015, whereas age-standardised rates decreased by 13.1% (11.9-14.3). Globally, this mortality pattern emerged for several NCDs, including several types of cancer, ischaemic heart disease, cirrhosis, and Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. By contrast, both total deaths and age-standardised death rates due to communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional conditions significantly declined from 2005 to 2015, gains largely attributable to decreases in mortality rates due to HIV/AIDS (42.1%, 39.1-44.6), malaria (43.1%, 34.7-51.8), neonatal preterm birth complications (29.8%, 24.8-34.9), and maternal disorders (29.1%, 19.3-37.1). Progress was slower for several causes, such as lower respiratory infections and nutritional deficiencies, whereas deaths increased for others, including dengue and drug use disorders. Age-standardised death rates due to injuries significantly declined from 2005 to 2015, yet interpersonal violence and war claimed increasingly more lives in some regions, particularly in the Middle East. In 2015, rotaviral enteritis (rotavirus) was the leading cause of under-5 deaths due to diarrhoea (146 000 deaths, 118 000-183 000) and pneumococcal pneumonia was the leading cause of under-5 deaths due to lower respiratory infections (393 000 deaths, 228 000-532 000), although pathogen-specific mortality varied by region. Globally, the effects of population growth, ageing, and changes in age-standardised death rates substantially differed by cause. Our analyses on the expected associations between cause-specific mortality and SDI show the regular shifts in cause of death composition and population age structure with rising SDI. Country patterns of premature mortality (measured as years of life lost [YLLs]) and how they differ from the level expected on the basis of SDI alone revealed distinct but highly heterogeneous patterns by region and country or territory. Ischaemic heart disease, stroke, and diabetes were among the leading causes of YLLs in most regions, but in many cases, intraregional results sharply diverged for ratios of observed and expected YLLs based on SDI. Communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional diseases caused the most YLLs throughout sub-Saharan Africa, with observed YLLs far exceeding expected YLLs for countries in which malaria or HIV/AIDS remained the leading causes of early death. Interpretation At the global scale, age-specific mortality has steadily improved over the past 35 years; this pattern of general progress continued in the past decade. Progress has been faster in most countries than expected on the basis of development measured by the SDI. Against this background of progress, some countries have seen falls in life expectancy, and age-standardised death rates for some causes are increasing. Despite progress in reducing age-standardised death rates, population growth and ageing mean that the number of deaths from most non-communicable causes are increasing in most countries, putting increased demands on health systems. Copyright (C) The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.Peer reviewe

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

IoT Based Home Monitoring System

 Home surveillance is a major concern in this day and age as with the rapid increase in the technology around us. There is a need to get updated with new possibilities to make our lives better and easy. Some cases and situations exhibit the need for home monitoring. So, we set out to discover a solution to this problem of home monitoring. Generally, we have issues with pets and kids alike such as approaching dangerous places like electric switches, stairs, and hot things. Not only a problem with kids and pets but also a chance of burglary and stranger's unusual activities. To overcome this problem we are designing and prototyping a system to keep an eye on kids, pets, and older people. This system is used in other applications like theft monitoring. The device can monitor the field all the time. In this way, this system helps in-home monitoring. The system consists of Arduino, which is the brain of the system, the PIR sensor, ESP32-CAM, and buzzer. The PIR sensor detects motion then gives input to the Arduino. Arduino gives output to the ESP32-CAM and buzzer. The ESP32-CAM can be activated and sends information to the user through the web Interface and the application. The user can see the video streaming on the PC screen or any other display. The buzzer can emit a high volume signal indicating that "there is an alert at the home"

IoT Based Home Monitoring System

 Home surveillance is a major concern in this day and age as with the rapid increase in the technology around us. There is a need to get updated with new possibilities to make our lives better and easy. Some cases and situations exhibit the need for home monitoring. So, we set out to discover a solution to this problem of home monitoring. Generally, we have issues with pets and kids alike such as approaching dangerous places like electric switches, stairs, and hot things. Not only a problem with kids and pets but also a chance of burglary and stranger's unusual activities. To overcome this problem we are designing and prototyping a system to keep an eye on kids, pets, and older people. This system is used in other applications like theft monitoring. The device can monitor the field all the time. In this way, this system helps in-home monitoring. The system consists of Arduino, which is the brain of the system, the PIR sensor, ESP32-CAM, and buzzer. The PIR sensor detects motion then gives input to the Arduino. Arduino gives output to the ESP32-CAM and buzzer. The ESP32-CAM can be activated and sends information to the user through the web Interface and the application. The user can see the video streaming on the PC screen or any other display. The buzzer can emit a high volume signal indicating that "there is an alert at the home"

Synthesis, characterisation of new chromanoisoxazoles and investigation of optical power limiting properties

361-366Five new chromanoisoxazoles are prepared by the common (3+2) route. Chalcones on condensation with hydroxylamine hydrochloride furnish 3-substituted phenyl-5-(2" ,2" -dimethyl-7" -hydroxychroman)isoxazoles. Chalcones, have been prepared from resorcinol by acetylation. Resacetophenone thus formed on nuclear prenylation with isoprene/PPA affords 7-hydroxy-6-acetyl- 2',2'-dimethylchroman. This on treatment with substituted benzaldehydes forms chalcones 1-5.Compounds 1-5 react with hydroxylamine hydrochloride in the presence of KOH/EtOH resulting in the formation of chromano isoxazoles 6-10, which are identified and characterized by IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR and mass spectral data. The physico-chemical parameters (absorbance and fluorescence) have been studied for two newly synthesized isoxazoles. Besides the above studies, the optical power limiting performances have also been measured at 532 nm with nano second pulses for the above isoxazoles. The variation of the transmitted power corresponding to the incident power showed a decrease in the transmitted power to a greater extent. The curve corresponding to 7 mm solution path shows that the transmitted power gets saturated with the input intensity which shows the optical limiting behaviour

Non-destructive evaluation of porosity and its effect on mechanical properties of carbon fiber reinforced polymer composite materials

In this work, an attempt is made to induce porosity of varied levels in carbon fiber reinforced epoxy based polymer composite laminates fabricated using prepregs by varying the fabrication parameters such as applied vacuum, autoclave pressure and curing temperature. Different NDE tools have been utilized to evaluate the porosity content and correlate with measurable parameters of different NDE techniques. Primarily, ultrasonic imaging and real time digital X-ray imaging have been tried to obtain a measurable parameter which can represent or reflect the amount of porosity contained in the composite laminate. Also, effect of varied porosity content on mechanical properties of the CFRP composite materials is investigated through a series of experimental investigations. The outcome of the experimental approach has yielded interesting and encouraging trend as a first step towards developing an NDE tool for quantification of effect of varied porosity in the polymer composite materials