281 research outputs found
PL-04 Communicable diseases surveillance lessons learned from developed and developing countries: literature review
Atomic data and electron-impact broadening effect in DO white dwarf atmospheres: Si VI
Energy levels, electric dipole transition probabilities and oscillator
strengths in five times ionized silicon have been calculated in intermediate
coupling. The present calculations were carried out with the general purpose
atomic-structure program SUPERSTRUCTURE. The relativistic corrections to the
non-relativistic Hamiltonian are taken into account through the Breit-Pauli
approximation. We have also introduced a semi-empirical correction (TEC) for
the calculation of the energy-levels. These atomic data are used to provide
semiclassical electron-, proton- and ionized helium- impact line widths and
shifts for 15 Si VI muliplet. Calculated results have been used to consider the
influence of Stark broadening for DO white dwarf atmospheric conditions.Comment: MNRAS, accepted, 14 page
Downlink Steered Space-Time Spreading For Multi-Carrier Transmission Over Frequency Selective Channels
This paper presents a novel amalgam of Steered Space-Time Spreading (SSTS) and Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) designed for attaining both spatial diversity gain and beamforming gain for transmission over OFDM-symbol-invariant frequency selective channels. We propose a flexible technique for increasing the number of users beyond the number of chips in the spreading sequence employed by the SSTS scheme with the aid of the multiple carriers of OFDMA, which requires an extended bandwidth. However, employing a separate low-complexity SSTS detector combined with another separate OFDMA detector is potentially less complex than a single detector designed for detecting all the users supported in a single domain, regardless whether the singledomain Multi-User Detector (MUD) is an SSTS or OFDMA MUD. This is because the MUDâs complexity tends to increase exponentially with the number of users detected. The SSTSOFDMA system is benchmarked against its counterpart using S-depth Frequency Domain (FD) repetition, which increases the FD diversity order at the cost of reducing the overall throughput by a factor of S. Fortunately, a similar FD diversity gain may be achieved without a factor-S reduction in the throughput, when using FD spreading and assigning all the superimposed FD spreading codes to the same user
Conceptual framework of contact-less consumer products industry during and post-pandemic era
The COVID-19 era has reshaped the world regarding the contact-less economy, healthcare systems, remote work environment, peopleâs lifestyle and their daily routines, etc. The consumer products (CP) industry is being impacted due to the behaviours of consumers during self-quarantine. This accelerates adopting digital transformation and upgrading the business models for the contact-less CP industry. Accordingly, this study provides a step toward the contact-less CP industry during and post-pandemic. First, we have proposed a conceptual framework for the contact-less CP industry that aims to bring together the key advanced technologies (e.g., Digital Twin (DT), blockchain, AI, cloud computing, 5G, and robots). The combination of the advanced technologies provides data monitoring, transparency, traceability, automation, and data sharing among consumers and CP partners. The proposed framework will enable a more contact-less personalized interaction that will work towards higher levels of consumer satisfaction while maintaining contact-less economy growth. Then, we have described how the proposed framework can be applied for contact-less delivery services for the CP industry during and post-pandemic
Personal digital twin: A close look into the present and a step towards the future of personalised healthcare industry
Digital twins (DTs) play a vital role in revolutionising the healthcare industry, leading to more personalised, intelligent, and proactive healthcare. With the evolution of personalised healthcare, there is a significant need to represent a virtual replica for individuals to provide the right type of care in the right way and at the right time. Therefore, in this paper, we surveyed the concept of a personal digital twin (PDT) as an enhanced version of the DT with actionable insight capabilities. In particular, PDT can bring value to patients by enabling more accurate decision making and proper treatment selection and optimisation. Then, we explored the progression of PDT as a revolutionary technology in healthcare research and industry. However, although several research works have been performed for smart healthcare using DT, PDT is still at an early stage. Consequently, we believe that this work can be a step towards smart personalised healthcare industry by guiding the design of industrial personalised healthcare systems. Accordingly, we introduced a reference framework that empowers smart personalised healthcare using PDTs by bringing together existing advanced technologies (i.e., DT, blockchain, and AI). Then, we described some selected use cases, including the mitigation of COVID-19 contagion, COVID-19 survivor follow-up care, personalised COVID-19 medicine, personalised osteoporosis prevention, personalised cancer survivor follow-up care, and personalised nutrition. Finally, we identified further challenges to pave the PDT paradigm toward the smart personalised healthcare industry
The Non-linear Dynamics of Meaning-Processing in Social Systems
Social order cannot be considered as a stable phenomenon because it contains
an order of reproduced expectations. When the expectations operate upon one
another, they generate a non-linear dynamics that processes meaning. Specific
meaning can be stabilized, for example, in social institutions, but all meaning
arises from a horizon of possible meanings. Using Luhmann's (1984) social
systems theory and Rosen's (1985) theory of anticipatory systems, I submit
equations for modeling the processing of meaning in inter-human communication.
First, a self-referential system can use a model of itself for the
anticipation. Under the condition of functional differentiation, the social
system can be expected to entertain a set of models; each model can also
contain a model of the other models. Two anticipatory mechanisms are then
possible: one transversal between the models, and a longitudinal one providing
the modeled systems with meaning from the perspective of hindsight. A system
containing two anticipatory mechanisms can become hyper-incursive. Without
making decisions, however, a hyper-incursive system would be overloaded with
uncertainty. Under this pressure, informed decisions tend to replace the
"natural preferences" of agents and an order of cultural expectations can
increasingly be shaped
Sensitivity of solar off-limb line profiles to electron density stratification and the velocity distribution anisotropy
The effect of the electron density stratification on the intensity profiles
of the H I Ly- line and the O VI and Mg X doublets formed in solar
coronal holes is investigated. We employ an analytical 2-D model of the large
scale coronal magnetic field that provides a good representation of the corona
at the minimum of solar activity. We use the mass-flux conservation equation to
determine the outflow speed of the solar wind at any location in the solar
corona and take into account the integration along the line of sight (LOS). The
main assumption we make is that no anisotropy in the kinetic temperature of the
coronal species is considered. We find that at distances greater than 1 Rsun
from the solar surface the widths of the emitted lines of O VI and Mg X are
sensitive to the details of the adopted electron density stratification.
However, Ly-, which is a pure radiative line, is hardly affected. The
calculated total intensities of Ly- and the O VI doublet depend to a
lesser degree on the density stratification and are comparable to the observed
ones for most of the considered density models. The widths of the observed
profiles of Ly- and Mg X are well reproduced by most of the considered
electron density stratifications, while for the O VI doublet only few
stratifications give satisfying results. The densities deduced from SOHO data
result in O VI profiles whose widths and intensity ratio are relatively close
to the values observed by UVCS although only isotropic velocity distributions
are employed. These density profiles also reproduce the other considered
observables with good accuracy. Thus the need for a strong anisotropy of the
velocity distribution (i.e. a temperature anisotropy) is not so clear cut as
previous investigations of UVCS data suggested. ...Comment: 11 pages; 11 figure
Antiplasmodial Properties and Cytotoxicity of Endophytic Fungi from Symphonia globulifera (Clusiaceae)
Ateba JET, Toghueo RMK, Awantu AF, et al. Antiplasmodial Properties and Cytotoxicity of Endophytic Fungi from Symphonia globulifera (Clusiaceae). JOURNAL OF FUNGI. 2018;4(2): UNSP 70.There is continuing need for new and improved drugs to tackle malaria, which remains a major public health problem, especially in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Natural products represent credible sources of new antiplasmodial agents for antimalarial drug development. Endophytes that widely colonize healthy tissues of plants have been shown to synthesize a great variety of secondary metabolites that might possess antiplasmodial benefits. The present study was carried out to evaluate the antiplasmodial potential of extracts from endophytic fungi isolated from Symphonia globulifera against a chloroquine-resistant strain of Plasmodium falciparum (PfINDO). Sixty-one fungal isolates with infection frequency of 67.77% were obtained from the bark of S. globulifera. Twelve selected isolates were classified into six different genera including Fusarium, Paecilomyces, Penicillium, Aspergillus, Mucor, and Bipolaris. Extracts from the 12 isolates were tested against PfINDO, and nine showed good activity (IC50 < 10 mu g.mL(-1)) with three fungi including Paecilomyces lilacinus (IC50 = 0.44 mu g.mL(-1)), Penicillium janthinellum (IC50 = 0.2 mu g.mL(-1)), and Paecilomyces sp. (IC50 = 0.55 mu g.mL(-1)) showing the highest promise. These three isolates were found to be less cytotoxic against the HEK293T cell line with selectivity indices ranging from 24.52 to 70.56. Results from this study indicate that endophytic fungi from Symphonia globulifera are promising sources of hit compounds that might be further investigated as novel drugs against malaria. The chemical investigation of active extracts is ongoing
"Open Innovation" and "Triple Helix" Models of Innovation: Can Synergy in Innovation Systems Be Measured?
The model of "Open Innovations" (OI) can be compared with the "Triple Helix
of University-Industry-Government Relations" (TH) as attempts to find surplus
value in bringing industrial innovation closer to public R&D. Whereas the firm
is central in the model of OI, the TH adds multi-centeredness: in addition to
firms, universities and (e.g., regional) governments can take leading roles in
innovation eco-systems. In addition to the (transversal) technology transfer at
each moment of time, one can focus on the dynamics in the feedback loops. Under
specifiable conditions, feedback loops can be turned into feedforward ones that
drive innovation eco-systems towards self-organization and the auto-catalytic
generation of new options. The generation of options can be more important than
historical realizations ("best practices") for the longer-term viability of
knowledge-based innovation systems. A system without sufficient options, for
example, is locked-in. The generation of redundancy -- the Triple Helix
indicator -- can be used as a measure of unrealized but technologically
feasible options given a historical configuration. Different coordination
mechanisms (markets, policies, knowledge) provide different perspectives on the
same information and thus generate redundancy. Increased redundancy not only
stimulates innovation in an eco-system by reducing the prevailing uncertainty;
it also enhances the synergy in and innovativeness of an innovation system.Comment: Journal of Open Innovations: Technology, Market and Complexity, 2(1)
(2016) 1-12; doi:10.1186/s40852-016-0039-
Advances in prevention and therapy of neonatal dairy calf diarrhoea : a systematical review with emphasis on colostrum management and fluid therapy
Neonatal calf diarrhoea remains the most common cause of morbidity and mortality in preweaned dairy calves worldwide. This complex disease can be triggered by both infectious and non-infectious causes. The four most important enteropathogens leading to neonatal dairy calf diarrhoea are Escherichia coli, rota-and coronavirus, and Cryptosporidium parvum. Besides treating diarrhoeic neonatal dairy calves, the veterinarian is the most obvious person to advise the dairy farmer on prevention and treatment of this disease. This review deals with prevention and treatment of neonatal dairy calf diarrhoea focusing on the importance of a good colostrum management and a correct fluid therapy
- âŠ