Investigation and validation of PV fed reduced switch asymmetric multilevel inverter using optimization based selective harmonic elimination technique

Pulse width modulation for Selective Harmonics Elimination (SHE) is mostly employed in the reduction of lower order harmonics. The PV system in this research provides input voltage to the reduced switch 31-level inverter, which is based on the Artificial Bee Colony algorithm. With a high gain DC-DC single-ended primary-inductor converter (SEPIC), the PV panel output voltage is kept constant. The Grey wolf optimization algorithm (GWO) approach is used to get the most power out PV scheme. Multi Carrier modulation, a high-frequency modulation technology, is also used in this novel design of the inverter to reduce upper order harmonics. The suggested Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) algorithm, harmonics is compared to a SHE technique based on a genetic algorithm. The hardware findings were confirmed using DSPIC30F2010 controller simulation, and the recommended system was validated using Matlab simulation

Neonatal, infant and child health in South Africa : reflecting on the past towards a better future

Although the neonatal mortality rate in South Africa (SA) has remained stagnant at 12 deaths per 1 000 live births, the infant and under-5 mortality rates have significantly declined since peaking in 2003. Policy changes that have influenced this decline include policies to prevent vertical HIV transmission, earlier treatment of children living with HIV, expanded immunisation policies, strengthening breastfeeding practices, and health policies to contain tobacco and sugar use. The Sustainable Development Goals (2016 - 2030) have shifted the focus from keeping children alive, as expressed in the Millennium Development Goals (1990 - 2015), to achieving optimal health through the ‘Survive, thrive and transform’ global agenda. This paper focuses on important remaining causes of childhood mortality and morbidity in SA, specifically respiratory illness, environmental pollution, tuberculosis, malnutrition and vaccine-preventable conditions. The monitoring of maternal and child health (MCH) outcomes is crucial, and has improved in SA through both the District Health Information and Civil Registration and Vital Statistics systems, although gaps remain. Intermittent surveys and research augment the routinely collected data. However, availability and use of local data to inform quality and effectiveness of care is critical, and this requires ownership at the collection point to facilitate local redress. Potential game changers to improve MCH outcomes include mobile health and community-based interventions. In SA, improved MCH remains a crucial factor for human capital development. There is a pressing need to focus beyond childhood mortality and to ensure that each child thrives.http://www.samj.org.zapm2020Geography, Geoinformatics and MeteorologyPaediatrics and Child HealthSchool of Health Systems and Public Health (SHSPH

Neonatal, infant and child health in South Africa : reflecting on the past towards a better future

CITATION: Goga, A. et al. 2019. Neonatal, infant and child health in South Africa : reflecting on the past towards a better future. South African Medical Journal, 109(11b):83-88, doi:10.7196/SAMJ.2019.v109i11b.14301.The original publication is available at http://www.samj.org.zaAlthough the neonatal mortality rate in South Africa (SA) has remained stagnant at 12 deaths per 1 000 live births, the infant and under-5 mortality rates have significantly declined since peaking in 2003. Policy changes that have influenced this decline include policies to prevent vertical HIV transmission, earlier treatment of children living with HIV, expanded immunisation policies, strengthening breastfeeding practices, and health policies to contain tobacco and sugar use. The Sustainable Development Goals (2016 - 2030) have shifted the focus from keeping children alive, as expressed in the Millennium Development Goals (1990 - 2015), to achieving optimal health through the ‘Survive, thrive and transform’ global agenda. This paper focuses on important remaining causes of childhood mortality and morbidity in SA, specifically respiratory illness, environmental pollution, tuberculosis, malnutrition and vaccine-preventable conditions. The monitoring of maternal and child health (MCH) outcomes is crucial, and has improved in SA through both the District Health Information and Civil Registration and Vital Statistics systems, although gaps remain. Intermittent surveys and research augment the routinely collected data. However, availability and use of local data to inform quality and effectiveness of care is critical, and this requires ownership at the collection point to facilitate local redress. Potential game changers to improve MCH outcomes include mobile health and community-based interventions. In SA, improved MCH remains a crucial factor for human capital development. There is a pressing need to focus beyond childhood mortality and to ensure that each child thrives.http://www.samj.org.za/index.php/samj/article/view/12807Publisher's versio

The Role of Derogations from the ECHR in the Current “War on Terror”

This chapter points out that derogation from the ECHR under Article 15 ECHR was designed after the Second World War precisely to allow contracting states to meet emergencies such as the one represented by the current “war on terror,” but to remain within the ECHR system, while suspending adherence to certain rights on a temporary basis. Article 15 allows states to cease their adherence to a number of Convention rights during the period of the emergency. It might be expected therefore that reliance on derogations would be particularly significant at the present time. But the chapter finds that very few derogations have been sought from ECHR contracting states despite the recent very significant rise in terrorist activity. Given that derogations have played little part in counterterrorism efforts in most of the ECHR contracting states, a significant degree of continued adherence to the ECHR has been maintained, but some attention has turned to other methods of exploring the evasion of its protection. This chapter explores the reasons behind the lack of reliance on derogations and the implications of turning to such other methods as alternatives

Extent of knowledge and attitudes on plagiarism among undergraduate medical students in South India - a multicentre, cross-sectional study to determine the need for incorporating research ethics in medical undergraduate curriculum

BACKGROUND: Undergraduate medical students in India participate in various research activities However, plagiarism is rampant, and we hypothesize that it is the lack of knowledge on how to avoid plagiarism. This study’s objective was to measure the extent of knowledge and attitudes towards plagiarism among undergraduate medical students in India. METHODS: It was a multicentre, cross-sectional study conducted over a two-year period (January 2018 – December 2019). Undergraduate medical students were given a pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire which contained: (a) Demographic details; (b) A quiz developed by Indiana University, USA to assess knowledge; and (c) Attitudes towards Plagiarism (ATP) questionnaire. RESULTS: Eleven medical colleges (n = 4 government medical colleges [GMCs] and n = 7 private medical colleges [PMCs]) participated. A total of N = 4183 students consented. The mean (SD) knowledge score was 4.54 (1.78) out of 10. The factors (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]; 95% Confidence interval [CI]; p value) that emerged as significant predictors of poor knowledge score were early years of medical education (0.110; 0.063, 0.156; < 0.001) and being enrolled in a GMC (0.348; 0.233, 0.463; < 0.001).The overall mean (SD) scores of the three attitude components namely permissive, critical and submissive norms were 37.56 (5.25), 20.35 (4.20) and 31.20 (4.28) respectively, corresponding to the moderate category. CONCLUSION: The overall knowledge score was poor. A vast majority of study participants fell in the moderate category of attitude score. These findings warrant the need for incorporating formal training in the medical education curriculum

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Disciplinary, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary aquaculture researchAeromonas spp. cause significant mortality and high economic losses in Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus culture worldwide. In the present study, we isolated and confirmed the involvement of four bacteria from diseased Nile tilapia showing signs of bilateral exophthalmia in Tamil Nadu, India. The bacterial isolates were identified as Citrobacter freundii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter juvenii and Aeromonas veronii based on biochemical and 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. All the four isolates failed to produce positive CAMP reaction on 5% sheep blood agar and no cytopathic effect was observed in OnlL cell line after inoculating filtrate of the tissue homogenates prepared from the affected Nile tilapia. Experimental challenge infection assays revealed that out of the four, A. veronii isolate alone killed 100% of experimental fish within 120 h and the bacteria could be subsequently re-isolated from the dead fish. The LD50 values of A. veronii were found to be 105.35 CFU/fish. The bacterial isolate exhibited cytotoxic effects on onlL cells and haemolytic activity on 5% sheep blood agar and was found positive for virulence genes such as enterotoxin act and haemolytic toxin aerA. This study described a virulent A. veronii isolated from Nile tilapia with bilateral exophthalmia and eye lesions as that exhibited by the well known outbreak causing pathogen, Streptococcus agalactiae. In this study, A. veronii isolates were also found sensitive to cefixime, ciprofloxacin, chloramphenicol, kanamycin, cifixime/clavulanic acid, suggesting the possible application of these antibiotics in aquaculture.National Surveillance Programme of Aquatic Animal Diseases, National Fisheries Development Board, Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries (Grant Number: NFDB/Coord/NBFGR/2012-13/ 16720 dated 11.02.2013

Animating 3D vegetation in real-time using a 2D approach

In this paper, we propose a 2D approach for real-time animation of vegetation in 3D scenes, especially suitable for simulating wind effects on 3D vegetation fields with densely leaved foliage. We represent a vegetation field as view-dependent 2D billboard layers, perform a 2D harmonic motion simulation for modeling the dynamics of vegetation at the first layer (closest to the viewer), and utilize this dynamics to guide the animation of the rest of the layers while addressing the motion effects in depth and occlusion effects. As a result, our method can produce natural looking motions of vegetation swaying in wind comparable with existing commercial software, however the effort to setting up the underlying animation model and the computational cost can be significantly reduced

Neonatal, infant and child health in South Africa: Reflecting on the past towards a better future

Although the neonatal mortality rate in South Africa (SA) has remained stagnant at 12 deaths per 1 000 live births, the infant and under-5 mortality rates have significantly declined since peaking in 2003. Policy changes that have influenced this decline include policies to prevent vertical HIV transmission, earlier treatment of children living with HIV, expanded immunisation policies, strengthening breastfeeding practices, and health policies to contain tobacco and sugar use. The Sustainable Development Goals (2016 - 2030) have shifted the focus from keeping children alive, as expressed in the Millennium Development Goals (1990 - 2015), to achieving optimal health through the ‘Survive, thrive and transform’ global agenda. This paper focuses on important remaining causes of childhood mortality and morbidity in SA, specifically respiratory illness, environmental pollution, tuberculosis, malnutrition and vaccine-preventable conditions. The monitoring of maternal and child health (MCH) outcomes is crucial, and has improved in SA through both the District Health Information and Civil Registration and Vital Statistics systems, although gaps remain. Intermittent surveys and research augment the routinely collected data. However, availability and use of local data to inform quality and effectiveness of care is critical, and this requires ownership at the collection point to facilitate local redress. Potential game changers to improve MCH outcomes include mobile health and community-based interventions. In SA, improved MCH remains a crucial factor for human capital development. There is a pressing need to focus beyond childhood mortality and to ensure that each child thrives