1,085 research outputs found
Variable Structure-Based Control for Dynamic Temperature Setpoint Regulation in Hospital Extreme Healthcare Zones
In critical healthcare units, such as operation theaters and intensive care units, healthcare workers require specific temperature environments at different stages of an operation, which depends upon the condition of the patient and the requirements of the surgical procedures. Therefore, the need for a dynamically controlled temperature environment and the availability of the required heating/cooling electric power is relatively more necessary for the provision of a better healthcare environment as compared to other commercial and residential buildings, where only comfortable room temperature is required. In order to establish a dynamic temperature zone, a setpoint regulator is required that can control the zone temperature with a fast dynamic response, little overshoot, and a low settling time. Thus, two zone temperature regulators have been proposed in this article, including double integral sliding mode control (DISMC) and integral terminal sliding mode control (ITSMC). A realistic scenario of a hospital operation theater is considered for evaluating their responses and performance to desired temperature setpoints. The performance analysis and superiority of the proposed controllers have been established by comparison with an already installed Johnson temperature controller (JTC) for various time spans and specific environmental conditions that require setpoints based on doctorsâ and patientsâ desires. The proposed controllers showed minimal overshoot and a fast settling response, making them ideal controllers for operation theater (OT) zone temperature control
Emergency Contraception: Knowledge and Attitudes of Family Physicians of a Teaching Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan
This study was conducted to assess the knowledge of family medicine providers and their attitudes towards emergency contraception in a teaching hospital in Karachi, Pakistan. A 21-item questionnaire containing the demographic profile of respondents and questions concerning knowledge of and attitudes towards emergency contraception was distributed among participants. In total, 45 interviews were conducted, with a response rate of 100%, with faculty physicians (33%), residents (27%), medical officers (40%), 36% male and 64% female physicians; of them, the majority (64%) were married. Although the large majority (71%) of the respondents reported considerable familiarity with emergency contraception, objective assessment revealed deficiencies in their knowledge. About 38% of the participants incorrectly chose menstrual irregularity as the most common side-effect of progestin-only emergency contraception pills, and only 33% answered that emergency contraception was not an abortifacient while 42% were unsure. Forty percent of the physicians prescribed emergency contraception in the past. The large majority (71%) of the physicians were familiar with emergency contraception, yet deficiencies in knowledge inaccuracies were identified. Barriers to its use were identified as âit will promote promiscuityâ (31%), religious/ethical reasons (27%), liability (40%), teratogenicity (44%), and inexperience (40%). Overall attitudes regarding emergency contraception were positive; however, most (82%) physicians were unsatisfied with their current knowledge of emergency contraception, and there was a discrepancy between perceptions of physicians and actual knowledge. Interventions providing education to family physicians regarding emergency contraception is strongly recommended
Design and implement WSN/IoT smart parking management system using microcontroller
With the dramatic expansion of new networks such as Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) and Internet-of-Things (IoT), tremendous opportunities have been emerged to incorporate such technologies for valuable tasks. One of these tasks is the smart car parking where there is an imperative demand to manage the parkings in various facilities which may help drivers to save their time. Several research studies have addressed this task using wide range of approaches. However, the energy consumption is still a serious concern. This paper proposes a smart car parking based on cloud-based approach along with variety of sensors. Passive Infrared Sensors (PIRs) have been used to sense the object motion. While Light Dependent Resistor (LDR) sensors have been utilized to sense the light of the parking alarm and display inmformation regarding the occupied and non-occupied parking lots. Finally, multi-micro controller of Arduino have been exploited in order to transmit the information collected to the server. Finally, a prototype Android application has been developed in order to recieve the infromation from the server. Results of simulation showed the efficacy of the proposed method
Essential self-adjointness of magnetic Schr\"odinger operators on locally finite graphs
We give sufficient conditions for essential self-adjointness of magnetic
Schr\"odinger operators on locally finite graphs. Two of the main theorems of
the present paper generalize recent results of Torki-Hamza.Comment: 14 pages; The present version differs from the original version as
follows: the ordering of presentation has been modified in several places,
more details have been provided in several places, some notations have been
changed, two examples have been added, and several new references have been
inserted. The final version of this preprint will appear in Integral
Equations and Operator Theor
Reversible dilated cardiomyopathy caused by hypothyroidism
The association between lack of thyroid hormones and cardiac dysfunction has been well described. We report two new cases of patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), revealing a periphery hypothyroidism and for whom cardiac function significantly improved after L thyroxin substitutive treatment. Our cases highlight the necessity to perform thyroid function testing to investigate the etiology of non ischemic DCM
Gastrografin in the management of adhesive small bowel obstruction in children: a pilot study
Background/purpose Adhesive small bowel obstruction (ASBO) is a common emergency problem in children with previous abdominal surgery. Management protocols usually start with a conservative approach that may be successful in some cases, whereas in others it will end eventually by laparotomy with its associated morbidity and mortality. Our aim was to assess the role of water-soluble contrast, gastrografin, in the conservative management of ASBO. Patients and methods During the period January 2009 to July 2010, 33 patients with ASBO were presented at the Pediatric Surgery Unit at the Ain Shams University Hospitals. Patients who failed to improve after 48 h of conservative management in the absence of signs of strangulation were subjected to gastrografin administration. Patients were evaluated clinically and radiologically to determine the resolution of the adhesive attack, with estimation of hospital stay time. Results An oral administration of gastrografin successfully completed the conservative management in eight of 12 patients (66.6%), thus avoiding surgery and subsequently reducing hospital stay. Conclusion Gastrografin may have a valuable role in the management of ASBO, whether diagnostic or therapeutic, but a randomized controlled trial is needed to prove its effectiveness in reducing surgical intervention rate and hospital stay time.Keywords: adhesive, bowel obstruction, gastrografi
Emergency Contraception: Knowledge and Attitudes of Family Physicians of a Teaching Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan
This study was conducted to assess the knowledge of family medicine
providers and their attitudes towards emergency contraception in a
teaching hospital in Karachi, Pakistan. A 21-item questionnaire
containing the demographic profile of respondents and questions
concerning knowledge of and attitudes towards emergency contraception
was distributed among participants. In total, 45 interviews were
conducted, with a response rate of 100%, with faculty physicians (33%),
residents (27%), medical officers (40%), 36% male and 64% female
physicians; of them, the majority (64%) were married. Although the
large majority (71%) of the respondents reported considerable
familiarity with emergency contraception, objective assessment revealed
deficiencies in their knowledge. About 38% of the participants
incorrectly chose menstrual irregularity as the most common side-effect
of progestin-only emergency contraception pills, and only 33% answered
that emergency contraception was not an abortifacient while 42% were
unsure. Forty percent of the physicians prescribed emergency
contraception in the past. The large majority (71%) of the physicians
were familiar with emergency contraception, yet deficiencies in
knowledge inaccuracies were identified. Barriers to its use were
identified as 'it will promote promiscuity' (31%), religious/ethical
reasons (27%), liability (40%), teratogenicity (44%), and inexperience
(40%). Overall attitudes regarding emergency contraception were
positive; however, most (82%) physicians were unsatisfied with their
current knowledge of emergency contraception, and there was a
discrepancy between perceptions of physicians and actual knowledge.
Interventions providing education to family physicians regarding
emergency contraception is strongly recommended
Dynamic phase transition properties and hysteretic behavior of a ferrimagnetic core-shell nanoparticle in the presence of a time dependent magnetic field
We have presented dynamic phase transition features and stationary-state
behavior of a ferrimagnetic small nanoparticle system with a core-shell
structure. By means of detailed Monte Carlo simulations, a complete picture of
the phase diagrams and magnetization profiles have been presented and the
conditions for the occurrence of a compensation point in the system
have been investigated. According to N\'{e}el nomenclature, the magnetization
curves of the particle have been found to obey P-type, N-type and Q-type
classification schemes under certain conditions. Much effort has been devoted
to investigation of hysteretic response of the particle and we observed the
existence of triple hysteresis loop behavior which originates from the
existence of a weak ferromagnetic core coupling , as well as a
strong antiferromagnetic interface exchange interaction . Most
of the calculations have been performed for a particle in the presence of
oscillating fields of very high frequencies and high amplitudes in comparison
with exchange interactions which resembles a magnetic system under the
influence of ultrafast switching fields. Particular attention has also been
paid on the influence of the particle size on the thermal and magnetic
properties, as well as magnetic features such as coercivity, remanence and
compensation temperature of the particle. We have found that in the presence of
ultrafast switching fields, the particle may exhibit a dynamic phase transition
from paramagnetic to a dynamically ordered phase with increasing ferromagnetic
shell thickness.Comment: 12 pages, 12 figure
Design and implementation home security system and monitoring by using wireless sensor networks WSN/internet of things IOT
The dramatic advancments on communication and networking technologies have led to the emergence of Internet-of-Things (IoT). IoT technology has opened the door for various applications. In particular, the home automation was one of the common applications that took the advantage of IoT. Several research efforts have addressed the home automation system using IoT covering wide range of functionalities. One of the concerning tasks is providing a secure system that can give alarms for suspicious activities within the house. This paper presents a secure house system based on IoT where several activities are being sensed and detected. Specifically, gas, humidity, body temperature and motion have been considered within the sensing based on two main types of micro-controller including Arduino and Raspberry Pi. Consequentially, an Android prototype has bene developed in order to give an interactive interface for warning the house owner regarding any suscpicious activities. Results of simulation demonstrated the efficancy of the proposed syste
Ultrasonic Fluid Level Measuring Device
Accurate measurement of fluid level is very vital both in industrial and consumer market. Ultrasonic technology is one of the solutions used by the industry. However, an optimized balance between cost and features are a must for almost all target applications. The ultrasonic level measurement is used mainly when a non-contact measurement is required. Precise measurement of low-range distance (level) is the main objective for this project. This device can measure level in the range of 0.02m to 4m with an accuracy of 1cm. This measuring system is based on ultrasonic sound utilizing an Atmega328P low-power microcontroller. The system transmits a burst of ultrasonic sound waves towards the subject and then receives the corresponding echo. An HC-SR04 ultrasonic Module is used to both generate and detect the ultrasound required for level computation. The time taken for the ultrasonic burst to travel the distance from the system to the subject and back to the system is accurately measured. This level is displayed on an alphanumeric LCD with an accuracy of ñ 2.5cm. The minimum depth that this system can measure is 2cm and is limited by the transmitter's transducer settling-time. The maximum height that can be measured is 4 meters. The amplitude of the echo depends on the reflecting material, shape, and size. Sound-absorbing targets such as carpets and reflecting surfaces less than two square feet in area reflect poorly. The maximum measurable range is lower for such subjects. If the amplitude of the echo received by the system is so low that it is not detectable by the ultrasonic module, the system goes out of range. This is indicated by displaying the error message OOR (Out-of-Range) on the LCD
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