28 research outputs found

    Google Play apps ERM: (energy rating model) multi-criteria evaluation model to generate tentative energy ratings for Google Play store apps

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    A common issue that is shared among Android smartphones users was and still related to saving their batteries power and to avoid the need of using any recharging resources. The tremendous increase in smartphone usage is clearly accompanied by an increase in the need for more energy. This preoperational relationship between modern technology and energy generates energy-greedy apps, and therefore power-hungry end users. With many apps falling under the same category in an app store, these apps usually share similar functionality. Because developers follow different design and development schools, each app has its own energy-consumption habits. Since apps share similar features, an end-user with limited access to recharging resources would prefer an energy-friendly app rather than a popular energy-greedy app. However, app stores give no indication about the energy behaviour of the apps they offer, which causes users to randomly choose apps without understanding their energy-consumption behaviour. Furthermore, with regard to the research questions about the fact that power saving application consumes a lot of electricity, past studies clearly indicate that there is a lot of battery depletion due to several factors. This problem has become a major concern for smartphone users and manufacturers. The main contribution of our research is to design a tool that can act as an effective decision support factor for end users to have an initial indication of the energy-consumption behaviour of an application before installing it. The core idea of the “before-installation” philosophy is simplified by the contradicting concept of installing the app and then having it monitored and optimized. Since processing requires power, avoiding the consumption of some power in order to conserve a larger amount of power should be our priority. So instead, we propose a preventive strategy that requires no processing on any layer of the smartphone. To address this issue, we propose a star-rating evaluation model (SREM), an approach that generates a tentative energy rating label for each app. To that end, SREM adapts current energy-aware refactoring tools to demonstrate the level of energy consumption of an app and presents it in a star-rating schema similar to the Ecolabels used on electrical home appliances. The SREM will also inspire developers and app providers to come up with multiple energy-greedy versions of the same app in order to suit the needs of different categories of users and rate their own apps. We proposed adding SREM to Google Play store in order to generate the energy-efficiency label for each app which will act as a guide for both end users and developers without running any processes on the end-users smartphone. Our research also reviews relevant existing literature specifically those covering various energy-saving techniques and tools proposed by various authors for Android smartphones. A secondary analysis has been done by evaluating the past research papers and surveys that has been done to assess the perception of the users regarding the phone power from their battery. In addition, the research highlights an issue that the notifications regarding the power saving shown on the screen seems to exploit a lot of battery. Therefore, this study has been done to reflect the ways that could help the users to save the phone battery without using any power from the same battery in an efficient manner. The research offers an insight into new ways that could be used to more effectively conserve smartphone energy, proposing a framework that involves end users on the process.Um problema comum entre utilizadores de smartphones Android tem sido a necessidade de economizar a energia das baterias, de modo a evitar a utilização de recursos de recarga. O aumento significativo no uso de smartphones tem sido acompanhado por um aumento, tambĂ©m significativo, na necessidade de mais energia. Esta relação operacional entre tecnologia moderna e energia gera aplicaçÔes muito exigentes no seu consumo de energia e, portanto, perfis de utilizadores que requerem nĂ­veis de energia crescentes. Com muitos das aplicaçÔes que se enquadram numa mesma categoria da loja de aplicaçÔes (Google Store), essas aplicaçÔes geralmente tambĂ©m partilham funcionalidades semelhantes. Como os criadores destas aplicaçÔes seguem abordagens diferentes de diversas escolas de design e desenvolvimento, cada aplicação possui as suas prĂłprias caraterĂ­sticas de consumo de energia. Como as aplicaçÔes partilham recursos semelhantes, um utilizador final com acesso limitado a recursos de recarga prefere uma aplicação que consome menos energia do que uma aplicação mais exigente em termos de consumo energĂ©tico, ainda que seja popular. No entanto, as lojas de aplicaçÔes nĂŁo fornecem uma indicação sobre o comportamento energĂ©tico das aplicaçÔes oferecidas, o que faz com que os utilizadores escolham aleatoriamente as suas aplicaçÔes sem entenderem o correspondente comportamento de consumo de energia. Adicionalmente, no que diz respeito Ă  questĂŁo de investigação, a solução de uma aplicação de economia de energia consume muita eletricidade, o que a torna limitada; estudos anteriores indicam claramente que hĂĄ muita perda de bateria devido a vĂĄrios fatores, nĂŁo constituindo solução para muitos utilizadores e para os fabricantes de smartphones. A principal contribuição de nossa pesquisa Ă© projetar uma ferramenta que possa atuar como um fator de suporte Ă  decisĂŁo eficaz para que os utilizadores finais tenham uma indicação inicial do comportamento de consumo de energia de uma aplicação, antes de a instalar. A ideia central da filosofia proposta Ă© a de atuar "antes da instalação", evitando assim a situação em se instala uma aplicação para perceber Ă  posteriori o seu impacto no consumo energĂ©tico e depois ter que o monitorizar e otimizar (talvez ainda recorrendo a uma aplicação de monitorização do consumo da bateria, o que agrava ainda mais o consumo energĂ©tico). Assim, como o processamento requer energia, Ă© nossa prioridade evitar o consumo de alguma energia para conservar uma quantidade maior de energia. Portanto, Ă© proposta uma estratĂ©gia preventiva que nĂŁo requer processamento em nenhuma camada do smartphone. Para resolver este problema, Ă© proposto um modelo de avaliação por classificação baseado em nĂ­veis e identificado por estrelas (SREM). Esta abordagem gera uma etiqueta de classificação energĂ©tica provisĂłria para cada aplicação. Para isso, o SREM adapta as atuais ferramentas de refatoração com reconhecimento de energia para demonstrar o nĂ­vel de consumo de energia de uma aplicação, apresentando o resultado num esquema de classificação por estrelas semelhante ao dos rĂłtulos ecolĂłgicos usados em eletrodomĂ©sticos. O SREM tambĂ©m se propĂ”e influenciar quem desenvolve e produz as aplicaçÔes, a criarem diferentes versĂ”es destas, com diferentes perfis de consumo energĂ©tico, de modo a atender Ă s necessidades de diferentes categorias de utilizadores e assim classificar as suas prĂłprias aplicaçÔes. Para avaliar a eficiĂȘncia do modelo como um complemento Ă s aplicaçÔes da loja Google Play, que atuam como uma rotulagem para orientação dos utilizadores finais. A investigação tambĂ©m analisa a literatura existente relevante, especificamente a que abrange as vĂĄrias tĂ©cnicas e ferramentas de economia de energia, propostas para smartphones Android. Uma anĂĄlise secundĂĄria foi ainda realizada, focando nos trabalhos de pesquisa que avaliam a perceção dos utilizadores em relação Ă  energia do dispositivo, a partir da bateria. Em complemento, a pesquisa destaca um problema de que as notificaçÔes sobre a economia de energia mostradas na tela parecem explorar muita bateria. Este estudo permitiu refletir sobre as formas que podem auxiliar os utilizadores a economizar a bateria do telefone sem usar energia da mesma bateria e, mesmo assim, o poderem fazer de maneira eficiente. A pesquisa oferece uma visĂŁo global das alternativas que podem ser usadas para conservar com mais eficiĂȘncia a energia do smartphone, propondo um modelo que envolve os utilizadores finais no processo.Un problĂšme frĂ©quent rencontrĂ© par les utilisateurs de smartphones Android a Ă©tĂ©, tout en l’étant toujours, d’économiser leur batterie et d’éviter la nĂ©cessitĂ© d’utiliser des ressources de recharge. La croissance considĂ©rable de l’utilisation des smartphones s’accompagne clairement d’une augmentation des besoins en Ă©nergie. Cette relation prĂ©opĂ©rationnelle entre la technologie moderne et l’énergie gĂ©nĂšre des applications gourmandes en Ă©nergie, et donc des utilisateurs finaux qui le sont tout autant. De nombreuses applications relevant de la mĂȘme catĂ©gorie dans une boutique partagent gĂ©nĂ©ralement des fonctionnalitĂ©s similaires. Étant donnĂ© que les dĂ©veloppeurs adoptent diffĂ©rentes approches de conception et de dĂ©veloppement, chaque application a ses propres caractĂ©ristiques de consommation d’énergie. Comme les applications partagent des fonctionnalitĂ©s similaires, un utilisateur final disposant d’un accĂšs limitĂ© aux ressources de recharge prĂ©fĂ©rerait une application Ă©coĂ©nergĂ©tique plutĂŽt qu’une autre gourmande en Ă©nergie. Cependant, les boutiques d’applications ne donnent aucune indication sur le comportement Ă©nergĂ©tique des applications qu’elles proposent, ce qui incite les utilisateurs Ă  choisir des applications au hasard sans comprendre leurs caractĂ©ristiques en ce domaine. En outre, en ce qui concerne les questions de recherche sur le fait que les applications d’économie d’énergie consomment beaucoup d’électricitĂ©, des Ă©tudes antĂ©rieures indiquent clairement que la dĂ©charge d’une batterie est due Ă  plusieurs facteurs. Ce problĂšme est devenu une prĂ©occupation majeure pour les utilisateurs et les fabricants de smartphones. La principale contribution de notre Ă©tude est de concevoir un outil qui peut agir comme un facteur d’aide efficace Ă  la dĂ©cision pour que les utilisateurs finaux aient une indication initiale du comportement de consommation d’énergie d’une application avant de l’installer. L’idĂ©e de base de la philosophie « avant l’installation » est simplifiĂ©e par le concept contradictoire d’installer l’application pour ensuite la contrĂŽler et l’optimiser. Puisque les opĂ©rations de traitement exigent de l’énergie, Ă©viter la consommation d’une partie d’entre elles pour l’économiser devrait ĂȘtre notre prioritĂ©. Nous proposons donc une stratĂ©gie prĂ©ventive qui ne nĂ©cessite aucun traitement sur une couche quelconque du smartphone. Pour rĂ©soudre ce problĂšme, nous proposons un modĂšle d’évaluation au moyen d’étoiles (star-rating evaluation model ou SREM), une approche qui gĂ©nĂšre une note Ă©nergĂ©tique indicative pour chaque application. À cette fin, le SREM adapte les outils actuels de refactoring sensibles Ă  l’énergie pour dĂ©montrer le niveau de consommation d’énergie d’une application et la prĂ©sente dans un schĂ©ma de classement par Ă©toiles similaire aux labels Ă©cologiques utilisĂ©s sur les appareils Ă©lectromĂ©nagers. Le SREM incitera Ă©galement les dĂ©veloppeurs et les fournisseurs d’applications Ă  mettre au point plusieurs versions avides d’énergie d’une mĂȘme application afin de rĂ©pondre aux besoins des diffĂ©rentes catĂ©gories d’utilisateurs et d’évaluer leurs propres applications. Nous avons proposĂ© d’ajouter le SREM au Google Play Store afin de gĂ©nĂ©rer le label d’efficacitĂ© Ă©nergĂ©tique pour chaque application. Celui-ci servira de guide Ă  la fois pour les utilisateurs finaux et les dĂ©veloppeurs sans exĂ©cuter de processus sur le smartphone des utilisateurs finaux. Notre recherche passe Ă©galement en revue la littĂ©rature existante pertinente, en particulier celle qui couvre divers outils et techniques d’économie d’énergie proposĂ©s par divers auteurs pour les smartphones Android. Une analyse secondaire a Ă©tĂ© effectuĂ©e en Ă©valuant les documents de recherche et les enquĂȘtes antĂ©rieurs qui ont Ă©tĂ© rĂ©alisĂ©s pour Ă©valuer la perception des utilisateurs concernant l’alimentation tĂ©lĂ©phonique depuis leur batterie. En outre, l’étude met en Ă©vidence un problĂšme selon lequel les notifications concernant les Ă©conomies d’énergie affichĂ©es Ă  l’écran semblent elles-mĂȘmes soumettre les batteries Ă  une forte utilisation. Par consĂ©quent, cette Ă©tude a Ă©tĂ© entreprise pour reflĂ©ter les façons qui pourraient aider les utilisateurs Ă  Ă©conomiser efficacement la batterie de leur tĂ©lĂ©phone sans pour autant la dĂ©charger. L’étude offre un bon aperçu des nouvelles façons d’économiser plus efficacement l’énergie des smartphones, en proposant un cadre qui implique les utilisateurs finaux dans le processus

    The evolution of energy requirements of smartphones based on user behaviour and implications of the COVID-19 era

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    Smartphones have evolved to become frequent companions to humans. The common problem shared by Android users of smartphones was, and continues to be, about saving their batteries and preventing the need to use any recharging tools. A significant number of studies have been performed in the general field of "saving energy in smartphones". During a state of global lockdown, the use of smartphone devices has skyrocketed, and many governments have implemented location-tracking applications for their citizens as means of ensuring that the imposed governmental restrictions are being adhered to. Since smartphones are battery-powered, the opportunity to conserve electricity and ensure that the handset does not have to be charged so much or that it does not die and impede location-tracking during this period of crisis is of vital significance, impacting not only the reliability of tracking, but also the usability of the mobile itself. While there are methods to reduce the battery’s drain from mobile app use, they are not fully utilized by users. Simultaneously, the following the manuscript demonstrates the growing prevalence of mobile applications in daily lives, as well as the disproportionally increasing phone functionality, which results in the creation of a dependency towards smartphone use and the need of energy to recharge and operate theses smartphones

    Star-rating evaluation model for rating the energy-efficiency level of android google play apps

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    The tremendous increase in smartphone usage is accompanied by an increase in the need for more energy. This preoperational relationship between modern technology and energy generates energy-greedy apps, and therefore power-hungry end users. With many apps falling under the same category in an app store, these apps usually share similar functionality. Because developers follow different design and development schools, each app has its energy-consumption habits. Since apps share similar features, an end-user with limited access to recharging resources would prefer an energy-friendly app rather than a popular energy-greedy app. However, app stores do not indicate the energy behavior of the apps they offer, which causes users to randomly choose apps without understanding their energy-consumption behavior. A review of the relevant literature was provided covering various energy-saving techniques. The results gave an initial impression about the popularity of the usage of two power-saving modes where the average usage of these modes did not exceed 31% among the total 443 Android users. To address this issue, we propose a star-rating evaluation model (SREM), an approach that generates a tentative energy rating label for each app. The model was tested on 7 open-source apps to act as a primary evaluation sample. To that end, SREM adapts current energy-aware refactoring tools to demonstrate the level of energy consumption of an app and presents it in a star-rating schema similar to the Ecolabels used on electrical home appliances. As per our results, SREM helped in saving 35% of smartphone energy

    Field and temperature tuning of magnetic diode in permalloy honeycomb lattice

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    The observation of magnetic diode behavior with ultra-low forward voltage of 5 mV renders new venue for energetically efficient spintronic device research in the unconventional system of two-dimensional permalloy honeycomb lattice. Detailed understanding of temperature and magnetic field tuning of diode behavior is imperative to any practical application. Here, we report a comprehensive study in this regard by performing electrical measurements on magnetic diode sample as functions of temperature and magnetic field. Magnetic diode is found to persist across the broad temperature range. Magnetic field application unveils a peculiar reentrant characteristic where diode behavior is suppressed in remnant field but reappears after warming to room temperature. Analysis of I-V data suggests a modest energy gap, 0.03-0.1 eV, which is comparable to magnetic Coulomb's interaction energy between emergent magnetic charges on honeycomb vertices in the reverse biased state. It affirms the role of magnetic charge correlation in unidirectional conduction in 2D honeycomb lattice. The experimental results are expected to pave way for the utilization of magnetic diode in next generation spintronic device applications.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure

    Global burden of 369 diseases and injuries in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

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    Background: In an era of shifting global agendas and expanded emphasis on non-communicable diseases and injuries along with communicable diseases, sound evidence on trends by cause at the national level is essential. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) provides a systematic scientific assessment of published, publicly available, and contributed data on incidence, prevalence, and mortality for a mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive list of diseases and injuries. Methods: GBD estimates incidence, prevalence, mortality, years of life lost (YLLs), years lived with disability (YLDs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) due to 369 diseases and injuries, for two sexes, and for 204 countries and territories. Input data were extracted from censuses, household surveys, civil registration and vital statistics, disease registries, health service use, air pollution monitors, satellite imaging, disease notifications, and other sources. Cause-specific death rates and cause fractions were calculated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model and spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression. Cause-specific deaths were adjusted to match the total all-cause deaths calculated as part of the GBD population, fertility, and mortality estimates. Deaths were multiplied by standard life expectancy at each age to calculate YLLs. A Bayesian meta-regression modelling tool, DisMod-MR 2.1, was used to ensure consistency between incidence, prevalence, remission, excess mortality, and cause-specific mortality for most causes. Prevalence estimates were multiplied by disability weights for mutually exclusive sequelae of diseases and injuries to calculate YLDs. We considered results in the context of the Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a composite indicator of income per capita, years of schooling, and fertility rate in females younger than 25 years. Uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated for every metric using the 25th and 975th ordered 1000 draw values of the posterior distribution. Findings: Global health has steadily improved over the past 30 years as measured by age-standardised DALY rates. After taking into account population growth and ageing, the absolute number of DALYs has remained stable. Since 2010, the pace of decline in global age-standardised DALY rates has accelerated in age groups younger than 50 years compared with the 1990–2010 time period, with the greatest annualised rate of decline occurring in the 0–9-year age group. Six infectious diseases were among the top ten causes of DALYs in children younger than 10 years in 2019: lower respiratory infections (ranked second), diarrhoeal diseases (third), malaria (fifth), meningitis (sixth), whooping cough (ninth), and sexually transmitted infections (which, in this age group, is fully accounted for by congenital syphilis; ranked tenth). In adolescents aged 10–24 years, three injury causes were among the top causes of DALYs: road injuries (ranked first), self-harm (third), and interpersonal violence (fifth). Five of the causes that were in the top ten for ages 10–24 years were also in the top ten in the 25–49-year age group: road injuries (ranked first), HIV/AIDS (second), low back pain (fourth), headache disorders (fifth), and depressive disorders (sixth). In 2019, ischaemic heart disease and stroke were the top-ranked causes of DALYs in both the 50–74-year and 75-years-and-older age groups. Since 1990, there has been a marked shift towards a greater proportion of burden due to YLDs from non-communicable diseases and injuries. In 2019, there were 11 countries where non-communicable disease and injury YLDs constituted more than half of all disease burden. Decreases in age-standardised DALY rates have accelerated over the past decade in countries at the lower end of the SDI range, while improvements have started to stagnate or even reverse in countries with higher SDI. Interpretation: As disability becomes an increasingly large component of disease burden and a larger component of health expenditure, greater research and developm nt investment is needed to identify new, more effective intervention strategies. With a rapidly ageing global population, the demands on health services to deal with disabling outcomes, which increase with age, will require policy makers to anticipate these changes. The mix of universal and more geographically specific influences on health reinforces the need for regular reporting on population health in detail and by underlying cause to help decision makers to identify success stories of disease control to emulate, as well as opportunities to improve. Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 licens

    Effects of hospital facilities on patient outcomes after cancer surgery: an international, prospective, observational study

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    Background Early death after cancer surgery is higher in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) compared with in high-income countries, yet the impact of facility characteristics on early postoperative outcomes is unknown. The aim of this study was to examine the association between hospital infrastructure, resource availability, and processes on early outcomes after cancer surgery worldwide.Methods A multimethods analysis was performed as part of the GlobalSurg 3 study-a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study of patients who had surgery for breast, colorectal, or gastric cancer. The primary outcomes were 30-day mortality and 30-day major complication rates. Potentially beneficial hospital facilities were identified by variable selection to select those associated with 30-day mortality. Adjusted outcomes were determined using generalised estimating equations to account for patient characteristics and country-income group, with population stratification by hospital.Findings Between April 1, 2018, and April 23, 2019, facility-level data were collected for 9685 patients across 238 hospitals in 66 countries (91 hospitals in 20 high-income countries; 57 hospitals in 19 upper-middle-income countries; and 90 hospitals in 27 low-income to lower-middle-income countries). The availability of five hospital facilities was inversely associated with mortality: ultrasound, CT scanner, critical care unit, opioid analgesia, and oncologist. After adjustment for case-mix and country income group, hospitals with three or fewer of these facilities (62 hospitals, 1294 patients) had higher mortality compared with those with four or five (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 3.85 [95% CI 2.58-5.75]; p<0.0001), with excess mortality predominantly explained by a limited capacity to rescue following the development of major complications (63.0% vs 82.7%; OR 0.35 [0.23-0.53]; p<0.0001). Across LMICs, improvements in hospital facilities would prevent one to three deaths for every 100 patients undergoing surgery for cancer.Interpretation Hospitals with higher levels of infrastructure and resources have better outcomes after cancer surgery, independent of country income. Without urgent strengthening of hospital infrastructure and resources, the reductions in cancer-associated mortality associated with improved access will not be realised

    Mortality from gastrointestinal congenital anomalies at 264 hospitals in 74 low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries: a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study

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    Background: Congenital anomalies are the fifth leading cause of mortality in children younger than 5 years globally. Many gastrointestinal congenital anomalies are fatal without timely access to neonatal surgical care, but few studies have been done on these conditions in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We compared outcomes of the seven most common gastrointestinal congenital anomalies in low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries globally, and identified factors associated with mortality. // Methods: We did a multicentre, international prospective cohort study of patients younger than 16 years, presenting to hospital for the first time with oesophageal atresia, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, intestinal atresia, gastroschisis, exomphalos, anorectal malformation, and Hirschsprung's disease. Recruitment was of consecutive patients for a minimum of 1 month between October, 2018, and April, 2019. We collected data on patient demographics, clinical status, interventions, and outcomes using the REDCap platform. Patients were followed up for 30 days after primary intervention, or 30 days after admission if they did not receive an intervention. The primary outcome was all-cause, in-hospital mortality for all conditions combined and each condition individually, stratified by country income status. We did a complete case analysis. // Findings: We included 3849 patients with 3975 study conditions (560 with oesophageal atresia, 448 with congenital diaphragmatic hernia, 681 with intestinal atresia, 453 with gastroschisis, 325 with exomphalos, 991 with anorectal malformation, and 517 with Hirschsprung's disease) from 264 hospitals (89 in high-income countries, 166 in middle-income countries, and nine in low-income countries) in 74 countries. Of the 3849 patients, 2231 (58·0%) were male. Median gestational age at birth was 38 weeks (IQR 36–39) and median bodyweight at presentation was 2·8 kg (2·3–3·3). Mortality among all patients was 37 (39·8%) of 93 in low-income countries, 583 (20·4%) of 2860 in middle-income countries, and 50 (5·6%) of 896 in high-income countries (p<0·0001 between all country income groups). Gastroschisis had the greatest difference in mortality between country income strata (nine [90·0%] of ten in low-income countries, 97 [31·9%] of 304 in middle-income countries, and two [1·4%] of 139 in high-income countries; p≀0·0001 between all country income groups). Factors significantly associated with higher mortality for all patients combined included country income status (low-income vs high-income countries, risk ratio 2·78 [95% CI 1·88–4·11], p<0·0001; middle-income vs high-income countries, 2·11 [1·59–2·79], p<0·0001), sepsis at presentation (1·20 [1·04–1·40], p=0·016), higher American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score at primary intervention (ASA 4–5 vs ASA 1–2, 1·82 [1·40–2·35], p<0·0001; ASA 3 vs ASA 1–2, 1·58, [1·30–1·92], p<0·0001]), surgical safety checklist not used (1·39 [1·02–1·90], p=0·035), and ventilation or parenteral nutrition unavailable when needed (ventilation 1·96, [1·41–2·71], p=0·0001; parenteral nutrition 1·35, [1·05–1·74], p=0·018). Administration of parenteral nutrition (0·61, [0·47–0·79], p=0·0002) and use of a peripherally inserted central catheter (0·65 [0·50–0·86], p=0·0024) or percutaneous central line (0·69 [0·48–1·00], p=0·049) were associated with lower mortality. // Interpretation: Unacceptable differences in mortality exist for gastrointestinal congenital anomalies between low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries. Improving access to quality neonatal surgical care in LMICs will be vital to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 of ending preventable deaths in neonates and children younger than 5 years by 2030

    Mortality from gastrointestinal congenital anomalies at 264 hospitals in 74 low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries: a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study

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    Summary Background Congenital anomalies are the fifth leading cause of mortality in children younger than 5 years globally. Many gastrointestinal congenital anomalies are fatal without timely access to neonatal surgical care, but few studies have been done on these conditions in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We compared outcomes of the seven most common gastrointestinal congenital anomalies in low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries globally, and identified factors associated with mortality. Methods We did a multicentre, international prospective cohort study of patients younger than 16 years, presenting to hospital for the first time with oesophageal atresia, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, intestinal atresia, gastroschisis, exomphalos, anorectal malformation, and Hirschsprung’s disease. Recruitment was of consecutive patients for a minimum of 1 month between October, 2018, and April, 2019. We collected data on patient demographics, clinical status, interventions, and outcomes using the REDCap platform. Patients were followed up for 30 days after primary intervention, or 30 days after admission if they did not receive an intervention. The primary outcome was all-cause, in-hospital mortality for all conditions combined and each condition individually, stratified by country income status. We did a complete case analysis. Findings We included 3849 patients with 3975 study conditions (560 with oesophageal atresia, 448 with congenital diaphragmatic hernia, 681 with intestinal atresia, 453 with gastroschisis, 325 with exomphalos, 991 with anorectal malformation, and 517 with Hirschsprung’s disease) from 264 hospitals (89 in high-income countries, 166 in middleincome countries, and nine in low-income countries) in 74 countries. Of the 3849 patients, 2231 (58·0%) were male. Median gestational age at birth was 38 weeks (IQR 36–39) and median bodyweight at presentation was 2·8 kg (2·3–3·3). Mortality among all patients was 37 (39·8%) of 93 in low-income countries, 583 (20·4%) of 2860 in middle-income countries, and 50 (5·6%) of 896 in high-income countries (p<0·0001 between all country income groups). Gastroschisis had the greatest difference in mortality between country income strata (nine [90·0%] of ten in lowincome countries, 97 [31·9%] of 304 in middle-income countries, and two [1·4%] of 139 in high-income countries; p≀0·0001 between all country income groups). Factors significantly associated with higher mortality for all patients combined included country income status (low-income vs high-income countries, risk ratio 2·78 [95% CI 1·88–4·11], p<0·0001; middle-income vs high-income countries, 2·11 [1·59–2·79], p<0·0001), sepsis at presentation (1·20 [1·04–1·40], p=0·016), higher American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score at primary intervention (ASA 4–5 vs ASA 1–2, 1·82 [1·40–2·35], p<0·0001; ASA 3 vs ASA 1–2, 1·58, [1·30–1·92], p<0·0001]), surgical safety checklist not used (1·39 [1·02–1·90], p=0·035), and ventilation or parenteral nutrition unavailable when needed (ventilation 1·96, [1·41–2·71], p=0·0001; parenteral nutrition 1·35, [1·05–1·74], p=0·018). Administration of parenteral nutrition (0·61, [0·47–0·79], p=0·0002) and use of a peripherally inserted central catheter (0·65 [0·50–0·86], p=0·0024) or percutaneous central line (0·69 [0·48–1·00], p=0·049) were associated with lower mortality. Interpretation Unacceptable differences in mortality exist for gastrointestinal congenital anomalies between lowincome, middle-income, and high-income countries. Improving access to quality neonatal surgical care in LMICs will be vital to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 of ending preventable deaths in neonates and children younger than 5 years by 2030

    Estimating the Cost of Wasted Energy During Overcharging Smartphones and Using COVID19 Apps

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    Energy wastage through irresponsible smartphone use comprises a significant sum. Using a secondary desk-based literature review, this paper evaluates con-temporary literature to calculate an approximate estimate of the amount of energy wasted through irresponsible smartphone use by US users on an annual basis. Conservative estimates purely based on overcharging of smartphones in the US suggest that the figure is in excess of US$400m per annum. A variety of factors contribute to irresponsible smartphone use, which are predominantly behavioral in nature. This paper highlights some of the impacts of excessive smartphone use and considers steps which might be taken by users themselves to reduce energy wastage during smartphone use. In addition, suggestions are made to manufac-turers to help them ‘nudge’ users into more responsible behavior through the principles of behavioral economics

    Uncooled SI\u3csub\u3ex\u3c/sub\u3eGE\u3csub\u3ey\u3c/sub\u3eO\u3csub\u3e1-x-y\u3c/sub\u3e Microbolometer Stack for LWIR Detection

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    This paper presents design, fabrication, characterization, and noise reduction of two uncooled Si0.622Ge0.298O0.08 microbolometer stacked in a single pixel. Each microbolometer captures a portion of the spectrum across the long wavelength infrared region (LWIR) and the combined structure was optimized to maximize the total absorptance, transmittance, and reflectance of the individual surfaces with Frequency Selective Surface (FSS). The inclusion of the FSS on the bottom microbolometer permits engineering the IR absorptance with respect to wavelength. While the top microbolometer utilizes the need for a -wave resonant cavity under the microbolometer. In addition, the metasurface can significantly improve the electrical performance of the temperature-sensing layer. These parameters scale with the periodicity and area fraction of the metasurface. The voltage noise power spectral density was reduced by annealing the devices in vacuum. The measured responsivity and detectivity approached 104 V/W and 108 cm Hz1/2/W for the bottom microbolometer with FSS
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