Optimization of Fuzzy Logic Controllers by Particle Swarm Optimization to Increase the Lifetime in Power Electronic Stages

In recent years, brushless direct current motor (BLDCM) applications have been increased due to their advantages as low size, mechanical torque, high-speed range, to mention some. The BLDCM control is required to operate at high frequency, high temperature, large voltage, and quick changes of current; as a result of this kind of operation, the power drive lifetime is affected. The power drives commonly utilized insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) and metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs), which present power losses, on-state losses, and switching losses caused by temperature oscillations. Hence, the power losses are related to the command signals generated by the controller. In this sense, the BLDC motor drive controller design, frequently, does not take into account the power losses and the temperature oscillations, which cause the IGBT lifetime decrease or premature fail. In this chapter, a brushless DC motor drive is designed based on a fuzzy controller tuned with the particle swarm optimization algorithm, where the temperature oscillations and speed set points are considered in order to increase IGBT module lifetime. The validation of the proposed fuzzy-PSO controller is carried out by the co-simulation between LabVIEW™ and Multisim™ and finally analysis and conclusion of the work

Developing a business improvement strategy based on the EFQM model

The use of the EFQM model and other business excellence models (BEM’s) has been recognised as a way of improving business processes among organisations. The information gathered through self-assessments using these models show the performance of organisations against several model criteria. There is evidence that organisations find it difficult to integrate the information from self-assessments to current business improvement programs or projects. Additionally, it has been claimed that the final reports derived from the deployment of self-assessments are rarely followed up. Thus, despite good efforts and some knowledge gained through the use of BEM’s there is a lack of methods, models, and techniques that effectively integrate the self-assessments with current business improvement strategies. In this context, the effective deployments of BEM’s and follow up activities and plans can contribute to support and develop business improvement strategies. Under this perspective, this paper explores the appropriate methods and techniques than can help to integrate self-assessments outcomes based on the EFQM model into a business improvement strategy. Based on emerging issues derived from an empirical study with twelve European Organisations that have used the EFQM model for more than five years, the paper identifies some of the best practices to integrate self-assessment outcomes with business improvement strategies. It then proposes a framework that can help to accomplish this integration and to mitigate the problems mentioned earlier. The conclusion of this work emphasises the necessity to standardise this process, and to integrate it with current knowledge management projects to store and retrieve the information for future business improvements project

Dynamic Model of a Wind Turbine for the Electric Energy Generation

A novel dynamic model is introduced for the modeling of the wind turbine behavior. The objective of the wind turbine is the electric energy generation. The analytic model has the characteristic that considers a rotatory tower. Experiments show the validity of the proposed method

Burnout syndrome and work engagement in nursing staff: a systematic review and meta-analysis

The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmed.2023.1125133/full#supplementary-materialBackground: A difficult and demanding work environment, such as that often experienced in healthcare, can provoke fatigue, anxiety, distress, and discomfort. This study considers factors that may influence levels of burnout and work engagement among nurses and seeks to determine the relationship between these conditions.Method: A systematic scoping review was performed, in accordance with the PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews, based on data obtained from a search of the PubMed/MEDLINE and Scopus databases carried out in 2022 using the search equation: "work engagement AND nurs* AND burnout." This search identified nine quantitative primary studies suitable for inclusion in our analysis.Results: Work overload, type of shift worked, and/or area of hospital service, among other elements, are all relevant to the development of burnout. This syndrome can be countered by social support and appropriate personal resources and values, which are all positively associated with work engagement. Our analysis revealed a significant correlation between work engagement and the different domains of burnout. The correlation effect size between burnout and work engagement was -0.46 (95% CI -0.58, -0.31), with p < 0.001.Conclusion: Well-targeted interventions in the healthcare work environment can reduce burnout levels, strengthen work engagement, and enhance the quality of healthcare.FEDER/Consejeria de Universidad, Investigacion e Innovacion de la Junta de Andalucia P20-0062

Intraoperative Transfusion of Red Blood Cell Units Stored >14 Days is Associated with an Increased Risk of Prosthetic Joint Infection.

Background: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the association between prosthetic joint infection (PJI) after joint arthroplasty and the length of red blood cell (RBC) storage, timing of RBC transfusion, and the number of RBC units transfused. Study design and Methods: All patients who underwent a primary or revision joint artrhoplasty between January 2000 and December 2012 were retrospectively reviewed. For this study, only patients who received RBC transfusions during the day of the surgery (early transfusion group) or within the first 4 days after surgery (late transfusion group) were included. Results: A total of 9906 patients were reviewed. In the early transfusion group (n=1153, 11.6%), patients receiving 1 or 2 RBC units (3.5% vs 6.3%, P=0.041), 3 or 4 RBC (1.3% vs 13.3%, P=0.004) or ≥5 RBC units (5.0% vs 37.5%, P=0.026) had a higher PJI rate only when >50% of RBC units transfused had been stored >14 days. In the late transfusion group (n=920, 9.3%) these differences were not significant. Early transfusion of RBCs stored >14 days was an independent variable associated with an increased risk of PJI (OR:2.50, 95%CI:1.44-4.33) Conclusion: Transfusion of RBC within the first 6h after joint arthroplasty was an independent variable associated with PJI risk when RBC units are stored >14 days. The rate of PJI increased with the number of old RBC units transfused within this critical period

Smartphones and Apps to Control Glycosylated Hemoglobin (HbA1c) Level in Diabetes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Introduction: Diabetes mellitus is a chronic endocrine-metabolic disease, the evolution of which is closely related to people’s self-control of glycemic levels through nutrition, exercise, and medicines. Aim: To determine whether smartphone apps can help persons with diabetes to improve their % levels of glycosylated hemoglobin. Method: A systematic review and meta-analysis were done. ProQuest, Pubmed/Medline, and Scopus databases were used. The search equation used was “(Prevention and Control) AND Diabetes Mellitus AND Smartphones”. The inclusion criteria applied were clinical trials, conducted in 2014–2019. Results: n = 18 studies were included in the review. The studies tried different applications to monitor glycemia and support patients to improve glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels. More than half of the studies found statistically significant differences in HbA1c in the intervention group compared with the control group. Eleven studies were included in the meta-analysis and the study sample was n = 545 for the experimental group and n = 454 for the control group. The meta-analytic estimation of the HbA1c % level means differences between intervention and control group was statistically significant in favour of the intervention group with a mean difference of –0.37 (–0.58, –0.15. 95% confidence interval). Conclusion: Smartphone apps can help people with diabetes to improve their level of HbA1c, but the clinical impact is low

A Case Study of Defects Reduction in a Rubber Gloves Manufacturing Process by Applying Six Sigma Principles and DMAIC Problem Solving Methodology

Abstract The Six Sigma&apos;s problem solving methodology DMAIC has been one of several techniques used to improve quality. This paper demonstrates the empirical application of Six Sigma and DMAIC to reduce product defects within a rubber gloves manufacturing organisation. The paper follows the DMAIC methodology to investigate defects, root causes and provide a solution to reduce/eliminate these defects. The analysis from employing Six Sigma and DMAIC indicated that the oven&apos;s temperature and conveyor&apos;s speed influenced the amount of defective gloves produced. In particular, the design of experiments (DOE) and two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) techniques were combined to statistically determine the correlation of the oven&apos;s temperature and conveyor&apos;s speed with defects as well as to define their optimum values needed to reduce/eliminate the defects. As a result, a reduction of about 50% in the &quot;leaking&quot; gloves defect was achieved, which helped the organisation studied to reduce its defects per million opportunities (DPMO) from 195,095 to 83,750 and thus improve its Sigma level from 2.4 to 2.9

Prevalence, levels and related factors of burnout in nurse managers: A multi-centre cross-sectional study

Aims: The aims of this study are to analyse the prevalence and levels of burnout syndrome in nurse managers and to evaluate the relationship between burnout and related sociodemographic, occupational and psychological factors. Background: Burnout syndrome, defined as an emotional response to chronic stress, is a major problem among nurse managers. Methods: The study was conducted using a cross-sectional survey design and data collected by the Maslach Burnout Inventory, the revised NEO Five Factor Inventory and the Educational-Clinical Questionnaire for Anxiety and Depression. The sample population consisted of 86 nurse managers from different hospitals from the Public Health Service of Andalusia, Spain. Results: A total of 22.4% of the participants presented high levels of emotional exhaustion, 21% experienced depersonalisation and 57.6% had little sense of personal accomplishment. Working long shifts was related to burnout. Emotional exhaustion and depersonalization were predicted by depression, while personal accomplishment was predicted by conscientiousness, agreeableness and openness. Conclusions: A total of 34.1% of the participants presented high levels of burnout, manifested by feelings of low personal accomplishment. Psychological and occupational factors play an important role in the development of this syndrome. Implications for Nursing Management: Nurse managers should seek to detect burnout among staff and colleagues matching the risk profile for this condition and promote interventions to prevent it

Burnout and Professional Engagement during the COVID-19 Pandemic among Nursing Students without Clinical Experience: A Cross-Sectional Study

Burnout affects many healthcare professionals, especially nurses, causing serious health problems and disrupting the work environment. Academic burnout may also be experienced, leading students to feel unable to cope with their education. As a result, they may lose interest and even consider abandoning their studies. Hence, burnout syndrome can affect both the mental health and the professional future of those affected. To evaluate academic burnout in nursing students who had no clinical experience before starting their practical training, a cross-sectional study involving 212 third-year nursing students at the University of Granada was conducted. Data were collected using the Granada Burnout Questionnaire, the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, the NEO Five-Factor Inventory, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and the Fear of CoronaVirus-19 Scale. High levels of burnout were present in 37.8% of the students. Moreover, 21.5% and 8.7% had borderline cases of anxiety or depression, respectively. Another 30.8% and 9.2%, respectively, were considered likely to present these conditions. According to the predictive models of burnout dimensions obtained, neuroticism is a predictor of all three burnout dimensions. Furthermore, anxiety, depression, extraversion, responsibility and engagement are predictors of some dimensions of the syndrome. Many nursing students present high levels of burnout, which is related to certain personality variables and to the presence of anxiety and/or depression. The level of professional engagement is inversely associated with the impact of burnout. The participants in this study have normalised their return to the pre-pandemic study routine (in-person classes), and fear of COVID-19 was not a significant predictor of any dimension of burnout.FEDER/Consejeria de Universidad, Investigacion e Innovacion de la Junta de Andalucia P20-0062