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Spectroscopic diagnostics of plasma during laser processing of aluminium

The role of the plasma in laser–metal interaction is of considerable interest due to its influence in the energy transfer mechanism in industrial laser materials processing. A 10 kW CO2 laser was used to study its interaction with aluminium under an argon environment. The objective was to determine the absorption and refraction of the laser beam through the plasma during the processing of aluminium. Laser processing of aluminium is becoming an important topic for many industries, including the automobile industry. The spectroscopic relative line to continuum method was used to determine the electron temperature distribution within the plasma by investigating the 4158 ° Ar I line emission and the continuum adjacent to it. The plasmas are induced in 1.0 atm pure Ar environment over a translating Al target, using f/7 and 10 kW CO2 laser. Spectroscopic data indicated that the plasma composition and behaviour were Ar-dominated. Experimental results indicated the plasma core temperature to be 14 000–15 300 K over the incident range of laser powers investigated from 5 to 7 kW. It was found that 7.5–29% of the incident laser power was absorbed by the plasma. Cross-section analysis of the melt pools from the Al samples revealed the absence of any key-hole formation and confirmed that the energy transfer mechanism in the targets was conduction dominated for the reported range of experimental data.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/58114/2/d7_19_021.pd

Blood Administration Documentation Audit Automation

Background: Blood administration is a high risk, low volume, complex procedure. It has strict regulatory requirements for documentation of at least 15 elements over the course of the procedure. There are frequently findings for deficient documentation during survey. Manual audits are time consuming and inaccurate. Every facility in the Providence system faces the same challenges to audit for compliance. Problem: Detecting the rate of compliance for documentation of blood administration manually is difficult. Nursing documentation for blood administration is often incomplete. Manual audits are labor-intensive and have proven to have limited impact to increase documentation compliance. Methods: We created an automated audit to replace the manual process: To do so, we identified the required elements of documentation and studied the electronic medical record for the location of the documentation. This allowed us to create electronic reports from the Corporate Data Warehouse to retrieve the documentation data. Using the data source, we developed visualizations and analysis using PowerBI to understand where documentation was missing. The final report with visualizations were published as a PowerBI app. Results: Improved documentation completion compliance, brought awareness to the standards for blood administration documentation, and enabled managers to monitor the rate of compliance is near real-time. The report allows managers to understand compliance at various levels of granularity: patient, nurse, unit, campus. For units that have adopted the tool, compliance rates have steadily improved. See table for examples. Rate of Compliance by Unit Unit August 2021 December 2021 Swedish Cancer Institute 76.8% 87.7% Swedish Orthopedic Institute 80.8% 84.0% Heme/Onc 12 East 74.8% 88.7% Discussion: This has simplified the task of auditing for compliance. The results are timely (T-1). Nurse managers’ report tremendous ease of use of the tool; training to use the tool requires less than 15 minutes. The tool is available for qualified stakeholders throughout the Providence system. Next Steps: Continue to socialize the tool throughout the Providence system. Continue to refine the tool to meet the needs of individual unit standards and workflows.https://digitalcommons.psjhealth.org/swedish_learning_day_posters/1000/thumbnail.jp

Task Feasibility Maximization using Model-Free Policy Search and Model-Based Whole-Body Control

Producing feasible motions for highly redundant robots, such as humanoids, is a complicated and high-dimensional problem.Model-based whole-body control of such robots, can generate complex dynamic behaviors through the simultaneous execution of multiple tasks.Unfortunately, tasks are generally planned without close consideration for the underlying controller being used, or the other tasks being executed, and are often infeasible when executed on the robot. Consequently, there is no guarantee that the motion will be accomplished.In this work, we develop an optimization loop which automatically improves task feasibility using model-free policy search in conjunction with model-based whole-body control.This combination allows problems to be solved, which would be otherwise intractable using simply one or the other.Through experiments on both the simulated and real iCub humanoid robot, we show that by optimizing task feasibility, initially infeasible complex dynamic motions can be realized --- specifically, a sit-to-stand transition

Regression quantiles with errors-in-variables

In a lot of situations, variables are measured with errors. While this problem has been previously studied in the kontext of kernel regression, no work has been done in quantile regression. To estimate this function we use deconvoluting kernel estimators. The asymptotic behaviour of these estimators depends on the smoothness of the noise distribution

The effectiveness of national strategic guidelines at a local level: a case study of the UK general aviation industry.

The thesis is concerned with the prospects for reducing strategic-local tensions in the British planning process. It examines the conflicts surrounding small general aviation aerodromes as a means of understanding these tensions, why they have evolved, and if they might be reconciled through planning reform. The only prior academic research to have touched upon this issue through general aviation has been an ESRC funded project undertaken by Gallent and colleagues (1999), who found aerodromes provided a microcosm of planning's issues. Building on this work, the thesis develops what is meant by strategic-local tensions, which in broad terms are described as differences between national and regional guidance/plans and what actually takes place locally. Moving from a basic research question it develops a wide planning perspective based on the literature by discussing the meaning of planning, its history and issues for example, how conflicts in planning might be influenced by the broader socio-political environment. The thesis then arrives at three hypotheses which question the effectiveness of the existing strategic guideline implementation process, develops a local planning authority framework and addresses issues of reflectivity and bias. Results from three national surveys of pilots, aerodromes and manufacturers, plus longitudinal analysis of government and other datasets, are then used to detail a comprehensive and unique description of general aviation, which includes a costing based account of the direct expenditure of flying activity. This provides a substantive foundation for a local planning authority survey which both extends previous boundaries and enables the process of implementing strategic objectives to be disaggregated and evaluated. Field visits to twenty six aerodromes and five local authorities are subsequently used to explore gaps within the strategic implementation process and to develop conclusions, within the wider landscape of planning, about the nature of strategic local tensions and implications for planning reform

Intraoperative Neurophysiological Monitoring for Endoscopic Endonasal Approaches to the Skull Base: A Technical Guide.

Intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring during endoscopic, endonasal approaches to the skull base is both feasible and safe. Numerous reports have recently emerged from the literature evaluating the efficacy of different neuromonitoring tests during endonasal procedures, making them relatively well-studied. The authors report on a comprehensive, multimodality approach to monitoring the functional integrity of at risk nervous system structures, including the cerebral cortex, brainstem, cranial nerves, corticospinal tract, corticobulbar tract, and the thalamocortical somatosensory system during endonasal surgery of the skull base. The modalities employed include electroencephalography, somatosensory evoked potentials, free-running and electrically triggered electromyography, transcranial electric motor evoked potentials, and auditory evoked potentials. Methodological considerations as well as benefits and limitations are discussed. The authors argue that, while individual modalities have their limitations, multimodality neuromonitoring provides a real-time, comprehensive assessment of nervous system function and allows for safer, more aggressive management of skull base tumors via the endonasal route