Efficient Ray-Tracing Channel Emulation in Industrial Environments: An Analysis of Propagation Model Impact

Industrial environments are considered to be severe from the point of view of electromagnetic (EM) wave propagation. When dealing with a wide range of industrial environments and deployment setups, ray-tracing channel emulation can capture many distinctive characteristics of a propagation scenario. Ray-tracing tools often require a detailed and accurate description of the propagation scenario. Consequently, industrial environments composed of complex objects can limit the effectiveness of a ray-tracing tool and lead to computationally intensive simulations. This study analyzes the impact of using different propagation models by evaluating the number of allowed ray path interactions and digital scenario representation for an industrial environment. This study is realized using the Volcano ray-tracing tool at frequencies relevant to 5G industrial networks: 2 GHz (mid-band) and 28 GHz (high-band). This analysis can help in enhancing a ray-tracing tool that relies on a digital representation of the propagation environment to produce deterministic channel models for Indoor Factory (InF) scenarios, which can subsequently be used for industrial network design.Comment: copyright 2023 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other work

Exploring RIS Coverage Enhancement in Factories: From Ray-Based Modeling to Use-Case Analysis

Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RISs) have risen to the forefront of wireless communications research due to their proactive ability to alter the wireless environment intelligently, promising improved wireless network capacity and coverage. Thus, RISs are a pivotal technology in evolving next-generation communication networks. This paper demonstrates a system-level modeling approach for RIS. The RIS model, integrated with the Volcano ray-tracing (RT) tool, is used to analyze the far-field (FF) RIS channel properties in a typical factory environment and explore coverage enhancement at sub-6 GHz and mmWave frequencies. The results obtained in non-line-of-sight (NLoS) scenarios confirm that RIS application is relevant for 5G industrial networks.Comment: copyright 2024 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other work

Towards a computational model of social norms

We describe a computational model of social norms based on identifying values that a certain culture finds desirable such as dignity, generosity and politeness. The model quantifies these values in the form of Culture-Sanctioned Social Metrics (CSSMs) and treats social norms as the requirement to maximize these metrics from the perspective of the self, peers and public. This model can be used to create realistic social simulations, to explain or predict human behavior in specific scenarios, or as a component of robots or agents that need to interact with humans in specific social-cultural settings. We validate the model by using it to represent a complex deception scenario and showing that it can yield non-trivial insights such as the explanation of apparently irrational human behavior

Food supply chain in the era of Industry 4.0: Blockchain technology implementation opportunities and impediments from the perspective of people, process, performance and technology

Royal Academy of Engineering for supporting the authors to visit Turkey through DVFM project [DVFM 1718_1_54] titled ‘Perishable food cold chain logistics in Turkey’

Genetic mapping of QTLs for drought tolerance in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)

Chickpea yield is severely affected by drought stress, which is a complex quantitative trait regulated by multiple small-effect genes. Identifying genomic regions associated with drought tolerance component traits may increase our understanding of drought tolerance mechanisms and assist in the development of drought-tolerant varieties. Here, a total of 187 F8 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) developed from an interspecific cross between drought-tolerant genotype GPF 2 (Cicer arietinum) and drought-sensitive accession ILWC 292 (C. reticulatum) were evaluated to identify quantitative trait loci (QTLs) associated with drought tolerance component traits. A total of 21 traits, including 12 morpho-physiological traits and nine root-related traits, were studied under rainfed and irrigated conditions. Composite interval mapping identified 31 QTLs at Ludhiana and 23 QTLs at Faridkot locations for morphological and physiological traits, and seven QTLs were identified for root-related traits. QTL analysis identified eight consensus QTLs for six traits and five QTL clusters containing QTLs for multiple traits on linkage groups CaLG04 and CaLG06. The identified major QTLs and genomic regions associated with drought tolerance component traits can be introgressed into elite cultivars using genomics-assisted breeding to enhance drought tolerance in chickpea

Estimates of measles case fatality ratios: a comprehensive review of community-based studies.

BACKGROUND: Global deaths from measles have decreased notably in past decades, due to both increases in immunization rates and decreases in measles case fatality ratios (CFRs). While some aspects of the reduction in measles mortality can be monitored through increases in immunization coverage, estimating the level of measles deaths (in absolute terms) is problematic, particularly since incidence-based methods of estimation rely on accurate measures of measles CFRs. These ratios vary widely by geographic and epidemiologic context and even within the same community from year-to-year. METHODS: To understand better the variations in CFRs, we reviewed community-based studies published between 1980 and 2008 reporting age-specific measles CFRs. RESULTS: The results of the search consistently document that measles CFRs are highest in unvaccinated children under age 5 years; in outbreaks; the lowest CFRs occur in vaccinated children regardless of setting. The broad range of case and death definitions, study populations and geography highlight the complexities in extrapolating results for global public health planning. CONCLUSIONS: Values for measles CFRs remain imprecise, resulting in continued uncertainty about the actual toll measles exacts

Diagnostic Stewardship: A Clinical Decision Rule for Blood Cultures in Community-Onset Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) Skin and Soft Tissue Infections

INTRODUCTION: The emergence, spread and persistence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) as a causative pathogen in community-onset (CO) skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs) have resulted in substantial changes in the management of these infections. The indications for obtaining blood cultures in patients with CO-MRSA SSTIs remain poorly defined. The objectives of this study were to derive and validate a clinical decision rule that predicts the probability of MRSA bacteremia in CO-MRSA SSTIs and to identify a low-risk population for whom blood cultures may be safely omitted. METHODS: This was a retrospective, case-control study with an internal temporal validation cohort conducted at two large urban academic medical centers. Hospitalized adults with CO-MRSA SSTI between 2010 and 2018 were included. Independent predictors of MRSA bacteremia were identified through multivariable logistic regression. A decision rule was derived using weighted coefficient-based scoring. The decision rule was validated in an internal temporal validation cohort. RESULTS: A total of 307 patients (155 cases and 152 controls) were included in the derivation cohort. A decision rule was created with a major criterion defined as purulent cellulitis and minor criteria defined as abnormal temperature, intravenous drug use, leukocytosis, tachycardia, body mass index \u3c 25 kg/m CONCLUSION: The decision rule developed and validated in this study provides a standardized, evidenced-based approach to determine the need for blood cultures based on bacteremia risk

SSR and AFLP based genetic diversity of soybean germplasm differing in photoperiod sensitivity

Forty-four soybean genotypes with different photoperiod response were selected after screening of 1000 soybean accessions under artificial condition and were profiled using 40 SSR and 5 AFLP primer pairs. The average polymorphism information content (PIC) for SSR and AFLP marker systems was 0.507 and 0.120, respectively. Clustering of genotypes was done using UPGMA method for SSR and AFLP and correlation was 0.337 and 0.504, respectively. Mantel's correlation coefficients between Jaccard's similarity coefficient and the cophenetic values were fairly high in both the marker systems (SSR = 0.924; AFLP = 0.958) indicating very good fit for the clustering pattern. UPGMA based cluster analysis classified soybean genotypes into four major groups with fairly moderate bootstrap support. These major clusters corresponded with the photoperiod response and place of origin. The results indicate that the photoperiod insensitive genotypes, 11/2/1939 (EC 325097) and MACS 330 would be better choice for broadening the genetic base of soybean for this trait