133 research outputs found
Propagation of spherically expanding premixed flames
No full textThe propagation of spherically expanding premixed flames is investigated, in both confined and unconfined scenarios. In the unconfined case, the flame propagates at nearly isobaric conditions and the flame displacement speed eventually reaches a constant value whereas in the confined case there is pressure buildup which affects the flame displacement speed which increases as the flame grows larger. In the confined case, the evolution of the flame with time is studied with emphasis on properties like pressure as a function of time, temperature and velocity field in the channel and the displacement speed. The temperature profiles over the domain are obtained which give an idea about the flame thickness at that instant in time. Effect of the Lewis number on the behavior of the flame is examined in the unconfined scenario. Also, the effect of stretch rate on local density weighted flame displacement speeds is studied, which indicates toward the consistent definition of the flame displacement speed.
The numerical results are compared with a non-linear analytical model that treats the flame as a density discontinuity. This model requires only solving the hydro dynamic equations along with the appropriate jump conditions across the flame front. The main difference between the numerical and the analytical solution is that the numerical solution takes into consideration a finite rate chemistry throughout the domain whereas in the analytical solution the reaction rate is modeled as a delta function. Similarities and differences between
the analytical and the numerical solution are studied.Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'Closed Access', the embargo will last until 2017-05-01The student, Omkar Lokhande, accepted the attached license on 2015-04-28 at 12:29.The student, Omkar Lokhande, submitted this Thesis for approval on 2015-04-28 at 12:40.This Thesis was approved for publication on 2015-04-29 at 15:44.DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #8156 on 2015-07-22 at 14:26:32Made available in DSpace on 2015-07-22T22:46:06Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2
LOKHANDE-THESIS-2015.pdf: 1939170 bytes, checksum: 24bec485799535ed19ca0cfa0e7e6381 (MD5)
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Previous issue date: 2015-04-29Embargo set by: Seth Robbins for item 80034
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A game theoretic approach to UAV routing and information collection
No full textIn recent times, the use of Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for tasks which involve high endurance or perilous environments, has become increasingly vital. A typical problem is that of information collection, in particular when multiple UAVs are involved, which prompts an important problem of routing these UAVs through the search environment with the goal of maximizing the collected information. Most of the previous line of work assumes a centralized control and full communication among the UAVs, thus posing this as an optimization problem solved via centralized solutions. However, in applications where communication is infeasible, each UAV must individually solve the problem. Assuming a natural scenario of UAVs being compensated for the collected information makes them self-interested agents trying to maximize their payoffs. Consequently, our game-theoretic approach is a natural fit. While our game model is primarily based on the game model used in a previous work, it is also significantly generalized, incorporating interesting facets of information fusion and multi-modality-composed information. This game is closely related to the well-studied classes of congestion-type and resource selection games, but cannot be cast into these classes unless certain critical constraints are relaxed. Our contribution to this literature, is a result on existence of pure Nash equilibria via existence of the Finite Improvement Property, which applies to any singleton congestion-type games having a certain class of payoff functions. Finally, to our best knowledge, our results providing theoretically guaranteed tight bounds on the Price of anarchy and Price of stability, are the first such results in the literature involving a game theoretic approach to UAV routing.Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'U of I Access', the embargo will last until 2019-05-01The student, Omkar Thakoor, accepted the attached license on 2017-04-25 at 16:07.The student, Omkar Thakoor, submitted this Thesis for approval on 2017-04-25 at 16:36.This Thesis was approved for publication on 2017-04-26 at 09:43.DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #11060 on 2017-08-10 at 15:07:04Made available in DSpace on 2017-08-10T20:33:25Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2
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Previous issue date: 2017-04-26Embargo set by: Colleen Fallaw for item 102838
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Effect of the COVID-19 pandemic response on intrapartum care, stillbirth, and neonatal mortality outcomes in Nepal: a prospective observational study
No full textBACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic response is affecting maternal and neonatal health services all over the world. We aimed to assess the number of institutional births, their outcomes (institutional stillbirth and neonatal mortality rate), and quality of intrapartum care before and during the national COVID-19 lockdown in Nepal. METHODS: In this prospective observational study, we collected participant-level data for pregnant women enrolled in the SUSTAIN and REFINE studies between Jan 1 and May 30, 2020, from nine hospitals in Nepal. This period included 12·5 weeks before the national lockdown and 9·5 weeks during the lockdown. Women were eligible for inclusion if they had a gestational age of 22 weeks or more, a fetal heart sound at time of admission, and consented to inclusion. Women who had multiple births and their babies were excluded. We collected information on demographic and obstetric characteristics via extraction from case notes and health worker performance via direct observation by independent clinical researchers. We used regression analyses to assess changes in the number of institutional births, quality of care, and mortality before lockdown versus during lockdown. FINDINGS: Of 22 907 eligible women, 21 763 women were enrolled and 20 354 gave birth, and health worker performance was recorded for 10 543 births. From the beginning to the end of the study period, the mean weekly number of births decreased from 1261·1 births (SE 66·1) before lockdown to 651·4 births (49·9) during lockdown-a reduction of 52·4%. The institutional stillbirth rate increased from 14 per 1000 total births before lockdown to 21 per 1000 total births during lockdown (p=0·0002), and institutional neonatal mortality increased from 13 per 1000 livebirths to 40 per 1000 livebirths (p=0·0022). In terms of quality of care, intrapartum fetal heart rate monitoring decreased by 13·4% (-15·4 to -11·3; p<0·0001), and breastfeeding within 1 h of birth decreased by 3·5% (-4·6 to -2·6; p=0·0032). The immediate newborn care practice of placing the baby skin-to-skin with their mother increased by 13·2% (12·1 to 14·5; p<0·0001), and health workers' hand hygiene practices during childbirth increased by 12·9% (11·8 to 13·9) during lockdown (p<0·0001). INTERPRETATION: Institutional childbirth reduced by more than half during lockdown, with increases in institutional stillbirth rate and neonatal mortality, and decreases in quality of care. Some behaviours improved, notably hand hygiene and keeping the baby skin-to-skin with their mother. An urgent need exists to protect access to high quality intrapartum care and prevent excess deaths for the most vulnerable health system users during this pandemic period. FUNDING: Grand Challenges Canada
Author Correction: Reliability of high-quantity human brain organoids for modeling microcephaly, glioma invasion and drug screening
No full textPredictive maintenance for utility scale solar parks: A machine learning approach towards early fault detection for PV inverters
No full textThe growing demand and improvements in manufacturing capabilities, supported by government subsidies, has allowed the increase in the installed capacity of utility scale solar parks. Due to the remoteness in their location, the costs associated with dispatching personnel for maintenance is extremely high. A major contribution towards unscheduled downtime of these plants is due to the inverter faults. Currently, reactive and preventive maintenance are the most prevailing methods to identify and fix inverter faults. The presumption that the components will not under-performor fail until the scheduled visit, leads to a significant loss of production and revenue. To deal with the disadvantages of current maintenance methods, the solar industry is very keen on understanding the possibility of early detection of inverter faults by implementation of predictive maintenance. This research assessed the applicability of Machine Learning (ML) towards early signal detection of inverter faults in order to generate predictive maintenance alerts. The data for building the ML algorithms was acquired from a Shell owned 26.6 MWp utility scale solar park located in Moerdijk, The Netherlands. The early signal detection algorithmdeveloped, was based on the comparison between the actual and the predicted active power. The model built to predict the active power was based on two supervised learning methods;Elastic Net and Gradient BoostingMachine (GBM) with quantile regression. These models were capable of predicting the active power with a Mean Absolute Error (MAE) of 0.98kW & Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) of 1.8kW using Global Plane of Array irradiance (GPOA) and module temperaturemeasurements available from theMoerdijk data. The early signal detection relied on differentiating between prediction error and actual error. A window was created to encompass the maximum extent of prediction errors to avoid any false positive signals. This window for elastic net was found to be ¡¾ on the lower side and 2¾ on the upper side. Although when elastic net method was tested on 337 inverters- by looking at their residual variation 1-week prior to registered fault- it was found that the predictions suffered a periodic structural error. This was due to the erroneous predictions at times with extreme irradiance values. To mitigate, this the GBM with quantiles of 0.01 and 0.99 of GPOA was built to create a range of predictions giving rise to a wider range for normal operation. The results from both the algorithms indicated no early signals for inverter fault detection. This was partly due to data quality issues with fault tags in the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) monitoring system; only 7 actual fault cases were identified. Additionally, the economic feasibility of implementing predictive maintenance was found to potentially reduce the current Operational Expenses (OPeX) by up to 10%. Despite the issues with data quality, an approach of using ML towards early fault detection for inverters in utility scale solar parks has been realised through this research
Adherence to World Health Organisation guidelines for treatment of early onset neonatal sepsis in low-income settings : a cohort study in Nepal
No full textBackground: Neonatal sepsis is one of the major causes of death during the first month of life and early empirical treatment with injectable antibiotics is a life-saving intervention. Adherence to World Health Organisation guidelines on first line antibiotics is crucial to mitigate the risks of increased antimicrobial resistance. The aim of this paper was to evaluate if treatment of early onset neonatal sepsis in a low-income facility setting observe current guidelines and if compliance is influenced by contextual factors. Methods: This cohort study used data on antimicrobial treatment of neonatal sepsis onset within 72 h of life from 12 regional hospitals participating in a scale-up trial of a neonatal resuscitation quality improvement package intervention in Nepal. Infants treated according to guidelines were compared with those receiving other antimicrobials. A multiple logistic regression analysis adjusted for the intervention and time trend was applied. Results: 1564 infants with a preliminary diagnosis of early onset sepsis were included. A majority (74.9%) were treated according to guidelines and adherence was increasing over time. Infants born at larger facilities (adjusted Odds Ratio 5.6), those that were inborn (adjusted Odds Ratio 1.97) or belonging to a family of dis-advantaged caste (adjusted Odds Ratio 2.15) had higher odds for treatment according to guidelines. A clinical presentation of lethargy or tachypnoea was associated with adherence to guidelines. Conclusion: Adherence to guidelines for antibiotic treatment of early neonatal sepsis was moderately high in this low-income setting. Odds for observing guidelines increased with facility size, for inborn infants and if the family belonged to a dis-advantaged caste. Cefotaxime was a common alternative choice when guidelines were not followed, highly relevant for the risk of increased antimicrobial resistance
Synergizing AI and HRM: Leveraging Business Analytics for a Future-Ready Workforce
No full textThis chapter explores the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Human Resource Management (HRM) practices within the Asian business landscape. It offers a comprehensive examination of the evolution of AI in HRM, emphasizing the benefits and potential challenges associated with implementing AI-driven HRM strategies. The discussion highlights the importance of synergizing AI and HRM through business analytics, offering insights into how AI can enhance recruitment, retention, and employee engagement. The author delve into potential ethical, cultural, and legal issues associated with AI-driven HRM, highlighting the necessity for thoughtful and strategic implementation. Finally, the chapter proposes strategies for successfully incorporating AI in HRM, emphasizing the development of AI competencies, fostering a data-driven culture, and ensuring ethical AI deployment. The discussion provides a foundation for future research, policy development, and practical applications in AI-driven HRM, promoting a future-ready workforce in Asia
Effect of a quality improvement package on early essential newborn care in public hospitals of Nepal, a multi-center observational cohort study
No full textBackground: Poor quality of care is a major cause of neonatal mortality and morbidity. WHO recommendations for quality care at birth includes provision of early essential newborn care (EENC): immediate and thorough drying, immediate skin-to-skin contact, delayed cord clamping, and early initiation of breastfeeding. Objective: To evaluate the impact of a Quality Improvement (QI) package on EENC practices in public hospitals of Nepal.Method: This was a multi-center observational cohort study in 4 public hospitals of Nepal. The study was conducted over a period of 15 months between July 2017 - October 2018. Using an independent research team, observations of immediate care of vaginally born neonates were done using an observation checklist. A QI package was introduced in the hospitals over a period of 12 months and we evaluated the change in EENC practices before and after, using multivariate logistic regression.Results: We included 27,009 newborns for analysis. The rate of initiation of breastfeeding within one hour increased in all hospitals in the intervention period, from 5% to 12% overall, compared to pre-intervention. Delayed cord clamping increased in three of the four study hospitals, from 22% to 33% overall. Immediate drying was widely performed both pre-intervention and during intervention, with a slight overall decrease from 98%-97%. However, immediate skin-to-skin contact dropped in three of the included hospitals, from 89% to 70% overall. Only a small proportion received all four EENC practices both pre-intervention (1.4%) and during intervention (3.8%).Conclusion: Adherence to EENC recommendations is inadequate in Nepal, and as a result not all newborn infants receive quality care at birth. Implementing QI interventions can bring changes in the EENC practices in public hospitals of Nepal, however further studies are required to assess the predictors, especially the role of the local context, to avoid unexpected negative impact.</p
A Review of eHealth Initiatives : Implications for Improving Health Service Delivery in Nepal
No full textThe aim of this paper is to take stock of the use of information and communication technologies in delivering health services in Nepal and identify bottlenecks in implementation for improving delivery of health services. A descriptive review was conducted from May to September 2016. Data were collected from organizations working on the different thematic areas in health where information and communication technologies was used. Fifteen ongoing eHealth projects were identified in the areas of monitoring and surveillance, electronic health records/electronic medical records, health information system, and telemedicine. Common challenges were addressed, including a lack of funding, infrastructure, electricity and network, and national capacity. Most eHealth projects were not integrated into the national system. Working at a national level to address the challenges, centralizing eHealth projects and developing national policies would ensure to adopt eHealth at a right place and to accelerate eHealth initiatives. Keywords: eHealth; health service delivery;information and communication technologies (ICT); Nepal
Measuring respectful maternal and newborn care in Nepal : Comparing linked observation and interview data- prospective cohort study
No full textBackground Respectful maternal and newborn care is the cornerstone of high-quality care, however, measuring experience of respectful care has challenges since it can be subjective, and dependent on expectations. In this study, we assess the concordance between women’s reported experiences of respectful maternal and newborn care and independent observation of their care in Nepal. Methods This is a secondary analysis of a prospective cohort study among 22832 pregnant women conducted in three high volume hospitals in the country: Koshi Provincial Hospital (Hospital A), Bharatpur Hospital (Hospital B), and Lumbini Provincial Hospital (Hospital C) for 18 months between April 2017 and October 2018. The study implemented direct observation during and semi-structured interviews at discharge to evaluate the quality of maternal and newborn care in three large public hospitals. For this analysis, three domains for respectful maternal and newborn care were considered: 1) consent and counselling 2) respect and dignity of care, and 3) care provision. The two data sources (observation checklist and semi-structured interview) were plotted to these three domains to identify common indicators. The level of agreement (LOA) between two measurements was compared using Cohen kappa scores (κ) and Bland Altman plots. Findings During the study period, 22832 women had both observation and interview completed. For consent and counseling, 78.8% of women reported being informed about routine care while only 47.3% were observed to have been consented and counseled (k, LOA = 59.1%). For respect and dignity of care, 99.0% of women reported being treated with dignity and respect and 96.4% were observed (k, LOA = 95.4%). For care provision, 37.9% reported that the infant was kept in immediate skin-to-skin contact after delivery while only 3.9% were observed (k, LOA = 61.7%). Conclusion A significant difference existed between observed and self-reported measures of maternal and newborn care. This study highlights the need for a measurement approach that incorporates independent observations alongside self-reported data. There is also a need to further explore concordance between different sources for progress monitoring
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