Search

The power output of photovoltaic (PV) systems, especially bifacial modules, varies due to daily fluctuations in irradiance and temperature. Maximising the efficiency and power extraction are considered crucial. Hybrid DC off-grid topologies are highly promising for rural electrification with solar energy and battery backup. These systems, tailored for household appliance use, feature low semiconductor count, continuous current ports for PV, battery and DC loads, low-voltage levels for PV and battery, voltage regulation for DC loads, maximum power point tracking (MPPT), proper battery charging and discharging, high-voltage boosting without low-frequency transformers and reduced power converter stages. However, the existing schemes often lack the above-mentioned critical features. Hence, this paper proposes a novel three-switch tri-port converter with integrated energy storage for stand-alone bifacial PV applications, with modelling and experimental validation. The battery serves as an energy storage component, regulating the DC link voltage for consistency. This paper underscores PV system power optimisation and introduces a novel tri-port converter for stand-alone bifacial PV setups, emphasising energy storage’s role in voltage regulation.

Abstract American football has become the focus of numerous studies highlighting a growing concern that cumulative exposure to repetitive, sports-related head acceleration events (HAEs) may have negative consequences for brain health, even in the absence of a diagnosed concussion. In this longitudinal study, brain functional connectivity was analyzed in a cohort of high school American football athletes over a single play season and compared against participants in non-collision high school sports. Football athletes underwent four resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging sessions: once before (pre-season), twice during (in-season), and once 34–80 days after the contact activities play season ended (post-season). For each imaging session, functional connectomes (FCs) were computed for each athlete and compared across sessions using a metric reflecting the (self) similarity between two FCs. HAEs were monitored during all practices and games throughout the season using head-mounted sensors. Relative to the pre-season scan session, football athletes exhibited decreased FC self-similarity at the later in-season session, with apparent recovery of self-similarity by the time of the post-season session. In addition, both within and post-season self-similarity was correlated with cumulative exposure to head acceleration events. These results suggest that repetitive exposure to HAEs produces alterations in functional brain connectivity and highlight the necessity of collision-free recovery periods for football athletes.

Abstract Classical shadows provide a noise-resilient and sample-efficient method for learning quantum system properties, relying on a user-specified unitary ensemble. What is the weakest assumption on this ensemble that can still yield meaningful results? To address this, we focus on Pauli-invariant unitary ensembles—those invariant under multiplication by Pauli operators. For these ensembles, we present explicit formulas for the reconstruction map and sample complexity bounds and extend our results to the case when noise impacts the protocol implementation. Two applications are explored: one for locally scrambled unitary ensembles, where we present formulas for the reconstruction map and sample complexity bounds that circumvent the need to solve an exponential-sized linear system, and another for the classical shadows of quantum channels. Our results establish a unified framework for classical shadows with Pauli-invariant unitary ensembles, applicable to both noisy and noiseless scenarios for states and channels and primed for implementation on near-term quantum devices.

Introduction: The introduction of proteasome inhibitors, immunomodulatory drugs, and monoclonal antibodies has changed the treatment paradigm of multiple myeloma. With the advent of these new therapeutic options, life expectancy has substantially increased for myeloma patients which has led to an increased number of patients with triple-class refractory disease. Thus, there remains an unmet need for effective novel therapies with good tolerability and safety profile. Elranatamab, is the most widely used bispecific antibody currently in the Indian setting. However, it has only been used on a clinical trial basis till now, and real-world data especially in the Indian setting is missing. Here, we present our experience with three cases of multi-line treated relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma on elranatamab monotherapy. Case report: We here discuss three of our patients with triple class refractory multiple myeloma who recieved elranatamab monotherapy. While one of our patient had been switched to fortnightly treatment, two patients were still continuing weekly treatment. The common adverse effects observed were grade 1–2 cytokine release syndrome, cytopenias, CMV reactivation and hypo-gammaglobulinemia. While two of our patients are doing well, one patient had grade 3 neurological toxicity, likely drug related and succumbed. Discussion: B-cell maturation antigen is highly expressed on mature B cells and is critical for the survival and proliferation of plasma cells. It has emerged as a novel target for anti-myeloma therapies in the form of bispecific cell engager, antibody-drug conjugates, and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies.The phase II MM3 trial showed a promising efficacy with an ORR of 61% with a CR rate of >35%. With a median follow-up of 14.7 months, the median PFS was not reached and the 15-month PFS rate was 50.9%. While it is too early to comment on long term survival with the monotherapy, we here discuss response of Indian patients in the real world setting. Conclusion: Elranatamab monotherapy could prove to be an efficacious option for the treatment of relapsed /refractory multiple myeloma patients with triple-class refractory disease, with limited therapeutic options. However, patients need to be screened for infectious complications with appropriate prophylaxis and immunoglobulin replacement, if required. Also, a high suspicion is required for the neurological complications of the drug and a longitudinal neuro-cognitive screening is required for the patients.

In recent decades, minimally invasive surgery has become the favoured surgical technique, with increasing utilisation of robotic surgery to enhance patient outcomes. However, the design complexity of surgical robotic instruments can pose challenges in maintaining adequate cleaning, disinfection and sterilisation-particularly of the device's interior. In our hospital, robotic instruments are reused for a maximum of ten successive patients, following the manufacturer's guidelines. To the best of our knowledge, neither the manufacturer nor ISO standards have specified any methods to determine the sterility of robotic instruments after cleaning, disinfection and sterilisation procedures. In a small pilot study, we used a locally developed protocol to evaluate the sterility of 20 da Vinci SI robotic instruments, with the aim of determining whether the recommended cleaning, disinfection and sterilisation process is adequate to achieve safe usage in subsequent patients. None of the 20 instruments showed viable micro-organisms, therefore the robotic instruments were considered sterile, and suitable for re-use. We recommend our protocol to other hospitals, to be used as an essential control element in the assessment of their unique reprocessing technique for robotic instruments.