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Global photovoltaic (PV) potential is a global dataset on decadal interval for the period 2020-2100 at 0.5 degrees spatial resolution. These dataset are the outcome of a model developed to compute the PV potential in climate scenarios (RCP2.6, RCP4.5, RCP6.0 and RCP8.5)

The Cellular Automata (CA) based SLEUTH model has emerged as a widely applied model to many cities for land use land cover (LULC) change and urban growth modelling due to its simplicity, robustness...

Due to the current unprecedented catastrophe situation, the entire world is struggling hard not only in terms of physical health but in terms of mental wellness too. The people are surrounded by various uncertainties. The present time is giving rise to various distress like anxiety, depression, mental burnout. With the help of conceptual study, we analyzed the influence of present epidemic condition on employee psychological wellness. By drawing certain stressors like unemployment, job cuts, isolation, financial worries, zoom fatigue, panic buying, we measured the impact on mental well-being logically by critically examining the available literature. The search for articles was made in Google scholar, Web of Science scholar. Further, the study reveals that individuals are such a lot of terrified of getting COVID-19 that they are even ending up their life because of panic stigma or due to socio-economic reasons. Finally, we have proposed that how the role of HRM can be used as a way of handling such problem by introducing various organizational initiatives like building a strong emotional and psychological connect with their employees, providing word of assurance to curtail the hitches which employees are facing. © 2021 Karadeniz Technical University. All rights reserved.

Octavia Poetry Collective for Womxn of Colour was founded in 2015 by Rachel Long in response to the lack of inclusion in UK poetry and the academy. It has gone on to foster some of the most talente...

Objectives In an adverse event investigation, the patients have the potential to add a unique perspective because they can identify contributing factors that providers may miss. However, patients are rarely included in patient safety investigations. We aimed to identify the barriers to patient involvement in patient safety investigations and propose strategies to overcome them. Methods We reviewed literature on active participation by patients in safety investigations to construct a framework for healthcare institutions to use in approaching patients about a potential role in investigating an error in their care. We searched 3 electronic databases (PubMed, PSNet, Web of Science) for the years 1990 to 2018, without restrictions to language. Search terms included: "patient empowerment, "patient involvement," "patient participation," "patient safety investigation," "root cause analysis," "error analysis." We also examined reference lists of relevant studies to identify additional articles. Results Our electronic search produced 10,624 records with 30 potentially eligible articles. However, we identified only 6 relevant published articles. We used these as the basis for a proposed framework that is predicated on the thoughtful disclosure of adverse events and has 3 main levels (i.e., patient, clinician, and institutional level). For each level, we identify barriers to patient participation and potential strategies to overcome them. Conclusions The proposed framework can be used as a starting point to promote patient involvement in error investigations. Involving patients in patient safety investigations could increase patient centeredness, patient autonomy, and transparency and make analyses more effective by adding unique and potentially actionable information.

BackgroundReward dysfunction has been implicated in many psychiatric disorders such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorders, depression, and substance use disorders. However, psychiatric comorbidities are common, and the specificity of reward dysfunction to individual psychopathologies is unknown. The objective of this study was to evaluate the association between reward functioning and specific or general psychopathologies.Methods1044 adults and their 1215 children (ages 6-12) completed various measures of the Positive Valence System domain from the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC), which included the Delayed and Probability Discounting Tasks, Energy Expenditure for Reward Task, and Iowa Gambling Task. Children also completed the Experienced Pleasure Scale for children, while adults completed the Temporal Experience of Pleasure Scale and the Behavioral Activation System tasks. Psychopathology was assessed using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) for children and the Adult Self Report (ASR) for parents.ResultsOne general factor identified via principal factors factor analysis explained the majority of variance in psychopathology in both groups. Reward measures in both adults and children were significantly associated with general psychopathology as well as most specific psychopathologies. Some associations between reward and psychopathology did not hold following removal of general psychopathology; nonetheless, certain reward constructs were uniquely associated with specific disorder problems but not general psychopathology.ConclusionDisorder problem specific associations with reward functioning can be identified after removal of comorbidity. General propensity toward psychopathology is significantly but not uniquely correlated with reward dysfunction. Altogether, this may have broader implications for future study of the role of reward in disease pathogenesis.

Primary care providers (PCPs) are the initial treatment provider for a majority of the more than 100 million adults in the U.S. now living with diabetes or prediabetes. Constant changes in health care delivery and new diabetes therapies make it challenging for PCPs to stay up to date on the latest diabetes guidelines. In addition, only 14% of PCPs refer all patients with type 2 diabetes to diabetes self-management education and support (DSMES) programs despite their evidence base for improving diabetes-related outcomes. The American Diabetes Association (ADA) developed a professional education program designed to broaden the knowledge and usage of the Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes (SOC) among PCPs and increase referrals to evidence-based interventions for the prevention and management of diabetes. Programs provide 6 hours of case-based, accredited, interactive education built around the realities of primary care to a group of 100-200 PCPs. The program covers treatment options, strategies to improve compliance in diabetes management, and prevention of type 2 diabetes. To assess changes in clinical practice, online surveys are administered before and 6 months following the program. From June 2018 to March 2019, 1,183 PCPs participated in one of 9 in-person programs hosted across the country. Six months after the program, 98% of PCPs reported a gain in knowledge related to their clinical practice, and knowledge of pharmacologic treatment options increased 21%. In addition, 56% of PCPs increased their use of the SOC and PCP referrals to DSMES programs increased 16%. Results from the program demonstrate positive impact on PCP knowledge and clinical practice in the primary care setting. PCPs are learning how to optimize patient care in a changing health care landscape, thus increasing the likelihood of improved patient outcomes. Notably, this program has an estimated reach of 2.7 million patients with diabetes and 1.4 million with prediabetes leading to a widespread improvement in care across the country. Disclosure R. Woolley: Employee; Self; American Diabetes Association. E. Colwell: None. E. Ford: None. A. Saxena: None. S. Bradley: None. Funding Abbott Diabetes Care; AstraZeneca; Merck & Co., Inc.; Novo Nordisk

Increasing urbanization, especially in developing countries, promotes the need of monitoring and modelling of urban growth or sprawl. Urban remote sensing and modelling are the tools which facilitate assessment and prediction of urban growth. In the present work, spatio-temporal variations in urban growth has been studied using 22 years of multi-spectral remote sensing data for Pushkar Town in India. The CA (Cellular Automata) based SLEUTH model has been used in the present study for urban growth modelling, which is one of the most promising urban growth model and widely used throughout the world. The self-modifying parameters in SLEUTH model play a crucial role in identifying and controlling the temporal urban growth rate during model calibration and urban growth prediction. Present study is aimed to determine the SLEUTH model sensitivity to self-modifying parameter and also to identify the influence of self-modifying parameters on fragmented urban growth, urban growth pattern and spatial & temporal distribution of growth. The study revealed the need of sensitivity analysis of SLEUTH model parameters which are critically affecting simulation process in identifying fragmented urban growth, in areas where built-up unit sizes are small, built-up practices are heterogeneous and scattered. Study has been found to be successful in quantifying the model sensitivity to self-modifying parameters and in identifying different urban forms like clustered, dispersed, edge, road influenced, compact and spreading center growth. The study is important for research community, urban planners and land use policy decision makers.

Present study is aimed to compare the performance of SLEUTH model from two different calibration methods, that is, brute force and GA in term of computational efficiency of calibration proc...

ObjectiveTo characterize features of medical student exposure to difficult conversations during a neurology core clerkship.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional concurrent nested mixed methods study, and all students rotating through a required neurology clerkship between 2014 and 2015 were enrolled. Data collection included an electronic communication tracker, baseline and end-of-clerkship surveys, and 4 facilitated focus groups. Students were asked to log exposure to patient–clinician conversations about (1) new disability, (2) poor prognosis, (3) prognostic uncertainty (4), terminal diagnosis, and (5) end-of-life care.ResultsA total of 159 students were enrolled and 276 conversations were tracked. Most (70%) students observed at least 1 difficult conversation, and conversations about poor prognosis, new disability, and prognostic uncertainty were most commonly logged. At clerkship end, most students (87%) desired additional bedside training in communication skills. Exposure to one of the predefined conversation types did not improve student perceived preparedness to lead difficult conversations in the future. In focus groups, students noted that the educational value of observation of a difficult conversation could be optimized with preconversation planning and postconversation debriefing.ConclusionsDifficult conversations are common in neurology, and represent a valuable opportunity to provide communication skills training on the wards. Future curricula should consider ways to leverage these existing opportunities to enhance communication skills training.

Iris refers to the highly textured, externally visible annular tissue present in the eye. This uniqueness of each iris’ textured pattern can be used to uniquely identify human beings. Numerous applications have found their way to recognise human beings using iris recognition system, for example Aadhaar, passport, Access Control, border control, etc. Traditional Iris Recognition Systems used near-Infrared sensors to retrieve the textural detail of the varied iris patterns, ignoring the eye colour, but it had a trade-off of limiting the image acquisition distance to under a metre. Iris systems are structure and realization that work at longer deadlock divisions stretching out from 1 m to 60 m has been different undertakings. The structures can give high customer convenience and improved throughput which go for iris verifying and affirmation. An iris-affirmation at-an expel (IAAD) systems can be inspected for the bleeding edge plan and utilization. The physical obligation of this paper contains: Examining the centrality and utilizations of IAAD frameworks with regards to human acknowledgment. Giving a audit of existing IAAD frameworks. Exhibiting a total answer for the structure issue of distance framework for equipment and algorithmic points of view. Talking about the utilization of extra visual data, alongside iris, for improving distance precision. Talking about the flow look into difficulties and giving proposals to upcoming enquiry in IAAD.

An ultra-high performance liquid chromatography electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry method has been developed and validated for simultaneous quantification of six major bioactive compounds in five varieties of Withania somnifera in various plant parts (leaf, stem and root). The analysis was accomplished on Waters ACQUITY UPLC BEH C 18 column with linear gradient elution of water/formic acid (0.1%) and acetonitrile at a flow rate of 0.3 mL min −1 . The proposed method was validated with acceptable linearity (r 2 , 0.9989–0.9998), precision (RSD, 0.16–2.01%), stability (RSD, 1.04–1.62%) and recovery (RSD ≤2.45%), under optimum conditions. The method was also successfully applied for the simultaneous determination of six marker compounds in twenty-six marketed formulations. Hierarchical cluster analysis and principal component analysis were applied to discriminate these twenty-six batches based on characteristics of the bioactive compounds. The results indicated that this method is advance, rapid, sensitive and suitable to reveal the quality of Withania somnifera and also capable of performing quality evaluation of polyherbal formulations having similar markers/raw herbs.

Author(s): Tibuakuu, Martin; Zhao, Di; Saxena, Ankita; Brown, Todd T; Jacobson, Lisa P; Palella, Frank J; Witt, Mallory D; Koletar, Susan L; Margolick, Joseph B; Guallar, Eliseo; Korada, Sai Krishna C; Budoff, Matthew J; Post, Wendy S; Michos, Erin D | Abstract: BACKGROUND:HIV-infected individuals are at increased risk for both sarcopenia and cardiovascular disease. Whether an association between low muscle mass and subclinical coronary artery disease (CAD) exists, and if it is modified by HIV serostatus, are unknown. METHODS:We performed cross-sectional analysis of 513 male MACS participants (72% HIV-infected) who underwent mid-thigh computed tomography (CT) and non-contrast cardiac CT for coronary artery calcium (CAC) during 2010-2013. Of these, 379 also underwent coronary CT angiography for non-calcified coronary plaque (NCP) and obstructive coronary stenosis ≥50%. Multivariable-adjusted Poisson regression was used to estimate prevalence risk ratios of associations between low muscle mass (l20th percentile of the HIV-uninfected individuals in the sample) and CAC, NCP and obstructive stenosis. RESULTS:The prevalence of low thigh muscle mass was similar by HIV serostatus (20%). There was no association of low muscle mass with CAC or NCP. However, low thigh muscle mass was significantly associated with a 2.5-fold higher prevalence of obstructive coronary stenosis, after adjustment for demographics and traditional CAD risk factors [PR 2.46 (95% CI 1.51, 4.01)]. This association remained significant after adjustment for adiposity, inflammation, and physical activity. There was no significant interaction by HIV serostatus (p-interaction = 0.90). CONCLUSIONS:In this exploratory analysis, low thigh muscle mass was significantly associated with subclinical obstructive coronary stenosis. Additional studies involving larger sample sizes and prospective analyses are needed to confirm the potential utility of measuring mid-thigh muscle mass for identifying individuals at increased risk for obstructive CAD who might benefit from more aggressive risk factor management.

Urbanization is an inevitable process on account of increase in population, industrialization and migration of people from rural areas in aspiration of better employment, quality of life and facilities. Modelling and simulation are the essential tool to analyze the urban dynamics. The CA (Cellular Automata) based SLEUTH model is widely used urban growth model, as proved by number of reported case studies. Though, it has not been tested for all type of built forms with different built-unit size developments representing different socio-economic-cultural settings, especially for developing countries. Present study is aimed to demonstrate the application of CA based SLEUTH in modelling of a heterogeneous urban growth of a small town Pushkar situated near Ajmer City in Rajasthan in India representing different urban growth environment as compared to developed countries. Model was calibrated and growth has been predicted. Model results revealed that SLEUTH is sensitive to the spatial resolution of input datasets & scale and unable to capture the small unit size fragmented development. However, study is successful in simulating the urban growth of Pushkar which can be used by the planners in sustainable land use and resources planning.

Workforce diversity means similarities and differences among employees in terms of age, cultural background, physical abilities and disabilities, race, religion, gender, and sexual orientation. No two humans are alike. People are different in not only gender, culture, race, social and psychological characteristics but also in their perspectives and prejudices. Society had discriminated on these aspects for centuries. Diversity makes the work force heterogeneous. In current scenario, employing diversified workforce is a necessity for every organization but to manage such diversified workforce is also a big challenge for management. This paper critically analyses the workforce diversity and its impact on productivity of an organization. The researcher after examining the literature and various research papers, concluded that workforce diversity is strength for any organization but people still stick to their views related to caste, religion etc and so consider diversity as a problem but if managed properly, can increase the productivity.

Pesticides, spinosad, imidacloprid and neem oil are widely used both in residential and agricultural environments because of its broad spectrum insecticidal activity and effectiveness. The present study was undertaken to estimate genotoxicity of formulations of some pesticides in mice. Three pesticides of diverse group studied were spinosad (45% w/v), imidacloprid (17.8%, w/v) and neem oil. Animals were exposed 37, 4.5 and 50 mg kg⁻¹ b.wt. for spinosad, imidacloprid and neem oil, respectively, through oral gavage for 5 consecutive days. A vehicle control group and one positive control (cyclophosphamide; 20 mg kg⁻¹ b. wt.) were also selected. The results showed that cyclophosphamide produced 1.12% micronuclei in mice, as against 0.18 in vehicle control, 0.30 in spinosad, 0.28 in imidacloprid and 0.22% in neem oil, respectively. The gross percentage of chromosomal aberration in mice were 28.5% in cyclophosphamide against 6.5% in vehicle control, 8.0% in spinosad, 9.5% in imidacloprid and 7.0% in neem oil, respectively. The overall findings of the present study revealed that all the three pesticide formulations, imidacloprid, spinosad and neem oil at tested dose did not show any genotoxic effect in mice.

This paper proposes a strategy to find optimal path to an object through multi agent system called swarm robots, inspired by biological swarm. The system is based on Master Slave concept where master robot guides the slave robots to choose most prominent optimal path to the object. Wireless Communication is the principal concept for collaboration among swarm robots. In this paper, Atmega8 microcontroller is used for intelligence among robots. LED-LDR and Ultrasonic sensors are used for environment sensing. Wireless module WIR-1186 provides wireless communication. The system works on the phenomena of light that always travels in a straight line, it helps to find out the optimal shortest path for goal hunting.

Visual secret sharing is the technique that divide the secret image into n multiple shares. Each share constitutes some information and when k shares out of n stack together the secret will reveal. However, less than k shares are not work. Sharing is the idea from secret sharing scheme that was presented in 1975 by Adi Shamir. The beauty of the visual secret sharing scheme is its decryption process i.e. To decrypt the secret using Human Visual System (HVS) without any computation. Visual cryptography is presented by Noar and Shamir in 1995 including also visual secret sharing. The resultant secret recover through this scheme is double in size of the original secret [17]. We have proposed the new algorithms for the (2, 2) visual cryptography and (3, 3) visual secret sharing. Our proposed schemes are for gray scale image and by stacking the shares, the resultant image achieved in same size with original secret image and Its shadow Image. We used randomization and pixel reversal approach in all methods.

Sign language recognition is an important research problem for enabling communication with hearing impaired people. This paper presents principal component analysis which is a fast and efficient technique for recognition of sign gestures from video stream. Capturing of images from live video can be done using webcam or an android device. In this proposed technique we capture 3 frames per second from video stream. After that we compare three continuous frames to know the frame, containing static posture shown by hand. This static posture is recognized as a sign gesture. Now it is matched with stored gesture database to know its meaning. This system has been tested and developed successfully in a real time environment with approx 90% matching rate.

In the field of image processing it is very interesting to recognize the human gesture for general life applications. Gesture recognition is a growing field of research among various human computer interactions, hand gesture recognition is very popular for interacting between human and machines. It is nonverbal way of communication and this research area is full of innovative approaches. This paper aims at recognizing 40 basic hand gestures. The main features used are centroid in the hand, presence of thumb and number of peaks in the hand gesture. That is the algorithm is based on shape based features by keeping in mind that shape of human hand is same for all human beings except in some situations. The recognition approach used in this paper is artificial neural network among back propagation algorithm. This approach can be adapted to real time system very easily. In this paper for image acquisition android camera is used, after that frames are send to the server and edge detection of the video is done which is followed by thinning that reduce the noise, tokens are being created from thinning image after tokens are fetched. The paper briefly describes the schemes of capturing the image from android device, image detection, processing the image to recognize the gestures as well as few results.

After doing the work for long hours human workers are tired, and have their energy exhausted. Due to this they are not able to give their full output. Some time industries may face a problem of some iterative work and they appoint worker for that work, it increases overall cost of industry product. So it is a big problem at industrial level. This Paper is based on our major project Grid solver and Object picker Robot that is based on 8 bit Microcontroller ATMEGA 32. This Robot follows the black line which is drawn over the white surface. The sensors are used to sense the line. When the light signal falls on the white surface, it gets reflected and if it falls on the black surface, it is not reflected, this principle is used to scan the Lines for the Robot. All the above systems are controlled by the Microcontroller. Our robot traverses entire Grid in a defined manner until it detects any object in its way and if it detects any object, it grabs that object into the grabbers and takes it to the start location via a shortest path from that location, we are calculating the shortest path in terms of number of hops or nodes traverses by the robot, for this purpose we are implementing a counter which keeps the track of number of nodes traverses, which in turn helps our robot to take the desired shortest path efficiently. Ultimately our Robot will search the object in the Grid, pick that object and bring to destination position in minimum time by following shortest path.

Mucoadhesive buccal patch releasing drug in the oral cavity at a predetermined rate may present distinct advantages over traditional dosage forms, such as tablets, gels and solutions. A buccal patch for systemic administration of acyclovir in the oral cavity was developed using polymers hydroxy propyl methyl cellulose (K4M), hydroxy propyl methyl cellulose (K15M), sodium carboxy methyl cellulose and poly vinyl pyrolidone (K30), plasticizer poly ethylene glycol (400) and a backing membrane of Eudragit (RL100). The films were evaluated in terms of swelling, residence time, mucoadhesion, release, and organoleptic properties. The optimized films showed lower release as compared to controlled drug delivery systems. Hence, an inclusion complex of acyclovir was prepared with hydrophilic polymer hydroxylpropyl beta-cyclodextrin in the molar ratio of 1:1. The inclusion complex was characterized by optical microscopy, FAB mass spectroscopy, and FTIR spectroscopy. Patches formulated with the acyclovir inclusion complex were evaluated along the same lines as those containing acyclovir alone. The in vitro release data revealed a substantial increase from 64.35% to 88.15% in the case of PS I and PS II batches, respectively, confirming the successful use of inclusion complexes for the formulation of buccal patch of acyclovir.Mucoadesivos bucais liberadores de fármacos para a cavidade oral com taxa de liberação pré-determinada podem apresentar distintas vantagens em relação às formas farmacêuticas convencionais como comprimidos, géis e soluções. Neste trabalho, um adesivo bucal para administração sistêmica de aciclovir através da cavidade oral foi desenvolvido empregando-se os polímeros hidroxipropilmetil celulose (K4M), hidroxipropilmetil celulose (K15M), carboximetil celulose sódica e polivinil pirrolidona (K30), polietilenoglicol plastificado (400) e uma membrana suporte de Eudragit (RL100). Os filmes obtidos foram avaliados em termos de intumescimento, tempo de residência, mucoadesão, liberação e propriedades organolépticas. Os filmes otimizados apresentaram liberação mais lenta em comparação a outros sistemas de liberação controlada. Desta maneira, um complexo de inclusão de aciclovir foi preparado com o polímero hidrofílico hidroxipropil beta-ciclodextrina em proporções molares 1:1. O complexo de inclusão foi caracterizado por microscopia ótica, espectrometria de massas FAB e espectroscopia FTIR. Os adesivos formulados com o complexo de inclusão de aciclovir foram avaliados em paralelo com adesivos contendo aciclovir isolado. Os dados de liberação in vitro revelaram um aumento substancial, de 64,34% para 88,15%, nos lotes PS I e PS II, respectivamente, confirmando o sucesso do uso de complexos de inclusão para a formulação de adesivos bucais de aciclovir.