• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.660-666
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• 2010

This paper presents the approach followed to develop a course that introduces reliability into the design of power electronics converters. The course is part of the curriculum of a master of science in electrical engineering program, and it is aimed at providing reliability tools that can be used in a straightforward manner, while avoiding the mathematical intricacies. The reliability calculations are performed according to the Military Handbook 217, using the evaluation version of a commercial software package which greatly reduces the computational burden usually associated with this task. The course assessment shows that, after attending the course, students were able to improve the mean time between failures in a power-electronics converter, from a minimum of 5%, up to 100%.

• Asian Journal of Innovation and Policy
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.177-194
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• 2021

This research is based on the scope that the disruptive technology known as Blockchain has to face corruption in different phases and spheres of government. This technological method is increasing its acceptance in various socio-economic aspects in recent years, the paper's emphasis is placed on Mexico, and nevertheless it practically can be used to reduce corruption in all countries around the world. The materials and method carried out for this research was a literature review in diverse databases with the most recent literature where some applications, uses and hypothetical cases of the implementation of Blockchain within the government framework in order to reduce corruption were highlighted. The results of this research suggest that the Mexican government can reduce some types of corruption, especially those related to money and collusions, such as biddings/government tenders, government procurement and acquisitions, audits in government agencies, in the embezzlement or diversion of funds, as well as in land registration.

• Journal of applied mathematics & informatics
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• v.39 no.5_6
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• pp.895-918
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• 2021

Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT) also known as sleeping sickness, is a neglected tropical vector borne disease caused by trypanosome protozoa transmitted by bites of infected tsetse fly. The basic reproduction number, R₀ derived using the next generation matrix method which shows that the disease persists in the population if the value of R₀ > 1. The numerical simulations of optimal control model carried out to determine the control strategy that can combat HAT under the minimum cost. The results indicate that, the use of both education campaign, treatment and insecticides are more efficient and effective to eliminate HAT in African community but too costly. Furthermore, the cost-effectiveness of the control measures (education campaign, treatment and insecticides) were determined using incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) approach and the results show that, the use of education and treatment of infected people as the best cost effective strategy compared to other strategies.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.375-380
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• 2019

Breast tissue expanders (TEs) with magnetic infusion ports are labeled "MR Unsafe." Therefore, patients with these implants are typically prevented from undergoing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We report a patient with a total submuscular breast TE who inadvertently underwent an MRI exam. She subsequently developed expander exposure, requiring explantation and autologous reconstruction. The safety profile of TEs with magnetic ports and the use of MRI in patients with these implants is surprisingly controversial. Therefore, we present our case report, a systematic literature review, and propose procedural guidelines to help ensure the safety of patients with TEs with magnetic ports that need to undergo MRI exams.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.623-639
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• 2023

The specific configuration of the safety systems in VVER-1000/V320 reactors allows a comprehensive study of the Loss of Coolant Accident (LOCA). In the present paper, a verification of the success criteria of the event trees headers for the medium and large break LOCA sequences is conducted. A detailed TRACEV5P5 thermal-hydraulic model of the reactor has been developed, including all safety systems. When analyzing the results of all sequences, some conservatism is observed in certain specific configurations as the success criterion of some headers is not consistent with the classic PSA level 1. Therefore, new proposals for the LOCA event trees are performed based on a reconfiguration of LOCA break ranges and the use of the expanded event trees approach.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.48 no.6
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• pp.723-723
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• 2021

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.381-392
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• 2018

Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. michiganesis (Cmm) is a quarantine-worthy pest in $M{\acute{e}}xico$. The implementation and validation of new technologies is necessary to reduce the time for bacterial detection in laboratory conditions and Raman spectroscopy is an ambitious technology that has all of the features needed to characterize and identify bacteria. Under controlled conditions a contagion process was induced with Cmm, the disease epidemiology was monitored. Micro-Raman spectroscopy ($532nm\;{\lambda}$ laser) technique was evaluated its performance at assisting on Cmm detection through its characteristic Raman spectrum fingerprint. Our experiment was conducted with tomato plants in a completely randomized block experimental design (13 plants ${\times}$ 4 rows). The Cmm infection was confirmed by 16S rDNA and plants showed symptoms from 48 to 72 h after inoculation, the evolution of the incidence and severity on plant population varied over time and it kept an aggregated spatial pattern. The contagion process reached 79% just 24 days after the epidemic was induced. Micro-Raman spectroscopy proved its speed, efficiency and usefulness as a non-destructive method for the preliminary detection of Cmm. Carotenoid specific bands with wavelengths at 1146 and $1510cm^{-1}$ were the distinguishable markers. Chemometric analyses showed the best performance by the implementation of PCA-LDA supervised classification algorithms applied over Raman spectrum data with 100% of performance in metrics of classifiers (sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, negative and positive predictive value) that allowed us to differentiate Cmm from other endophytic bacteria (Bacillus and Pantoea). The unsupervised KMeans algorithm showed good performance (100, 96, 98, 91 y 100%, respectively).

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.27 no.11
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• pp.1630-1637
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• 2014

The objective of the study was to determine the quality and fatty acid profiles of mutton cuts purchased from rural and urban localities in South Africa. Five hundred and ten samples were collected in four seasons from both rural and urban shops and butcheries. Samples were immediately transported to the laboratory in cooler boxes with ice where the following physico-chemical characteristics of mutton were determined; meat pH, color ($L^*$, $a^*$, and $b^*$), cooking losses and Warner Braztler shear force and replicates stored at $-20^{\circ}C$ pending fatty acid analysis. Meat $L^*$ values were lowest ($24.7{\pm}0.49$) in winter and highest ($32.2{\pm}0.49$) in spring. The loin and sirloin cuts recorded the highest intramuscular fat whilst rib and leg cuts recorded the lowest intramuscular fat. In conclusion intramuscular fat, fatty acid profiles and physico-chemical quality of mutton were significantly affected by season and meat portion and not necessarily by the locality and class of shop.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.761-776
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• 2018

Guided wave testing is a reliable and safe method for pipeline inspection. In general, guided wave testing employs a circumferential array of piezoelectric transducers to clamp on the pipe circumference. The sensitivity of the operation depends on many factors, including transducer distribution across the circumferential array. This paper presents the sensitivity analysis of transducer array for the circumferential characteristics of guided waves in a pipe using finite element modelling and experimental studies. Various cases are investigated for the outputs of guided waves in the numerical simulations, including the number of transducers per array, transducer excitation variability and variations in transducer spacing. The effect of the dimensions of simulated notches in the pipe is also investigated for different arrangements of the transducer array. The results from the finite element numerical simulations are then compared with the related experimental results. Results show that the numerical outputs agree well with the experimental data, and the guided wave mode T(0,1) presents high sensitivity to the notch size in the circumferential direction, but low sensitivity to the notch size in the axial direction.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.926-936
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• 2017

The nonlinear behavior and the high performance requirement are the main problems that appear in the design of manipulator robots and their controllers. For that reason, the simulation, real-time execution and comparison of the performance of controllers applied to a robot with three degrees of freedom are presented. Five controllers are prepared to test the robot's dynamic model: predictive; hyperbolic sine-cosine; sliding mode; hybrid composed of a predictive + hyperbolic sine-cosine controller; and adaptive controller. A redundant robot, a communication and signal conditioning interface, and a simulator are developed by means of the MatLab/Simulink software, which allows analyzing the dynamic performance of the robot and of the designed controllers. The manipulator robot is made to follow a test trajectory which, thanks to the proposed controllers, it can do. The results of the performance of this manipulator and of its controllers, for each of the three joints, are compared by means of RMS indices, considering joint errors according to the imposed trajectory and to the controller used.