Effects of Patient-Generated Health Data: Comparison of Two Versions of Long-Term Mobile Personal Health Record Usage Logs

Patient-generated health data (PGHD) can be managed easily by a mobile personal health record (mPHR) and can increase patient engagement. This study investigated the effect of PGHD functions on mPHR usage. We collected usage log data from an mPHR app, My Chart in My Hand (MCMH), for seven years. We analyzed the number of accesses and trends for each menu by age and sex according to the version-up. Generalized estimating equation (GEE) analysis was used to determine the likelihood of continuous app usage according to the menus and version-up. The total number of users of each version were 15,357 and 51,553, respectively. Adult females under 50 years were the most prevalent user group (30.0%). The “My Chart” menu was the most accessed menu, and the total access count increased by ~10 times after the version-up. The “Health Management” menu designed for PGHD showed the largest degree of increase in its likelihood of continuous usage after the version-up (1.245; p < 0.0001) across menus (range: 0.925–1.050). Notably, improvement of PGHD management in adult females over 50 years is needed.

Standardized Stimulation Protocols Are Needed for Comparable Analysis of Pain-related Evoked Potentials (PREP)

Objective: Pain-related evoked potentials (PREP) are increasingly used to investigate nociception and small-fibre function. Due to lack of a standard stimulation protocol, it is unclear whether results from studies using different protocols are comparable. Aim of the study was to assess the influence of different stimulation parameters on N1P1-amplitudes, N1-latencies and PREP-induced pain intensity. Methods: In a cross-over design we examined 31 healthy volunteers using four different stimulation protocols (number of stimulation electrodes 1 vs. 3, stimulus durations 200 µs vs. 500 µs) in a randomized order. Statistics: paired t-test, ANOVA, correlation analyses. Results: Longer stimulus duration induced higher N1P1-amplitudes (p<0.05) and higher pain intensity (p<0.001). Stimulation with 3 electrodes lead to a lower pain intensity (p<0.01), whereas the N1P1-amplitude and stimulus intensity at twofold of individual pain remained unaffected by the number of electrodes. Also, there was no relation between stimulus intensities and N1P1-amplitudes (one electrode: r=0.079; p=0.646, three electrodes: r=-0.10, p=0.70) was observed. N1-latencies remained comparable between the four protocols.Conclusions and Significance: The use of different stimulation protocols for PREP is limited by relevant differences in the N1P1-amplitudes and evoked pain intensities. Standard consented stimulation protocols are needed to allow data comparison between different labs and studies.

Reconstruction of Rice Drying Model and Analysis of Tempering Characteristics Based on Drying Accumulated Temperature

Previous research has shown that the accumulated temperature can describe drying processes as well as crop growth. To describe the mass and heat transfer processes in the rice drying process more accurately, a mathematical model of rice drying was proposed based on the drying accumulated temperature, and the optimal tempering ratio for conventional hot air drying was obtained through data comparison and analysis. First, it was proven that there was an exponential relationship between the moisture ratio and the drying accumulated temperature of rice. Second, by comparing and analyzing the fitting results of seven different drying mathematical models, the model with the highest fitting degree was selected and reconstructed to obtain the drying accumulated temperature–moisture ratio model. Finally, the new model was used to fit the results of two drying experiments without and with tempering, and the tempering characteristics of rice drying were proved by comparing and analyzing the coefficient difference between the two models. The results showed that the optimal tempering ratio was 3. This study thus provides a reference for rice drying process parameters.

Polyphase nature of Grib pipe formation and its manifestation in paleomagnetic rock properties and sieve diamond characteristics

Paleomagnetic pipe rock properties and sieve diamond characteristics are discussed. To determine paleomagnetic characteristics, 59 samples (41 kimberlites and 18 xenotuff breccias) were taken from pipe rocks in 2019- 2020. Based on analysis results and the obtained data comparison, reasons of magnetic anomaly epicenter shift are validated and polyphase nature of Grib pipe formation is proved. The results suggest complex pipe structure with abnormally magnetized kimberlites. They could be the main anomaly, a focus of early prospecting, which resulted in the pipe discovery. Their location, mostly in the central and eastern pipe combined with primarily east-trending residual magnetization, can account for the eastward anomaly shift and partly beyond the pipe contour. Polyphase pipe nature is also confirmed by various sieve characteristics of diamonds from the orebody.

Automated Negative Lightning Return Strokes Classification System

Over the years, many studies have been conducted to measure and classify the lightning-generated electric field waveform for a better understanding of the lightning physics phenomenon. Through measurement and classification, the features of the negative lightning return strokes can be accessed and analysed. In most studies, the classification of negative lightning return strokes was performed using a conventional approach based on manual visual inspection. Nevertheless, this traditional method could compromise the accuracy of data analysis due to human error, which also required a longer processing time. Hence, this study developed an automated negative lightning return strokes classification system using MATLAB software. In this study, a total of 115 return strokes was recorded and classified automatically by using the developed system. The data comparison with the Tenaga Nasional Berhad Research (TNBR) lightning report showed a good agreement between the lightning signal detected from this study with those signals recorded from the report. Apart from that, the developed automated system was successfully classified the negative lightning return strokes which this parameter was also illustrated on Graphic User Interface (GUI). Thus, the proposed automatic system could offer a practical and reliable approach by reducing human error and the processing time while classifying the negative lightning return strokes.

Optimization and Application of D850 Dredge Pump Blades under Medium Coarse Sand Condition of Cutter Suction Dredger

Regarding wear issues of a dredge pump’s impeller as a cutter suction dredger transports medium coarse sand slurry, blades of the D850 dredge pump are modified and optimized, which extends the distance from the blade inlet root to the impeller suction and avoids damages of the impeller suction anti-wear ring. Analyses via computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation show that the head and the efficiency after blade modification have little changes compared with before optimization in the construction flow range of 10000-12000 m3/h under coarse sand condition. While it improves the flow field of impeller’s channels, decreases the vortex at the inlet root of the blades, ensures more uniform distribution of the solid particles. Meanwhile, this is beneficial to reductions of the channels’ wears. Applications from constructions show some improvements in the wears of the blade root. Through the construction data comparison, after replacing the modified impeller, dredging productivity will be increased by 15.1% and the fuel consumption per 10000 m3 will be then reduced by 11.5%.