Ambulatory Cardiac Monitoring (ACM) is often used to evaluate pregnant patients with palpitations without structural heart disease; however, the diagnostic yield is not well defined. This single-center retrospective cohort study included pregnant patients without structural heart disease evaluated in a tertiary care cardio-obstetrics clinic between June 2023 and June 2024. The primary outcome was the detection of a clinically significant arrhythmia. Secondary outcomes included symptom–rhythm correlation and adverse maternal cardiac, obstetric, and fetal outcomes. Out of 124 patients identified, 49 (40%) completed ACM. Two patients had symptomatic clinically significant arrhythmias detected on ACM, including non-sustained ventricular tachycardia that did not alter management (n = 1), and symptomatic supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) resulting in medical therapy (n = 1). Palpitations occurred during monitoring in 35 of the 49 remaining monitored patients; of those, symptoms correlated with non-significant arrhythmias (premature atrial and ventricular contractions) in 11 (31%). No adverse cardiac events occurred in the remaining patients. Obstetric and fetal outcomes did not differ between monitored and unmonitored patients. In this small single center study, ACM in pregnant patients without structural heart disease has a low diagnostic yield. These findings could be used in shared decision-making for pregnant patients being evaluated for palpitations.
Narrowing the gap between energy demand and supply, while improving the efficiency of energy consumption, has become one of the central sustainability challenges addressed in global policy agendas. Implementing energy management systems in public institutions and organizations is important for achieving this balance. University campuses can be considered small cities, as they serve as living spaces for students. Therefore, since establishing an energy management system is a long-term process, its timely implementation and the creation of an effective system can only be achieved if the students actively using the campus understand and take ownership of the concept. This study explores the role of students as active participants in campus energy management, with a particular focus on integrating the ISO 50001 Energy Management System into higher education environments. A mixed-methods approach was used at Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University’s (AYBU) Etlik Campus, combining longitudinal building energy consumption data (2019–2023) with a face-to-face survey of 201 students from nine departments within the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences. The survey assessed students’ knowledge, attitudes, and willingness to participate in energy efficiency and sustainability initiatives. The findings suggest that while students are generally aware of sustainability concepts, their technical familiarity with standards such as ISO 50001 and units such as ton of oil equivalent (TOE) remains limited. Notably, Energy Systems Engineering (ESE) students tended to report higher awareness and stronger support for forming volunteer, student-led energy management units. Based on the findings, student-led energy management units may serve as a participatory mechanism to improve energy-data transparency, strengthen operational energy literacy, and support sustainability-oriented campus practices. This approach offers a repeatable framework for higher education institutions seeking to align operational energy performance with student-led sustainability actions.
Industry 4.0 technologies represent one of the key drivers of the contemporary transformation of the automotive industry, with manufacturing digitalization, advanced automation, and robotics significantly influencing the sector’s innovation capacity and global competitiveness. This paper analyzes the extent and characteristics of Industry 4.0 technology implementation in two technologically and industrially leading countries—China and the United States. Using a comparative analytical approach, the study examines the relationship among annual vehicle production volumes, the intensity of industrial robot adoption, and the level of integration of smart manufacturing systems. Particular emphasis is placed on robotics, including industrial and collaborative robots, as central enablers of efficiency, flexibility, and innovation in modern production processes. The analysis also encompasses the core components of Industry 4.0, such as cyber-physical systems, the Internet of Things (IoT), digital factories, artificial intelligence (AI), and digital twins, which together enable the real-time integration of humans, machines, and data. Furthermore, current trends in robotization and digital integration of manufacturing facilities are discussed through a comparison of national industrial policies, development strategies, and investment priorities. The research results indicate that China maintains an advantage in terms of absolute production volume and the number of installed robots, while the United States leads in the development of highly automated, flexible, and intelligently networked manufacturing systems. It is concluded that different approaches to the implementation of Industry 4.0 technologies shape distinct models of technological competitiveness, innovation, and long-term sustainable development in the automotive industry.
To address the lack of dynamic prediction methods for heat exchangers operating under variable-viscosity and fluctuating-flow conditions in marine integrated energy systems, this study develops a dynamic wall-temperature prediction model for a shell-and-tube heat exchanger under combined viscosity-flow conditions. The model is established over flow velocities of 0.8–1.5 m/s and kinematic viscosities of 1.45 × 10−6–1.45 × 10−5 m2/s, representing fouling-prone operating conditions relevant to seawater/sewage-source heat pump applications. The main novelty of the study lies in linking viscosity-flow combined with wall-temperature dynamics in a unified prediction framework and in quantifying the nonlinear thermal response over a practically relevant operating range. The results show that a quartic polynomial relationship with flow velocity and viscosity can describe wall temperature. A distinct dynamic response pattern is observed: under low-viscosity conditions, wall temperature exhibits pronounced multi-peak fluctuations, whereas under high-viscosity conditions, it shifts to a more stable single-peak or gently declining trend. This behavior helps clarify the physical mechanism governing wall-temperature evolution under combined transport effects. In addition, the sewage-side heat transfer coefficient increases by up to 41.3%, while the overall heat transfer coefficient increases by 18.2–20.6% over the investigated range. These findings provide a dynamic prediction tool for heat exchanger performance in seawater-source heat pump systems integrated with intermittent marine renewable energy (such as offshore wind and wave power), and further indicate that the proposed model can offer useful mechanism-level insight into the dynamic thermal behavior of fouling-prone heat exchangers, thereby supporting the design and operation of seawater/sewage-source heat pump systems integrated with intermittent marine renewable energy sources such as offshore wind power.
