Neonatal Jaundice Detection Using a Computer Vision System

Jaundice or Hyperbilirubinemia is a very common condition that affects newborns in their first few weeks of life. The main cause of jaundice is the high level of the bilirubin substance in the blood. As bilirubin is toxic to brain cells, acute bilirubin encephalopathy can occur in cases of extreme jaundice. This condition can result in brain trauma and lead to kernicterus, which causes repetitive and uncontrolled movements, a permanent upward look, and hearing loss. Thus, a timely diagnosis and treatment can help in preventing long-term damage. In this paper, a developed system based on a digital camera was proposed to diagnose and treat jaundice in newborns. The system detects jaundice and determines if the neonate needs treatment based on the analysis obtained from the real-time captured images. The treatment was achieved by using an Arduino Uno microcontroller to drive phototherapy lighting, which has proven to be an efficient treatment method for jaundice. In addition, the proposed system has the ability to send the diagnostic results to the mobile phone of the care provider. The obtained results from 20 infants inside the intensive care unit showed that the proposed system was accurate in terms of detecting jaundice, easy to implement, and affordable.

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Automating the Incremental Evolution of Controllers for Physical Robots

Artificial Life ◽

10.1162/artl_a_00226 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 23 (2) ◽

pp. 142-168 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Andrés Faíña ◽

Lars Toft Jacobsen ◽

Sebastian Risi

Keyword(s):

Vision System ◽

Industrial Robot ◽

Evolutionary Robotics ◽

Computer Vision System ◽

Test Environment ◽

Robot Controller ◽

Digital Objects ◽

High Level ◽

First Time ◽

Autonomous Evolution

Evolutionary robotics is challenged with some key problems that must be solved, or at least mitigated extensively, before it can fulfill some of its promises to deliver highly autonomous and adaptive robots. The reality gap and the ability to transfer phenotypes from simulation to reality constitute one such problem. Another lies in the embodiment of the evolutionary processes, which links to the first, but focuses on how evolution can act on real agents and occur independently from simulation, that is, going from being, as Eiben, Kernbach, & Haasdijk [2012, p. 261] put it, “the evolution of things, rather than just the evolution of digital objects.…” The work presented here investigates how fully autonomous evolution of robot controllers can be realized in hardware, using an industrial robot and a marker-based computer vision system. In particular, this article presents an approach to automate the reconfiguration of the test environment and shows that it is possible, for the first time, to incrementally evolve a neural robot controller for different obstacle avoidance tasks with no human intervention. Importantly, the system offers a high level of robustness and precision that could potentially open up the range of problems amenable to embodied evolution.

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EELS characterization of “Smut” layer films on steel surface prepared for chrome plating by anodic etching

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100139068 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 53 ◽

pp. 538-539

Author(s):

E Y. Wang ◽

J. T. Cherian ◽

A. Madsen ◽

R. M. Fisher

Keyword(s):

Steel Surface ◽

Surface Preparation ◽

Treatment Method ◽

Chrome Plating ◽

Transmission Electron ◽

Alloy Steels ◽

Pre Treatment ◽

Hard Chrome ◽

Electron Energy Loss

Many steel parts are electro-plated with chromium to protect them against corrosion and to improve their wear-resistance. Good adhesion of the chrome plate to the steel surface, which is essential for long term durability of the part, is extremely dependent on surface preparation prior to plating. Recently, McDonnell Douglas developed a new pre-treatment method for chrome plating in which the steel is anodically etched in a sulfuric acid and hydrofluoric acid solution. On carbon steel surfaces, this anodic pre-treatment produces a dark, loosely adhering material that is commonly called the “smut” layer. On stainless steels and nickel alloys, the surface is only darkened by the anodic pre-treatment and little residue is produced. Anodic pre-treatment prior to hard chrome plating results in much better adherence to both carbon and alloy steels.We have characterized the anodic pre-treated steel surface and the resulting “smut” layer using various techniques including electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ESCA) on bulk samples and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) on stripped films.

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Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) Therapy for the Treatment of Hypernasality: A Single Case Study

Perspectives on Speech Science and Orofacial Disorders ◽

10.1044/ssod24.2.48 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 24 (2) ◽

pp. 48-58 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Lakshmi Kollara ◽

Graham Schenck ◽

Jamie Perry

Keyword(s):

Continuous Positive Airway Pressure ◽

Airway Pressure ◽

Positive Airway Pressure ◽

Single Case ◽

Treatment Method ◽

Post Treatment ◽

Subjective Perception ◽

Cpap Therapy ◽

Long Term Follow Up

Studies have investigated the applications of Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) therapy in the treatment of hypernasality due to velopharyngeal dysfunction (VPD; Cahill et al., 2004; Kuehn, 1991; Kuehn, Moon, & Folkins, 1993; Kuehn et al., 2002). The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of CPAP therapy to reduce hypernasality in a female subject, post-traumatic brain injury (TBI) and pharyngeal flap, who presented with signs of VPD including persistent hypernasality. Improvements in mean velopharyngeal orifice size, subjective perception of hypernasality, and overall intelligibility were observed from the baseline to 8-week post-treatment assessment intervals. Additional long-term assessments completed at 2, 3, and 4 months post-treatment indicated decreases in immediate post-treatment improvements. Results from the present study suggest that CPAP is a safe, non-invasive, and relatively conservative treatment method for reduction of hypernasality in selected patients with TBI. More stringent long-term follow up may indicate the need for repeated CPAP treatment to maintain results.

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Percutaneous mechanical thrombectomy in the treatment of acute and subacute occlusions of the peripheral arteries and bypasses

VASA ◽

10.1024/0301-1526/a000495 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 45 (1) ◽

pp. 49-56 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Frantisek Stanek ◽

Radoslava Ouhrabkova ◽

David Prochazka

Keyword(s):

Mechanical Thrombectomy ◽

Clinical Success ◽

Major Amputation ◽

Peripheral Arteries ◽

Duration Of Symptoms ◽

Efficient Treatment ◽

Percutaneous Mechanical Thrombectomy ◽

Single Centre Study ◽

Crural Arteries

Abstract. Background: The aim of this prospective single-centre study was to analyse the immediate results, failures and complications of percutaneous mechanical thrombectomy using the Rotarex catheter in the treatment of acute and subacute occlusions of peripheral arteries and bypasses, as well as to evaluate long-term outcomes of this method. Patients and methods: Patients with acute (duration of symptoms < 14 days) or subacute (duration of symptoms > 14 days and < 3 months) occlusions of peripheral arteries and bypasses were selected consecutively for treatment. The cohort consisted of 113 patients, aged 18 - 92 years (median 72 years). In all, 128 procedures were performed. Results: Angiographic success was obtained in 120 interventions (93.8 %). Reasons for failures were rethrombosis of a partially recanalised segment in six procedures, and embolism into crural arteries in one intervention - percutaneous aspiration thromboembolectomy (PAT) and/or thrombolysis were ineffective in all these cases. Breakage of the Rotarex catheter happened in one procedure. Embolisation into crural arteries as a transitory complication solvable with PAT and/or thrombolysis occurred in four cases. Rethrombosis was more frequent in bypasses than in native arteries (p = 0.0069), in patients with longer occlusions (p = 0.026) and those with poorer distal runoff (p = 0.048). Embolisation happened more often in patients with a shorter duration of symptoms (p = 0.0001). Clinical success was achieved in 82.5 %. Major amputation was performed in 10 % of cases. Cumulative patency rates were 75 % after one month, 71 % after six months, 38 % after 12 months, 33 % after 18 months and 30 % after 24, 30, 36 and 42 months. Conclusions: Rotarex thrombectomy has excellent immediate results with a low rate of failures and complications. In comparison to thrombolysis, it enables the fast and efficient treatment of acute and subacute occlusions of peripheral arteries in one session.

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Vivid Imagers Are Better at Detecting Salient Changes

Journal of Individual Differences ◽

10.1027/1614-0001.27.4.218 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 27 (4) ◽

pp. 218-228 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Paul Rodway ◽

Karen Gillies ◽

Astrid Schepman

Keyword(s):

Individual Differences ◽

Change Detection ◽

Visual Imagery ◽

Detection Task ◽

Level Of Detail ◽

Detection Accuracy ◽

Change Detection Task ◽

Term Change ◽

High Level

This study examined whether individual differences in the vividness of visual imagery influenced performance on a novel long-term change detection task. Participants were presented with a sequence of pictures, with each picture and its title displayed for 17 s, and then presented with changed or unchanged versions of those pictures and asked to detect whether the picture had been changed. Cuing the retrieval of the picture's image, by presenting the picture's title before the arrival of the changed picture, facilitated change detection accuracy. This suggests that the retrieval of the picture's representation immunizes it against overwriting by the arrival of the changed picture. The high and low vividness participants did not differ in overall levels of change detection accuracy. However, in replication of Gur and Hilgard (1975) , high vividness participants were significantly more accurate at detecting salient changes to pictures compared to low vividness participants. The results suggest that vivid images are not characterised by a high level of detail and that vivid imagery enhances memory for the salient aspects of a scene but not all of the details of a scene. Possible causes of this difference, and how they may lead to an understanding of individual differences in change detection, are considered.

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Joint Treatment of Industrial and Municipal Wastewater – Case Project: City of Kotka, Finland

Water Science & Technology ◽

10.2166/wst.1992.0013 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 25 (1) ◽

pp. 83-92

Author(s):

Pentti Väänänen ◽

Pekka Pouttu ◽

Timo Kulmala

Keyword(s):

Food Industry ◽

Municipal Wastewater ◽

Forest Products ◽

Treatment Method ◽

Municipal Sewage ◽

Forest Products Industry ◽

Efficient Treatment ◽

National Board ◽

The City ◽

Joint Treatment

The National Board of Waters in Finland has proposed a study on the joint treatment of industrial and municipal wastewaters of the City of Kotka. This study is of great interest due to the large forest products industry and food industry in Kotka. All of the wastewaters from the forest products and the food industry and the municipal sewage have been found to be suitable for biological treatment, which makes the joint treatment applicable. An activated sludge process is selected because it takes advantage of the large amount of nutrients in the municipal sewage and it has proved to be the most efficient treatment method for forest industry wastewaters. However, municipal wastewater contains more nutrients than needed for the biological process, which can cause eutrophication problems in the watercourse. To reduce the pollution caused by the nutrients, chemical treatment of the wastewater is also proposed in the joint treatment. It was concluded that the joint treatment of wastewater is economically, technically and environmentally the best way to arrange wastewater treatment for the industry and the city.

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Survival and pleurodesis outcome in patients with malignant pleural effusion – a systematic review

Pleura and Peritoneum ◽

10.1515/pp-2020-0147 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

pp. 1-5

Author(s):

Maged Hassan ◽

Elinor Harriss ◽

Rachel M. Mercer ◽

Najib M. Rahman

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Pleural Effusion ◽

Survival Benefit ◽

Malignant Pleural Effusion ◽

Risk Of Bias ◽

Common Condition ◽

Survival Difference ◽

Range Difference ◽

Simple Drainage

Abstract Malignant pleural effusion (MPE) is a common condition that presents with progressive breathlessness. Long term solutions are often required due to recurrence of effusion after simple drainage. Pleurodesis is one of the main options resorted to for long term control of MPE. There is data to suggest there may be a survival benefit for patients with MPE who achieve successful pleurodesis. A systematic review was carried out to explore this correlation and results suggest that there could be a survival difference according to pleurodesis outcome in patients with MPE. Fifteen studies (reported in 13 papers) were included; 13 (86.6%) of the studies showed survival difference in favour of pleurodesis success. The median [interquartile range] difference in survival between the two groups among the different studies was five [3.5–5.8] months. Most of the included studies suffered moderate to severe risk of bias and, thus, large prospective studies of patients undergoing pleurodesis are required to ascertain this effect.

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Review on Perioperative and Oncological Outcomes of Robotic Gastrectomy for Cancer

Journal of Personalized Medicine ◽

10.3390/jpm11070638 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (7) ◽

pp. 638

Author(s):

Giuseppe Giuliani ◽

Francesco Guerra ◽

Lorenzo De Franco ◽

Lucia Salvischiani ◽

Roberto Benigni ◽

...

Keyword(s):

English Language ◽

Length Of Hospital Stay ◽

Radical Gastrectomy ◽

Robotic Gastrectomy ◽

Relevant Evidence ◽

Relative Paucity ◽

Duration Of Surgery ◽

High Level ◽

Standard Laparoscopic Surgery

Background. Minimally invasive gastrectomy is currently considered a valid option to treat gastric cancer and is gaining increasing acceptance. Recent reports have suggested that the application of robots may confer some advantages over conventional laparoscopy, but the role of robotic surgery in clinical practice is still uncertain. We aimed to critically review the relevant evidence comparing robotic to standard laparoscopic surgery in performing radical gastrectomy. Methods. The Pubmed/Medline electronic databases were searched through February 2021. Paper conference and the English language was the only restriction applied to our search strategy. Results. According to the existing data, robotic gastrectomy seems to provide some benefits in terms of blood loss, rate of conversion, procedure-specific postoperative morbidity, and length of hospital stay. Robotic gastrectomy is also associated with a longer duration of surgery and a higher economic burden as compared to its laparoscopic counterpart. No significant differences have been disclosed in terms of long-term survivals, while the number of lymph nodes retrieved with robotic gastrectomy is generally higher than that of laparoscopy. Conclusions. The current literature suggests that robotic radical gastrectomy appears as competent as the conventional laparoscopic procedure and may provide some clinical advantages. However, due to the relative paucity of high-level evidence, it is not possible to draw definitive conclusions.

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