Search results for: left bundle branch block

Authors: Samar Mousa, Ryan Kerstein, Mohanad Adam

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Regional anaesthesia has been associated with favourable outcomes in patients undergoing a wide range of surgeries. Beneficial effects have been demonstrated in terms of postoperative respiratory and cardiovascular endpoints, 7-day survival, time to ambulation and hospital discharge, and postoperative analgesia. Our project aimed at assessing the regional anaesthesia practice in the plastic surgery department of Buckinghamshire trust and finding out ways to improve the service in collaboration with the anaesthesia team. It is a retrospective study associated with a questionnaire filled out by plastic surgeons and anaesthetists to get the full picture behind the numbers. The study period was between 1/3/2022 and 23/5/2022 (12 weeks). The operative notes of all patients who had an operation under plastic surgery, whether emergency or elective, were reviewed. The criteria of suitable candidates for the regional block were put by the consultant anaesthetists as follows: age above 16, single surgical site (arm, forearm, leg, foot), no drug allergy, no pre-existing neuropathy, no bleeding disorders, not on ant-coagulation, no infection to the site of the block. For 12 weeks, 1061 operations were performed by plastic surgeons. Local cases were excluded leaving 319 cases. Of the 319, 102 patients were suitable candidates for regional block after applying the previously mentioned criteria. However, only seven patients had their operations under the regional block, and the rest had general anaesthesia that could have been easily avoided. An online questionnaire was filled out by both plastic surgeons and anaesthetists of different training levels to find out the reasons behind the obvious preference for general over regional anaesthesia, even if this was against the patients’ interest. The questionnaire included the following points: training level, time taken to give GA or RA, factors that influence the decision, percentage of RA candidates that had GA, reasons behind this percentage, recommendations. Forty-four clinicians filled out the questionnaire, among which were 23 plastic surgeons and 21 anaesthetists. As regards the training level, there were 21 consultants, 4 associate specialists, 9 registrars, and 10 senior house officers. The actual percentage of patients who were good candidates for RA but had GA instead is 93%. The replies estimated this percentage as between 10-30%. 29% of the respondents thought that this percentage is because of surgeons’ preference to have GA rather than RA for their operations without medical support for the decision. 37% of the replies thought that anaesthetists prefer giving GA even if the patient is a suitable candidate for RA. 22.6% of the replies thought that patients refused to have RA, and 11.3% had other causes. The recommendations were in 5 main accesses, which are protocols and pathways for regional blocks, more training opportunities for anaesthetists on regional blocks, providing a separate block room in the hospital, better communication between surgeons and anaesthetists, patient education about the benefits of regional blocks.

Keywords: regional anaesthesia, regional block, plastic surgery, general anaesthesia

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Authors: Trias Setiawati, Rizkika Awalia

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The study title is “In Working, Career is not everything: A Case Study of Family Friendly Policies (FFP) on Bank Company.” This study aims to describe the application of FFP in the banking, especially Bank Rakyat Indonesia or BRI (Indonesian People Bank) in Katamso Branch Office in Yogyakarta Katamso Branch Office in Yogyakarta (KBOY) as a support company to create a work-life balance, as well as the achievement of career and family harmony is seen from the work-family conflict faced by the employees. The importance of the application of FFP in an organization is basically to build competitive advantage of a company. This study used qualitative research methods with a case study approach in BRI in KBOY. Data collection techniques used non-participant observation and in-depth structured interviews with three employees. The results showed that FFP is in general adoption and not optimal yet. Optimal FFP policy is not yet implemented; it just in the in-formal policies such as the lack of flexible-time, the lack of daycare, the lack of counseling for employees of personal nature, despite it was the availability of lactation rooms for feeding. The employees found difficulties in balancing between achieving careers at work and reaching family harmony. Not pursued a career does not mean that they do not want to reach a better position, but they do not want to ignore the family harmony because of the hours of work overload.

Keywords: career, family friendly policies, work-family balance, work-family conflict

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Authors: Omar A. Abuobidalla, Mingyuan Chen, Satyaveer S. Chauhan

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Railroad transportation of hazardous materials freights is important to the North America economics that supports the national’s supply chain. This paper introduces various extensions of the dynamic hazardous materials trip plan problems. The problem captures most of the operational features of a real-world railroad transportations systems that dynamically initiates a set of blocks and assigns each shipment to a single block path or multiple block paths. The dynamic hazardous materials trip plan policies have distinguishing features that are integrating the blocking plan, and the block activation decisions. We also present a non-linear mixed integer programming formulation for each variant and present managerial insights based on a hypothetical railroad network. The computation results reveal that the dynamic car scheduling policies are not only able to take advantage of the capacity of the network but also capable of diminishing the population, and environment risks by rerouting the active blocks along the least risky train services without sacrificing the cost advantage of the railroad. The empirical results of this research illustrate that the issue of integrating the blocking plan, and the train makeup of the hazardous materials freights must receive closer attentions.

Keywords: dynamic car scheduling, planning and scheduling hazardous materials freights, airborne hazardous materials, gaussian plume model, integrated blocking and routing plans, box model

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Authors: Y. A. Yahaya, Ahmad Tijjani Asabe

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This paper focuses on the formulation of 3-step hybrid Adams type method for the solution of first order differential equation (ODE). The methods which was derived on both grid and off grid points using multistep collocation schemes and also evaluated at some points to produced Block Adams type method and Adams moulton method respectively. The method with the highest order was selected to serve as the corrector. The convergence was valid and efficient. The numerical experiments were carried out and reveal that hybrid Adams type methods performed better than the conventional Adams moulton method.

Keywords: adam-moulton type (amt), corrector method, off-grid, block method, convergence analysis

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Authors: Chun-Liang Wu, Kai-Ping Shaw, Cheng-Ping Yu, Wu-Chien Chien, Hsiao-Ting Chen, Shao-Huang Wu

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Objective: This study analyzed three criminal judicial cases. We applied the patterned injuries of the rider to demonstrate the facts of each accident, reconstruct the scenes, and pursue the truth. Methods: Case analysis, a method that collects evidence and reasons the results in judicial procedures, then the importance of the pattern of injury as evidence will be compared and evaluated. The patterned injuries analysis method is to compare the collision situation between an object and human body injuries to determine whether the characteristics can reproduce the unique pattern of injury. Result: Case 1: Two motorcycles, A and B, head-on collided; rider A dead, and rider B was accused. During the prosecutor’s investigation, the defendant learned that rider A had an 80 mm open wound on his neck. During the court trial, the defendant requested copies of the case file and found out that rider A had a large contusion on his chest wall, and the cause of death was traumatic hemothorax and abdominal wall contusion. The defendant compared all the evidence at the scene and determined that the injury was obviously not caused by the collision of the body or the motorcycle of rider B but that rider was out of control and injured himself when he crossed the double yellow line. In this case, the defendant was innocent in the High Court judgment in April 2022. Case 2: Motorcycles C and D head-on crashed, and rider C died of massive abdominal bleeding. The prosecutor decided that rider C was driving under the influence (DUI), but rider D was negligent and sued rider D. The defendant requested the copies’ file and found the special phenomenon that the front wheel of motorcycle C was turned left. The defendant’s injuries were a left facial bone fracture, a left femur fracture, and other injuries on the left side. The injuries were of human-vehicle separation and human-vehicle collision, which proved that rider C suddenly turned left when the two motorcycles approached, knocked down motorcycle D, and the defendant flew forward. Case 3: Motorcycle E and F’s rear end collided, the front rider E was sentenced to 3 months, and the rear rider F sued rider E for more than 7 million N.T. The defendant found in the copies’ file that the injury of rider F was the left tibial platform fracture, etc., and then proved that rider F made the collision with his left knee, causing motorcycle E to fall out of control. This evidence was accepted by the court and is still on trial. Conclusion: The application of patterned injuries in the reconstruction of a motorcycle accident could discover the truth and provide the basis for judicial justice. The cases and methods could be the reference for the policy of preventing traffic accident casualties.

Keywords: judicial evidence, patterned injuries analysis, accident reconstruction, fatal motorcycle injuries

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Authors: Samson Munn, Virginia H. Kim, Huija Chen, Sean Maldonado, Michelle Kim, Paul Koscheski, Babak N. Kalantari, Gregory Eckel, Albert Lee

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In terms of screening mammography quality, neither the portion of reports that advise call-back imaging that should be bilateral versus unilateral nor how much the unilateral call-backs may appropriately diverge from 50–50 (left versus right) is known. Many factors may affect detection laterality: display arrangement, reflections preferentially striking one display location, hanging protocols, seating positions with respect to others and displays, visual field cuts, health, etc. The call-back bilateral fraction may reflect radiologist experience (not in our data) or confidence level. Thus, laterality and bilaterality of call-backs advised in screening mammography reports could be worthy quality metrics. Here, laterality data did not reveal a concern until drilling down to individuals. Bilateral screening mammogram report recommendations by five breast imaging, attending radiologists at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center (Torrance, California) 9/1/15--8/31/16 and 9/1/16--8/31/17 were retrospectively reviewed. Recommended call-backs for bilateral versus unilateral, and for left versus right, findings were counted. Chi-square (χ²) statistic was applied. Year 1: of 2,665 bilateral screening mammograms, reports of 556 (20.9%) recommended call-back, of which 99 (17.8% of the 556) were for bilateral findings. Of the 457 unilateral recommendations, 222 (48.6%) regarded the left breast. Year 2: of 2,106 bilateral screening mammograms, reports of 439 (20.8%) recommended call-back, of which 65 (14.8% of the 439) were for bilateral findings. Of the 374 unilateral recommendations, 182 (48.7%) regarded the left breast. Individual ranges of call-backs that were bilateral were 13.2–23.3%, 10.2–22.5%, and 13.6–17.9%, by year(s) 1, 2, and 1+2, respectively; these ranges were unrelated to experience level; the two-year mean was 15.8% (SD=1.9%). The lowest χ² p value of the group's sidedness disparities years 1, 2, and 1+2 was > 0.4. Regarding four individual radiologists, the lowest p value was 0.42. However, the fifth radiologist disfavored the left, with p values of 0.21, 0.19, and 0.07, respectively; that radiologist had the greatest number of years of experience. There was a concerning, 93% likelihood that bias against left breast findings evidenced by one of our radiologists was not random. Notably, very soon after the period under review, he retired, presented with leukemia, and died. We call for research to be done, particularly by large departments with many radiologists, of two possible, new, quality metrics in screening mammography: laterality and bilaterality. (Images, patient outcomes, report validity, and radiologist psychological confidence levels were not assessed. No intervention nor subsequent data collection was conducted. This uncomplicated collection of data and simple appraisal were not designed, nor had there been any intention to develop or contribute, to generalizable knowledge (per U.S. DHHS 45 CFR, part 46)).

Keywords: mammography, screening mammography, quality, quality metrics, laterality

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Authors: Hamida Memon, Muhammad Sanan

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A 34-year-old male with no prior health issues presented with a wound in his left leg exhibiting active pus discharge, intense inflammation, pain radiating from the buttocks to the knee, foot drop, and skin darkening. Four years prior, he sustained an untreated dislocation of the hip joint and acetabulum from a road traffic accident. Initial nerve conduction studies (NCS) and electromyography (EMG) revealed severe axonotomesis of the left sciatic nerve and reduced compound muscle action potential in the left common peroneal nerve. Despite normal venous flow, edema and cellulitis were noted. Follow-up NCS/EMG in 2022 showed improvement, but in 2023, the patient experienced recurrent infection and underwent surgical intervention with tissue culture. Postoperative care included antibiotics and pain management. NCS/EMG in 2024 indicated decreased nerve amplitudes and conduction velocities, consistent with moderate axonotmesis and ongoing recovery, alongside incidental right S1 radiculopathy. General lab tests and abdominal imaging were normal. The patient was treated with Pregabalin and Neurobion for neuropathic pain and nerve support and is currently under observation by a tertiary sector hospital for treatment. This case underscores the critical importance of prompt treatment for hip dislocations to prevent long-term complications such as neuropathy and avascular necrosis. Delays in treatment significantly increase the risk of severe outcomes, highlighting the need for timely intervention. Overall, the case illustrates the challenges of managing complex nerve injuries and the importance of comprehensive care for optimal recovery.

Keywords: sciatic nerve neuropathy, hip dislocation, acetabular fracture, radiculopathy

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Authors: Kilari Nikhil, Ankur Tibrewal, Srinivas Kruthiventi S. S.

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Conventional speaker identification systems often fall short of capturing the diverse variations present in speech data due to fixed-scale architectures. In this research, we propose a CNN-based architecture, USENet, designed to overcome these limitations. Leveraging two key techniques, our approach achieves superior performance on the VoxCeleb 1 Dataset without any pre-training. Firstly, we adopt a U-net-inspired design to extract features at multiple scales, empowering our model to capture speech characteristics effectively. Secondly, we introduce the squeeze and excitation block to enhance spatial feature learning. The proposed architecture showcases significant advancements in speaker identification, outperforming existing methods, and holds promise for future research in this domain.

Keywords: multi-scale feature extraction, squeeze and excitation, VoxCeleb1 speaker identification, mel-spectrograms, USENet

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Authors: M. Ridwanul Hassan, Samuel George

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Aims: Steroid injections are commonly used as a diagnostic tool or an alternative to surgical management of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) and are generally safe. Ischaemia is a rare complication with very few cases reported in the literature. Methods: We report a case of a 50-year-old female that presented with a necrotic wound to her left palm one month after a steroid injection into the carpal tunnel. She had a 2-year history of CTS in her left hand that was treated with six previous steroid injections in primary care during this period. The wound evolved from a blister to a necrotic ulcer which led to a painful, hollow defect in the centre of her palm. She did not report any history of trauma, nor did she have any co-morbidities. Clinical photographs were taken. Results: On examination, she had a 0.5 cmx1 cm defect in the palm of her left hand down to aponeurosis. There was purulent discharge in the wound with surrounding erythema but no spreading cellulitis. She had full function of her fingers but was very tender on movements and at rest. She was admitted for intravenous antibiotics and underwent a debridement, washout, and carpal tunnel release the next day. The defect was packed to heal by secondary intention and has now fully healed one month following her operation. Conclusions: This is an extremely rare complication of steroid injections to the carpal tunnel and may have been avoided by earlier referral for surgery rather than treatment using multiple steroid injections.

Keywords: hand surgery, complication, rare, carpal tunnel syndrome

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Authors: Adae Amoako, Daniel Montero, Peter Murray, George Pujalte

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We present a case of a 42-year-old, right-handed Caucasian male who presented to a medical orthopedics clinic with left wrist pain. The patient indicated that the pain started two months prior to the visit. He could only remember helping a friend move furniture prior to the onset of pain. Examination of the left wrist showed limited extension compared to the right. There was clicking with flexion and extension of the wrist on the dorsal aspect. Mild tenderness was noticed over the distal radioulnar joint. There was ulnar and radial deviation on provocation. Initial 4-view x-rays of the left wrist showed mild radiocarpal and scapho-trapezium-trapezoid (ST-T) osteoarthritis, with subchondral cysts seen in the lunate and scaphoid, with no obvious fractures. The patient was initially put in a wrist brace and diclofenac topical gel was prescribed for pain control, as a patient could not take non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) due to gastritis. Despite diclofenac topical gel use and bracing, symptoms remained, and a steroid injection with 1 mL of lidocaine with 10 mg of triamcinolone acetonide was performed under fluoroscopy. He obtained some relief but after 3 months, the injection had to be repeated. On 2-month follow up after the initial evaluation, symptoms persisted. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was obtained which showed an abnormal T1 hypodense signal involving the proximal pole of the scaphoid and articular collapse proximally of the scaphoid, with marked irregularity of the overlying cartilage, suggesting a remote injury, findings consistent with avascular necrosis of the proximal pole of the scaphoid. A month after that, the patient had the left proximal pole of the scaphoid debrided and an intercompartmental supraretinacular artery vascularized. Pedicle bone graft reconstruction of the proximal pole of the left scaphoid was done. A non-vascularized autograft from the left radius was also applied. He was put in a thumb spica cast with the interphalangeal joint free for 6 weeks. On 6-week follow-up after surgery, the patient was healing well and could make a composite fist with his left hand. The diagnosis of Preiser’s disease is primarily based on radiological findings. Due to the fact that necrosis happens over a period of time, most AVNs are diagnosed at the late stages of the disease. There appear to be no specific guidelines on the management AVN of the scaphoid. In the past, immobilization and arthroscopic debridement had been used. Radial osteotomy has also been tried. Vascularized bone grafts have also been used to treat Preiser’s disease. In our patient, we used three of these treatment modalities, starting with conservative management with topical NSAIDS and immobilization, then debridement with vascularized bone grafts.

Keywords: wrist pain, avascular necrosis of the scaphoid, Preiser’s disease, vascularized bone grafts

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Authors: Ashwini Patil

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Caudal block is one of the most commonly used regional anesthetic techniques in children. Currently, fentanyl is used as an adjuvant to bupivacaine to prolong analgesia but fentanyl is a narcotic. Dexamethasone, a glucocorticoid with strong anti-inflammatory effects provides improvement in post-operative analgesia and post-operative side effects. However, its analgesic efficacy and safety in comparison with fentanyl has not been extensively studied. So the objective of this randomized controlled study is to compare dexamethasone with fentanyl as an adjuvant to bupivacaine for caudal block in children in relation to the duration of caudal analgesia, post-operative analgesic requirement and incidence of post-operative nausea and vomiting. This study included 100 children, aged 1–6 years, undergoing lower abdominal surgeries. Patients were randomized into two groups, 50 each to receive a combination of dexamethasone 0.2 mg/kg along with 1 ml/kg bupivacaine 0.25% (group A) or combination of fentanyl (1 ug/kg) along with 1ml/kg bupivacaine 0.25% (group B). In the post-operative period, pain was assessed using a Modified Objective Pain Scale (MOPS) until 12 hr after surgery and rescue analgesia is administered when MOPS score 4 or more is recorded. Residual motor block, number of analgesic doses required within 24 hr after surgery, sedation scores, intra-operative and post-operative hemodynamic variables, post-operative nausea and vomiting (PONV), and other adverse effects were recorded. Data is analysed using unpaired t test and Significance level of P< 0.05 is considered statistically significant. Group A showed a significantly longer time to first analgesic requirement than group B (p<0.05). The number of rescue analgesic doses required in the first 24 h was significantly less in group A (p<0.05). Group A showed significantly lower MOPS scores than group B(p<0.05). Intra-operative and post-operative hemodynamic variables, Modified Bromage Scale scores, and sedation scores were comparable in both the groups. Group A showed significantly fewer incidences of PONV compared with group B(p<0.05). This study reveals that adding dexamethasone to bupivacaine prolongs the duration of postoperative analgesia and decreases the incidence of PONV as compared to combination of fentanyl to bupivacaine after a caudal block in pediatric patients.

Keywords: bupivacaine, caudal analgesia, dexamethasone, pediatric

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Authors: Cathy SW. Chow, Kristina Shin, Faming Wang, B. C. L. So

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During some dynamic giant puppet performances, an ergonomically designed load carrier system is necessary for the puppeteers to carry a giant puppet body’s heavy load with minimum muscle stress. A load carrier (i.e. prototype) was designed with two small wheels on the foot; and a hybrid spring device on the knee in order to assist the sliding and knee bending movements respectively. Thus, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of three load carriers including two other commercially available load mounting systems, Tepex and SuitX, and the prototype. Ten male participants were recruited for the experiment. Surface electromyography (sEMG) was used to collect the participants’ muscle activities during forward moving and bouncing and with and without load of 11.1 kg that was 60 cm above the shoulder. Five bilateral muscles including the lumbar erector spinae (LES), rectus femoris (RF), bicep femoris (BF), tibialis anterior (TA), and gastrocnemius (GM) were selected for data collection. During forward moving task, the sEMG data showed smallest muscle activities by Tepex harness which exhibited consistently the lowest, compared with the prototype and SuitX which were significantly higher on left LES 68.99% and 64.99%, right LES 26.57% and 82.45%; left RF 87.71% and 47.61%, right RF 143.57% and 24.28%; left BF 80.21% and 22.23%, right BF 96.02% and 21.83%; right TA 6.32% and 4.47%; left GM 5.89% and 12.35% respectively. The result above reflected mobility was highly restricted by tested exoskeleton devices. On the other hand, the sEMG data from bouncing task showed the smallest muscle activities by prototype which exhibited consistently the lowest, compared with the Tepex harness and SuitX which were significantly lower on lLES 6.65% and 104.93, rLES 23.56% and 92.19%; lBF 33.21% and 93.26% and rBF 24.70% and 81.16%; lTA 46.51% and 191.02%; rTA 12.75% and 125.76%; IGM 31.54% and 68.36%; rGM 95.95% and 96.43% respectively.

Keywords: exoskeleton, giant puppet performers, load carriage system, surface electromyography

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Authors: Shahriyar Keshtgar, Mahmoud Reza Heyhat, Sasan Bagheri, Ebrahim Gholami, Seyed Naser Raiisosadat

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Various tectonic interpretations have been presented by different researchers to explain the geological evolution of eastern Iran, but there are still many ambiguities and many disagreements about the geodynamic nature of the Paleogene mountain range of eastern Iran. The purpose of this research is to clarify and discuss the tectonic position of the foreland and hinterland regions of eastern Iran from the tectonic perspective of sedimentary basins. In the tectonic model of oceanic subduction crust under the Afghan block, the hinterland is located to the east and on the Afghan block, and the foreland is located on the passive margin of the Sistan open ocean in the west. After the collision of the two microcontinents, the foreland basin must be located somewhere on the passive margin of the Lut block. This basin can deposit thick Paleocene to Oligocene sediments on the Cretaceous and older sediments. Thrust faults here will move towards the west. If we accept the subduction model of the Sistan Ocean under the Lut Block, the hinterland is located to the west towards the Lut Block, and the foreland basin is located towards the Sistan Ocean in the east. After the collision of the two microcontinents, the foreland basin with Paleogene sediments should expand on the Sefidaba basin. Thrust faults here will move towards the east. If we consider the two-sided subduction model of the ocean crust under both Lut and Afghan continental blocks, the tectonic position of the foreland and hinterland basins will not change and will be similar to the one-sided subduction models. After the collision of two microcontinents, the foreland basin should develop in the central part of the eastern Iranian orogen. In the oroclinic buckling model, the foreland basin will continue not only in the east and west but continuously in the north as well. In this model, since there is practically no collision, the foreland basin is not developed, and the remnants of the Sistan Ocean ophiolites and their deep turbidite sediments appear in the axial part of the mountain range, where the Neh and Khash complexes are located. The structural data from this research in the northern border of the Sistan belt and the Lut block indicate the convergence of the tectonic vergence directions towards the interior of the Sistan belt (in the Ahangaran area towards the southwest, in the north of Birjand towards the south-southeast, in the Sechengi area to the southeast). According to this research, not only the general movement of thrust sheets do not follow the linear orogeny models, but the expected active foreland basins have not been formed in the mentioned places in eastern Iran. Therefore, these results do not follow previous tectonic models for eastern Iran (i.e., rifting of eastern Iran continental crust and subsequent linear collision of the Lut and Afghan blocks), but it seems that was caused by buckling model in the Late Eocene-Oligocene.

Keywords: foreland, hinterland, tectonic vergence, orocline buckling, eastern Iran

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Authors: Hyun-Koo Kim, Yonghun Kim, Yong-Hoon Kim, Ju Hee Lee, Myungho Song

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In this paper, we have described an efficient stereo matching method and pedestrian detection method using stereo types LWIR camera. We compared with three types stereo camera algorithm as block matching, ELAS, and SGM. For pedestrian detection using stereo LWIR camera, we used that SGM stereo matching method, free space detection method using u/v-disparity, and HOG feature based pedestrian detection. According to testing result, SGM method has better performance than block matching and ELAS algorithm. Combination of SGM, free space detection, and pedestrian detection using HOG features and SVM classification can detect pedestrian of 30m distance and has a distance error about 30 cm.

Keywords: advanced driver assistance system, pedestrian detection, stereo matching method, stereo long-wave IR camera

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Authors: Nisar Ahmed Memon

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A new medical image watermarking scheme delivering high embedding capacity is presented in this paper. Integer Wavelet Transform (IWT), Companding technique and adaptive thresholding are used in this scheme. The proposed scheme implants, recovers the hidden information and restores the input image to its pristine state at the receiving end. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) images are used for experimental purposes. The scheme first segment the MRI medical image into non-overlapping blocks and then inserts watermark into wavelet coefficients having a high frequency of each block. The scheme uses block-based watermarking adopting iterative optimization of threshold for companding in order to avoid the histogram pre and post processing. Results show that proposed scheme performs better than other reversible medical image watermarking schemes available in literature for MRI medical images.

Keywords: adaptive thresholding, companding technique, data authentication, reversible watermarking

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Authors: Mohan T. Harish, Masson Lauriane, Sreevalsa Kolathayar

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Environmental issues raise alarm in the constructional field which implies a need for exploring new construction materials derived from the waste and residual products. This paper presents a detailed review of the alternatives approaches employed in the construction field using plastic waste in mixture with mixed with fillers. A detailed analysis of the plastic waste used in concrete, with soil, sand, clay and natural residues like sawdust, rice husk etc are presented. The different process carried forward was also discussed along with the scrutiny of the change in mechanical properties. The effect of coupling agents in the proposed mixture has been appraised in detail which gives implications for its future application in the field of plastic waste with viable materials in composite construction blocks.

Keywords: plastic waste, composite materials, construction block, concrete, natural residue, coupling agent

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Authors: Siyabonga Kunene, Calvin Shipley

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Introduction: Despite health benefits that come with running, injuries are common with prevalence ranging between 18.2% and 92.4% worldwide. Differences in gait patterns between barefoot and shod running, can determine traits that could lead to running injuries. The aim was to assess and compare lower limb gait cycle patterns between barefoot and shod running among runners. Methods: An experimental same-subject study design was used. The study population consisted of male and female adult recreational runners who were injury free from a running club in Durban. A convenience sampling method was used and 14 participants were recruited. The study was conducted in the physiotherapy performance laboratory at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. A Woodway Desmo Treadmill and KinePro gait analysis system were used. Descriptive & inferential statistics were analysed using Microsoft Excel and Intercooled Stata. Results: Participants included a greater percentage of females (57.1%, n = 8) than males (42.9%, n = 6). The mean population age was 38.57. A significant difference (p < 0.0009) between barefoot cadence (177.9236steps/min) and shod cadence (171.9445steps/min) was observed. Right (0.261s) and left (0.257s) barefoot stand phase was shorter than right (0.273s) and left (0.270s) shod stand phase. Right barefoot swing phase exhibited less significant (0.420s) results when compared to right shod swing phase (0.427s), whereas left barefoot swing phase was quicker (0.416s) than left shod swing phase (0.432s). Significant differences between barefoot and shod stand (p < 0.009) and swing (p < 0.040) phase symmetry occurred. Conclusion: A considerable difference was found between barefoot and shod running gait cycle patterns among participants. This difference may play a role in prevention of running related injuries.

Keywords: barefoot running, shod running, gait cycle pattern, same-subject study design

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Authors: Sanjeeb Kumar Mishra, Aartee Jha, Madhu Thapa, Pragati Gautam

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Introduction: High myopia has become a matter of global concern as it is a major risk factor for glaucoma. Various optic nerve head changes occur in high myopia over time. This might lead to difficulty in detecting pathologies associated with high myopia through conventional funduscopy examinations only. Bruch’s Membrane Opening (Area and Minimum Rim Width) is considered an anatomically more accurate and reliable landmark than the conventional clinical disc margin. Study Design: It was a hospital based cross-sectional and non-interventional type of study. Purpose: The purpose of our study was to measure Bruch’s Membrane Opening (area and Minimum Rim Width) in high myopic eyes and correlate it with axial length. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at B.P Koirala Lions Center for Ophthalmic Studies, a tertiary-level eye center in Nepal. 80 eyes of 40 subjects (40% male and 60% female) aged 18-35 years with high myopia (Spherical Equivalent (SE) ≥ -6D) were taken as cases. Among them, RE of 39 and LE of 34 myopic subjects were included in the study. Spectral Domain-Optical Coherence Tomography of both the eyes of myopic patients was performed using Glaucoma Module Premiere Edition (GMPE) with Anatomic Positioning System (APS) to measure Bruch’s Membrane Opening (Area and Minimum Rim Width). Axial length in myopic patients was measured using Partial Coherence Interferometry (IOL Master). Results: Among 40 myopic subjects, 16 (40%) were males, whereas 24 (60%) were females. The mean age of myopic subjects was 24.64 ± 5.10 years, with minimum and maximum ages of 18 years and 35 years, respectively. The mean BMO area was 2.28 0.48 mm² in right eye and 2.15 0.59 mm² in left eye. BMO area in high myopic patient was significantly correlated with axial length. The correlation analysis of BMO area with axial length in RE and LE was found to be statistically significant at (r=0.465, p<0.003) and (r=0.374, p< 0.029), respectively. Likewise, the mean BMO-MRW was 325.69 ± 96µm in right eye and 339.20 ± 79.50µm in left eye. There was a significant correlation of BMO-MRW with axial length in both the eyes of myopic subjects. Moreover, a significant negative correlation of Inferior temporal, Nasal, and Inferior nasal quadrants (p<0.05) of BMO-MRW of right eye was found with axial length of right eye, whereas all the BMO-MRW quadrants of left eye were negatively correlated (p<0.05) with axial length in left eye. No significant differences were found between right eye and left eye on comparing means of refractive error, axial length, BMO area, and BMO-MRW. Conclusion: From this study, it can be concluded that BMO area enlarges in high myopia with an increase in axial length. Additionally, BMO-MRW thinning occurs along with the BMO enlargement and increases with axial length. There were no significant differences in refractive error, axial length, BMO area, and BMO-MRW between right eye and left eye.

Keywords: high myopia, Bruch’s membrane opening, Bruch’s membrane opening minimum rim width, spectral domain optical coherence tomography

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Authors: Rajesh Kumar, Puneet Aggarwal

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In context of understanding problems faced by undergraduate students while carrying out laboratory experiments dealing with high voltages, it was found that most of the students are hesitant to work directly on machine. The reason is that error in the circuitry might lead to deterioration of machine and laboratory instruments. So, it has become inevitable to include modern pedagogic techniques for undergraduate students, which would help them to first carry out experiment in virtual system and then to work on live circuit. Further advantages include that students can try out their intuitive ideas and perform in virtual environment, hence leading to new research and innovations. In this paper, virtual environment used is of MATLAB/Simulink for three-phase induction machines. The performance analysis of three-phase induction machine is carried out using virtual environment which includes Direct Current (DC) Test, No-Load Test, and Block Rotor Test along with speed torque characteristics for different rotor resistances and input voltage, respectively. Further, this paper carries out computer aided teaching of basic Voltage Source Inverter (VSI) drive circuitry. Hence, this paper gave undergraduates a clearer view of experiments performed on virtual machine (No-Load test, Block Rotor test and DC test, respectively). After successful implementation of basic tests, VSI circuitry is implemented, and related harmonic distortion (THD) and Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) of current and voltage waveform are studied.

Keywords: block rotor test, DC test, no load test, virtual environment, voltage source inverter

Procedia PDF Downloads 355

Authors: Azita Behbahaninia

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This research has been carried out to determine the water quality and physico-chemical properties Polour River, one of the most branch of Haraz River. Polour River was studied for a period of one year Samples were taken from different stations along the main branch of River polour. In water samples determined pH, DO, SO4, Cl, PO4, NO3, EC, BOD, COD, Temprature, color and number of Caliform per liter. ArcGIS was used for the zoning of phosphate concentration in the polour River basin. The results indicated that the river is polluted in polour village station, because of discharge domestic wastewater and also river is polluted in Ziar village station, because of agricultural wastewater and water is contaminated in aquaculture station, because of fish ponds wastewater. Statistical analysis shows that between independent traits and coliform regression relationship is significant at the 1% level. Coefficient explanation index indicated independent traits control 80% coliform and 20 % is for unknown parameters. The causality analysis showed Temperature (0.6) has the most positive and direct effect on coliform and sulfate has direct and negative effect on coliform. The results of causality analysis and the results of the regression analysis are matched and other forms direct and indirect effects were negligible and ignorable. Kruskal-Wallis test showed, there is different between sampling stations and studied characters. Between stations for temperature, DO, COD, EC, sulfate and coliform is at 1 % and for phosphate 5 % level of significance.

Keywords: coliform, GIS, pollution, phosphate, river

Procedia PDF Downloads 468

Authors: Varsha V. Rohini, P. R. Shreya, B. Renukadevi

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In the web analytics the information delivery and the web usage is optimized and the analysis of data is done. The analytics is the measurement, collection and analysis of webpage data. Page statistics and user metrics are the important factor in most of the web analytics tool. This is the limitation of the existing tools. It does not provide design inputs for the optimization of information. This paper aims at providing an extension for the scope of web analytics to provide analysis and statistics of each segment of a webpage. The number of click count is calculated and the concentration of links in a web page is obtained. Its user metrics are used to help in proper design of the displayed content in a webpage by Vision Based Page Segmentation (VIPS) algorithm. When the algorithm is applied on the web page it divides the entire web page into the visual block tree. The visual block tree generated will further divide the web page into visual blocks or segments which help us to understand the usage of each segment in a page and its content. The dynamic web pages and deep web pages are used to extend the scope of web page segment analytics. Space optimization concept is used with the help of the output obtained from the Vision Based Page Segmentation (VIPS) algorithm. This technique provides us the visibility of the user interaction with the WebPages and helps us to place the important links in the appropriate segments of the webpage and effectively manage space in a page and the concentration of links.

Keywords: analytics, design optimization, visual block trees, vision based technology

Procedia PDF Downloads 267

Authors: Min-Chih Yang, Shih-Jen Feng, Bo-Tsang Li

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The concept of “Brownfield” has been developed for nearly 35 years since it was put forward in 《Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, CERCLA》of USA in 1980 for solving the problem of soil contamination of those old industrial lands, and later, many countries have put forward relevant policies and researches continuously. But the related concept in Taiwan, a country has developed its industry for 60 years, is still in its infancy. This leads to the slow development of Brownfield related research and policy in Taiwan. When it comes to build the foundation of Brownfield development, we have to depend on the related experience and research of other countries. They are four aspects about Brownfield: 1. Contaminated Land; 2. Derelict Land; 3. Vacant Land; 4. Previously Development Land. This study will focus on and deeply investigate the Vacant land and contaminated land. The subject of this study is Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corporation, Changhua branch in Taiwan. It has been operating for nearly 50 years and contributing a lot to the local economy. But under the influence of the toxic waste and sewage which was drained regularly or occasionally out from the factory, the environment has been destroyed seriously. There are three factors of pollution: 1. environmental toxicants, carbon disulfide, released from producing processes and volatile gases which is hard to monitor; 2. Waste and exhaust gas leakage caused by outdated equipment; 3. the wastewater discharge has seriously damage the ecological environment of the Dadu river estuary. Because of all these bad influences, the factory has been closed nowadays and moved to other places to spare the opportunities for the contaminated lands to re-develop. So we collect information about related Brownfield management experience and policies in different countries as background information to investigate the current Taiwanese Brownfield redevelopment issues and built the environmental assessment framework for it. We hope that we can set the environmental assessment indexes for Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corporation, Changhua branch according to the framework. By investigating the theory and environmental pollution factors, we will carry out deep analysis and expert questionnaire to set those indexes and prove a sample in Taiwan for Brownfield redevelopment and remediation in the future.

Keywords: brownfield, industrial land, redevelopment, assessment index

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Authors: Berkant Coşkuner, Rahmi Aksoy

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The aim of this study is to present some preliminary stratigraphic and structural evidence for the Fethiye-Burdur fault zone between Kozluca and Burdur. The Fethiye-Burdur fault zone, the easternmost extension of the west Anatolian extensional province, extends from the Gulf of Fethiye northeastward through Burdur, a distance of about 300 km. The research area is located in the Burdur segment of the fault zone. Here, the fault zone includes several parallel to subparallel fault branching and en-echelon faults that lie within a linear belt, as much as 20 km in width. The direction of movement in the fault zone has been oblique-slip in the left lateral sense. The basement of the study area consists of the Triassic-Eocene Lycian Nappes, the Eocene-Oligocene molasse sediments and the lower Miocene marine rocks. The Burdur basin contains two basin infills. The ancient and deformed basin fill is composed of lacustrine sediments of the upper Miocene-lower Pliocene age. The younger and undeformed basin fill comprises Plio-Quaternary alluvial fan and recent basin-floor deposits and unconformably overlies the ancient basin infill. The Burdur basin is bounded by the NE-SW trending, left lateral oblique-slip normal faults, the Karakent fault on the northwest and the Burdur fault on the southeast. These faults played a key role in the development of the Burdur basin as a pull-apart basin.

Keywords: Burdur basin, Fethiye-Burdur fault zone, left lateral oblique-slip fault, Western Anatolia

Procedia PDF Downloads 410

Authors: Fendouli Ines, Zaafrane Nesrine, Mhamdi Hana, Knani Leila, Ghorbel Mohamed

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Introduction: Ocular infiltration of leukemia can involve orbit, uveal tract, retina and optic nerve. It may result from direct ocular infiltration by leukemic cells or indirect ocular involvement resulting from secondary hematologic changes, opportunistic infections and complications of various modalities of therapy. We here in report a case of central venous retinal occlusion associated to optic nerve infiltration as presenting signs of a relapse of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Case Report: A twelve-year-old male -patient of acute B lymphoblastic leukemia presented with headaches and bilateral blurred vision in the left ee. Ophthalmic examination showed a visual acuity reduced to counting fingers in the right eye and no light perception in the left eye. Funduscopy revealed a voluminous disc edema surrounded by retinal haemorrhages in the right eye, and venous tortusities, papillary edema, and hemorrages suggesting central retinal venous occlusion in the LE. Swept source optical coherence tomography revealed a serous retinal detachment in the RE and .hyperreflective inner layers with macular edema in the left eye. Cerebro-orbital MRI showed bilateral thickened left optic nerve. There were no radiological signs of true papillary edema due to intracranial hypertension secondary to central nervous system involvement. Myelogram and lumbar punction demonstrated blast infiltration and confirmed ocular relapse of the leukemia. Conclusion: Ocular involvement lymphoblastic acute leukemias decreased since the introduction of a systematic prophylactic treatment of central nervous system. Periodic ophthalmic examination is necessary to allow early diagnosis and treatment.

Keywords: acute leukemia, optic nerve, infiltration, relapse

Procedia PDF Downloads 91

Authors: Dhiraj Dolai, Rupayan Bhattacharya

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In this study, a comparison of Range Of Motion (ROM) of middle and long-distance runners and swimmers has been made. The mobility of the various joints is essential for the quick movement of any sportsman. Knowledge of a ROM helps in preventing injuries, in repeating the movement, and in generating speed and power. ROM varies among individuals, and it is influenced by factors such as gender, age, and whether the motion is performed actively or passively. ROM for running and swimming, both performed with due consideration on speed, plays an important role. The time of generation of speed and mobility of the particular joints are very important for both kinds of athletes. The difficulties that happen during running and swimming in the direction of motion is changed. In this study, data were collected for a total of 102 subjects divided into three groups: control group (22), middle and long-distance runners (40), and swimmers (40), and their ages are between 12 to 18 years. The swimmers have higher ROM in shoulder joint flexion, extension, abduction, and adduction movement. Middle and long-distance runners have significantly greater ROM from Control Group in the left shoulder joint flexion with a 5.82 mean difference. Swimmers have significantly higher ROM from the Control Group in the left shoulder joint flexion with 24.84 mean difference and swimmers have significantly higher ROM from the Middle and Long distance runners in left shoulder flexion with 19.02 mean difference. The picture will be clear after a more detailed investigation.

Keywords: range of motion, runners, swimmers, significance

Procedia PDF Downloads 130

Authors: Hebatullah Ali Abdel-Aleem Abdel-Hamid, Camellia Mousa Mohamed Elzean

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Knitted garments recently became a key component in wardrobes of the Egyptian woman. Many Egyptian women depend on garments made of knitted fabrics in their outer appearance because of its specific properties including flexibility. Through observation and application, it was noticed that knitwear blocks that used for knitted fabrics somehow does not fit the figures of the Egyptian women. Moreover, the pattern makers are usually confused and unable to choose the suitable blocks for different knitting fabrics taking into consideration its physical and mechanical properties. This study seeks to develop mathematical relationships for evaluation of the amount of added- or subtracted ease to Aldrich’s basic fitting blocks for some weft knitting fabrics and its fitting to the upper part of Egyptian women's bodies. To achieve this goal, 12 samples were used to evaluate fitting of Aldrich’s Basic Fitting Block to the upper part of Egyptian women's bodies. The samples were evaluated before and after alterations, through wear trials on the standard mannequins of size 48 and 56, and judged by experienced assessors using fit evaluation scale. The data obtained were statistically analyzed to identify the efficiency of the adjustments. The Aldrich’s Basic Fitting Block was selected because his method is known internationally and easy to use.

Keywords: Aldrich basic fitting block, clothing industry, knitted fabrics, pattern construction

Procedia PDF Downloads 266

Authors: Ebrahim Shayesteh, Nikolaos Styliaras, Alin George Raducu, Ozan Sahin, Daniel Pombo VáZquez, Jonas Funkquist, Sotirios Thanopoulos

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One of the important requirements in many code generation projects is defining some of the model parameters tunable. This helps to update the model parameters without performing the code generation again. This paper studies the concept of embedded code generation by MATLAB/Simulink coder targeting the TwinCAT Simulink system. The generated runtime modules are then tested and deployed to the TwinCAT 3 engineering environment. However, defining the parameters tunable in MATLAB/Simulink code generation targeting TwinCAT is not very straightforward. This paper focuses on this subject and reviews some of the techniques tested here to make the parameters tunable in generated runtime modules. Three techniques are proposed for this purpose, including normal tunable parameters, callback functions, and mask subsystems. Moreover, some test Simulink models are developed and used to evaluate the results of proposed approaches. A brief summary of the study results is presented in the following. First of all, the parameters defined tunable and used in defining the values of other Simulink elements (e.g., gain value of a gain block) could be changed after the code generation and this value updating will affect the values of all elements defined based on the values of the tunable parameter. For instance, if parameter K=1 is defined as a tunable parameter in the code generation process and this parameter is used to gain a gain block in Simulink, the gain value for the gain block is equal to 1 in the gain block TwinCAT environment after the code generation. But, the value of K can be changed to a new value (e.g., K=2) in TwinCAT (without doing any new code generation in MATLAB). Then, the gain value of the gain block will change to 2. Secondly, adding a callback function in the form of “pre-load function,” “post-load function,” “start function,” and will not help to make the parameters tunable without performing a new code generation. This means that any MATLAB files should be run before performing the code generation. The parameters defined/calculated in this file will be used as fixed values in the generated code. Thus, adding these files as callback functions to the Simulink model will not make these parameters flexible since the MATLAB files will not be attached to the generated code. Therefore, to change the parameters defined/calculated in these files, the code generation should be done again. However, adding these files as callback functions forces MATLAB to run them before the code generation, and there is no need to define the parameters mentioned in these files separately. Finally, using a tunable parameter in defining/calculating the values of other parameters through the mask is an efficient method to change the value of the latter parameters after the code generation. For instance, if tunable parameter K is used in calculating the value of two other parameters K1 and K2 and, after the code generation, the value of K is updated in TwinCAT environment, the value of parameters K1 and K2 will also be updated (without any new code generation).

Keywords: code generation, MATLAB, tunable parameters, TwinCAT

Procedia PDF Downloads 228

Authors: Syedhossein Vakili

Abstract:

According to the opinion of some experts, the world's two-spatialization means the establishment of a new virtual space and placing this new space next to the physical space. This dualization of space has left various effects, one of which is reducing the need for buildings and making the area of business premises economical through the use of virtual space instead of a part of physical space. In such a way that before the virtual space was known, a commercial or educational institution had to block a large part of its capital to acquire physical spaces and buildings in order to provide physical space and places needed for daily activities, but today, Thanks to the addition of the virtual space to the physical space, it has been possible to carry out its activities more widely in a limited environment with a minimum of physical space and drastically reduce costs. In order to understand the impact of virtual space on the reduction of physical space, the researcher used the official reports of the countries regarding the average area mentioned in the permits for the construction of commercial and educational units in the period from 2014 to 2023 and compared the average capital required for the absolute physical period with The period of two-spatialization of the world in the mentioned ten-year period, while using the analytical and comparative method, has proven that virtual space has greatly reduced the amount of investment of business owners to provide the required place for their activities by reducing the need for physical space. And economically, it has made commercial activities more profitable.

Keywords: two spatialization, building area, cyberspace, physical space, virtual place

Procedia PDF Downloads 62

Authors: Draoua Zohra, Harrane Amine

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The Solid Polymeric Materials have been successfully prepared by the copolymerization of e-caprolactone (CL) and poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG) employing Maghnite-H+ at 80°C. Maghnite-H+ is a solid catalyst non-toxic. The presence of PEG chains leads to a break in the growth of PCL chains and consequently leads to the copolymer tri-block PCL-PEG-PCL. The objective of this study was to synthesize and characterize of Solid Polymeric Materials. The highly hydrophilic nature of polyethylene glycol has sparked our interest in developing a Solid Polymeric based e-caprolactone and poly (ethylene glycol). PCL and PEG are biocompatible materials. Their ring-opening copolymerization using Maghnite H+ makes to the Solid Polymeric Materials. The morphology and structure of Solid polymeric Materials were characterized by ¹H and ¹³C-NMR spectra and Gel Permeation Chromatography (GPC). This paper developed the application of Maghnite-H+ as an efficient catalyst by an easy-to-handle procedure to get solid polymeric materials. A cationic mechanism for the copolymerization reaction was proposed.

Keywords: block copolymers, maghnite, montmorillonite, poly(e-caprolactone)

Procedia PDF Downloads 168

Authors: Odunjo Oluronke Omolola, Okanlawon Simon Ayorinde

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This study examines the relationship between house characteristics and socio-economic characteristics of developers in Ibadan, southwest, Nigeria. The research is borne out of the fact that social housing has not done much as a result of finance and housing poverty is on the increase in the country. Multistage random sampling was used in selecting 2,646 respondents in the area. The questionnaire forms the basic instrument for data collection and was administered to heads of households to collect information on socio-economic and demographic characteristics as well as characteristics of development. Both descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were employed in the presentation of the findings; MANOVA was used to analyse the relationship between house characteristics measured by wall materials (Y1-Yn) and socio-economic characteristics of developers measured by gender (X1), religion (X2), educational background (X3) and employment status (X4).The study found out that the bulk of the respondents (65.7%) were male, while 51.7% practiced Christianity. Also, 35.9% had HND/1st/Postgraduate degree, while 43.9% were self employed; Most households however, had membership size of 5 (26.9%). The significant wall material in the area was sandcrete block (71.2%) as opposed to mud (19.1%) and brick (0.6%). Multiple Analysis of Variance shows that there is a significant relationship between sandcrete block and each of gender (X1) and employment status (X3). The factor adduced to this is accessibility to cooperative societies which serve as the gravitational force of attraction for housing finance. The study suggests among others that, there should be re-invigoration of existing cooperative societies, while more should be established for the provision of housing finance.

Keywords: relationship, house development, developers, sandcrete block, cooperative societies

Procedia PDF Downloads 504