bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Influence of colonic mesenteric area on the number of lymph node retrieval for colon cancer: a prospective cohort study
Authors: Hacım Nadir Adnan , Akbaş Ahmet , Ulgen Yigit , Aktokmakyan Talar Vartanoglu , Meric Serhat , Tokocin Merve , Karabay Onder , Altinel Yuksel
Published: September 2021

Purpose: The minimum harvested 12 lymph nodes (LNs) is regarded as the limit for accurate staging of nodal status in colorectal cancer patients. Besides the association of the lengths of resected intestinal segments and vascular pedicles, the mesocolic mesenteric area’s impact on LN count has not been studied. We aimed to evaluate the associations between metric variables, including the mesocolic mesentery area on the nodal harvest.Methods: All consecutive patients who underwent elective colectomy with a curative intention for colon adenocarcinoma were prospectively included. The metric variables included the lengths of resected intestinal segments, vascular pedicle, and colonic mesenteric area. The variables influencing the LN count and the correlation between the total LN count and the specimens’ relevant metric measurements were analyzed.Results: There were 46 patients with a median age of 64 years. The median count for total LNs was 22, and the LN positivity was 59.2%. There was an inadequate LN yield (<12) in 3 patients (6.1%). No significant associations were found between the adequacy of nodal harvest and the demographic, clinical, and tumoral features (P>0.05). There were significant positive correlations between total LN number and length of vascular pedicle and mesenteric area (r=0.576, P<0.001 and r=0.566, P<0.001).Conclusion: The length of the vascular pedicle and mesenteric area were significantly correlated with total LN counts. Although there was no significant impact on the length of resected segments, the colonic mesenteric area can be used alone as a measure for the assessment of the nodal yield in colon cancer.
Preoperative endoscopic tattoo marking improves lymph node retrieval in laparoscopic rectal resection: a retrospective cohort study
Authors: Imaoka Kouki , Yano Takuya , Yoshimitsu Masanori , Fukuhara Sotaro , Oshita Ko , Nakano Kanyu , Kunihiro Masaki , Idani Hitoshi , Okajima Masazumi
Published: September 2021

Purpose: Harvesting at least 12 lymph nodes (LNs) is recommended for adequate tumor staging in colon surgery. Although preoperative endoscopic tattooing has been used for primary localization of tumors, its impact on LN retrieval in colorectal surgery remains controversial. We aimed to investigate the relationship between preoperative tattooing and LN retrieval after laparoscopic rectal resection.Methods: We reviewed the records of 92 patients with rectal cancer who underwent laparoscopic resection from January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2019. Patients were categorized into 2 groups according to whether preoperative endoscopic tattooing was performed. The rate of adequate LN retrieval (≥12) was compared.Results: The tattooed and non-tattooed groups comprised 49 and 43 patients, respectively. In the tattooed and non-tattooed groups, the rates of adequate LN retrieval were 75.5% and 55.8%, respectively (P=0.046). Univariate analysis revealed that female sex, tattooing, LN metastasis status, pathological pathological stage (p-stage), and LN dissection were predictive factors for adequate LN retrieval. In the multivariate analysis, female sex (odds ratio [OR], 3.34; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.15–9.73; P=0.027), tattooing (OR, 2.87; 95% CI, 1.03–7.94; P=0.043), and p-stage (OR, 3.34; 95% CI, 1.04–10.75; P=0.043) were independent predictive factors for adequate LN retrieval after surgery.Conclusion: This study revealed that preoperative endoscopic tattooing was statistically significantly associated with adequate LN retrieval in patients with rectal cancer who underwent laparoscopic rectal resection. Preoperative endoscopic tattooing should be considered to improve disease assessment and avoid stage migration.
Design of Web-based Online Sales : as an Entrepreneurship Strategy
Authors: Pangaribuan Imelda , Zaka M , Yunanto R
Published: September 2021

The purpose of this research is to design an online sales website in the fashion field to increase sales at the Fashionku store. The research method used a waterfall method by observing and designing a web-based system, which uses the help of XAMPP software as well as analytical tools using PHP, HTML, and CSS. The research results show that website design for Fashionku online sales. The existence of online websites for Fashionku stores is expected to increase sales. Product innovation, distribution of advertisements, and website appearance with complete features are things that will attract the attention of customers to buy products.
Timing of Antihypertensive Medications on Key Outcomes in Hemodialysis: A Cluster Randomized Trial
Authors: Chang Tara I. , Tatoian Emily Tamar , Montez-Rath Maria E. , Chertow Glenn M.
Published: September 2021

Key Points

Taking BP medications before hemodialysis was not noninferior to holding BP medications for the outcome of intradialytic hypotension.

Taking BP medications before hemodialysis (rather than holding) reduced the occurrence of uncontrolled hypertension.

Whether any benefit of holding BP medications on IDH is offset by potential harms related to higher predialysis BP remains to be seen.

Background

We conducted this study to examine the effect of taking versus holding BP medications before hemodialysis on intradialytic hypotension (IDH).

Methods

In this cluster randomized trial, each dialysis unit was randomly designated as TAKE or HOLD units. Participants within a TAKE unit were instructed to take all BP medications as prescribed, whereas participants within a HOLD unit were instructed to hold medications dosed more than once daily before hemodialysis. The intervention lasted for 4 weeks. We hypothesized that TAKE would be noninferior to HOLD on the primary outcome of asymptomatic IDH, defined as ≥30% of sessions with nadir systolic BP <90 mm Hg and on the following secondary outcomes: uncontrolled hypertension (predialysis systolic BP >160 mm Hg), failure to achieve dry weight, and shortened dialysis sessions.

Results

We randomized 10 dialysis units in a 1:1 ratio to TAKE or HOLD, which included 65 participants in TAKE and 66 participants in HOLD. We did not show that TAKE was noninferior to HOLD for the primary IDH outcome (mean unadjusted difference of 8%; 95% CI, −3% to 19%). TAKE was superior to HOLD for the outcome of uncontrolled hypertension (mean unadjusted difference of −15%, 95% CI, −28% to −1%). TAKE was noninferior to HOLD for the outcomes of failure to achieve dry weight and shortened dialysis sessions.

Conclusions

In this cluster randomized trial that randomized patients to either taking or holding BP medications before hemodialysis, a strategy of taking BP medications dosed more than once daily was not noninferior to holding BP medications for the primary outcome of IDH, but did reduce the occurrence of uncontrolled hypertension. Whether any potential benefit of holding BP medications on reducing IDH is offset by any potential harm related to higher predialysis BP remains to be seen.
Glomerular Disease in Temporal Association with SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination: A Series of 29 Cases
Authors: Caza Tiffany N. , Cassol Clarissa A. , Messias Nidia , Hannoudi Andrew , Haun Randy S. , Walker Patrick D. , May Rebecca M. , Seipp Regan M. , Betchick Elizabeth J. , Amin Hassan , Ziadie Mandolin S. , Haderlie Michael , Eduwu-okwuwa Joy , Vancea Irina , Seek Melvin , Elashi Essam B. , Shenoy Ganesh , Khalillullah Sayeed , Flaxenburg Jesse A. , Brandt John , Diamond Matthew J. , Frome Adam , Kim Eugene H. , Schlessinger Gregory , Ulozas Erlandas , Weatherspoon Janice L. , Hoerschgen Ethan Thomas , Fabian Steven L. , Bae Sung Yong , Iqbal Bilal , Chouhan Kanwalijit K. , Karam Zeina , Henry James T. , Larsen Christopher P.
Published: September 2021

Key Points

This study identified 29 patients with glomerular disease development in close temporal association with SARS-CoV-2 immunization.

Kidney biopsies showed IgA nephropathy, minimal change disease, membranous nephropathy, crescentic GN, and collapsing GN.

Patients with de novo collapsing GN in temporal association with SARS-CoV-2 vaccination had two APOL1 genomic risk alleles (high-risk genotype).

Background

Immune responses to vaccination are a known trigger for a new onset of glomerular disease or disease flare in susceptible individuals. Mass immunization against SARS-CoV-2 in the COVID-19 pandemic provides a unique opportunity to study vaccination-associated autoimmune kidney diseases. In the recent literature, there are several patient reports demonstrating a temporal association of SARS-CoV-2 immunization and kidney diseases.

Methods

Here, we present a series of 29 cases of biopsy-proven glomerular disease in patients recently vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 and identified patients who developed a new onset of IgA nephropathy, minimal change disease, membranous nephropathy, ANCA-associated GN, collapsing glomerulopathy, or diffuse lupus nephritis diagnosed on kidney biopsies postimmunization, as well as recurrent ANCA-associated GN. This included 28 cases of de novo GN within native kidney biopsies and one disease flare in an allograft.

Results

The patients with collapsing glomerulopathy were of Black descent and had two APOL1 genomic risk alleles. A brief literature review of patient reports and small series is also provided to include all reported cases to date (n=52). The incidence of induction of glomerular disease in response to SARS-CoV-2 immunization is unknown; however, there was no overall increase in incidence of glomerular disease when compared with the 2 years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic diagnosed on kidney biopsies in our practice.

Conclusions

Glomerular disease to vaccination is rare, although it should be monitored as a potential adverse event.
Decentralize Your Dollars: Incorporating Participatory Grant Making into Resource Allocation Decisions
Authors: Harden Noelle , Bain Jamie , Heim Stephanie
Published: September 2021

Participatory grant making is a concept that can support decentralized decision making, shared power, and racial equity in Extension programming. The underlying philosophy of participatory grant making is to empower individuals and communities with flexibility and support to make collective decisions about financial resources. In this article, we draw on our experiences and provide concrete examples to demonstrate the power of this model for improving Extension programming and internal procedures. We conclude that the concept could be adapted for an array of financial decision-making settings to help Extension stay relevant and rooted in the communities we serve.
CORRELATIONS BETWEEN PLANTAR PRESSURE AND JOINT KINEMATICS IN FEMALE RECREATIONAL RUNNERS
Authors:   Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA, Cross Janelle A. , Mohamud Fadumo ,   Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering, Marquette University and Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA, Meinerz Carolyn ,   Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA, Harris Gerald F. ,   Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA,   Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering, Marquette University and Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA, Dziuk Cody ,   Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA, Fritz Jessica M. ,   Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA,   Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering, Marquette University and Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA
Published: September 2021

performed simultaneous assessments of plantar pressure and joint kinematics; however, they have not investigated correlations between these parameters. The goal of this study was to assess relationships between joint kinematics and plantar pressure metrics during stance phase of running. Fifteen female recreational runners participated in this study. Three-dimensional motion analysis and plantar pressure data were collected simultaneously as the subjects ran on an instrumented treadmill. Participants ran at a self-selected speed while maintaining a heart rate (HR) at 70-80% of their maximum HR (max HR = 220 – age). Sagittal and coronal plane motion of the ankle and hip and sagittal plane motion of the knee, along with peak plantar pressure, peak ground reaction force (GRF), force impulse, and pressure impulse were examined. Spearman rho correlation tests were performed to determine correlations among lower extremity joint kinematics and plantar pressure metrics. Positive correlations were found between peak plantar pressure and ankle dorsiflexion, knee flexion, and ankle inversion as well as between running speed and peak GRF. These correlations gave insight into risk factors for injury based on the relationship between plantar pressure metrics and joint kinematics.
NON-HEADER IMPACT EXPOSURE AND KINEMATICS OF MALE YOUTH SOCCER PLAYERS
Authors:   Center for Injury Research and Prevention, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA, Patton Declan A. , Huber Colin M. ,   Center for Injury Research and Prevention, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA,   Department of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA, Margulies Susan S. ,   Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA, Master Christina L. ,   Center for Injury Research and Prevention, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA,   Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA,   Sports Medicine and Performance Center, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA, Arbogast Kristy B. ,   Center for Injury Research and Prevention, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA,   Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Published: September 2021

Previous studies have investigated the head impact kinematics of purposeful heading in youth soccer; however, less than a third of all head injuries in youth soccer have been found to involve ball contact. The aim of the current study was to identify the head impact kinematics and exposure not associated with purposeful heading of the ball in male youth soccer. Headband-mounted sensors were used to monitor the head kinematics of male junior varsity and middle school teams during games. Video analysis of sensor-recorded events was used to code impact mechanism, surface and site. Junior varsity players had non-header impact rates of 0.28 per athlete-exposure (AE) and 0.37 per player-hour (PH), whereas middle school players had relatively lower non-header impact rates of 0.16 per AE and 0.25 per PH. Such impact rates fell within the large range of values reported by previous studies, which is likely affected by sensor type and recording trigger threshold. The most common non-header impact mechanism in junior varsity soccer was player contact, whereas ball-to-head was the most common non-header impact mechanism in middle school soccer. Non-header impacts for junior varsity players had median peak kinematics of 31.0 g and 17.4 rad/s. Non-header impacts for middle school players had median peak kinematics of 40.6 g and 16.2 rad/s. For non-header impacts, ball impacts to the rear of the head the highest peak kinematics recorded by the sensor. Such data provide targets for future efforts in injury prevention, such as officiating efforts to control player-to-player contact.
BIOMECHANICS OF PENETRATING TRAUMA AND INJURY MITIGATING PROTECTIVE MEASURES IN GUARDRAIL MOTOR VEHICLE CRASHES
Authors:   Safety Research Institute, Atlanta, GA, Kumar Sri , Schrum Kevin ,   Safety Research Institute, Atlanta, GA, Sicking Dean ,   University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL, Holder Devan ,   University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL, Wein Colin ,   Compass Consulting Engineers, Westminster, CO, McCort Mike
Published: September 2021

The objective of the present study is two-fold. First, the elucidation of the biomechanics of penetrating trauma as a result of guardrail intruding into the occupant compartment. Second, the evaluation of the biomechanical efficacy of hybrid tension-compression guardrails to better protect occupants. The nine fatally guardrail penetrating crashes occurred between 2016 and 2019 were analyzed to study the mechanism of injuries. Four car-to-guardrail crash tests were conducted using a hybrid guardrail that integrated the commonly used W-beam with a new design of tension-based end terminal. The test included the impact of a bogey-type platform, small sedan vehicles, and a pick-up truck at highway speeds onto the guardrail. The impact orientation was varied to simulate the frontal and oblique corner crashes with a speed ranging from 90 to 111 kph. The real-world studies showed that the fatal injuries were due to impaling guardrail regardless of vehicular speed and size. The occupants not in the trajectory of the guardrail in the same vehicle sustained minor injuries despite experiencing a similar energy level. In these cases, the crash severity was survivable without the guardrail penetration. The mean pre-impact speed, change in speed, and vehicular acceleration was 117 kph, 20 kph, and 97 m/sec2, respectively. The hybrid guardrail system deflected the vehicle without any penetration into the occupant compartment. The mean peak accelerations in crash tests were below injurious threshold levels. The present research shows that the hybrid guardrail system not only eliminated the intrusion into occupant survival space but also deflected the vehicle.
DYNAMICS RESPONSE OF THE HUMAN HEAD DURING DRYWALL IMPACT
Authors:   Rimkus Consulting Group, Biomechanics Practice, Houston, Texas, Liebschner Michael A.K. , Waite Leroy R. ,   Rimkus Consulting Group, Biomechanics Practice, Blue Bell, Pennsylvania
Published: September 2021

Little experimental data has been reported on the biomechanics of head collisions with drywall sections. The dynamics of head collisions with rigid structures are well documented. However, impacts with compliant, composite structures are more difficult to analyze. The study objective was to correlate the severity of a head impact with damage to the drywall. A human head analog was instrumented with a tri-axial accelerometer and a uniaxial load cell was placed along the cervical spine axis. A randomized block design of drop height and head orientation was utilized. The test results indicated a primarily linear correlation between drop height and peak head acceleration, as well as correlation between drop height and the geometry of the indentation to the drywall. Head posture had little influence on wall damage, however, head extension resulted in a stiffer head-spine complex compared to a flexed posture. A two-factor ANOVA determined a statistically significant correlation between damage severity and impact velocity. The results obtained can be used by accident reconstructionists to approximate the impact severity of a head impacting drywall. The study data are limited to drywall sections of known, similar geometry, and does not apply to scenarios with a support beam directly beneath the drywall. Further studies are needed to investigate additional head postures.
MACHINE LEARNING BASED ON CT RADIOMIC FEATURES PREDICTS RESIDUAL TUMOR IN HEAD AND NECK CANCER PATIENTS TREATED WITH CHEMORADIOTHERAPY
Authors:   University of Mississippi Medical Center, School of Medicine, Jackson, MS, USA, Florez Edward , Thomas Toms Vengaloor ,   University of Mississippi Medical Center, School of Medicine, Jackson, MS, USA, Howard Candace M. ,   University of Mississippi Medical Center, School of Medicine, Jackson, MS, USA, Khosravi Hamid ,   University of Mississippi Medical Center, School of Medicine, Jackson, MS, USA, Lirette Seth T. ,   University of Mississippi Medical Center, School of Medicine, Jackson, MS, USA, Fatemi Ali ,   University of Mississippi Medical Center, School of Medicine, Jackson, MS, USA
Published: September 2021

Surveillance imaging of HNSCC in patients treated with chemoradiotherapy suffers from difficulty in differentiating residual disease from radiation changes and inflammation. Thus, this study assessed ML models based on RadFs extracted from standard CT images pre- and post-chemoradiation to predict HNSCC treatment response. A retrospective analysis of HNSCC patients treated with definitive chemoradiotherapy at our institution between 2006 and 2015 was performed. Thirty-six patients with residual disease on CT scans of the soft tissue of the neck at a two- month interval-either in the primary site, nodal stations, or both-were enrolled. GTV contours from the treatment planning CT (CT1), post-treatment CT (CT2), and CT portion of the PET/CT (CT3) of the neck were exported to MatLab®, where 2D and 3D RadFs were extracted using different methods. Finally, ML models were used to identify the RadFs that predict changes and progression in HNSCC patients treated with chemoradiotherapy. SVM models using 2D RadFs, extracted from CT2, were associated with residual disease on PET/CT exams (AUC = 0.702). 2D RadFs extracted from PET/CT had moderate predictive ability to predict positive pathology for residual tumor (AUC = 0.667). NN and RF models of 3D RadFs extracted from CT2 and PET/CT had good and moderate predictive ability to predict positive pathology for residual tumor (AUC = 0.720 and 0.678, respectively). ML models using 2D and 3D RadFs derived from pre- and post-treatment CT data show promise for predicting residual tumor from radiation changes and inflammation in a small group of HNSCC cancer patients treated with chemoradiotherapy.
SEGMENTATION OF BRAIN STRUCTURES IN ALZHEIMER MR IMAGES USING SPATIAL FUZZY CLUSTERING LEVEL SET
Authors:   Department of Applied Mechanics, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, Chennai, India, Shaji Sreelakshmi , Swaminathan Ramakrishnan
Published: September 2021

Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is an irreversible neurodegenerative disorder that affects brain structures. Corpus Callosum (CC) atrophy and Lateral ventricle (LV) enlargement are useful structural biomarkers in distinguishing the preclinical stages of AD. The shape of CC appears to be homogeneous from normal controls to AD images and LV shows shape dissimilarity across subjects. Therefore, effective methods to segment CC and LV are essential to characterize the magnitude of morphometric changes. In this study, an attempt has been made to segment CC and LV from MR brain images using the Spatial Fuzzy Clustering based Level Set (SFC-LS) method. For this, T1-weighted MR images of AD, Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), and normal controls are obtained from a public database. Spatial fuzzy clustering forms the initial contour for the level set and regularizes the evolution of curve. The segmented images are validated against ground truth using standard measures. Results indicate that SFC-LS is able to segment CC and LV with automated contour initialization. The final contours obtained are sharp and distinct with a high validation performance of accuracy and specificity greater than 97% for normal controls, MCI, and AD. A dice score of 83% and 84% is achieved in segmenting CC and LV respectively. As structural changes in CC and LV have the potential to predict the early stages of AD, the proposed approach seems to be clinically significant.
ASSESSMENT OF ASYMMETRY IN BILATERAL STATIC FRONTAL BREAST THERMOGRAMS USING DIFFERENCE IMAGE AND RADIOMIC FEATURES
Authors:   Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, East Point College of Engineering and  Technology, Bengaluru, Affiliated to Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belagavi, Karnataka, India, Madhavi M. Vijaya , Bobby T. Christy ,   epartment of Electronics and Communication Engineering,  M. S. Ramaiah University of Applied Sciences, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
Published: September 2021

Asymmetry analysis of bilateral thermogram images is an important preliminary approach for breast cancer detection. The purpose of this work is to develop an automated algorithm to detect and classify symmetric and asymmetric bilateral static frontal breast thermograms (N=63). The images are pre-processed using anisotropic diffusion filter for removal of noise. Further, segmentation of complete breast region is carried out using level set segmentation without re-initialization. The bifurcation point is computed from the intersection point of interior inframammary curves attained using polynomial curve fitting on the boundary pixels. The obtained breast region is sliced vertically along this bifurcation point to obtain right and left breast sections. Image subtraction is performed between right breast image and flipped left breast image to obtain the difference image. The obtained difference image is sharpened and 144 texture features such as first-order statistical, co- occurrence, run length and laws energy features are extracted and Absolute Difference (AD) between symmetric and asymmetric subjects for each feature is computed. The features for which the value of AD is greater than 0.1 is considered as substantial features. Twenty four substantial features are obtained and are given as an input to Least Square Support Vector Machine (LSSVM) to automate the classification. The results shows that the maximum segmentation overlap measure obtained is 98.3%. The classification accuracy obtained using LSSVM with Radial Basis Function (RBF) is 95.65% and sensitivity, specificity and Area Under the Curve (AUC) are 100%, 90.9% and 0.9545 respectively. Thus the proposed methodology appears to be effective in detecting asymmetric heat patterns and hence can be deployed in thermal screening systems.
INVESTIGATION OF SYNCHRONIZED ACQUISITION OF ELECTROCARDIOGRAM AND PHONOCARDIOGRAM SIGNALS TOWARDS ELECTROMECHANICAL PROFILING OF THE HEART
Authors:   Department of Cardiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA, Damani Devanshi N. , Baala Sundaram Divaakar Siva ,   Dept of Biomedical Infromatics and Computational Biology, University of Minnesota, Rochester, MN, USA, Damani Shivam ,   Department of Ocean Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, 60036, India, Kapoor Anoushka ,   Dept of Biomedical Infromatics and Computational Biology, University of Minnesota, Rochester, MN, USA, Arruda Olson Adelaide M. ,   Department of Cardiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA, Arunachalam Shivaram P. ,   Department of Medicine & Radiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN
Published: September 2021

Cardiac diseases are the leading cause of death in the world. Electrocardiogram (ECG and Phonocardiogram (PCG signals play a significant role in the diagnosis of various cardiac diseases. Simultaneous acquisition of ECG and PCG signals can open new avenues of signal processing approaches for electromechanical profiling of the heart. However, there are no standard approaches to ensure high fidelity synchronous data acquisition to enable the development of such novel technologies. In this work, the authors report results on various data capture positions that could lead to standardization of simultaneous ECG and PCG data collection. Presence of lung sounds, variations in posture, depth and frequency of breathing can lead to differences in the ECG-PCG signals recorded. This necessitates a standard approach to record and interpret the data collected. The authors recorded ECG-PCG simultaneously in six healthy subjects using a digital stethoscope to understand the differences in signal quality in various recording positions (prone, supine, bending, semi recumbent, standing, left lateral and sitting with normal and deep breathing conditions. The collected digitized signals are processed offline for signal quality using custom MATLAB software for SNR. The results indicate minimal differences in signal quality across different recording positions. Validation of this technique with larger dataset is required. Future work will investigate changes in characteristic ECG and PCG features due to position and breathing patterns.
ANALYSIS OF EEG RESPONSE FOR AUDIO-VISUAL STIMULI IN FRONTAL ELECTRODES AT THETA FREQUENCY BAND USING THE TOPOLOGICAL FEATURES
Authors:   Department of Applied Mechanics, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India, Kumar Himanshu , Puthankattil Subha D. ,   Department of Electrical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Calicut, Kozhikode, India, Swaminathan Ramakrishnan ,   Department of Applied Mechanics, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India
Published: September 2021

Emotions are the fundamental intellectual capacity of humans characterized by perception, attention, and behavior. Emotions are characterized by psychophysiological expressions. Studies have been performed by analyzing Electroencephalogram (EEG) responses from various lobes of the brain under all frequency bands. In this work, the EEG response of the theta band in the frontal lobe is analyzed extracting topological features during audio-visual stimulation. This study is carried out using the EEG signals from the public domain database. In this method, the signals are projected in higher dimensional space to find out the geometrical properties. Features, namely the center of gravity and perimeter of the boundary space, are used to quantify the changes in the geometrical properties of the signal, and the features are subject to the Wilcoxon rank-sum test for statistical significance. Different electrodes in the frontal region under the same audio-visual stimulus showed similar variations in the geometry of the boundary in higher-dimensional space. Further, the electrodes, Fp1 and F3, showed a statistical significance of p < 0.05 in differentiating arousal states, and the Fp1 electrode showed a statistical significance in differentiating valence emotional state. Thus, the topological features extracted from the frontal electrodes in theta band could differentiate arousal and valence emotional states and be of significant clinical relevance.
DETECTION OF SEIZURE TYPES FROM THE WAVELET ENERGY OF SCALP EEG
Authors:   National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India, Mathew Joseph , Sivakumaran N. , Karthick P.A.
Published: September 2021

Epilepsy is a disabling and devastating neurological disorder, characterized by recurrent seizures. These seizures are caused by the abrupt disturbance of the brain and are categorized into various types based on the clinical manifestations and localization. Seizures with clinical manifestations require immediate medical attention. In this work, an attempt has been made to differentiate the seizures with and without clinical manifestations using wavelet energy of scalp EEG signals. For this purpose, scalp EEG records from the publically available Temple University Hospital (TUH) database are considered in this work. The first four seconds of scalp EEG during seizure is subjected to seven-level Daubechies (db4) wavelet decomposition and energy is extracted from the resultant coefficients. These features are used to develop k-Nearest Neighbor (k-NN) classification model for the detection. The results show that the energy associated with most of the sub-bands exhibits significant difference (p<0.05) in these two types of seizures. It is found that the machine learning model based on k-NN achieves an accuracy of 87.6% and precision of 87.3%. Therefore, it appears that the proposed approach could aid in detecting life-threatening seizures in clinical settings.
VARIATION OF INSTANTANEOUS SPECTRAL CENTROID ACROSS BANDS OF SURFACE ELECTROMYOGRAPHIC SIGNALS
Authors:   Non-Invasive Imaging and Diagnostics Laboratory, Biomedical Engineering Group, Department of Applied Mechanics, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India, Krishnamani Divya Bharathi , Karthick P. A. ,   Physiological Measurements and Instrumentation Laboratory, Department of Instrumentation and Control Engineering, National Institute of Technology Tiruchirappalli, Tiruchirappalli, India, Swaminathan Ramakrishnan ,   Non-Invasive Imaging and Diagnostics Laboratory, Biomedical Engineering Group, Department of Applied Mechanics, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India
Published: September 2021

Surface electromyography (sEMG) is a technique which noninvasively acquires the electrical activity of muscles and is widely used for muscle fatigue assessment. This study attempts to characterize the dynamic muscle fatiguing contractions with frequency bands of sEMG signals and a geometric feature namely the instantaneous spectral centroid (ISC). The sEMG signals are acquired from biceps brachii muscle of fifty-eight healthy volunteers. The frequency components of the signals are divided into low frequency band (10-45Hz), medium frequency band (55-95Hz) and high frequency band (95-400Hz). The signals associated with these bands are subjected to a Hilbert transform and analytical shape representation is obtained in the complex plane. The ISC feature is extracted from the resultant shape of the three frequency bands. The results show that this feature can differentiate the muscle nonfatigue and fatigue conditions (p<0.05). It is found the values of ISC is lower in fatigue conditions irrespective of frequency bands. It is also observed that the coefficient of variation of ISC in the low frequency band is less and it demonstrates the ability of handling inter-subject variations. Therefore, the proposed geometric feature from the low frequency band of sEMG signals could be considered for detecting muscle fatigue in various neuromuscular conditions.
TRENDS IN BIOENGINEERING PATENTS GRANTED 2000 - 2019
Authors:   University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, USA, Pasek Judith E.
Published: September 2021

Patent documents contain a wealth of technical information on inventions, often unavailable elsewhere. They are likely underutilized as sources of information about trends in fields of development. Querying patent databases can be challenging, given the inadequacy of keywords and the complex nature of patent classification systems. A collection of Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) main codes were identified that likely relate to patents in bioengineering and biomedical engineering. These codes were used in queries of the free patent search engine that is available from a Lens.org database. Results were filtered for applications or granted patents by patent families to identify trends in inventions within the field from 2000 to 2019. A patent family represents the collection of documents relating to a single invention given that applications are frequently filed in multiple countries. Although patent applications and unique inventions remained steady, the annual number of patents granted has increased from 2000 to 2016. A decline in numbers of granted patents since 2016 is indicative of the lag time of several years between application filing and a determination of patent status. Applicants with high productivity in obtaining granted patents include large international companies as well as some large universities.
IN VITRO ANALYSIS OF UNIVERSALLY UTILIZED IMPLANT RESTORATIVE DENTAL MATERIAL’S IMPACT ON THE ARCHITECTURAL STABILITY OF GINGIVAL FIBROBLASTS IN THE PRESENCE OF A COMMON ENDOTOXIN
Authors:   University of Mississippi Medical Center, School of Dentistry, Jackson, MS, USA, Garner Angelia D. , Tucci Michelle A. ,   University of Mississippi Medical Center, School of Medicine, Jackson, MS, USA, Benghuzzi Hamed A. ,   Global Training Institute
Published: September 2021

Dental implants have been utilized in the last several decades to replace missing teeth. Various factors may result in the loss of teeth. The most common causes of tooth loss are often caries or periodontal disease. The use of a dental implant restored with a porcelain fused to metal crown is often the standard. The purpose of this study was to assess the architectural integrity of gingival fibroblasts at the cellular level when exposed to universally utilized restorative dental material; porcelain, in the presence of a periodontal pathogen, Porphyromonas gingivalis lipopolysaccharide (LPS-PG). Human gingival fibroblasts were exposed to Porcelain (.1 g) in combination with LPS-PG (10 μL), at 24, 48, and 72 hour durations. When assessing for cellular metabolic activity and viability, no significant differences were noted between the control and experimental groups. Contrastingly, when assessing for oxidative stress, the experimental groups were statistically significantly different from the control at the 48 and 72 hour phases (P<0.001). H&E staining of the experimental groups showed irregular shaped cells with loss of density, vacuolization, coarse cytoplasm, and hyperchromatic nuclei.
COMORBIDITY CHARACTERISTICS OF ADULT PATIENTS WITH REPORTED NECK AND LOW BACK COMPLAINTS - AN OUTPATIENT CLINICAL POPULATION-BASED COHORT STUDY
Authors:   iBrain - International Institute for the Brain, New York, NY, Pedro Victor M. , Oggero Elena ,   Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY,   Vestibular Technologies, LLC, Cheyenne, WY
Published: September 2021

In clinical practice, a comprehensive history and examination often includes questionnaires covering all systems. Physical examination is augmented by functional assessment using subjective (neck and lumbar disability indexes, NDI and LBDI respectively) and objective measures (computerized dynamic posturography, CDP). In this retrospective chart review of patients with complaints of postural instability and neck or low back pain, the presence and number of comorbidities and their classification were analyzed by age, gender, and severity of the disability. In general subjects showed higher disability in the NDI than in the LBDI (with more significant impact of the proximal vs. distal pain, joint and receptor dysfunction); they had a wide range of CDP results (the more difficult the test, the higher the number of subjects that were not able to complete it and the lower the number that had healthy balance); and on average 3.84 comorbid conditions were present, with 21 subjects presenting with 5 or more, 3 with 10 or more, and one reporting 15 comorbidities. No statistically significant differences were found for age, BMI and LBDI; sex and NDI affected metabolic comorbidities; certain tests of the CDP affected the Musculoskeletal and Other type of comorbidities. It was difficult to detect strong correlation trends that could be easily explained. Complex subjects cases complicate the possibility of doing practice based clinical research, but more importantly they create a challenge for the clinician in deciding the best course of action for treating the patient. New algorithmic assessments and integrated approaches are needed.
PERFIL SÓCIODEMOGRÁFICO DA MORTALIDADE EM CRIANÇAS MENORES DE QUATRO ANOS VÍTIMAS DE ACIDENTES DE TRANSPORTE NO BRASIL
Authors: Oliveira Eliardo da Silva , de Almeida Aline Rodrigues Costa , Morais Camila Santana , Prado Jéssica Nayara da Silva , Cortes Sabrina de Farias , de Carvalho Lorena Rodrigues , Oliveira Luiza Guimarães , Seixas Marisa Fernandes
Published: September 2021

Traçar o perfil sóciodemográfico e de região de ocorrência dos óbitos por acidentes de trânsito em crianças menores de quatro anos entre nos anos de 2010 a 2015. Método: Trata-se de um estudo descritivo realizado com base em dados disponibilizados pelo Departamento de Informática do Sistema Único de saúde (Datasus), referentes aos óbitos de crianças de até quatro anos de idade, ocorridos no Brasil, entre os anos de 2010 a 2015 e apresentando os acidentes de transporte como causa da morte, estando classificado nos códigos do Capítulo XX (causas externas) da CID10, de V01 à V99. Resultados: Foram registrados 3068 óbitos por acidentes de transporte em crianças menores de 4 anos no Brasil. No ano de 2010 foi registrado o maior número de 581 óbitos, enquanto que 2015 estes números declinaram a 444 casos (14,5%). A região sudeste apresentou aumento entre os anos de 2010 a 2011, com diminuição nos anos consecutivos. Apesar da diminuição nos óbitos representa 29,8% do total do Brasil. Conclusão: A relevância desse estudo sobre os óbitos de crianças de um a quatro anos por acidente de transporte torna-se evidente, por ter uma alta incidência, no sexo masculino, na faixa etária de crianças de 1 a 4 anos, e na raça/cor branca, sendo que na região Sudeste teve o maior numero de casos, devido a sua grande densidade populacional.
Investigation on Reducing Chromium Quantity in Chromium Containing Wastes from Leather Industry Using Oyster Mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus)
Authors: Bayramoğlu Eser Eke , Özçelik Anıl , Çetin Mehmet , Eren Erkan
Published: September 2021

In the leather industry, the wastes after the wet blue phase, which are created by the shaving process, are one of the substances that cause environmental pollution. Most of the time, these wastes are buried and may, under some circumstanses, cause serious environmental pollution problems. In this study, the chromium in wet blue shaved waste is to be minimized by using oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus). Wet blue shaved wastes were mixed with 0.5%, 1%, 1.5% and 2% doses into the growth medium. After the oyster mushroom growth, the consumption of chromium from the growth media and uptaken by the mushrooms were investigated with  Ege University Argefar Lab.’s House Method using a ICP-MS.
Insight into the Correlations Between Fiber Dispersion and Physical Properties of Chrome Tanned Leather
Authors: He Xiu , Ding Wei , Yu Yue , Zhou Jianfei , Shi Bi
Published: September 2021

The correlations between fiber dispersion and physical properties of chrome tanned leather were investigated to provide new insights into improving leather quality and designing tanning agents and tannages. Wet blues were prepared by tanning pickled pelts with different amounts of chrome powder, and their pore structures in the range of 5.48 nm–120 ?m were measured using a mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP). The porosity and total pore area of wet blue increased with increasing amount of chrome powder from 2% to 8%. These MIP data combined with the images observed using a field emission scanning electron microscopy and a scanning transmission electron microscopy–energy dispersive spectroscopy indicated that chrome tanning agent opened up the microfibrils, fibrils, elementary fibers and fiber bundles of wet blue. The sufficient fiber dispersion of wet blue was attributed to the fact that chrome tanning agent penetrated into the microfibrils and fixed collagen fibers from microfibril level to fiber bundle level. The wet blues were then fatliquored to prepare crust leathers. The tensile strength, tear strength, elongation at break, softness, fullness and water vapor permeability of the leathers improved with increasing chrome powder. These results implied that there is a positive correlation between fiber dispersion and physical properties of chrome tanned leather.
The Quality of Leather Estimated from Airborne Ultrasonic Testing of Hides
Authors: Liu Cheng-Kung , Chen Nusheng , Latona Nicholas P.
Published: September 2021

High-quality hides are paramount for competitiveness in both domestic and export markets. Currently, hides are visually inspected and ranked for quality and sale price, which is not always reliable when hair is present on the hides. Advanced technologies are needed to nondestructively and accurately characterize the quality of hides and enable one to estimate the qualitative and mechanical properties of leather. We were the first to carry out research for airborne ultrasonic (AU) methods to nondestructively characterize the quality of hides. The developed nondestructive method is based on measuring the AU waves transmitted through the hide samples. Research results demonstrated that the average amplitude distribution received from the ultrasonic wave transmitted through the hide samples yielded the best correlation with the AU test variables: gain, speed, and frequency. Observations showed AU parameters derived from the average distribution values for amplitude (AMPa) and time of flight (TOFa) have a correlation with the quality of leather. This study demonstrated that the fullness, overall characteristic, tensile strength, stiffness, elongation, and toughness of leather could be nondestructively estimated by the ultrasonic quantities obtained from AU testing of hides.
Insights to improve covered lagoon biodigesters through by-products recovery in pig farms
Authors: Almeida Larissa , Oliveira Raphael , Sousa Izabelle , Maradini Priscila , Rosa André
Published: September 2021

Pig farming activity has an important role in the Brazilian economy and generates effluents with a high polluting potential. The covered lagoon biodigester is a simple and suitable alternative for the treatment of swine manure. This work aimed to propose improvements to the pig effluent treatment system composed by covered lagoon biodigesters. Therefore, a survey of a typical plant configuration of pig effluent treatment was accomplished and alternatives were suggested in order to get a greater energy sustainability in farms through resource recovery. The proposed interventions were based on studies of scientific papers, technical equipment manuals, technical research and consultation with professionals of the field. The optimization of the systems operation considers some criteria, such as: (i) need for solids removal; (ii) organic loading; (iii) operation temperature; (iv) effluent recirculation; and (v) biogas energy recovery. Firstly, a typical scenario was identified without any improvements, in which the biogas is sent to flares without energy recovery. Subsequently, systems improvement insights were proposed, mainly regarding effluent heating through a solar heating system or by recovering the thermal energy from biogas and biogas recovering. The treatment optimization would increase the efficiency of organic matter removal and biogas production, as well as electric energy production and reduction in greenhouse gases emissions. The use of tools such as Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) can favor decision making and comparing proposed alternatives.
ANÁLISE DE SEGUNDA ORDEM DE ESTRUTURAS EM CONCRETO ARMADO
Authors: Queiroz Junior Ailton , Ribeiro Santos Junior Antonio
Published: September 2021

With the expressive increase in the demand for increasingly tall and robust constructions, plus more and more complex structural details that end up becoming a key element for the projects of the structures of the undertakings, it is important to consider the efforts made by the reinforced concrete structures are subjected. In this sense, the present work has as objective the approach of the parameters of global stability a and Yz followed by the verification of the efforts on the pavements and the displacements of the building caused by the loads acting on the structure. In this work, the use of the global stability parameter a and Yz, which is of fundamental relevance and also prescribed in NBR 6118 (ABNT, 2014), was evaluated. The use of the parameter a considered for the evaluation of the overall stability of the structure, but which is not capable of estimating second order efforts, allows us to classify a structure as being of fixed or mobile nodes. The Yz parameter, on the other hand, can be used to obtain second order efforts. To carry out this work, a case study was launched in the structural analysis software Ftool. The present analysis carried out showed that it is possible to conceive a bracing system for a building with up to 30 floors, using the pillar-wall solution having as a substitute resource for the aforementioned solution the solution of frames formed by beams and columns addressed continuously by tall building literature. Therefore, it is worth mentioning that the solution with wall pillars tends to be more expensive than the solution with frames, a system adopted in the development of this work due to the economic viability of the construction, in view of a higher consumption of materials in the superstructure and also higher costs in the construction. execution of foundations, due to the efforts that will be generated in the building (horizontal forces and bending moments).