General methodology for building of OPC UA gateways

This article describes an original generalized methodology for building OPC UA bridges for different industrial communications and internal command protocols. This methodology is aimed for fast development of OPC UA gateways for less popular data transferring communications which are not available on the market. A final gateway can be added to existing solutions without modification of data source control devices. This gateway needs only a minimal configuration and obtains information about data source automatically. This design has been already implemented in three different solutions with various communication (REXYGEN, PerNet, a Keysight middleware protocol). The solutions has been deployed in various projects and proved to be efficient and reliable

Chylothorax – a Rare Complication after Cardiac Surgery (a Case Report)

Chylothorax is a rare but severe complication of cardiac surgery. The authors present the case of a 76-year-old woman suffering from ischemic heart disease, after coronary artery bypass grafting that included a left internal mammary artery pedicle graft. On the ninth postoperative day the left-sided fluidothorax developed. The results of biochemical analysis were consistent with the chyle. Combined treatment with pleural drainage and total parenteral nutrition was effective

Model Checking application on Function Block Diagram model

Model Checking represents a mathematical method of formal verification which can prove that model satisfies its specified requirements. This article describes an approach that utilizes Function Block Diagram (FBD) models. The key benefit of this approach is the automatic transformation of the original model into a formal model which can be checked by Model Checking. In this way Model Checking can be easier integrated in the standard development process. The presented approach was developed together with the new verification process. This process can be used for the verification of safety-critical systems

Analytic method for automatic test case generation for Function Block Diagram

Any Instrumentation and Control (I&C) system has to be properly tested to minimize the risk of faults in the system. This is even more crucial if the I&C system implements a safety function. The function of the I&C is often designed in a form of Function Block Diagram (FBD). The presented approach describes a new analytic method for automatic generation of test cases for FBD models. The test cases are generated in order to verify that the implementation behaves as intended. The test cases are designed to be used for gray-box testing of the implemented model. The automatic generation of test cases is generally faster and less prone to miss out an unsafe scenario than manual design

Controlled Hemostasis in Thoracic Surgery Using Drugs with Oxidized Cellulose

The authors demonstrate the possibility of improving surgical results by the reduction of perioperative bleeding in thoracic surgery associated with extended resection procedures. We focused on patients in whom the expected perioperative blood loss was greater than 500 ml. The first group consisted of patients with lung cancer stage III A after neoadjuvant chemotherapy had been indicated to extend the resection procedure. The second group consisted of patients with chest wall and mediastinum tumors of various etiologies. The third group consisted of patients with post-inflammatory thoracic complications in whom combined decortication and pleurectomy was necessary. By the using the local hemostyptic Traumastem TAF on the basis of oxidized cellulose, it is possible to minimize the perioperative blood loss, thus sparing the blood derivative requirement and enabling surgeons to provide the desired treatment even to high-risk patients

Ruptured Bronchial Artery Aneurysm: Case Report

Bronchial artery aneurysm is a very rare condition. Its rupture can cause a life threatening hemorrhage. We report a case of a 50-year-old patient with a ruptured bronchial artery aneurysm who presented with epigastric pain. It is the first published case with such signs of a rupture of a bronchial artery aneurysm. CT scan confirmed the diagnosis. The patient was treated with endovascular embolization