SHIFT-WORK DYNAMICS OF SOME PARAMETERS OF FATIGUE AND WORKING CAPACITY IN AIR-TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS

The purpose of the present work was to study the changes of some psychophysiological parameters in air-traffic controllers under the influence of the working process and occupational environment. Some 28 air-traffic controllers at a mean age of 34,9 years and mean length of service of 11,8 уears were examined. A dynamic following-up the changes of psychic working capacity according to the shift-work regimen - at the beginning and at the end of the morning, afternoon and night shifts was performed. Fatigue and neuro-emotional stress underwent a subjective evaluation. Objectively, the following parameters were examined: attention properties, speed and preciseness of the visual-motor reaction, movement coordination, static tremor, and rate of hand movements. The labour of the air-trafic controllers was characterized by a high intensity and was related with heavy resposibility and permanent stress situations as well. A significant subjective reduction of the working capacity along with an enhanced voluntary effort at the end of the working shifts was established. The subjective scores were lower during the night shift than those during the day shift. The changes of the attention parameters such as productivity, volume and rate of processed information during the night shift appeared to be particularly indicative when the objective examinations were concerned

Aerial scene classification through fine-tuning with adaptive learning rates and label smoothing

Remote Sensing (RS) image classification has recently attracted great attention for its application in different tasks, including environmental monitoring, battlefield surveillance, and geospatial object detection. The best practices for these tasks often involve transfer learning from pre-trained Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs). A common approach in the literature is employing CNNs for feature extraction, and subsequently train classifiers exploiting such features. In this paper, we propose the adoption of transfer learning by fine-tuning pre-trained CNNs for end-to-end aerial image classification. Our approach performs feature extraction from the fine-tuned neural networks and remote sensing image classification with a Support Vector Machine (SVM) model with linear and Radial Basis Function (RBF) kernels. To tune the learning rate hyperparameter, we employ a linear decay learning rate scheduler as well as cyclical learning rates. Moreover, in order to mitigate the overfitting problem of pre-trained models, we apply label smoothing regularization. For the fine-tuning and feature extraction process, we adopt the Inception-v3 and Xception inception-based CNNs, as well the residual-based networks ResNet50 and DenseNet121. We present extensive experiments on two real-world remote sensing image datasets: AID and NWPU-RESISC45. The results show that the proposed method exhibits classification accuracy of up to 98%, outperforming other state-of-the-art methods

Functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS) with navigation system in childhood – our experience. Presentation of clinical cases

Introduction: Functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS) is the gold minimally invasive standard in diagnosing and surgically treating many diseases of the nose and paranasal cavities. An advantage of FESS is the possibility of application in all age groups.Materials and methods: We observed pediatric patients attended the Otorhinolaryngology Clinic in the University Hospital “Dr. Georgi Stranski” – Pleven in 2021. FESS surgery was performed in the “Integrated interdisciplinary operating unit with navigation and telesurgery systems” at the Center of competence on personalised medicine, 3D and telemedicine, robotic and minimally invasive surgery „Leonardo da Vinci” in Medical University – Pleven.Clinical cases: Case 1: A 7-year-old male patient with orbital complication of rhinosinusitis, with left orbital preseptal cellulitis, without ophthalmoplegia or loss of vision, + ptosis of the eyelid and data on pansinuitis from CT images. Performed FESS found lysis of lamina papyracea with involvement of anterior and posterior ethmoidal cells. Postoperative treatment was done with Ceftriaxone 1g/12h i.v. for 7 days, nasal glucocorticoids and antihistamines.Case 2: A 17-year-old female patient with suggested primary ciliary dyskinesia with a recurrent rhinosinusitis, persistent nasal obstruction, and thick viscous secretions that did not respond to conservative treatment. Sweat test for cystic fibrosis (-). FESS reshaping of the natural openings of the maxillary sinuses and anterior ethmoidectomy were performed bilaterally.Conclusion: FESS is a minimally invasive method, which is suitable for application in pediatric patients. When applied by trained professionals, FESS with an integrated navigation system is optimal for the diagnosis and surgical treatment of chronic and acute rhinosinusitis in children

Our experience in the surgical treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Background: Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is a sleep-related breathing disorder, leading to decreased quality of life, increased risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, increased frequency of automobile accidents. Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) remains the first line of treatment for OSA. Many patients are unwilling or incapable to tolerate the treatment and therefore turn to surgical options to alleviate symptoms and sequela of the disease.Аim: To present our experience in the surgical treatment of OSA.Materials and Methods: 50 patients (48 male / 2 female) underwent surgical treatment for OSA in our clinic for a period of 10 years. Subjective complaints were evaluated by interview of the patient and partner pre- and postoperatively, with key factors studied being snoring level (visual analogue 1–10) and Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS). Objective data were Body Mass Index (BMI), nasal endoscopy, pre and postoperative polysomnographic data, rhinomanometry, Mallampati score, diagnostic imaging of the nose and sinuses.Results: The mean BMI of the patients was 29.8± 3.4. 21 patients had nasal obstruction for which they underwent surgical treatment. 5 patients had micro or retrognathia. 37 Pateints had a Mallampati score of 3 and 13 of 4. All 50 patients underwent Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP) and 6 patients also had Radiofrequency tongue base reduction. There were no serious complications. Subjective improvement in the severity of the symptoms was obtained in 88% (44) of patients. Objective success was obtained in 56% (28) of the patients.Conclusions: Surgical treatment of OSA leads to a significant subjective improvement in the severity of symptoms and acceptable objective results. For maximal results a multidisciplinary approach is required for the complex treatment of OSA

The application of ultrasound examination in the treatment of Acute Sinusitis. Comparing X-ray to ultrasound of paranasal sinuses

Background: Acute rhinosinusitis (ARS) is one of the most common diseases encountered in the out-patient setting. X-ray of the paranasal sinuses is the gold standard in the diagnosis of ARS with its accessibility and accuracy. Ultrasound examination of the paranasal sinuses is a noninvasive diagnostic method which is an acceptable alternative in the follow-up of the treatment.Aim: To present the application of portable sinuson in the out-patient setting on patients with ARS and its effectiveness.Materials and Methods: 22 patients (12m/10f) underwent X-ray of the paranasal sinuses, which resulted in ARS. The results of the X-rays were compared with the ultrasound examination of the paranasal sinuses with a portable sinuson (SINUSULTRA ULTRAMAX). The examination was repeated on the 1-st and 2-nd week and 2 months after the treatment for ARS.Results: From the 22 patients – 10 were with unilateral maxillary sinusitis, 7 with bilateral sinusitis and 5 with pansinusitis. 5 (22%) false positives were registered from the ultrasound examination on the initial check-up, 3 (13%) false negatives were registered on the follow-ups on the 1-st and the 2-nd week, 2 (9%) false negatives were registered 2 months after the treatment for ARS.Conclusion: Ultrasound examination of the paranasal sinuses is a noninvasive, painless, fast and with an adequate degree of accuracy. It is a good alternative for children and pregnant women. Ultrasound examination can be applied in the follow-up of ARS

Source control options for reducing emission of priority pollutants from urban areas.

The overall aim of the ScorePP project is to develop comprehensive and appropriate source control strategies that authorities, cities, water utilities and the chemical industry can employ to reduce emissions of priority pollutants (PPs) from urban areas into the receiving water environment. Focus is on the 33 priority and priority hazardous substances and substance groups identified in the European Water Framework Directive. However, this list may be expanded to include emerging pollutants or reduced if appropriate model compounds can be identified. The initial work focuses on 67 substances, including substances identified in the proposed European environmental quality standard (EQS) directive as well as the defined example compounds and several organometallic derivatives. Information on inherent properties, environmental presence and fate, and legislative issues is made available in open database format, and a data management system combining chemical identification (CAS#), NACE economic activity classifications and NOSE-P emission source classifications has been developed as a basis for spatial characterisation of PP sources using GIS. Further work will focus on dynamic urban scale source-flux models, identifying emission patterns and optimising monitoring programmes in case studies and multi-criteria comparison of source control versus end-of-pipe mitigation options in relation to their economic, social and environmental impacts

Robust spike timing in an excitable cell with delayed feedback

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the Royal Society via the DOI in this recordData and materials availability: Data and computer code related to the mathematical model and dynamic clamp experiments can be downloaded from the GitHub repository https://github.com/SlowinskiPiotr/MorrisLecarDDEThe initiation and regeneration of pulsatile activity is a ubiquitous feature observed in excitable systems with delayed feedback. Here, we demonstrate this phenomenon in a real biological cell. We establish a critical role of the delay resulting from the finite propagation speed of electrical impulses on the emergence of persistent multiple-spike patterns. We predict the co-existence of a number of such patterns in a mathematical model and use a biological cell subject to dynamic clamp to confirm our predictions in a living mammalian system. Given the general nature of our mathematical model and experimental system, we believe that our results capture key hallmarks of physiological excitability that are fundamental to information processing.Medical Research Council (MRC)Wellcome TrustEngineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)Technical University of Munich – Institute for Advanced StudyRoyal Societ

A feasibility study using movement and perspective-taking as a diagnostic aid for psychosis

This is the final version.STUDY SUMMARY Study Title: A feasibility study using movement and perspective-taking as a diagnostic aid for psychosis. Internal ref. no. (or short title): Movement and perspective-taking as a diagnostic aid for psychosis. Study Design: Feasibility study. Study Participants: People accepted for an assessment for psychosis or risk of developing psychosis and people with first episode psychosis or being at risk of developing psychosis. Planned Size of Sample (if applicable): 100 service users and 50 controls. Follow up duration (if applicable): N/A. Planned Study Period: 1/3/18 - 31/8/18. Research Question/Aim(s): 1/ We want to investigate accuracy of classifiers based on movement and coordination during an interaction with a computer avatar in people who are considered at risk of psychosis or who have a newly diagnosed psychotic disorder, compared to healthy controls and those who do not have psychosis or a future risk of psychosis. 2/ We want to investigate feasibility of this diagnostic procedure in a clinical setting and gather opinions about the task and the interface from the service users and clinicians

The "mystery" of cutaneous sarcoidosis: facts and controversies.

The reason why the cutaneous form of sarcoidosis is well known in the literature is because of its spectrum of manifestations granting it the fame of a Great Imitator. The mystery shrouding the pathogenesis of this rare cutaneous disease is still there (in spite of the fundamental progress of the various diagnostic methods in current day medicine). The production of the morphological substrate – the epithelioid cell granuloma – which is considered to be characteristic of skin sarcoidosis, could, however, also be the end result of a reaction to i) various specific infectious agents such as Leishmaniasis cutis, coccidioidomycosis, etc., ii) certain residual bacterial or other mycobacterial antigens which, at the moment of setting the diagnosis are - by definition - non-infectious but still immunogenic, as well as iii) different tumor antigens in lesional tissue or other location. Often, differentiating between sarcodiosis and a sarcoid-like reaction, based on the updated criteria for cutaneous sarcoidosis, is problematic to downright impossible. A future characterization of the genetic signature of the two conditions, as well as the implementation of additional mandatory panels for i) the identification of certain infectious or ii) non-infectious but immunogenic and iii) tumor antigens in the epithelioid cell granuloma (or in another location in the organism), could be a considerable contribution to the process of differentiating between the two above-mentioned conditions. This will create conditions for greater accuracy when setting the subsequent therapeutic approaches