A Novel Method for Classifying Driver Mental Workload Under Naturalistic Conditions With Information From Near-Infrared Spectroscopy

Driver cognitive distraction is a critical factor in road safety, and its evaluation, especially under real conditions, presents challenges to researchers and engineers. In this study, we considered mental workload from a secondary task as a potential source of cognitive distraction and aimed to estimate the increased cognitive load on the driver with a four-channel near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) device by introducing a machine-learning method for hemodynamic data. To produce added cognitive workload in a driver beyond just driving, two levels of an auditory presentation n-back task were used. A total of 60 experimental data sets from the NIRS device during two driving tasks were obtained and analyzed by machine-learning algorithms. We used two techniques to prevent overfitting of the classification models: (1) k-fold cross-validation and principal-component analysis, and (2) retaining 25% of the data (testing data) for testing of the model after classification. Six types of classifier were trained and tested: decision tree, discriminant analysis, logistic regression, the support vector machine, the nearest neighbor classifier, and the ensemble classifier. Cognitive workload levels were well classified from the NIRS data in the cases of subject-dependent classification (the accuracy of classification increased from 81.30 to 95.40%, and the accuracy of prediction of the testing data was 82.18 to 96.08%), subject 26 independent classification (the accuracy of classification increased from 84.90 to 89.50%, and the accuracy of prediction of the testing data increased from 84.08 to 89.91%), and channel-independent classification (classification 82.90%, prediction 82.74%). NIRS data in conjunction with an artificial intelligence method can therefore be used to classify mental workload as a source of potential cognitive distraction in real time under naturalistic conditions; this information may be utilized in driver assistance systems to prevent road accidents

Plasma xanthine oxidoreductase activity in Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes across hospitalized treatment

Yusuke Kawachi; Yuya Fujishima; Hitoshi Nishizawa; Hirofumi Nagao; Takashi Nakamura; Seigo Akari; Takayo Murase; Naohiro Taya; Kazuo Omori; Akimitsu Miyake; Shiro Fukuda; Mitsuyoshi Takahara; Shunbun Kita; Naoto Katakami; Norikazu Maeda; Iichiro Shimomura. Plasma xanthine oxidoreductase activity in Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes across hospitalized treatment. J Diabetes Investig. 2020

Adenocarcinoma of the Colon Presenting as Intussusception In Adult: Report of Two Cases

We present two adult cases of intussusception caused by adenocarcinoma of the colon. These cases represent typical cases of adult intussusception, a rare disease characterized by insidious onset, vague abdominal symptoms, and elusive diagnosis. On physical examination, the masses were palpable in the right hypochondrium. Colonic intussusception were diagnosed by characteristic finding on ultrasonography (US) and computer tomography (CT). Endoscopic examination showed pedunculated tumors with central ulceration, in the cecum, which caused colonic intussusception, and endoscopic biopsies showed adenocarcinoma of the colon. US and CT are useful non-invasive diagnostic tools that allow early detection of intussusception. Colonoscopy is recommended for differential diagnosis and possibly a direct reduction of intussusception

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It is well known that hydroxyapatite (HAP), which has a high tissue affinity and superior bone conductivity, shows different characteristics depending on the sintering temperature. This study prepared single hydroxyapatite (SHAP) and coated hydroxyapatite (CHAP). The SHAP was sintered at high temperature (1250℃). The structure of CHAP was low temperature (150℃) sintered apatite coated with SHAP. The usefulness of CHAP for bone formation was examined in cylindrical bone defects (diameter : 5mm ; depth : 9mm) created in the mandible of adult dogs 2 months after extraction of the teeth (P4, M1). Calcein (8mg/kg) was injected 2 days before scarification and mandibular bone was removed at 7, 14, 30, 60, 90, and 120days. The explanted bone was fixed in 10% formaldehyde in saline and soaked in Villanueva bone stain solution. Non-demineralized coronal sections (70μm) were made and observed by fluorescence microscopy and microradiography. At 7days after implantation, bone formation occurred from the cavity surface in the CHAP group, but not in the SHAP group. At 14days, newly formed bone was observed around the HAP particles only in the CHAP group. Bone formation in the CHAP group was more rapid than in the SHAP group until 90days, though no significant differences were observed at 120days. These results suggest that CHAP particles may be useful as a filling material for bone defects in the field of oral and maxillofacial surgery

結晶化ガラス顆粒の臨床応用

This reports tha development of bioactive glass ceramic particles and evaluates their use inclinical applications. 1. The subjects of the evaluation were 13 impacted teeth, 17 intramaxillary cysts (not including radicular cysts), and 7 atrophic mandibular alveolar ridges. 2. The results were classified into effective, slightly effective, ineffective, and harmful, a very high proportion, 33 or 89.3%,were judged effective or slightly effective. 3. None were evaluated to be harmful, showing the safety of the present material. Among the ineffective cases there were open wounds due to infection, leakage of the supplied material, and fistulation. In cases where inflammation had not disappeared at the supply there were cases where the particles had to be completely removed due to infection, It was determined the that this was not due to the material, but possidly due to the surgical procedures, as there were no further complications in the tretment. 4. From the results reported here, the bioactive glass ceramic material here was found to be useful in the articial bone needed after atrophic mandibular alveolar ridge surgery

Real-Time Tracking of Multiple Sound Sources by

Abstract — Real-time and robust sound source tracking is an important function for a robot operating in a daily environment, because the robot should recognize where a sound event such as speech, music and other environmental sounds originate from. This paper addresses real-time sound source tracking by realtime integration of an in-room microphone array (IRMA) and a robot-embedded microphone array (REMA). The IRMA system consists of 64 ch microphones attached to the walls. It localizes multiple sound sources based on weighted delay-and-sum beamforming on a 2D plane. The REMA system localizes multiple sound sources in azimuth using eight microphones attached to a robot’s head on a rotational table. The localization results are integrated to track multiple sound sources by using a particle filter in real-time. The experimental results show that particle filter based integration improved accuracy and robustness in multiple sound source tracking even when the robot’s head was in rotation. I

ROBUST TRACKING OF MULTIPLE SOUND SOURCES BY SPATIAL INTEGRATION OF ROOM AND ROBOT MICROPHONE ARRAYS

Sound source tracking is an important function for a robot operating in a daily environment, because the robot should recognize where a sound event such as speech, music and other environmental sounds originates from. This paper addresses sound source tracking by integrating a room and a robot microphone array. The room microphone array consists of 64 microphones attached to the walls. It provides 2D (x-y) sound source localization based on a weighted delay-and-sum beamforming method. The robot microphone array consists of eight microphones installed on a robot head, and localizes multiple sound sources in azimuth. The localization results are integrated to track sound sources by using a particle filter for multiple sound sources. The experimental results show that particle filter based integration reduces localization errors and provides accurate and robust 2D sound source tracking. 1

Nocturnal hypercapnia with daytime normocapnia in patients with advanced pulmonary arterial hypertension awaiting lung transplantation

Background: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is frequently complicated by sleep disordered breathing (SDB), and previous studies have largely focused on hypoxemic SDB. Even though nocturnal hypercapnia was shown to exacerbate pulmonary hypertension, the clinical significance of nocturnal hypercapnia among PAH patients has been scarcely investigated. Method: Seventeen patients with PAH were identified from 246 consecutive patients referred to Kyoto University Hospital for the evaluation of lung transplant registration from January 2010 to December 2017. Included in this study were 13 patients whose nocturnal transcutaneous carbon dioxide partial pressure (PtcCO2) monitoring data were available. Nocturnal hypercapnia was diagnosed according to the guidelines of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Associations of nocturnal PtcCO2 measurements with clinical features, the findings of right heart catheterization and pulmonary function parameters were evaluated. Results: Nocturnal hypercapnia was diagnosed in six patients (46.2%), while no patient had daytime hypercapnia. Of note, nocturnal hypercapnia was found for 5 out of 6 patients with idiopathic PAH (83.3%). Mean nocturnal PtcCO2 levels correlated negatively with the percentage of predicted total lung capacity (TLC), and positively with cardiac output and cardiac index. Conclusion: Nocturnal hypercapnia was prevalent among advanced PAH patients who were waiting for lung transplantation, and associated with %TLC. Nocturnal hypercapnia was associated with the increase in cardiac output, which might potentially worsen pulmonary hypertension especially during sleep. Further studies are needed to investigate hemodynamics during sleep and to clarify whether nocturnal hypercapnia can be a therapeutic target for PAH patients