Multi-Contact Force-Sensing Guitar for Training and Therapy

Hand injuries from repetitive high-strain and physical overload can hamper or even end a musician's career. To help musicians develop safer playing habits, we developed a multiplecontact force-sensing array that can substitute as a guitar fretboard. The system consists of 72 individual force sensing modules, each containing a flexure and a photointerrupter that measures the corresponding deflection when forces are applied. The system is capable of measuring forces between 0-25 N applied anywhere within the first 12 frets at a rate of 20 Hz with an average accuracy of 0.4 N and a resolution of 0.1 N. Accompanied with a GUI, the resulting prototype was received positively as a useful tool for learning and injury prevention by novice and expert musicians.Comment: IEEE Sensor Conference, 201

Autonomously Retractable Endoscope Holder for Otologic and Associated Procedures

For years, endoscopy has been an essential method for providing surgeons improved visualization in difficult areas to access. With recent developments in endoscopic technology, narrower endoscopes have opened new possibilities in assisting surgeons in different procedures. Operations in narrow spaces such as the ear canal are particularly of interest, as smaller endoscopes can significantly reduce the invasiveness of the surgical procedure and improve the field of vision of the surgeon. However, using the endoscope safely inside such delicate parts of the body requires it to be safely held, and safely retracted if the patient moves their head. To make the most out of endoscopic assistance while preventing any collision inside the ear canal during surgery, an automatically retracting endoscope holder has been proposed. Such a system can make the surgery easier and more efficient by allowing the surgeon to operate bimanually and improve patient safety by autonomously retracting if the patient’s head moves towards the endoscope in a way that can harm delicate structures down the ear canal. I have developed and implemented such a retraction mechanism with two alternative danger assessment pipelines in this thesis and evaluated the system to ensure it demonstrates the speed, responsiveness, and robustness that the surgical scenario demands. This prototype therefore explores and confirms the feasibility and potential of an automatically retracting endoscope holder, and acts as the first step towards a commercial design that can be widely implemented in operating rooms to make otologic and related procedures easier and safer

Autonomously Retractable Endoscope Holder for Otologic and Associated Procedures

For years, endoscopy has been an essential method for providing surgeons improved visualization in difficult areas to access. With recent developments in endoscopic technology, narrower endoscopes have opened new possibilities in assisting surgeons in different procedures. Operations in narrow spaces such as the ear canal are particularly of interest, as smaller endoscopes can significantly reduce the invasiveness of the surgical procedure and improve the field of vision of the surgeon. However, using the endoscope safely inside such delicate parts of the body requires it to be safely held, and safely retracted if the patient moves their head. To make the most out of endoscopic assistance while preventing any collision inside the ear canal during surgery, an automatically retracting endoscope holder has been proposed. Such a system can make the surgery easier and more efficient by allowing the surgeon to operate bimanually and improve patient safety by autonomously retracting if the patient’s head moves towards the endoscope in a way that can harm delicate structures down the ear canal. I have developed and implemented such a retraction mechanism with two alternative danger assessment pipelines in this thesis and evaluated the system to ensure it demonstrates the speed, responsiveness, and robustness that the surgical scenario demands. This prototype therefore explores and confirms the feasibility and potential of an automatically retracting endoscope holder, and acts as the first step towards a commercial design that can be widely implemented in operating rooms to make otologic and related procedures easier and safer

Synthesis of oxathiolane imidazole nucleosides

Nucleosides have been of great interest since their strong antiviral activities were discovered. 1,3-Oxathiolane ring system has been known for many years, but it is in recent years that the ring has been used as the sugar ring in nucleoside analogs (Synthesis (1991) 1046; J. Am. Chem. Soc. 113 (1991) 9377; Tetrahedron Lett. 35 (1994) 4739). Besides, bredinin is a natural nucleoside antibiotic with imidazole moiety and there are some other studies reported on nucleosides with the imidazole group (Biorg. Med. Chem. 7 (1999) 48 1; Biorg. Med. Chem. 7 (1999) 1617; Nucleosides Nucleotides 18 (1099) 3 3 1). These findings make the imidazole group interesting as the base of a nucleoside. In this study, in order to find out the structure-activity relationships Of L-oxathiolanyl nucleosides, L-oxathiolanyl imidazole nucleosides 7 and 8 were synthesized, via novel intermediates 2-6, which were then tested for anti-HIV activity (Antivir. Res. 1-11 (1994) 25) in human peripheral blood mononuclear (PBM) cells, the synthesized nucleosides did not show significant activity up to 100 muM against HIV-1. (C) 2002 Editions scientifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved

Synthesis and evaluation of antibacterial activity of some 2-[[alpha-(4-substituted benzoyloxy)-alpha-phenylacetyl or methylacetyl]amino]-5-(4-methoxyphenyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazoles

In this study, a new series of 2-[[alpha-(4-substitutedbenzoyloxy)-alpha-phenylacetyl or methylacetyl]amino]-5-(4-methoxyphenyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazoles were obtained by condensation of 2-[(alpha-chloro-alpha-phenylacetyl or alpha-bromopropionyl)amino]-5-(4-methoxyphenyl)1,3,4-oxadiazoles with sodium salts of 4-substituted benzoic acids. Structures of the compounds were assigned on the basis of spectral data (UV, IR, H-1 NMR, EI MS) and elemental analyses. The antibacterial activities of the novel compounds against Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538, Staphylococcus epidermidis ATCC 12228, Escherichia coli ATCC 8739, Klebsiella pneumoniae ATCC 4352, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 1539, Salmonella typhi, Shigella flexneri and Proteus mirabilis and antifungal activity against Candida albicans ATCC 10231 were tested using disk diffusion method. Compounds 4a, 4d and 4g were found to be active against S. aureus ATCC 6538 (MIC, 78, 39 and 78 mug ml(-1), respectively) and compound 4e against S. epidermidis ATCC 12228 (MIC, 156 mug ml(-1)). (C) 2001 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved

Synthesis and antimicrobial activity of some 5-aryl-2-[(N,N-disubstituted thiocarbamoylthio)acylamino]-1,3,4-oxadiazoles

In this study, a number of novel 5-aryl-2-[(N,N-disubstituted thiocarbamoylthio)acylamino]-1,3,4-oxadiazole derivatives were synthesized by the reaction of potassium salts of N,N-disubstituted dithiocarbamoic acids with 2-[(alpha-chloro-alpha-phenylacetyl/alpha-bromopropionyl)-amino]-5-aryl-1,3,4-oxadiazoles. Structures of the compounds were confirmed by the spectral data (IR, H-1 NMR, EIMS) and elemental analyses. Most of the compounds were tested against various microorganisms and four of them were found to be weakly active against Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved

Synthesis and antitubercular activity of 4-(3-coumarinyl)-3-cyclohexyl-4-thiazolin-2-one benzylidenehydrazones

In this study, a new series of 4-(3-coumarinyl)-3-cyclohexyl-4-thiazoline-2-one benzylidene hydrazones (3a-p) were synthesized. Structures of the title compounds were determined by analytical and spectral methods. 3a-p were evaluated for antituberculosis activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv. (C) 2002 Editions scientifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved

Synthesis and antiviral activity evaluation of some cyclohexylidenehydrazide derivatives of 1,3-thiazole core

Some novel cyclohexylidenehydrazide derivatives carrying five membered heterocyclic ring, 1,3-thiazole were synthesized to investigate their antiviral (including anti-HIV) activity against diverse DNA and RNA viruses in CRFK, HeLa, HEL, MDCK, Vero and MT4 cell cultures. None of the compounds was active against any of the DNA or RNA viruses at 100 mu M