The multi-objective assembly line worker integration and balancing problem of type-2

[EN] The consideration of worker heterogeneity in assembly lines has received a fair amount of attention in the literature in the past decade. Most of this exploration uses as motivation the example of assembly lines in sheltered work centers for the disabled. Only recently has the community started looking at the situation faced in assembly lines in the general industrial park, when in the presence of worker heterogeneity. This step raises a number of questions around the best way to incorporate heterogeneous workers in the line, maximizing their integration while maintaining productivity levels. In this paper we propose the use of Miltenburg's regularity criterion and cycle time as metrics for integration of workers and productivity, respectively. We then define, model and develop heuristics for a line balancing problem with these two goals. Results obtained through an extensive set of computational experiments indicate that a good planning can obtain trade-off solutions that perform well in both objectives.This research was supported by CAPES -Brazil and MEC-Spain (coordinated project CAPES DGU 258-12/PHB2011-0012-PC ) and by FAPESP -Brazil (grant number: 2010/19983-6 ).Moreira, MC.; Pastor, R.; Costa, A.; Miralles Insa, CJ. (2017). The multi-objective assembly line worker integration and balancing problem of type-2. Computers & Operations Research. 82:114-125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cor.2017.01.003S1141258

Plasma proteins elevated in severe asthma despite oral steroid use and unrelated to Type-2 inflammation

Rationale Asthma phenotyping requires novel biomarker discovery. Objectives To identify plasma biomarkers associated with asthma phenotypes by application of a new proteomic panel to samples from two well-characterised cohorts of severe (SA) and mild-to-moderate (MMA) asthmatics, COPD subjects and healthy controls (HCs). Methods An antibody-based array targeting 177 proteins predominantly involved in pathways relevant to inflammation, lipid metabolism, signal transduction and extracellular matrix was applied to plasma from 525 asthmatics and HCs in the U-BIOPRED cohort, and 142 subjects with asthma and COPD from the validation cohort BIOAIR. Effects of oral corticosteroids (OCS) were determined by a 2-week, placebo-controlled OCS trial in BIOAIR, and confirmed by relation to objective OCS measures in U-BIOPRED. Results In U-BIOPRED, 110 proteins were significantly different, mostly elevated, in SA compared to MMA and HCs. 10 proteins were elevated in SA versus MMA in both U-BIOPRED and BIOAIR (alpha-1-antichymotrypsin, apolipoprotein-E, complement component 9, complement factor I, macrophage inflammatory protein-3, interleukin-6, sphingomyelin phosphodiesterase 3, TNF receptor superfamily member 11a, transforming growth factor-β and glutathione S-transferase). OCS treatment decreased most proteins, yet differences between SA and MMA remained following correction for OCS use. Consensus clustering of U-BIOPRED protein data yielded six clusters associated with asthma control, quality of life, blood neutrophils, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and body mass index, but not Type-2 inflammatory biomarkers. The mast cell specific enzyme carboxypeptidase A3 was one major contributor to cluster differentiation. Conclusions The plasma proteomic panel revealed previously unexplored yet potentially useful Type-2independent biomarkers and validated several proteins with established involvement in the pathophysiology of SA

Analysis of Barriers to the Deployment of Health Information Systems: a Stakeholder Perspective

© 2018 The Author(s). This paper argues that the cross-analysis of barriers with stakeholders provides a richer picture than analyzing the barriers on their own, as most of the literature in this area does. To test this hypothesis, we used the data from 33 interviews across 19 different types of stakeholders that were involved in a telemedicine system for the Chronically-ill Patient. Our findings show encouraging results. For instance, it was found that the group of stakeholders who are directly related to the governance and policy-making identified most of the barriers. This finding may imply that this group is more aware of the challenges when implementing HIS, or it may suggest that this group poses more resistance due to the current economic and Organizational models in health care. It was also found that some barriers are cited by all stakeholders whereas others not, suggesting that some barriers may be more relevant than others

Implementacja wytycznych medycznych w telemedycznym systemie opieki przewlekłej

Guidelines developed in line with Evidence-Based Medicine paradigm usually take form of narrative recommendations formulated on the basis of available evidence resulting from clinical trials and other types of studies. For past ten years there were developed several Formal Guidelines Representation languages that attempted to express them in form of algorithms or processes. Analysis of specific requirements related to e-health and in particular telemonitoring systems indicated, that a process oriented formalization of guidelines is in this case inappropriate, as such systems should be reactive, event driven and enable adaptation to cope with the quality of entered data. In this paper we describe an approach to guidelines implementation in the e-health system. Contrary to various FGR languages developed earlier the decision support will be based on the set of fuzzy rules that on the technical level will be implemented as XQuery transformations of XML data. We discuss this approach on an example related to the management of bronchial asthma, as customization of the system to this disease was selected as one of the proof-of-concept exemplifications of the system.Wytyczne medyczne tworzone zgodnie z paradygmatem medycyny opartej na dowodach mają formę tekstowych rekomendacji popartych opisem przeprowadzonych badań klinicznych i obserwacji. W ostatnich dziesięciu latach rozwijano szereg języków formalnej reprezentacji wytycznych, za pomocą których przedstawiano je w postaci algorytmów lub procesów. Analiza wymagań związanych z systemami typu e-health, a zwłaszcza systemów telemonitorowania wskazała, że procesowo zorientowana formalizacja wytycznych jest dla nich niewłaściwa, ponieważ takie systemy powinny być reaktywne, sterowane zdarzeniowo i powinny mieć wbudowane mechanizmy adaptacji pozwalające na dostosowanie się do zmiennej jakości wprowadzanych danych. W procesie telemonitorowania zaproponowano wykorzystanie rozmytych reguł, które będą zaimplementowane jako transformacje XQuery dla danych XML. Podejście to jest dyskutowane na przykładzie astmy oskrzelowej, ponieważ wsparcie dla tej choroby zostało wybrane jako przykład wdrożenia systemu

Image compression algorithm for wireless endoscopy capsule

Artykuł prezentuje algorytm kompresji obrazów planowany do zastosowania w bezprzewodowej kapsule ednoskopewj. Algorytm przeznaczony do tego typu zastosowań oprócz możliwie wysokiego stopnia kompresji musi cechować się bardzo niskim poborem mocy. To wymaganie wyklucza użycie standardowych metod. Proponowany algorytm oparty jest o całkowitoliczbowe wersje transformacji DCT i transformacji falkowej oraz koder Huffmana. W porównaniu do algorytmów konkurencyjnych proponowany algorytm oferuje znacznie większy stopień kompresji przy nieco większej (głównie pamięciowej) złożoności.The paper describes image compression algorithm suitable for wireless capsule endoscopy. Due to power limitation and small size conditions traditional image compression techniques are not appropriate and dedicated ones are neccessary. The proposed algorithm is based on integer version of discrete cosine transform (DCT) and wavelet transform (DWT) with Huffman entropy coder. Thanks to integer DCT/wavelet application it has low complexity and power consumption. Additionally, the algorithm can provide lossless compression as well as high-quality lossy compression

New generation capsular endoscopy

W artykule przedstawiono wyniki prac realizowanych w ramach projektu VECTOR finansowanego w ramach 6 Programu Ramowego Unii Europejskiej w zakresie systemów kompresji i bezprzewodowej transmisji danych i obrazu dedykowanych dla endoskopii kapsułkowej nowej generacji. Opracowany system umożliwia transmisję 24 obrazów na sekundę o rozdzielczości 320x240 przez łącze radiowe o przepustowości 2 Mbit/s. Możliwość długotrwałej pracy kapsułki ma zapewnić układ zasilania bezprzewodowego zdolny dostarczyć do 300 mW mocy.The paper discusses the outcomes of the European Project VECTOR FP6 concerning image compression and wireless data transmission systems dedicated to a new generation of capsule endoscopy. The overview of the developed system is given in Section 2. The image compressor algorithm, developed within the project, is presented briefly in the first part of Section 3. Next, a new adaptive entropy encoder proposed for it is discussed in detail. The new encoder, in comparison to the previous one, has much lower memory footprint, as it does not use Huffman tables. Simulation results given in Tab. 1 clearly demonstrate that the new encoder, despite its low implementation complexity, outperform the old one. The developed image compressor algorithm was implemented in a single, 65 nm ultra low-power FPGA. It operates with 24 MHz clock and it is able to process a single image frame in 8.2 ms. Its energy consumption amounts to 0.4 mJ per single compressed frame. In Section 4 a wireless transmission system for wireless capsular endoscopy is presented. In this section an improved demodulator for a wireless receiver is also proposed. Section 5 contains the conclusions

Algorithm of centre path tracing for virtual camera automatic movement in anatomical structure

W pracy przedstawiono nowy algorytm wyznaczania centralnej ścieżki nawigacyjnej w trójwymiarowych danych pochodzących z tomografii komputerowej. Algorytm wykorzystuje transformacje odległości, iteracyjny schemat przetwarzania charakterystycznych punktów ścieżki oraz interpolację metodą cubic spline do wyznaczeni gładkiej przestrzennej krzywej nawigacyjnej. Wygenerowanie ścieżki pozwala lekarzowi na łatwe przeglądanie przestrzennego komputerowego modelu struktur anatomicznych, takich jak drzewo oskrzelowe (wirtualna bronchoskopia) czy jelito grube (wirtualna kolonoskopia), a dzięki temu poszerza możliwości diagnostyczne lekarza. W artykule szczegółowo zaprezentowano algorytm przetwarzania danych prowadzący do wyznaczenia ścieżki oraz wyniki działania prezentowanych algorytmów w zastosowaniu do wirtualnej kolonoskopii.The paper presents a new algorithm of centre path computing of CT data. The algorithm uses distance transformation,characteristic points interaction processing and cubic spline interpolation. The centre path defining allows for easily determination of three-dimensional model of anatomical structures that might be viewed by physician. The described method is a novel approach at enhancing diagnostic capabilities of - for example - bronchial tree (v.b. - virtual bronchoscopy) or colon (v.c. - virtual colonoscopy). The authors present detailed process of practical application of given algorithm, focusing upon v.c