Parallelization of Non-Rigid Image Registration

Non-rigid image registration finds use in a wide range of medical applications ranging from diagnostics to minimally invasive image-guided interventions. Automatic non-rigid image registration algorithms are computationally intensive in that they can take hours to register two images. Although hierarchical volume subdivision-based algorithms are inherently faster than other non-rigid registration algorithms, they can still take a long time to register two images. We show a parallel implementation of one such previously reported and well tested algorithm on a cluster of thirty two processors which reduces the registration time from hours to a few minutes. Mutual information (MI) is one of the most commonly used image similarity measures used in medical image registration and also in the mentioned algorithm. In addition to parallel implementation, we propose a new concept based on bit-slicing to accelerate computation of MI on the cluster and, more generally, on any parallel computing platform such as the Graphics processor units (GPUs). GPUs are becoming increasingly common for general purpose computing in the area of medical imaging as they can execute algorithms faster by leveraging the parallel processing power they offer. However, the standard implementation of MI does not map well to the GPU architecture, leading earlier investigators to compute only an inexact version of MI on the GPU to achieve speedup. The bit-slicing technique we have proposed enables us to demonstrate an exact implementation of MI on the GPU without adversely affecting the speedup

THE EFFECTS OF OPEDIX \u3csup\u3eTM\u3c/sup\u3e KNEE SUPPORT SYSTEM

INTRODUCTION: Knee supports are often employed to decrease adductor angle and/or adductor moment and thus medial knee joint loading in persons with medial knee osteoarthritis. It is compelling that these gait alterations would also be considered beneficial in healthy individuals from a prophylactic application. While the Opedix product was designed specifically as a knee support system, in the present study lower extremity kinematic chain with emphasis on hip and knee were investigated. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to test Opedix garments and describe the changes in sagittal (X), frontal (Y), and transverse (Z) planes for both kinematic and kinetic data at the ankle, knee, and hip during walking and jogging. METHODS: Fifteen healthy subjects between the ages of 18-28 (20 ± 1.3) performed ten walking and ten jogging trials with (W) and without (WO) the knee support garment system. Subjects walked at a self-selected pace, which was then controlled by step length demarcations along the collection runway and was kept constant for all trials. Ankle, knee, and hip angles, joint reaction forces, joint reaction force integrals, and joint moment were all calculated in the sagittal (X), frontal (Y), and transverse (Z) planes of motion. Forces were displayed in 2 fashions, peak forces and force integrals - making this a novel study. Changes in these dependent variables were assessed while wearing and without wearing the garment in walking and jogging, independently utilizing paired t-tests. RESULTS: While walking the following decrease occurred from without the garment to with the garment: Hip Angle-Z decreased 31.6%, Hip Force-X decreased 19.3%, Hip Force-Y decreased 34.4%, Hip-X moment decreased 13.7%, and Hip-Y moment decreased 15.4%. While jogging, the following decrease occurred from without the garment to with the garment: Hip Angle-X decreased 6.5%, Hip Angle-Y decreased 15.7%, Hip Angle-Z decreased 42.3%, Hip Force-X decreased 27.6%, Hip Force-Z decreased 3.6%, and Hip Moment-X was decreased 28.3%. CONCLUSIONS: The garment had some kinematic and kinetic effect on joints tested, but consistencies did not exist at each plane. Based on the interpretation of joint reaction forces at the hip, this product can be used to slow the progression of OA

Intersectoral collaboration theory as a framework to assist in developing a local government food and nutrition policy

The potential role of local government in NSW to address public health nutrition issues has received encouraging reports. This treatise deals with the question of whether intersectoral collaboration theory is useful to assist development of a relationship with local government to develop food and nutrition policy. Intersectoral collaboration theory describes six conditions necessary for successful action: necessity, opportunity, capacity, relationships, planned action, and sustained outcomes. The project was a feasibility study carried out in a densely populated and multicultural local government area in Sydney's southwest during April 1998. Eight Council employees and one elected representative were interviewed using the semi-structured questionnaire to collect a range of opinions and knowledge about Council's involvement in a food and nutrition policy. Conceptual frameworks for the study included the Ottawa Charter and the food and nutrition system. Theoretical underpinning's were provided by intersectoral collaboration theory and organisational change theory. Using intersectoral collaboration theory, analysis of the interviews revealed that participants were very concerned with conditions of necessity, opportunity and capacity to develop food and nutrition policy. Intersectoral collaboration theory correctly predicted that the action proposed would have to assist Council to achieve their core business, gain social and political support and be possible within the current economic environment and level of other resources available. Participants were not able to identify how a food and nutrition policy would meet these conditions and be feasible within the current capacity of the organisation, and therefore did not become fully engaged in the feasibility study. The health sector needs to develop arguments for local government involvement from their perspective. Organisational change within the heath sector is required to develop capacity for intersectoral partnerships, as an effective strategy to address public health nutrition issues

Empirical Study on Shopper’s Satisfaction and Retailers Service Quality in Muscat Governorate, Oman: Using SERVQUAL model

People of the Sultanate of Oman rely on retail hypermarkets to fulfill their basic needs including food products. To retain the customers’ loyalty and to retain the customers, it is important to satisfy the customers.  The retail and hypermarkets focus on finding out and measuring the elements to offer the customers with good quality products and services.  The objective of this study is to use the SERVQUAL model to understand the significance of various elements of customer satisfaction and how to accomplish the expected customer satisfaction by improving the services in Muscat. To achieve the objectives, the questionnaire was floated online and data was collected from the customers who visit the hypermarkets. The collected data was analyzed and the findings of the study show that the hypermarkets are delivering services of high quality which enabled the hypermarkets to keep customers as loyal with higher satisfaction. Regardless of this, the study found out that there is still room for progress in terms of improving the handling of customers by the employees to avoid the adverse effect on the hypermarkets’ revenue and operations

Experimental investigation of a cook-off temperature in a hot barrel

AbstractThe experimental investigations of the effect of contact time/temperature on initiating the cook-off using 7.62 mm calibre cartridge cases (CC) were conducted previously. These cartridges were filled with commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) double based (DB) propellant (Bulls Eye) and were loaded in a hot chamber. The thermal explosion temperature is of great significance to both weapon designers and safety inspectors as it provides the operational limit and safe operating temperature. For CC under test, it was found that the cook-off temperatures of this propellant were encountered with the heat transfer profile of the simulated gun barrel between 151.4 °C and 153.4 °C, with a reaction occurring in less than 300 s after the round was chambered. Usefully, each experiment was found to be consistent and repeatable

Identifying Arrhythmias Based on ECG Classification Using Enhanced-PCA and Enhanced-SVM Methods

The "Cardio Vascular Diseases (CVDs)" had already attained worrisome proportions in both advanced and emerging nations in recent times. Physically inactive behaviors, altered eating, and occupational routines, and reduced daily fitness were all recognized as crucial contextual elements, in addition to genetics. Considering CVDs have such a significant morbidity and mortality, accurate and early diagnosis of cardiac disease by "ElectroCardioGram (ECG)" allows clinicians to decide suitable therapy for a multitude of cardiovascular disorders. The interpretation of ECG signal is an important bio-signal processing area that involves the application of computer science and engineering to detect and visualize the functional status of the heart. Therefore, in the present work, a detailed study on ECG signals denoising and abnormalities detection using different techniques were performed. Annoying distortions and noisy particles are common in ECG signals. The "Biased Finite Impulse Response (BFIR)" preprocessing filtering is employed in this research to eliminate the noises in the raw ECG signals. The "Nonlinear-Hamilton" segmentation method is employed to segment the 'R' peak signals.  To decrease the extraneous features included in the segmented ECG data, the innovative "Enhanced Principal Component Analysis (EPCA)" was applied for feature extraction. A unique "Enhanced version of the Support Vector Machine (ESVM)" framework with a "Weighting Kernel" based technique is proposed for classifying the ECG data. The 'Q', 'R', and 'S' waves in the given ECG data will be identified by this framework, allowing it to characterize the cardiac rhythm. The evaluation metrics of the EPCA-ESVM proposed method is comparatively analyzed with our previous approach EPSO. To estimate the results for the dataset from MIT-BIH it was experimented with by the EPSO and the EPCA-ESVM methods focused upon different parameters such as Accuracy, F1-score, etc. The final findings of the EPCA-ESVM method were good than the EPSO method in which the accuracy is higher even though unbalanced data were present

A comparison of hemodynamic performance in mehcanical and biological heart valve prostheses

Heart valve prostheses are used to replace heart valves in patients afflicted with valvular heart disease. The malfunctioning heart valve adversely affects the fluid mechanical performance. While the choice of mechanical VS biological valve prostheses is dependent on the patient, the biological valves should have improved hemodynamic performance compared to the mechanical valves. This work focused on CFD analysis of the Starr-Edwards caged ball valve and a biological valve and serves to validate the improved hemodynamics of the latter valve in comparison to the former. Commercial CFD software (CFD-GEOM, CFD-ACE, CFD-VIEW) are used for the analys is. The main results are: Smaller pressure drop across the biological valve compared to the Starr- Edwards valve, smaller downstream turbulent kinetic energy production in the biological valve compared to the Starr-Edwards valve, and smaller shear stress associated with the biological valve compared to the Starr-Edwards valve

Using Noninvasive Brain Measurement to Explore the Psychological Effects of Computer Malfunctions on Users during Human-Computer Interactions

In today’s technologically driven world, there is a need to better understand the ways that common computer malfunctions affect computer users. These malfunctions may have measurable influences on computer user’s cognitive, emotional, and behavioral responses. An experiment was conducted where participants conducted a series of web search tasks while wearing functional nearinfrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and galvanic skin response sensors. Two computer malfunctions were introduced during the sessions which had the potential to influence correlates of user trust and suspicion. Surveys were given after each session to measure user’s perceived emotional state, cognitive load, and perceived trust. Results suggest that fNIRS can be used to measure the different cognitive and emotional responses associated with computer malfunctions. These cognitive and emotional changes were correlated with users’ self-report levels of suspicion and trust, and they in turn suggest future work that further explores the capability of fNIRS for the measurement of user experience during human-computer interactions