Method for measuring neuronal immaturity in congenital strabismus

Objetivo: Determinar el grado de inmadurez neuronal en el estrabismo esencial mediante análisis Voxel (granulometría y FreeSurfer) de la corteza cerebral.Material y métodos: Se realizó un estudio piloto, prospectivo, transversal, observacional para analizar la densidad granulométrica y el grosor cortical de los cerebros de seis niños de siete años de edad, agrupados de la siguiente manera: dos niños sanos como grupo control (GC), dos niños con esotropia congénita (ET), dos niños con exotropia disociada (XTD), y un niño de 2 años de edad con leucomalacia (LM). Los resultados fueron comparados para su análisis.Resultados: El GC mostró la mayor cantidad de elementos granulométricos en la sustancia blanca, mientas que el caso de LM mostró la menor cantidad así como un aumento de volumen de estos; los casos de estrabismo ocuparon posiciones intermedias entre estos dos parámetros. Mediante FreeSurfer se identificó en el grupo problema un aumento del espesor en la corteza estriada y una disminución en los lóbulos temporales.Conclusión: La inmadurez neuronal está representada por la disminución de la densidad de la sustancia blanca, el aumento en la sustancia gris, la disminución del grosor cortical en los lóbulos temporales y el aumento de grosor cortical en lóbulos occipitales. Existe una relación cuantitativa entre la cantidad, calidad, proporción y distribución de los elementos granulométricos de la sustancia gris y blanca de la corteza cerebral que permite establecer de una manera objetiva la inmadurez neuronal mediante análisis Voxel.Objective: To determine the degree of neuronal immaturity in the essential strabismus by Voxel analysis (particle size and FreeSurfer) of the cerebral cortex.Methods: We conducted a pilot study, prospective, transversal, and observational to analyze the density particle and cortical thickness of the brains of six children seven years of age, grouped as follows: Two healthy children as a control group (GC), two children With Congenital esotropia (ET), two children with dissociated Exotropia (XTD), and a 2-year-old child with Periventricular (LM). The results were compared for analysis.Results: The GC showed the most granulometric elements in the white substance, while the case of LM showed the least amount as well as an increase in volume of these; the cases of strabismus occupied intermediate positions between these two parameters. By FreeSurfer, an increase in the thickness of the striated cortex and a decrease in the temporal lobes were identified in the problem group.Conclusion: The neuronal immaturity is represented by the decrease of the density of the white substance, the increase in the gray substance, the decrease of the cortical thickness in the temporal lobes and the increase of cortical thickness in occipital lobes. There is a quantitative relation between the quantity, quality, proportion and distribution of the granulometric elements of the gray and white substance of the cerebral cortex that allows establishing in an objective way the neuronal immaturity by means of Voxel analysis

A Novel RC-Based Architecture for Cell Equalization in Electric Vehicles

Nowadays, research on electric vehicles is increasing because they have the potential to decrease greenhouse-gas emissions dramatically in the transport sector. For these types of vehicles, the battery is one of the main components. The traction system needs a cell series connection to fulfill the energy requirements. Nevertheless, batteries differ from each other due to a normal dispersion in their capacity, internal resistance, and self-discharge rate. This paper presents a novel battery equalizer circuit using an RC-based topology to equalize two adjacent cells of a battery pack. It has the advantage of merging a resistor-based equalizer, a capacitor-based equalizer, and an RC-based equalizer in one circuit. In this way, it is possible to limit the current stress in the components of the circuit. The proposed method increases the equalization time by 35% for a threshold current of 4 A. However, it is possible design the system for another threshold current. Finally, the complexity of the controller is not compromised in the proposed architecture. The operation, analysis, and design of the architecture are presented and compared to the classic schemes. The theoretical analysis is validated through simulation results. Document type: Articl

Modeling and Simulation of Temperature and Relative Humidity Inside a Growth Chamber

Modeling and simulation of internal variables such as temperature and relative humidity are relevant for designing future climate control systems. In this paper, a mathematical model is proposed to predict the internal variables temperature and relative humidity (RH) of a growth chamber (GCH). Both variables are incorporated in a set of first-order differential equations, considering an energy-mass balance. The results of the model are compared and assessed in terms of the coefficients of determination (R2) and the root mean squared error (RMSE). The R2 and RMSE computed were R2 = 0.96, R2 = 0.94, RMSE = 0.98 C, and RMSE = 1.08 C, respectively, for the temperature during two consecutive weeks; and R2 = 0.83, R2 = 0.81, RMSE = 5.45%RH, and RMSE = 5.48%RH, respectively, for the relative humidity during the same period. Thanks to the passive systems used to control internal conditions, the growth chamber gives average differences between inside and outside of +0.34 C for temperature, and +15.7%RH for humidity without any climate control system. Operating, the GCH proposed in this paper produces 3.5 kg of wet hydroponic green forage (HGF) for each kilogram of seed (corn or barley) harvested on average

Differences in the Visual Performances of Patients with Strabismus, Amblyopia, and Healthy Controls

The aim of this paper is to use the new definition of amblyopia and to define the overall visual performance of healthy controls (HCs), patients with strabismus (PS), and patients with refractive amblyopia (PRA), based on the interaction of selected visual abilities. Method: A total of 398 participants were divided in three groups: HCs, PRA, and PS. Variables such as visual acuity, refractive state, degree of stereopsis, phoria state, magnitude, and type of deviation were analyzed using parametric and non-parametric tests. Results: Binocular visual acuity at near is the unique predictor factor for stereopsis in PRA and PS, while age relates to the amount of binocular visual acuity at near, only for PS with stereopsis. Binocular visual acuity at near and phoria states relate to each other in PRA. Binocular visual acuity at near and far in PS is better than PRA, with no differences in the degree of stereopsis. Stereoblind patients were only found among PS (36%). Only (44.9%) of PS had amblyopia. Exophoria predominated among PRA (69.72%) and HCs (78.87%), while exotropia was the predominant deviation in PS (60.54%). Hyperopia was the predominate refractive error among the groups, HCs (74.65%), PRA (79.82%), and PS (59.85%), followed by astigmatism. Interpretation: HCs perform better than PS and PRA. The visual performance of PS with stereopsis and PRA is similar. Binocular visual acuity at near can predict the degree of stereopsis, and stereoblind patients are exclusively related to strabismus

Índice de contraste morfológico basado en el análisis de los contornos y el fondo de la imagen

Resumen. En este artículo se presenta un índice para cuantificar el contraste que se percibe en una imagen. El índice está basado en la ley de Weber y toma en consideración una estimación del fondo de la imagen mediante la erosión de la apertura por reconstrucción. El desempeño de la propuesta se ilustra con un conjunto de imágenes procesadas por un mapeo de contraste y se compara con dos medidas de contraste dadas en la literatura

Distortion Calculation Method Based on Image Processing for Automobile Lateral Mirrors

The automobile lateral-view mirrors are the most important visual support for driver safety; therefore, it is important they have robust quality control. Typically, the distortion of a lateral-view mirror is measured using the JIS-D-5705 standard; however, this methodology requires an expert person to perform the measurements and calculations manually, which can induce measurement errors. In this work, a semi-automatic distortion calculation method based on image processing is presented. Distortion calculations of five commercial mirrors from different manufacturers were performed, and a comparative study was carried out between the JIS-D-5705 standard and the proposed method. Experimental results performed according to the JIS-D-5705 standard showed that all mirrors have a distortion lower than 5%, indicating that all meet the standard. On the other hand, the proposed method was able to detect that one of the mirrors presented an important distortion, which was not detected by the methodology proposed in the standard; therefore, that mirror should not meet the standard. Then, it was possible to conclude that the proposed distortion calculation method, based on image processing, has higher robustness and precision than the standard. In addition, an appropriate and effective behavior against changes in scale, resolution, and, unlike the standard, against changes in image rotation was also shown

Hyperconnected Openings Codified in a Max Tree Structure: An Application for Skull-Stripping in Brain MRI T1

This article presents two procedures involving a maximal hyperconnected function and a hyperconnected lower leveling to segment the brain in a magnetic resonance imaging T1 weighted using new openings on a max-tree structure. The openings are hyperconnected and are viscous transformations. The first procedure considers finding the higher hyperconnected maximum by using an increasing criterion that plays a central role during segmentation. The second procedure utilizes hyperconnected lower leveling, which acts as a marker, controlling the reconstruction process into the mask. As a result, the proposal allows an efficient segmentation of the brain to be obtained. In total, 38 magnetic resonance T1-weighted images obtained from the Internet Brain Segmentation Repository are segmented. The Jaccard and Dice indices are computed, compared, and validated with the efficiency of the Brain Extraction Tool software and other algorithms provided in the literature

Fuzzy Logic System for Classifying Multiple Sclerosis Patients as High, Medium, or Low Responders to Interferon-Beta

Interferon-beta is one of the most widely prescribed disease-modifying therapies for multiple sclerosis patients. However, this treatment is only partially effective, and a significant proportion of patients do not respond to this drug. This paper proposes an alternative fuzzy logic system, based on the opinion of a neurology expert, to classify relapsing–remitting multiple sclerosis patients as high, medium, or low responders to interferon-beta. Also, a pipeline prediction model trained with biomarkers associated with interferon-beta responses is proposed, for predicting whether patients are potential candidates to be treated with this drug, in order to avoid ineffective therapies. The classification results showed that the fuzzy system presented 100% efficiency, compared to an unsupervised hierarchical clustering method (52%). So, the performance of the prediction model was evaluated, and 0.8 testing accuracy was achieved. Hence, a pipeline model, including data standardization, data compression, and a learning algorithm, could be a useful tool for getting reliable predictions about responses to interferon-beta

Digital Pregnancy Test Powered by an Air-Breathing Paper-Based Microfluidic Fuel Cell Stack Using Human Urine as Fuel

The direct integration of paper-based microfluidic fuel cells (μFC’s) toward creating autonomous lateral flow assays has attracted attention. Here, we show that an air-breathing paper-based μFC could be used as a power supply in pregnancy tests by oxidizing the human urine used for the diagnosis. We present an air-breathing paper-based μFC connected to a pregnancy test, and for the first time, as far as we know, it is powered by human urine without needing any external electrolyte. It uses TiO2-Ni as anode and Pt/C as cathode; the performance shows a maximum value of voltage and current and power densities of ∼0.96 V, 1.00 mA cm−2, and 0.23 mW cm−2, respectively. Furthermore, we present a simple design of a paper-based μFC’s stack powered with urine that shows a maximum voltage and maximum current and power densities of ∼1.89 V, 2.77 mA cm−2 and 1.38 mW cm−2, respectively, which powers the display of a pregnancy test allowing to see the analysis results