Interventional radiology virtual simulator for liver biopsy

Purpose Training in Interventional Radiology currently uses the apprenticeship model, where clinical and technical skills of invasive procedures are learnt during practice in patients. This apprenticeship training method is increasingly limited by regulatory restrictions on working hours, concerns over patient risk through trainees’ inexperience and the variable exposure to case mix and emergencies during training. To address this, we have developed a computer-based simulation of visceral needle puncture procedures. Methods A real-time framework has been built that includes: segmentation, physically based modelling, haptics rendering, pseudo-ultrasound generation and the concept of a physical mannequin. It is the result of a close collaboration between different universities, involving computer scientists, clinicians, clinical engineers and occupational psychologists. Results The technical implementation of the framework is a robust and real-time simulation environment combining a physical platform and an immersive computerized virtual environment. The face, content and construct validation have been previously assessed, showing the reliability and effectiveness of this framework, as well as its potential for teaching visceral needle puncture. Conclusion A simulator for ultrasound-guided liver biopsy has been developed. It includes functionalities and metrics extracted from cognitive task analysis. This framework can be useful during training, particularly given the known difficulties in gaining significant practice of core skills in patients

Design and development of a motor operated oil palm crusher for smallholder growers in Bangladesh

At present oil palm growers are facing problem to extract crude palm oil in Bangladesh. Processing of palm oil categorized into various forms but basic processing stages are essentially the same including harvesting, sterilization, bunch stripping, digestion, crushing, clarification and drying. Extracting of palm oil is very difficult by traditional method and oil recovery rate is very low. Although mechanical processing is costly but produces good quality Crude Palm Oil (CPO) and oil recovery rate is high. An electric motor operated oil palm crusher was designed and developed and tested in laboratory under the Department of Farm Power and Machinery, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh for processing of crude palm oil from fresh fruit bunch. The crusher was designed by using Auto-Cad software. It was fabricated according to design parameters. The major parts of the crusher were screw shaft, cylinder, hopper, hollow bars, pressure case cap, jamnut and frame which were fabricated by mild steel (MS), ball bearing, gear and pinion, line and idle shaft and spring were fabricated by carbon steel (CS) whereas driver and driven pulley were fabricated by cast iron(CI). Crusher was mounted on the frame. A 9 hp electric motor was used as a power source. Crusher was tested after fabrication and 3000 gm fresh fruits were used. About 700 gm crude palm oil, 800 gm oil cake, 1400 gm skum were collected from 2700 gm pretreated fruits. The crushing capacity and crude oil percentage of the crusher was 6.49 kg/hr and 25.93%, respectively. Rotating speed of screw was 40 rpm for smooth running. The weight of crusher was only 70 kg which is easy to operate by single person. The developed oil palm crusher may fulfill the demand of smallholder growers to extract oil from fresh fruit bunches.&#x0D; Progressive Agriculture 30 (1): 141-149, 2019</jats:p

An advantageous level of irrigation water salinity for wheat cultivation

Response of wheat (Triticum aestivum L., cv. Shatabdi) to irrigation water of five salinity levels was investigated at the Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU) farm with a view to search for a possible advantageous salinity level for the crop. The experiment comprised five treatments − I1: irrigation by fresh water of background salinity 0.385 dS m−1 (control) and I2 − I5: irrigation by synthetic saline water (prepared by mixing sodium chloride salt with fresh water) of electrical conductivity (EC) 4, 7, 10 and 13 dS m−1 (at 25oC), respectively. Wheat was grown under three irrigations applied at maximum tillering, booting and milking/grain filling stages, and with recommended fertilizer dose. Irrigation water of EC ≥10 dS m−1 significantly (p = 0.05) suppressed most growth and yield attributes, and yield of wheat compared to irrigation by fresh water (I1). An attention-grabbing observation was that irrigation by saline water of 4 dS m−1 (I2) contributed positively to the crop attributes. Leaf area index (LAI), spike length, spikelets and grains per spike, 1000-grain weight and above ground dry matter (ADM) of wheat increased by 1.9−3.4, 0.9, 2.6, 7.4, 2.1 and 2.8−6.0%, respectively in I2 compared to the control. The improvement in the LAI and ADM in I2 was significant over I1. Because of the largest spike density, the utmost grain (3.85 t ha−1), straw (5.09 t ha−1) and biomass (8.93 t ha−1) yields of wheat were however obtained under I1. The proposition of the advantageous irrigation water salinity level of 4 dS m−1 thus warrants further investigationstatus: publishe

Optimization of Irrigation Level for Selected Sugarcane Varieties in Aez-11 of Bangladesh

An experiment was conducted in a farmer’s field at Loknathpur in Chuadanga district under AEZ-11 (high ganges river floodplain) during 2005-06 and 2006-07 to determine the optimum irrigation level for the best performance of four sugarcane varieties (Isd 16, Isd 32, Isd 34, Isd 35). The experiment was laid out in two factors split-plot design with four irrigation levels in main plots and four varieties in sub-plots. Extra irrigations at 21, 28 and 35 days interval in addition to two live irrigations increased sugarcane yield from 15 to 48%. All the varieties showed higher establishment, tiller, millable cane and cane yield when irrigations were applied at 28 days interval over irrigation at 21 or 35 days interval. Variety Isd 32, Isd 34 and Isd 35 produced significantly higher yield. However, the overall performances of all of the selected varieties were satisfactory. These varieties can be cultivated for potential yield in sandy loam soil under AEZ-11 providing 5 irrigations at 28 days interval in addition to two live irrigations at 0 and 14 days after transplantation when soil bed budchip settlings are used as planting materials.</jats:p