Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy in Chronic Calculus Cholecystitis

Introduction: Laparoscopic cholecystectomy has clearly become the choice over open cholecystectomy in the treatment of hepatobiliary disease since its introduction by Mouret in 1987. This study evaluates a series of patients with chronic calculus cholecystitis who were treated with laparoscopic and open cholecystectomy and assesses the outcomes of both techniques. Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of laparoscopic vs open cholecystectomy in chronic calculus cholecystitis and establish the out-comes of this treatment modality at Lumbini Medical College and Teaching Hospital. Methods: This was a retrospective analysis over a one-year period (January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2012), per-formed by single surgeon at Lumbini Medical College and Teaching Hospital located midwest of Nepal. 166 patients underwent surgical treatment for chronic calculus cholecystitis. Patients included were only chronic calculus cholecystitis proven histopathologocally and the rest were excluded. Data was collected which included patients demographics, medical history, presentation, complications, conversion rates from laparoscopic. cholecystectomy to open cholecystectomy, operative and postoperative time. Results: Patients treated with laparoscopic cholecystectomy for chronic calculus cholecystitis had shorter operating times and length of stay compared to patients treated with open cholecystectomy for chronic calculus cholecystitis. Conversion rates were 3.54% in chronic calculus cholecystitis during the study period. Complications were also lower in patients who underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy versus open cholecystectomy for cholelithiasis. Conclusions: Laparoscopic cholecystectomy appears to be a reliable, safe, and cost-effective treatment modality for chronic calculus cholecystitis

Initial perceptions of a casual game to crowdsource facial expressions in the wild

The performance of affective computing systems often depend on the quality of the image databases they are trained on. However, creating good quality training databases is a laborious activity. In this paper, we evaluate BeFaced, a tile matching casual tablet game that enables massive crowdsourcing of facial expressions for the purpose of advancing facial expression analysis. The core aspect of BeFaced is game quality, as increased enjoyment and engagement translates to an increased quantity of varied facial expressions obtained. Hence a pilot user study was performed on 18 university students whereby observational and interview data were obtained during playtests. We found that most users enjoyed the game and were intrigued by the novelty in interacting with the facial expression gameplay mechanic, but also uncovered problems with feedback provision and the dynamic difficulty adjustment mechanism. These findings hence provide invaluable insights for the other researchers/ practitioners working on similar crowdsourcing games with a purpose, as well as for the development of BeFaced

A game to crowdsource data for affective computing

This game submission describes BeFaced, a tile matching casual tablet game that enables massive crowdsourcing of facial expressions to advance affective computing. BeFaced uses state-of-theart facial expression tracking technology with dynamic difficulty adjustment to keep the player engaged and hence obtain a large and varied face dataset. FDG attendees will experience a novel affective game input interface and also investigate how the game design enables massive crowdsourcing in an extensible manner

Initial Experience of Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy at Lumbini Medical College

  Introduction: Renal stone disease is a challenging problem in urologic practice especially in our locality because of large stone burden and recurrence. Since ,the early 1980s when percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) was established for management of renal stones, open surgical procedures have virtually been replaced. PCNL is a safe, effective and minimally invasive approach compared to open surgery for patients with large single, multiple or staghorn stones. The aim of this prospective study was to evaluate and to review our experience with PCNL in management of renal and upper ureteric stones.   Methods: Prospective study carried out at Lumbini Medical College and Teaching Hospital during 1stJanuary 2011 to 31st October 2011. Sixty patients were evaluated and subjected to PCNL. After clinical investigations like ultrasonography (USG) and intravenous urography (IVU), once patients were found to have renal or upper ureteric stones they were informed and explained about PCNL, its likely complications, probable hospital stay, the cost of treatment and data were recorded along with the operative time, estimated blood loss, stone burden, stone-free rate, length of hospitalization and complications .Patients were followed up after three months to rule out recurrence of stones by plain abdominal x-ray of kidney, ureter and bladder and USG.   Results: Out of 60 patients 35 were male and 25 were female (M: F=1.4:1) with mean age of 37 years and were subjected to PCNL monotherapy. With the average stone size of 3.26cm, the mean operative time was 78 minutes. Complete stone removal achieved by PCNL alone in 60 cases, with insignificant residual small stones we achieved 97% stone clearance rate. The mean hospital stay was 3.7 days. No Serious complications were encountered, 9 (15%) patients required blood transfusion and 3 (5%) patients developed transient post-operative pyrexia.   Conclusion: PCNL is the first line treatment option for management of large renal stones which as monotherapy has advantages in removal of renal and upper ureteric stones and achieving excellent results with minimal morbidity