Laryngoscopic Image Stitching for View Enhancement and Documentation - First Experiences

One known problem within laryngoscopy is the spatially limited view onto the hypopharynx and the larynx through the endoscope. To examine the complete larynx and hypopharynx, the laryngoscope can be rotated about its main axis, and hence the physician obtains a complete view. If such examinations are captured using endoscopic video, the examination can be reviewed in detail at a later time. Nevertheless, in order to document the examination with a single representative image, a panorama image can be computed for archiving and enhanced documentation. Twenty patients with various clinical findings were examined with a 70 rigid laryngoscope, and the video sequences were digitally stored. The image sequence for each patient was then post-processed using an image stitching tool based on SIFT features, the RANSAC approach and blending. As a result, endoscopic panorama images of the larynx and pharynx were obtained for each video sequence. The proposed approach of image stitching for laryngoscopic video sequences offers a new tool for enhanced visual examination and documentation of morphologic characteristics of the larynx and the hypopharynx

Compartmentalized cultures, integrated transitions: Exploring first-year student transition through institutional culture at a middle Atlantic university

This study explores how first-year students experience, perceive, and make sense of institutional culture in higher education during the transition from high school to college. Examining institutional culture during the first year remains relevant because nearly 25% of all students who depart higher education do so within their first year (Nalbone et al., 2015). When disaggregated, there are problematic differences among these departures based on students’ gender, race, and first-generation status (Pell, 2015). Institutional culture, therefore, serves as a timely tool to account for variation in first-year students’ transitional experiences. This study employs a cultural constructivist methodology that is informed by a constructivist theoretical perspective. This methodology accounts for the multiple realities of various stakeholders. Sixty-two students—50 in their first year and 12 in their second year—at a middle Atlantic university comprised a stratified purposeful sample for this study. Data was collected through one-on-one semi-structured interviews and analyzed following interpretative thematic analysis. Several key findings of this study expose the complexity of co-construction that is integral to interpreting individual experiences within the institutional culture that I studied. First, learning institutional culture transpires for students as an ongoing, multifaceted process throughout the first year. Immersion, trial and error, and observation serve as tactics students rely upon to learn how to perform cultural norms. Second, friendships that develop during the first year appear as interconnected constellations that remain homogenous based on gender and political dispositions. These friendships aid students in interpreting the institutional culture. Third, institutional rituals produce in students feelings of belonging through shared emotions. Ceremonies that celebrate individual identities suggest through symbolic actions a strong sense of mattering that deepens institutional connection. Finally, minoritized students encounter differential interactions with the institutional culture. Friendships, often developed through cultural student organizations, facilitate transition and deflect discrimination experienced by minoritized students. Students with intersecting minoritized identities may rely on hopeful self- reliance to overcome challenges in the face of transitional isolation. Understanding these processes provides the opportunity for researchers and practitioners to unravel the complexities of campus cultures that impinge upon student success. Implications are drawn for theory and future research

Learning Culture: First-Year Student Transition, Institutional Culture, and the Bubble of Trial Adulthood

The transition from high school to college involves a number of social, cultural, and psychological forces. Research rarely considers the ways in which institutional culture is transmitted to students during students’ first year of college. This qualitative research study fills this gap in the literature by reporting the findings of 62 one-on-one interviews that considered how students made sense of their transition to higher education. Using institutional culture as a framework, data was analyzed through interpretative thematic analysis strategies. Data analysis revealed several key themes that depict the techniques students employed during their first year that enabled their recreation and performance of the peer norms of the university’s culture. Through immersion, trial and error, and mimicking peer behavior, participants navigated what they called the bubble of trial adulthood. This paper draws several implications for practice and conclusions from the data

Wear Analysis of a Heterogeneous Annular Cylinder

Wear of a cylindrical punch composed by two different materials alternatively distributed in annular forms is studied with the method of dimensionality reduction (MDR). The changes in surface topography and pressure distribution during the wear process is obtained and validated by the boundary element method (BEM). The pressure in each annular ring approaches a constant in a stationary state where the surface topography does not change any more. Furthermore, in an easier manner, using direct integration, the limiting profile in a steady wear state is theoretically calculated, as well as the root mean square (RMS) of its surface gradient, which is closely related to the coefficient of friction between this kind of surface and an elastomer. The dependence on the wear coefficients and the width of the annular areas of two phases is obtained

Upgradeable Mechatronic Systems - An Approach to determine changing Product Properties using Foresight

In light of the increasing complexity and dynamic of the market environment, there is a need to consider future requirements during the development of upcoming product generations. This applies in particular to modular product architectures as their elements are used in several products and over a longer period. To overcome this challenge and to develop more sustainable products, upgrading can be a solution. Based on identified options for action, this paper proposes an approach to determine changing product properties based on the Model of PGE – Product Generation Engineering. Depending on the potential of the individual characteristics of a product property in its future environment, the properties can be classified as static or dynamic time-dependent for later upgrade planning. The approach was applied in a case study and a research project. Its applicability and usability could be demonstrated. Results from the application of the approach can be used in development projects to define upgrade packages for the upcoming product generation or to optimize the modularization of future products

BIOMECHANICAL CHARACTERISTICS RELATED TO POLING PROPULSIVE EFFECTIVENESS IN CROSS-COUNTRY V2 SKATING TECHNIQUE

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether specific kinetic and kinematic characteristics distinguish the propulsive effectiveness of upper body in V2 cross-country skating technique. Female and male skiers (n=25) performed V2 on a treadmill using roller skis at a 6% incline, while kinetic parameters of plantar pressure and ski pole forces, as well as 3d-kinematic data were collected. The ratio between propulsive and overall impulse (effectiveness) of ski poles was 50% for female and 52% for male athletes and highly correlated with ski pole angles. Male skiers showed smaller pole angles at maximum propulsive force than females (P\u3c0.05). Athletes should consider a more effective ski pole planting angle in order to improve propulsive poling action and consequently their performance

Conjugated Polyimidazole Nanoparticles as Biodegradable Electrode Materials for Organic Batteries

Conjugated polymers are promising active materials for batteries. Batteries not only need to have high energy density but should also combine safe handling with recyclability or biodegradability after reaching their end-of-life. Here, π-conjugated polyimidazole particles are developed, which are prepared using atom economic direct arylation adapted to a dispersion polymerization protocol. The synthesis yields polyimidazole nanoparticles of tunable size and narrow dispersity. In addition, the degree of crosslinking of the polymer particles can be controlled. It is demonstrated that the polyimidazole nanoparticles can be processed together with carbon black and biodegradable carboxymethyl cellulose binder as an active material for organic battery electrodes. Electrochemical characterization shows that a higher degree of crosslinking significantly improves the electrochemical performance and leads to clearer oxidation and reduction signals of the polymer. Polyimidazole as part of the composite electrode shows complete degradation by exposure to composting bacteria over the course of 72 h

Anwendung eines stabilisierten N-Düngers in einer Reis-Weizen Doppelfruchtfolge in Südostchina

Beginnend mit der Sommerreisfrucht 2009 wurde ein Harnstoff-Dünger mit Nitrifikationsinhibitor über zwei aufeinanderfolgende Doppelfruchtfolgen auf seine Eignung für das Reis-Weizen System geprüft. Der Einfluss auf Kornertrag, Dünger-N-Effizienz und Rest-Nmin-Gehalt zur Ernte wurde untersucht. Für den Winterweizen konnte gezeigt werden, dass bei gleichbleibenden Kornerträgen speziell in trockenen Jahren durch den Einsatz von Inhibitoren die N-Verluste vermindert und die Dünger-N-Effizienzen erhöht werden können. Die stark verlust-gefährdeten Rest-Nmin-Gehalte nach der Winterweizenernte wurden signifikant reduziert. Hingegen ließ sich kein Effekt des Inhibitors auf Kornertrag, Dünger-N-Effizienz und Rest-Nmin-Gehalt beim Sommerreis beobachten

Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound with VEGFR2-Targeted Microbubbles for Monitoring Regorafenib Therapy Effects in Experimental Colorectal Adenocarcinomas in Rats with DCE-MRI and Immunohistochemical Validation

Objectives To investigate contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) with VEGFR2-targeted microbubbles for monitoring therapy effects of regorafenib on experimental colon carcinomas in rats with correlation to dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) and immunohistochemistry. Materials and Methods: Human colorectal adenocarcinoma xenografts (HT-29) were implanted subcutaneously in n =21 (n = 11 therapy group;n = 10 control group) female athymic nude rats (Hsd: RH-Foxn1 (mu)). Animals were imaged at baseline and after a one-week daily treatment with regorafenib or a placebo (10 mg/kg bodyweight), using CEUS with VEGFR2-targeted microbubbles and DCE-MRI. In CEUS tumor perfusion was assessed during an early vascular phase (wash-in area under the curve = WiAUC) and VEGFR2-specific binding during a late molecular phase (signal intensity after 8 (SI8min) and 10 minutes (SI10min)), using a conventional 15L8 linear transducer (transmit frequency 7 MHz, dynamic range 80 dB, depth 25 mm). In DCE-MRI functional parameters plasma flow (PF) and plasma volume (PV) were quantified. For validation purposes, CEUS parameters were correlated with DCE-MRI parameters and immunohistochemical VEGFR2, CD31, Ki-67 and TUNEL stainings. Results: CEUS perfusion parameter WiAUC decreased significantly (116,989 +/- 77,048 a.u. to 30,076 +/- 27,095a.u.;p = 0.005) under therapy with no significant changes (133,932 +/- 65,960 a.u. to 84,316 +/- 74,144 a.u.;p = 0.093) in the control group. In the therapy group, the amount of bound microbubbles in the late phase was significantly lower in the therapy than in the control group on day 7 (SI8min: 283 +/- 191 vs. 802 +/- 460 a.u.;p = 0.006);SI10min: 226 +/- 149 vs. 645 +/- 461 a.u.;p = 0.009). PF and PV decreased significantly (PF: 147 +/- 58 mL/100 mL/min to 71 +/- 15 mL/100 mL/min;p = 0.003;PV: 13 +/- 3% to 9 +/- 4%;p = 0.040) in the therapy group. Immunohistochemistry revealed significantly fewer VEGFR2 (7.2 +/- 1.8 vs. 17.8 +/- 4.6;p < 0.001), CD31 (8.1 +/- 3.0 vs. 20.8 +/- 5.7;p < 0.001) and Ki-67 (318.7 +/- 94.0 vs. 468.0 +/- 133.8;p = 0.004) and significantly more TUNEL (672.7 +/- 194.0 vs. 357.6 +/- 192.0;p = 0.003) positive cells in the therapy group. CEUS parameters showed significant (p < 0.05) correlations to DCE-MRI parameters and immunohistochemistry. Conclusions CEUS with VEGFR2-targeted microbubbles allowed for monitoring regorafenib functional and molecular therapy effects on experimental colorectal adenocarcinomas with a significant decline of CEUS and DCE-MRI perfusion parameters as well as a significant reduction of specifically bound microbubbles under therapy, consistent with a reduced expression of VEGFR2