Normative dimensions and symmetry of the lacrimal drainage system on dacryocystography: statistical analysis of morphometric characteristics

Background: Asymmetric lacrimal flow occurs in females more than males. We hypothesised that the normal lacrimal drainage system (LDS) may show subtle left-rightasymmetry in morphometry when imaged on dacryocystography (DCG).Materials and methods: We retrospectively reviewed 60 normal bilateral LDSs.Images were analysed for 7 parameters: (1) combined length of either the superioror inferior canaliculus plus common canaliculus, (2) angle of insertion of common canaliculus into lacrimal sac (LS), (3, 4) length and width of the LS, (5) length of thenasolacrimal duct (NLD), and (6, 7) width of proximal and distal NLD. We testedthe effect of independent variables (age, gender, and side) on each dependentvariable (length, width, or angle) using regression analysis. We used a Studentt-test for independent samples to statistically compare bilateral LDSs.Results: Patient median age was 62 years, and male:female ratio was 27:73. Mean dimensions and angles for all LDSs were: (1) 14.5 mm, (2) 57°,(3) 11.6 mm, (4) 2.1 mm, (5) 20.7 mm, (6) 1.4 mm, and (7) 1.8 mm. No independent variable affected variation in length, width, or angle. No significant difference emerged between dimensions of right and left LDSs in both sexes.Conclusions: A degree of affective lateralisation in the brain is known to result inlacrimal flow asymmetry after mood manipulation. We show that this is not reflected in LDS anatomy. Moreover, our detailed morphometric data can aid in therapeuticplanning of LDS luminal procedures, especially when DCG images of one LDS are used as a road map for contralateral interventions

Discharge rate of cryogens in microgravity - What ground based experimentation cannot resolve

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/76407/1/AIAA-1991-3545-390.pd

Transient cryogenic liquid discharge in normal and micro-gravity

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/76393/1/AIAA-1991-486-786.pd

Association analysis of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase2 gene polymorphisms with COPD in Egyptians

AbstractProteinase/antiproteinase imbalance is recognized to play an important role in the pathogenesis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). A relative increase in the activities of matrix metalloproteinases might be caused by mutations of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase2 (TIMP2). Recently, two polymorphisms of the TIMP2 gene, +853 G/A and −418 G/C (+551 and −720 from the translation initiation site), have been shown to be associated with the development of COPD in the Japanese population. In this study, a case-control association analysis for these polymorphisms was conducted in the Egyptian population using 106 COPD patients and 72 healthy controls. The genotype frequency of +853 G/A was significantly different between the patient and the control groups (P=0.029), although no significant difference was detected in the allele frequency between the two groups. These results suggest that the +853 G/A polymorphism of the TIMP2 gene might be associated with COPD across ethnicities. In contrast, neither the distributions of genotype nor allele frequencies of –418 G/C were significantly different between the two groups, raising the possibility that a combination of different genetic factors contributes to the development of COPD in different ethnic groups

Movement analysis to indicate discomfort in vehicle seats

Long distance travel is associated with discomfort and fatigue. It is a significant challenge to design a seat that remains comfortable for the occupant over the several hours required for many long-distance journeys. When designing seats, an indication of the perception of comfort/discomfort can be useful either for research and development purposes or potentially for automated systems to take actions that might mitigate discomfort. This paper considered a system that uses measurements of body movement in a seat to provide an objective measure of perceptions of discomfort. The system uses cameras and image processing to recognize when a seat occupant makes a movement in the seat which could be associated with relief of discomfort. The system was validated using a laboratory driving simulator. 10 participants volunteered to complete a study in which they drove for 90 minutes and gave subjective ratings of discomfort every 10 minutes, whilst also being observed using the camera system. It was shown that using a simple algorithm an association could be made between the movements of the driver and subjective ratings of discomfort. However, there remain challenges to improve reliability, optimize movement detection thresholds, and to make it more robust to naturalistic driving scenarios

Artificial intelligence detects awareness of functional relation with the environment in 3 month old babies

A recent experiment probed how purposeful action emerges in early life by manipulating infants’ functional connection to an object in the environment (i.e., tethering an infant’s foot to a colorful mobile). Vicon motion capture data from multiple infant joints were used here to create Histograms of Joint Displacements (HJDs) to generate pose-based descriptors for 3D infant spatial trajectories. Using HJDs as inputs, machine and deep learning systems were tasked with classifying the experimental state from which snippets of movement data were sampled. The architectures tested included k-Nearest Neighbour (kNN), Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA), Fully connected network (FCNet), 1D-Convolutional Neural Network (1D-Conv), 1D-Capsule Network (1D-CapsNet), 2D-Conv and 2D-CapsNet. Sliding window scenarios were used for temporal analysis to search for topological changes in infant movement related to functional context. kNN and LDA achieved higher classification accuracy with single joint features, while deep learning approaches, particularly 2D-CapsNet, achieved higher accuracy on full-body features. For each AI architecture tested, measures of foot activity displayed the most distinct and coherent pattern alterations across different experimental stages (reflected in the highest classification accuracy rate), indicating that interaction with the world impacts the infant behaviour most at the site of organism~world connection

Botulinum toxin injection versus internal anal sphincterotomy for the treatment of chronic anal fissure

Background: Anal fissure is a chronic condition characterized by painful defecation and rectal bleeding. The aim of this study was to compare injection of botulinum toxin versus surgical sphincterotomy for treatment of chronic anal fissure. Patients and methods: In a quasi-experimental trial in a university hospital in Kerman, 50 patients diagnosed with chronic anal fissure received 20 units botulinum toxin (n=25) or underwent lateral internal sphincterotomy (n=25). All patients were evaluated for pain, bleeding and healing of the fissure from one to six months later by another surgeon. The data was analyzed by SPSS software with the Mann-Whitney and Fisher's exact tests. Results: One month after treatment, the rate of healing and bleeding in the operation group was better than in the toxin group (P<0.05), while pain was equal. After two months, none of the patients in either group had complications. After six months follow-up, bleeding, pain and healing were better in the operation group. Conclusion: In the clinical evaluation, botulinum toxin is an effective alternative nonsurgical modality for the treatment of chronic anal fissure. We recommend botulinum toxin as the first step in treatment because of the 60 chance of cure with an easily performed treatment