Comparison of Surgeon Stress and Workload between Reduced-port and Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy : A Prospective Study

Single-port laparoscopic surgery（SPLS）has attracted attention in the field of minimally invasive surgery; however, the associated technical difficulty has delayed its adoption by all surgeons. Reduced-port laparoscopic surgery might be easier to perform than SPLS, and in this prospective study, we compared surgeon stress and workload between reduced-port laparoscopic cholecystectomy（RPLC）and conventional laparoscopic cholecystectomy（CLC）. Twenty consecutive patients were assigned to undergo either RPLC or CLC between July 2016 and April 2017. Two surgeons performed the operations. The differences in surgeon workload and stress between RPLC and CLC were evaluated. Patient factors and operative outcomes were not significantly different between RPLC and CLC. In the surgeon-reported Surgery Task Load Index, the task demand subscale was significantly higher for RPLC than for CLC（P＝0.005）, although the salivary amylase levels were not significantly different between RPLC and CLC. RPLC was similar to CLC with respect to surgeon stress. Considering workload, the task demand was higher in CLC than in RPLC, which therefore might be an acceptable alternative to CLC for treating benign gallbladder disease

Tip-on-a-chip: Automatic dotting with glitter ink pen for individual identification of tiny parts

This paper presents a new identification system for tiny parts that have no space for applying conventional ID marking or tagging. The system marks the parts with a single dot using ink containing shiny particles. The particles in a single dot naturally form a unique pattern. The parts are then identified by matching microscopic images of this pattern with a database containing images of these dots. In this paper, we develop an automated system to conduct dotting and image capturing for massproduced parts. Experimental results show that our "Tip-on-achip" system can uniquely identify more than ten thousand chip capacitors.Biomechatronics & Human-Machine Contro

Medicine tablet authentication using fingerprints of ink-jet printed characters

Counterfeit drugs have been a serious problem causing damage to people's health over the world. Numerous anti-counterfeiting methods based on tagging have been proposed; however, they suffer from three major issues: (1) tagging is applicable only to packages, not tablets directly; (2) end-users, i.e., patients, cannot inspect the tags; (3) tagging incurs extra costs for manufacturers. This paper describes a new method that we propose for authenticating individual medicine tablets as-is by matching images of printed characters. The printed characters on individual tablets of the same medicine seem the same to human eyes, but each is characterized by tiny unique differences. The contributions of this paper are: (a) to reveal the uniqueness of the characters printed by an actual pharmaceutical-use machine and (b) to propose a practical system to identify individual tablets using image matching. Our system is useful for any patients who want to authenticate a medicine tablet at hand: it only requires a picture with a smartphone camera. Our system is also useful for medicine manufacturers, because the database can be constructed using the existing manufacturing process without incurring additional cost. Our image matching algorithm recognizes very detailed features of the images and is accurate and fast even for a large-scale database. In conducted experiments, 1,000 sample tablets were captured using the same optical setup as an actual medicine manufacturing machine. Obtained results showed that 100% accuracy in individual tablet authentication was achieved.Accepted Author ManuscriptHuman-Robot Interactio

Single-Incision Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy Using a Dome-Down Approach for a Patient with Left-Sided Gallbladder

True left-sided gallbladder (sinistroposition) is a rare anatomic anomaly in which the gallbladder is found to the left of the falciform ligament under the left lobe of the liver. Though uncommon, it is important for the surgeon to identify this anomaly because the ductal anatomy is unique and the surgery is technically challenging. Multiple case reports have documented safe management of sinistroposition encountered during conventional laparoscopic cholecystectomy. We present a case of sinistroposition encountered during a single-incision laparoscopic cholecystectomy. We conclude that this single-site laparoscopic technique is not only safe when sinistroposition is encountered, but it may actually provide certain ergonomic benefits for surgeons

Indexing and Retrieving Voice Recordings by Instantly Tagging Mentioned Objects with Dots

This paper presents a novel framework and its prototype tool for indexing and retrieving specific fragments of voice recordings obtained during discussions about physical objects such as text documents, pictures, or 3D models. When a specific part of an object is mentioned, it is tagged with an ink dot that is immediately registered in a database by capturing a microscopic image of the dot. Simultaneously, an index of the recording fragment is created and linked with the dot. After the recording, a dot can be scanned and identified by matching its microscopic image with the database to retrieve the linked recording fragment for playback. A handy tool was developed to facilitate these operations while the user concentrates on the ongoing discussion. Performance tests of the dot identification have shown genuine matches without error. In demonstrations of a realistic usage scenario, the tool successfully facilitated the creation of indexes with dots during a voice recording and correctly played back all the specific recording fragments linked to the dots.Accepted Author ManuscriptStructural Optimization and Mechanic

Formation of Long-Lived Dark States during Electronic Relaxation of Pyrimidine Nucleobases Studied Using Extreme Ultraviolet Time-Resolved Photoelectron Spectroscopy

Ultrafast electronic relaxation of nucleobases from 1ππ* states to the ground state (S0) is considered essential for the photostability of DNA. However, transient absorption spectroscopy (TAS) has indicated that some nucleobases in aqueous solutions create long-lived 1nπ*/3ππ* dark states from the 1ππ* states with a high quantum yield of 0.4–0.5. We investigated electronic relaxation in pyrimidine nucleobases in both aqueous solutions and the gas phase using extreme ultraviolet (EUV) time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy. Femtosecond EUV probe pulses cause ionization from all electronic states involved in the relaxation process, providing a clear overview of the electronic dynamics. The 1nπ* quantum yields for aqueous cytidine and uracil (Ura) derivatives were found to be considerably lower (<0.07) than previous estimates reported by TAS. On the other hand, aqueous thymine (Thy) and thymidine exhibited a longer 1ππ* lifetime and a higher quantum yield (0.12–0.22) for the 1nπ* state. A similar trend was found for isolated Thy and Ura in the gas phase: the 1ππ* lifetimes are 39 and 17 fs and the quantum yield for 1nπ* are 1.0 and 0.45 for Thy and Ura, respectively. The result indicates that single methylation to the C5 position hinders the out-of-plane deformation that drives the system to the conical intersection region between 1ππ* and S0, providing a large impact on the photophysics/photochemistry of a pyrimidine nucleobase. The significant reduction of 1nπ* yield in aqueous solution is ascribed to the destabilization of the 1nπ* state induced by hydrogen bonding