Smart process monitoring of machining operations

The following thesis explores the possibilities to applying artificial intelligence techniques in the field of sensory monitoring in the manufacturing sector. There are several case studies considered in the research activity. The first case studies see the implementation of supervised and unsupervised neural networks to monitoring the condition of a grinding wheel. The monitoring systems have acoustic emission sensors and a piezoelectric sensor capable to measuring electromechanical impedance. The other case study is the use of the bees' algorithm to determine the wear of a tool during the cutting operations of a steel cylinder. A script permits this operation. The script converts the images into a numerical matrix and allows the bees to correctly detect tool wear

Correlation between Primary Myelofibrosis and the Association of Portal Thrombosis with Portal-Biliary Cavernoma: US, MDCT, and MRI Features

Abstract Objective Myelofibrosis is a rare chronic myelolymphoproliferative disease and is associated with increased risk of venous thromboembolism. The objective of this study is to retrospectively evaluate patients with primary myelofibrosis who underwent abdominal US, MDCT and MRI, in order to identify the development of portal thrombosis and its correlation with portal-biliary cavernoma. Methods We evaluated 125 patients with initial diagnosis of primary myelofibrosis and nonspecific abdominal pain who had undergone US with color Doppler. In 13 patients (8 men, 5 females; age: 45–85), US detected portal thrombosis with associated portal-biliary cavernoma. All patients subsequently underwent contrast-enhanced MDCT and MRI and 4 patients MR-cholangiography. The correlation between primary myelofibrosis and portal thrombosis and cavernoma respectively was calculated using χ2 test. Results About 10% of patients with primary myelofibrosis preliminary evaluated with US had partial (8 pts) or complete (5 pts) portal thrombosis associated with portal-biliary cavernoma with a χ2 = 0. In all patients, US detected a concentric thickening of main bile duct (MBD) wall (mean value: 7 mm); color Doppler always showed dilated venous vessels within the thickened wall of the biliary tract. Contrast-enhanced CT and MRI confirmed thickening of MBD walls with their progressive enhancement and allowed better assessment of the extent of the portal system thrombosis. MR-cholangiography showed a thin appearance of the MBD lumen with evidence of ab extrinsic compression. Conclusions The evidence of portal thrombosis and portal-biliary cavernoma in 10% of the patients with primary myelofibrosis indicates a close correlation between the two diseases. In the detection of portal thrombosis and portal-biliary cavernoma, US with color Doppler is the most reliable and economical diagnostic technique while contrast-enhanced MDCT and MRI allow better assessment of the extent of the portal vein thrombosis and of the complications of myelofibrosis

Rationalist architecture in rural villages: petro-morphological characterization of natural asbestos fibers in decorative plasters used for artificial stones

At the beginning of the twentieth century, artificial stones became commonly used as structural building materials, masonry materials, and architectural decorative elements. The main purpose of this work was to characterize the building materials used in a historical building in Codigoro, a small town near Ferrara, northeastern Italy. This building was constructed according to the Italian rationalist rules for monumental architecture and is an example of the rationalist architecture found in rural villages, which uses innovative materials and decorations including artificial stone. The samples analyzed in this work were imitation natural stone, such as “fake travertine” and “fake Ceppo di Grè”, composed of reinforced concrete slabs coated with white mortar. Asbestos minerals have been observed in the fillers in these materials. Petrographic, mineralogical, and chemical characterization of samples of artificial stones and concrete was performed with optical transmitted light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy–energy dispersive spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction analyses. The results revealed chemical and biological degradation in almost all the artificial stones examined and enabled identification of the presence of calcite, iron oxychloride complexes, and asbestos lizardites used as fillers in two of the analyzed samples. This study aimed to describe a general investigation methodology used to examine the artificial stone façades of the Ex Casa del Fascio of Codigoro, whose architecture is particularly representative of the rationalist architecture in rural villages. The results highlight the relevance of compatible and suitable conservation measures that should be monitored during all restoration interventions to minimize post-degradation fracturing and transformation into elements harmful to human health and the environment

Tool Condition Monitoring of Single-point Dressing Operation by Digital Signal Processing of AE and AI

Abstract This work aims at determining the right moment to stop single-point dressing the grinding wheel in order to optimize the grinding process as a whole. Acoustic emission signals and signal processing tools are used as primary approach. An acoustic emission (AE) sensor was connected to a signal processing module. The AE sensor was attached to the dresser holder, which was specifically built to perform dressing tests. In this work there were three types of test where the edit parameters of each dressing test are: the passes number, the dressing speed, the width of action of the dresser, the dressing time and the sharpness. Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) technique is employed to classify and predict the best moment for stopping the dressing operation. During the ANNs use, the results from Supervised Neural Networks and Unsupervised Neural Networks are compared

Reducing Sepsis Hospitalisations through a Standardized Quality Improvement Program in Skilled Nursing Facilities

Context: Sepsis hospitalisations with subsequent skilled nursing facility (SNF) admissions have had an annual cost of $41 billion in the United States. There has been a limited amount of literature on early interventions for sepsis in long-term care. Objective: To assess the impact of a pilot sepsis quality improvement program (SQIP) aimed at early identification and intervention in 10 partnering SNFs in New York City. Methods: Obtained baseline data of sepsis hospitalisations in 2017 among 10 SNFs. A SQIP was implemented utilizing the systemic inflammatory response syndrome criteria with a modified threshold temperature of 37.2°C (99.0°F). Sepsis hospitalisations were reported and validated for the intervention period in 2018 and compared to the baseline. A cost savings analysis was completed by utilizing local hospital billing records. Findings: Overall, there was a reduction of 54 sepsis hospitalisations when comparing the intervention period (183 sepsis hospitalisations) to the baseline (237 sepsis hospitalisations), a 22.8$45,000 USD. The SQIP had an estimated cost savings between $1,039,662–$3,188,430 USD. Limitations: Implementation at each facility was voluntary, so there may have been varying degrees of SQIP implementation. However, the hospital primary diagnosis of sepsis and cost were accurately reported. Implications: A SQIP in a long-term care setting could reduce avoidable hospitalisations and offer cost savings. The SQIP reported is a complex intervention and needs to be methodologically understood as such. The intervention shows promise and important insights into its implementation and evaluation have been developed which would be helpful in further evaluation

Damage patterns recognition in dressing tools using PZT-based SHM and MLP networks

Abstract In order to promoting the optimization of the theme: "grinding-dressing", this study intends to contribute to the fill the gap of works completed with the damage diagnostic systems in dressing tools. For this purpose, this work aims to use neural models based on multilayer Perceptron networks (MLP) to improve the damage pattern recognition in diamond dressing tools based on electromechanical impedance (EMI). Thus, experimental dressing tests were performed with a single-point diamond-dressing tool and a low-cost lead zirconate titanate (PZT) transducer to acquire the impedance signatures at different dressing passes. The proposed approach was able to select the optimal frequency range in impedance signatures to determine the dressing tool condition. To achieve this, representative damage indices in several frequency bands were considered as input to the proposed intelligent system. This new approach open the door to effective implementation of future works for a broader situation in grinding process

Transarterial radioembolization for hepatocellular carcinoma: a review

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common type of liver cancer and is the second cause of death due to malignancy in the world. The treatment of HCC is complex and includes potentially curative and palliative approaches. However, both curative and palliative treatments for HCC are often associated with a not-completely favorable safety/efficacy ratio. Therefore, other treatment options appear necessary in clinical practice. Transarterial radioembolization has shown a promising efficacy in terms of disease control and is associated with a good safety profile. This review discusses the use of transarterial radioembolization in HCC, with a focus on the clinical aspects of this therapeutic strategy

Extracapsular femoral neck fractures treated with total hip arthroplasty: identification of a population with better outcomes

BACKGROUND: Femoral neck fractures (FNF) are associated to patient’s disability, reduced quality of life and mortality. None of the fixation devices commonly used for extracapsular (EC) FNF (i.e., dynamic hip screws (DHS) and intramedullary nails (IN)) is clearly superior to the other, especially in case of unstable fractures (31.A2 and 31.A3 according to AO/OTA classification). The aim of our study was to identify a sub-population of patients with EC fractures in which better outcomes could be obtainable using total hip arthroplasty (THA). METHODS: All patients with EC unstable fractures treated with THA were included in the present study. Demographic data, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score, hospitalization length, transfusion rate, implant-related complications and mortality rate were collected. Clinical outcomes were evaluated using the Oxford Hip Score (OHS), while patients’ general health status through the 12 Item Short Form questionnaires (SF-12). RESULTS: 30 patients (7 male; 23 female) with a mean age of 78.8 years were included. The 1-year mortality rate was 13.3%. The mean OHS was 27.5, while the mean SF-12 were 45.84 for the mental item and 41.6 for the physical one. Age was the only factor associated with the OHS and patients older than 75 years presented a 12- fold higher risk of developing bad outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: THA seems to be a viable option for unstable EC fractures, with good clinical outcomes, especially in patients younger than 75 years of age. The mortality rate associated with THA in EC fractures is low and anyway comparable with IN

16,16-Dimethyl Prostaglandin E-2 Efficacy on Prevention and Protection from Bleomycin-Induced Lung Injury and Fibrosis

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A distinctive 'microbial signature' in celiac pediatric patients

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Celiac Disease (CD) is an autoimmune disorder of the small intestine in which dietary gluten ingestion leads to a chronic enteropathy. Recently, scientific evidence suggested a potential role of gut microbiota in CD. To have a snapshot of dominant duodenal microbiota we analyzed the mucosa-associated microbiota of 20 children with CD, before and after a gluten-free diet (GFD) regimen, and of 10 controls. Total DNA was extracted from duodenal biopsies and amplification products of 16S ribosomal DNA were compared by temporal temperature gradient gel electrophoresis (TTGE). TTGE profiles were analyzed by statistical multivariate analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The average number of bands in TTGE profiles was significantly higher (<it>P </it>< 0.0001) in active (n.b. 16.7 ± 0.7) and inactive states (n.b. 13.2 ± 0.8) than in controls (n.b. 3.7 ± 1.3). Mean interindividual similarity index was 54.9% ± 14.9% for active disease, 55.6% ± 15.7% for remission state and 21.8% ± 30.16% for controls. Similarity index between celiac children before and after GFD treatment was 63.9% ± 15.8%. Differences in microbiota biodiversity were among active and remission state (<it>P </it>= 0.000224) and amid active CD and controls (<it>P </it>< 0.001). <it>Bacteroides vulgatus </it>and <it>Escherichia coli </it>were detected more often in CD patients than in controls (<it>P </it>< 0.0001).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Overall, the results highlighted a peculiar microbial TTGE profile and a significant higher biodiversity in CD pediatric patients' duodenal mucosa. The possible pathophysiological role of these microbial differences needs further characterization.</p