Automated people counting by using low-resolution infrared and visual cameras

Non-contact counting of people in a specified area has many applications for safety, security and commercial purposes. Visible sensors have inherent limitations for this task, being sensitive to variations in ambient lighting and colours in the scene. Infrared imaging can overcome many of these problems, but normally hardware costs are prohibitively expensive. A system for counting people in a scene using a combination of low cost, low-resolution visual and infrared cameras is presented in this paper. The aim of this research was to assess the potential accuracy and robustness of systems using low-resolution images. This approach results in considerable savings on hardware costs, enabling the development of systems which may be implemented in a wide range of applications. The results of 18 experiments show that the system can be accurate to within 3% over a wide range of lighting conditions

Fractional flow reserve vs. angiography in guiding management to optimize outcomes in non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction: the British Heart Foundation FAMOUS-NSTEMI randomized trial

Aim: We assessed the management and outcomes of non-ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) patients randomly assigned to fractional flow reserve (FFR)-guided management or angiography-guided standard care. Methods and results: We conducted a prospective, multicentre, parallel group, 1 : 1 randomized, controlled trial in 350 NSTEMI patients with ≥ coronary stenosis ≥30% of the lumen diameter assessed visually (threshold for FFR measurement) (NCT01764334). Enrolment took place in six UK hospitals from October 2011 to May 2013. Fractional flow reserve was disclosed to the operator in the FFR-guided group (n = 176). Fractional flow reserve was measured but not disclosed in the angiography-guided group (n = 174). Fractional flow reserve ≤0.80 was an indication for revascularization by percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) or coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG). The median (IQR) time from the index episode of myocardial ischaemia to angiography was 3 (2, 5) days. For the primary outcome, the proportion of patients treated initially by medical therapy was higher in the FFR-guided group than in the angiography-guided group [40 (22.7%) vs. 23 (13.2%), difference 95% (95% CI: 1.4%, 17.7%), P = 0.022]. Fractional flow reserve disclosure resulted in a change in treatment between medical therapy, PCI or CABG in 38 (21.6%) patients. At 12 months, revascularization remained lower in the FFR-guided group [79.0 vs. 86.8%, difference 7.8% (−0.2%, 15.8%), P = 0.054]. There were no statistically significant differences in health outcomes and quality of life between the groups. Conclusion: In NSTEMI patients, angiography-guided management was associated with higher rates of coronary revascularization compared with FFR-guided management. A larger trial is necessary to assess health outcomes and cost-effectiveness

DeepHuMS: Deep Human Motion Signature for 3D Skeletal Sequences

3D Human Motion Indexing and Retrieval is an interesting problem due to the rise of several data-driven applications aimed at analyzing and/or re-utilizing 3D human skeletal data, such as data-driven animation, analysis of sports bio-mechanics, human surveillance etc. Spatio-temporal articulations of humans, noisy/missing data, different speeds of the same motion etc. make it challenging and several of the existing state of the art methods use hand-craft features along with optimization based or histogram based comparison in order to perform retrieval. Further, they demonstrate it only for very small datasets and few classes. We make a case for using a learned representation that should recognize the motion as well as enforce a discriminative ranking. To that end, we propose, a 3D human motion descriptor learned using a deep network. Our learned embedding is generalizable and applicable to real-world data - addressing the aforementioned challenges and further enables sub-motion searching in its embedding space using another network. Our model exploits the inter-class similarity using trajectory cues, and performs far superior in a self-supervised setting. State of the art results on all these fronts is shown on two large scale 3D human motion datasets - NTU RGB+D and HDM05.Comment: Under Review, Conferenc

A novel framework for intelligent surveillance system based on abnormal human activity detection in academic environments

Abnormal activity detection plays a crucial role in surveillance applications, and a surveillance system thatcan perform robustly in an academic environment has become an urgent need. In this paper, we propose a novel framework for an automatic real-time video-based surveillance system which can simultaneously perform the tracking, semantic scene learning, and abnormality detection in an academic environment. To develop our system, we have divided the work into three phases: preprocessing phase, abnormal human activity detection phase, and content-based image retrieval phase. For motion object detection, we used the temporal-differencing algorithm and then located the motions region using the Gaussian function.Furthermore, the shape model based on OMEGA equation was used as a filter for the detected objects (i.e.,human and non-human). For object activities analysis, we evaluated and analyzed the human activities of the detected objects. We classified the human activities into two groups:normal activities and abnormal activities based on the support vector machine. The machine then provides an automatic warning in case of abnormal human activities. It also embeds a method to retrieve the detected object from the database for object recognition and identification using content-based image retrieval.Finally,a software-based simulation using MATLAB was performed and the results of the conducted experiments showed an excellent surveillance system that can simultaneously perform the tracking, semantic scene learning, and abnormality detection in an academic environment with no human intervention

Management of colorectal cancer presenting with synchronous liver metastases

Up to a fifth of patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) present with synchronous hepatic metastases. In patients with CRC who present without intestinal obstruction or perforation and in whom comprehensive whole-body imaging confirms the absence of extrahepatic disease, evidence indicates a state of equipoise between several different management pathways, none of which has demonstrated superiority. Neoadjuvant systemic chemotherapy is advocated by current guidelines, but must be integrated with surgical management in order to remove the primary tumour and liver metastatic burden. Surgery for CRC with synchronous liver metastases can take a number of forms: the 'classic' approach, involving initial colorectal resection, interval chemotherapy and liver resection as the final step; simultaneous removal of the liver and bowel tumours with neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy; or a 'liver-first' approach (before or after systemic chemotherapy) with removal of the colorectal tumour as the final procedure. In patients with rectal primary tumours, the liver-first approach can potentially avoid rectal surgery in patients with a complete response to chemoradiotherapy. We overview the importance of precise nomenclature, the influence of clinical presentation on treatment options, and the need for accurate, up-to-date surgical terminology, staging tests and contemporary management options in CRC and synchronous hepatic metastatic disease, with an emphasis on multidisciplinary care

Cuff inflation time significantly affects blood flow recorded with venous occlusion plethysmography

© 2019, The Author(s). Purpose: We tested whether the values of limb blood flow calculated with strain-gauge venous occlusion plethysmography (VOP) differ when venous occlusion is achieved by automated, or manual inflation, so providing rapid and slower inflation, respectively. Method: In 9 subjects (20–30 years), we calculated forearm blood flows (FBF) values at rest and following isometric handgrip at 70% maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) when rapid, or slower inflation was used. Result: Rapid and slower cuff inflation took 0.23 ± 0.01 (mean ± SEM) and 0.92 ± 0.02 s, respectively, reflecting the range reported in published studies. At rest, FBF calculated from the 1st cardiac cycle after rapid and slower inflation gave similar values: 10.5 ± 1.4 vs. 9.6 ± 1.3 ml dl − 1  min − 1 , respectively (P > 0.05). However, immediately post-contraction, FBF was ~ 40% lower with slower inflation: 54.6 ± 5.1 vs. 33.8 ± 4.2 ml dl − 1  min − 1 (P < 0.01). The latter value was similar to that calculated over the 3rd cardiac cycle following rapid inflation: 2nd cardiac cycle: 40.5 ± 4.5; 3rd cycle: 32.6 ± 4.5 ml dl − 1  min − 1 . Regression analyses of FBFs recorded at intervals post-contraction showed those calculated over the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd cardiac cycles with rapid inflation correlated well with those from the 1st cardiac cycle with manual inflation (r = 0.79, 0.82, 0.79; P < 0.01). However, only the slope for the 3rd cycle with rapid inflation vs. slower inflation was close to unity (2.07, 1.34, and 0.94, respectively). Conclusion: These findings confirm that the 1st cardiac cycle following venous occlusion should be used when calculating FBF using VOP and, but importantly, indicate that cuff inflation should be almost instantaneous; just ≥ 0.9 s leads to substantial underestimation, especially at high flows

Forearm vasodilator responses to environmental stress and reactive hyperaemia are impaired in young South Asian men

© 2018, The Author(s). Purpose: Prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is greater in South Asians (SAs) than White Europeans (WEs). Endothelial dysfunction and blunted forearm vasodilatation to environmental stressors have been implicated in CVD. We investigated whether these features are present in young SA men. Methods: In 15 SA and 16 WE men (19–23 years), we compared changes in forearm blood flow, arterial blood pressure (ABP), forearm vascular conductance (FVC), heart rate, and electrodermal resistance (EDR; sweating) following release of arterial occlusion (reactive hyperaemia endothelium-dependent) and 5 single sounds at 5–10 min intervals (stressors). Results: All were normotensive. Peak reactive hyperaemia was smaller in SAs than WEs (FVC increase: 0.36 ± 0.038 vs 0.44 ± 0.038 units; P < 0.05). Furthermore, in WEs, mean FVC increased at 5, 15, and 20 s of each sound (vasodilatation), but increased at 5 s only in SAs, decreasing by 20 s (vasoconstriction). This reflected a smaller proportion of SAs showing forearm vasodilatation at 15 s (5/15 SAs vs 11/16 WEs: P < 0.01), the remainder showing vasoconstriction. Concomitantly, WEs showed greater bradycardia and EDR changes. Intra-class correlation analyses showed that all responses were highly reproducible over five sounds in both WEs and SAs. Moreover, sound-evoked changes in ABP and FVC were negatively correlated in each ethnicity (P < 0.01). However, WEs showed preponderance of forearm vasodilatation and depressor responses; SAs showed preponderance of vasoconstriction and pressor responses. Conclusions: Endothelium-dependent vasodilatation is blunted in young SA men. This could explain their impaired forearm vasodilatation and greater pressor responses to repeated environmental stressors, so predisposing SAs to hypertension and CVD