Positioning needs for public transport

Public transport is often deemed to be a solution to reduce traffic congestion problems. A positive perception of this service is vital to getting more and more people to use this efficient mode of transportation. Accurate and reliable positioning systems, also known as Automatic Vehicle Location systems, play a major role in enabling fleet management systems (FMS) to achieve better planning and scheduling outcomes and hence provide a positive perception of the service. New positioning technologies are continuously being developed, due to ongoing demand of fleet management systems to provide better public transport services. However more research is required to determine what are the real positioning needs for different kinds of public transportation services. The aim of this paper is to study positioning needs for fixed route bus services and demand responsive transport systems by analysing GPS accuracy inside and outside city canyons to achieve a better quality of service

A ilusão do quadrado flexível

We report a new illusion of elasticity in a rigid surface. A square frame is presented behind a concentric occluding cross. When the two surfaces are rotated rigidly, the square frame appears "rubbery", that is, it appears to contract or expand during the rotation. The rubber square illusion is related to a number of other illusory phenomena involving motion and surface stratification. It is generally believed that these phenomena are due to suppression of potentially veridical motion signals at t-junctions signalling occlusions. However, in all previously reported phenomena the effect of t-junctions was confounded with effects due to surface relative motion, spatial integration, or relative contrast. Given that none of these potential confounds applies to our demonstration, the rubber square illusion provides critical evidence that t-junctions are sufficient to cause suppression of the corresponding motion signals. Nós relatamos uma nova ilusão de elasticidade de uma superfície rígida. Uma moldura quadrada é apresentada atrás de uma cruz concêntrica ocludente. Quando as duas superfícies são rotacionadas rigidamente, a moldura quadrada aparenta flexibilidade, qual seja, ela parece contrair e expandir durante a rotação. A ilusão do quadrado flexível é relatada em inúmeras outros fenômenos ilusórios envolvendo estratificação de movimento e de superfícies. Acredita-se que estes fenômenos são devido à supressão de sinais de movimento potencialmente verídicos nas junções em T sinalizando oclusões. Entretanto, em todos os fenômenos previamente relatados, o efeito das junções em T foram confundidos com os efeitos relacionados ao movimento relativo, integração espacial, ou contraste relativo. Dado que nenhuma destas potenciais confusões se aplica à nossa demonstração, a ilusão do quadrado flexível fornece evidência crítica em favor de que as junções em T são suficientes para gerar a supressão dos sinais de movimento correspondentes

Non-visible penetrating brain trauma: a case report

Objective: One of the most frequent causes of death and acquired disability in the pediatric population is the Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). TBI is secondary to falls, road traffic and vehicle collisions, child abuse and assaults. Penetrating brain injury is a severe form of traumatic brain injury. Blunt head injury is more frequent than TBI in children, but the second one carries a poor prognosis and a worse outcomes. Case Presentation: We report a pediatric case of penetrating craniofacial trauma, caused by a pencil in to the eye, and the successful of multidisciplinary management. Conclusion: Traumatic head injuries in children are frequently seen in the emergency ward, but the penetrating head injuries are unusual in young children. This case shows the importance of the 'first golden hour' after head trauma. The collaboration between team members, added to a promptly and invasive strategy, allowed to reduce neurological sequelae

Material recognition by feature classification using time-of-flight camera

We propose a method for solving one of the significant open issues in computer vision: material recognition. A time-of-flight range camera has been employed to analyze the characteristics of different materials. Starting from the information returned by the depth sensor, different features of interest have been extracted using transforms such as Fourier, discrete cosine, Hilbert, chirp-z, and Karhunen-Loève. Such features have been used to build a training and a validation set useful to feed a classifier (J48) able to accomplish the material recognition step. The effectiveness of the proposed methodology has been experimentally tested. Good predictive accuracies of materials have been obtained. Moreover, experiments have shown that the combination of multiple transforms increases the robustness and reliability of the computed features, although the shutter value can heavily affect the prediction rates

Tuberculous otitis media with facial paralysis: microbiological and clinical study

Tuberculosis is a serious infectious disease affecting various organs and tissues even if the lung is the most commonly involved site.A case of tuberculous otitis media in a patient who had no history of tuberculosis is herewith presented with the aim of increasing the awareness of this disease whose diagnosis is often delayed because either of the rarity of this pathologic condition or of its usually indolent course

A technology platform for automatic high-level tennis game analysis

Sports video research is a popular topic that has been applied to many prominent sports for a large spectrum of applications. In this paper we introduce a technology platform which has been developed for the tennis context, able to extract action sequences and provide support to coaches for players performance analysis during training and official matches. The system consists of an hardware architecture, devised to acquire data in the tennis context and for the specific domain requirements, and a number of processing modules which are able to track both the ball and the players, to extract semantic information from their interactions and automatically annotate video sequences. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate that the proposed combination of hardware and software modules is able to extract 3D ball trajectories robust enough to evaluate ball changes of direction recognizing serves, strokes and bounces. Starting from these information, a finite state machine based decision process can be employed to evaluate the score of each action of the game. The entire platform has been tested in real experiments during both training sessions and matches, and results show that automatic annotation of key events along with 3D positions and scores can be used to support coaches in the extraction of valuable information about players intentions and behaviours

Tuberculous Otitis Media with Facial Paralysis: A Clinical and Microbiological Diagnosis—A Case Report

The tuberculosis of the ear is rare, and in most cases the clinical picture resembles that of a chronic otitis media. The diagnosis is often delayed, and this can lead to irreversible complications such as hearing loss and/or facial paralysis. In view of its rare occurrence, we report a case of primary tuberculous otitis media in a 87-year-old female patient. The diagnosis was made on the basis of both histological and microbiological findings. In particular, gene amplification techniques such as real-time polymerase chain reaction are useful method for rapid diagnosis and detecting tuberculous bacilli usually present at very low number. Early diagnosis is essential for the prompt institution of antituberculous therapy

A rare case of acute abdomen in the adult: The intestinal duplication cyst. case report and review of the literature

Introduction: Duplications of the gastrointestinal tract are rare congenital anomalies that can occur anywhere throughout the gastrointestinal tract. The reported incidence is 1/4500, and more than 80% occurs before the age of two as an acute abdomen or bowel obstruction. The most common site is Ileum (60%), while the colonic localisation is reported between 4 and 18%. Presentation of the case: Herein we report the case of a 35-year-old man, presented at the Emergency Department with fever and localised abdominal pain in the right iliac fossa. Preoperative abdominal ultrasound and CT scan showed a cystic mass of 44 × 43 × 70 mm adjoining the posterior wall of the right colon. He underwent explorative laparoscopy, laparotomy conversion, right hemicolectomy with an intra-operative diagnosis of colonic duplication cyst, confirmed by histology. Discussion: The review of the literature showed as the intestinal duplication cysts are rare congenital anomalies. The clinical presentation is variable and depends on the site and the related complications. A surgical approach based on the resection of the involved bowel tract is the treatment associated with the best long-term outcomes. Conclusion: It is important to include intestinal duplication in the differential diagnosis of acute abdomen, to ensure the best therapeutic strategy

RANKL-RANK-OPG Pathway in Charcot Diabetic Foot: Pathophysiology and Clinical-Therapeutic Implications

Charcot Foot (CF), part of a broader condition known as Charcot Neuro-Osteoarthropathy (CNO), is characterized by neuropathic arthropathy with a progressive alteration of the foot. CNO is one of the most devastating complications in patients with diabetes mellitus and peripheral neuropathy but can also be caused by neurological or infectious diseases. The pathogenesis is multifactorial; many studies have demonstrated the central role of inflammation and the Receptor Activator of NF-kappa B ligand (RANKL)-Receptor Activator of NF-kappa B (RANK)-Osteoprotegerin (OPG) pathway in the acute phase of the disease, resulting in the serum overexpression of RANKL. This overexpression and activation of this signal lead to increased osteoclast activity and osteolysis, which is a prelude to bone destruction. The aim of this narrative review is to analyze this signaling pathway in bone remodeling, and in CF in particular, to highlight its clinical aspects and possible therapeutic implications of targeting drugs at different levels of the pathway. Drugs that act at different levels in this pathway are anti-RANKL monoclonal antibodies (Denosumab), bisphosphonates (BP), and calcitonin. The literature review showed encouraging data on treatment with Denosumab, although in a few studies and in small sample sizes. In contrast, BPs have been re-evaluated in recent years in relation to the high possibility of side effects, while calcitonin has shown little efficacy on CNO

Object-Based Similarity Assessment Using Land Cover Meta-Language (LCML): Concept, Challenges, and Implementation

Land cover (LC) is an essential variable for environmental monitoring in many application domains. The detection of changes in LC can support the understanding of environmental dynamics. However, LC legends present a high degree of inconsistencies that significantly reduce their usability. This study investigates the effectiveness of ISO standard 19144-2, better known as Land Cover Meta-Language (LCML), to improve the standardization and harmonization of different LC taxonomies and maps. LCML vocabulary and syntactic rules facilitate the integration of natural resources information. LC classes are represented by a sequence of "Basic Elements" and attributes defined as "Properties" and "Characteristics." Such elements are formalized in a Unified Modeling Language class diagram. This study presents first, a method to evaluate and score the "similarity" of different LCML legends, second, an application of the similarity assessment criteria to an area located in Bangladesh for translating its specific LCML legend into a different taxonomy, i.e., the System of Environmental Economic Accounting, and third, a Python implementation to be incorporated in new or already existing tools. The results obtained show that when class similarity assessment is carried out by Basic Elements only, the process performs well for simple classes. When classes are characterized by similar basic elements (e.g., biotic elements) structure, the introduction of class properties is needed to disambiguate complex situations. The findings indicate that the proposed methodology can exploit LCML land feature semantic representation. Moreover, it can be used for translating LCML classes into different taxonomies, for facilitating class comparison and change detection