Ultrasonographic Evaluation of the Hypospadiac Penis in Children

INTRODUCTION: Identifying key anatomical features of the hypospadiac penis is crucial to better understanding this pathology and guiding surgical reconstruction plans, thereby achieving superior functional and cosmetic outcomes. OBJECTIVE: To Assess the feasibility and precision of penile ultrasonography (PUG) in determining key structural features for hypospadias cases (including distal extent of the spongiosal component of the urethral plate, to elucidate the healing process following tubularised incised-plate urethroplasty). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Twenty-five children with hypospadias were assessed using PUG prior to surgical repair and then again under general anesthesia. Preoperative images were acquired using ultrasonography in sagittal and transverse planes, then later compared with anatomical findings obtained during surgical repair of urethral hypoplasia. RESULTS: Median patient age was 1.2 years (range 0.5–12) and hypospadias types included coronal 17/25 (68%), mid-penile 5/25 (20%), and proximal penile 3/25 (12%). Distinct layers of the corpus spongiosa and mucosal layer, Buck fascia, tunica albuginea, glans, corpora cavernosa, and penile skin were delineated so that their spatial inter-relationship could be assessed. Distal extent of the spongiosal component of the urethral plate was determined by the mid-glans B-B line. The extent of urethral hypoplasia identified by PUG was relatively similar to measurements obtained intraoperatively. CONCLUSION: PUG is a feasible and accurate approach to evaluating penile configuration in children with hypospadias. Distal extent of the spongiosal component of the urethral plate was accurately determined, hence PUG could potentially be used to improve surgical planning and appraisal of current repair procedures

Does Number of Ports Affect Outcomes in Patients Undergoing Laparoscopic Pyloromyotomy? Retrospective Chart-Review Study

Background. Although open Ramstedt's pyloromyotomy is the gold standard for the surgical management of infantile hypertrophic pyloric stenosis, laparoscopic pyloromyotomy has been found highly successful. Various factors, however, can affect the outcomes of surgical interventions in these patients. We observed a relationship between the number of ports used and outcome in patients undergoing laparoscopic pyloromyotomies. Methods. We retrospectively assessed the medical records of selected group of patients who underwent laparoscopic pyloromyotomy in our institution. Factors analyzed included operation time, length of hospital stay, postoperative complications, and time to postoperative full feeding. Results. We observed failure of myotomy in both two patients who underwent laparoscopic pyloromyotomy using only two working ports compared to successful myotomies in the remaining patients. Conclusion. Laparoscopy provides good results in terms of intraoperative exposure and cosmesis. However, standardized surgical technique with two working ports is advisable, and this can trigger further research to be ascertained

Predicting Shear Capacity of RC Beams Strengthened with NSM FRP Using Neural Networks

This research aims to predict the shear capacity of NSM FRP beams using the neural network method. The study investigates the key considerations and the necessary analysis for this prediction. NSM FRP beams are reinforced concrete beams that are strengthened with near-surface mounted (NSM) fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites. Accurately predicting their shear capacity is important for ensuring their safety and reliability in real-world applications. The neural network method is a machine learning approach that is increasingly used in engineering analysis and design. The study explores how this method can be used to predict the shear capacity of NSM FRP beams and what factors should be taken into account in this analysis. The research also discusses the analytical approach required for this prediction, highlighting the necessary steps for obtaining accurate results. Overall, this study provides valuable insights into the use of the neural network method for predicting the shear capacity of NSM FRP beams. The findings can help inform future research and practical applications in the field of structural engineering, contributing to the development of safer and more reliable structures

Automatic Change of SDR Parameters\u27 Values During Runtime in GNURADIO for Satellite Communication Subsystem

Shifting from traditional hardware radios to the Software-Defined Radio (SDR) is becoming reality, and SDRs are going rapidly to dominate the satellite communication subsystems. For testing designs, researchers use many tools such as the popular GNURADIO software which programs and controls SDR devices by providing signal processing blocks implementing the desired signals as well as hardware interface blocks. It is user-friendly and simple to beginners. Moreover, it has powerful and advanced capabilities for more complex missions. In some cases, we need to modify communication parameters such as frequency, data rate or modulation scheme without relaunching the program. Many times, the values of these changes are not available until the runtime, thus parameter’s new values need to be fed to the communication program while it is running. As a case study, this paper presents a method of changing SDR transmit and receive frequency in GNURADIO to compensate for the doppler shift effect. The main code that is generated by GNURADIO in Python is modified and linked with another Python program to calculate doppler shift frequencies. The real-time frequency value is fed to the SDR device blocks in GNURADIO while it is running using networking protocols. The frequency calculation code is based on PyEphem library. This program uses the two-line elements set (TLE) to know the satellite position then it uses the ground station coordinates as an input in order to find the relative velocity which is the main factor to calculate the doppler shift frequencies. The system is tested using a laptop, Raspberry Pi 4, LimeSDR and RTL-SDR devices. Methods of handling such issues directly affect the efficiency of the communication which lead to more robust links to improve satellites data delivery capacity

Performance Assessment of Screw Piles Embedded in Soft Clay

Screw piles are widely used in a variety engineering applications supplying stability against compression, overturning moment, uplift tension, and horizontal loads. Screw pile is a famous solution for support light structures, roads and rail signs which have relatively low-capacity foundation. In this study, the behavior of circular (10) mm solid screw pile models embedded in a bed of soft clay soil covering a layer of sandy soil has been studied. The 200 mm thick sand layer was compacted in a steel container with a diameter of 300 mm into four sublayers. The sandy soil layer was compacted at a relative density of 70%. The 300 mm thick soft clay soil bed with Cu (30) kPa was compacted in six sub-layers on the sandy bottom layer. Model tests are carried out with screw piles with a length of 300 mm, 350 mm and 400 mm and a helix diameter of 30 mm. Also, single and double helix and different S/Dh ratio were used for these piles and a comparative study between screw piles and ordinary piles (without helices) is accomplished. This study revealed that introducing screw pile of double helix increases its bearing capacity in soft clay soil by up to a (4-8) % as compared to a single helix screw pile. The results showed that the behavior of screw pile essentially depends on the geometric properties of the pile. According to the achievements, compressive load capacity of screw piles depends on embedded length, spacing ratio (S/Dh) and number of helical plates

Improvement of Unconfined Compressive Strength of Natural Organic Soil

The aim of this paper is to investigate the possible improvement of unconfined compressive strength of natural organic soil by using cement dust and fly ash. Natural organic soil with different percentage of organic content (0, 5, 10.15 and 20 %) is used. Three different percentages of cement dust and fly ash (3, 6 and 9 %) are used to improve the strength characteristics of the organic soil. The effect of curing time is investigates. The result show that unconfined compressive strength of organic soil decreased with increasing the organic content. The addition of cement dust increased the unconfined compressive strength for all percentage of organic content, while the addition of fly ash improved the strength characteristics of organic soil for samples with organic content greater than 10 %. Keywords: organic content, unconfined compressive strength, cement dust, fly ash

Bilateral Neonatal Testicular Torsion; Hidden Surgical Nightmare

Perinatal testicular torsion is a relatively rare event that remains unidentified in many situations and managed only after an avoidable delay of time. Its current management approaches include watchful observation, delayed contralateral orchiopexy, and emergent contralateral orchiopexy. On the other hand, bilateral torsion is now being more frequently reported. However, the assessment of the contralateral testis through physical examination and imaging can be inaccurate in cases of perinatal torsion. We report a case of prenatal testicular torsion with incidentally discovered metachronous contralateral extravaginal testicular torsion. Therefore, immediate surgical intervention is recommended both when uni- or bilateral testicular torsion is suspected. Whenever possible, affected testes should be preserved as some endocrine function may be retained

Oman Medical Specialty Board An Unusual Cause of Gastrointestinal Obstruction: Bezoar

Abstract Bezoars are concretions of swallowed hair, fruit vegetable fibers, and similar substances found in the alimentary canal. The first description of a postmortem human bezoar was by Swain in 1854. Although the prevalence of bezoars in humans is low, an absence of treatment has been associated with mortality rates as high as 30%, primarily because of gastrointestinal bleeding, destruction, or perforation

Computer-Aided Design for Safe Autonomous Vehicles

This paper details the design of an autonomous vehicle CAD toolchain, which captures formal descriptions of driving scenarios in order to develop a safety case for an autonomous vehicle (AV). Rather than focus on a particular component of the AV, like adaptive cruise control, the toolchain models the end-to-end dynamics of the AV in a formal way suitable for testing and verification. First, a domain-specific language capable of describing the scenarios that occur in the day-to-day operation of an AV is defined. The language allows the description and composition of traffic participants, and the specification of formal correctness requirements. A scenario described in this language is an executable that can be processed by a specification-guided automated test generator (bug hunting), and by an exhaustive reachability tool. The toolchain allows the user to exploit and integrate the strengths of both testing and reachability, in a way not possible when each is run alone. Finally, given a particular execution of the scenario that violates the requirements, a visualization tool can display this counter-example and generate labeled sensor data. The effectiveness of the approach is demonstrated on five autonomous driving scenarios drawn from a collection of 36 scenarios that account for over 95% of accidents nationwide. These case studies demonstrate robustness-guided verification heuristics to reduce analysis time, counterexample visualization for identifying controller bugs in both the discrete decision logic and low-level analog (continuous) dynamics, and identification of modeling errors that lead to unrealistic environment behavior