Computerized Monitoring System Research Articles

Alarm Deadband Design Based on Maximum Amplitude Deviations and Bayesian Estimation

Alarm deadbands are commonly used in modern computerized monitoring systems to avoid false alarms. A new method is proposed to design an alarm deadband, to achieve a desired percentage of removed false alarms with respect to the counterparts without using an alarm deadband. An optimal value of the deadband width is determined based on the cumulative probability of maximum amplitude deviations between an alarm threshold and values of a process variable in the alarm state. The Bayesian estimation approach is used to evaluate whether the estimated cumulative probability is reliable and whether the designed deadband width is trustworthy. Existing methods are either limited to independently and identically distributed (IID) process variables or require complicated techniques of Kalman filters or particle filters for non-IID ones. By contrast, the proposed method is simple for implementation and has no discriminations to IID and non-IID process variables. Numerical and industrial examples are provided to support the proposed method.

Carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium: The value of a computerized monitoring system to limit their spread

ObjectiveTo quickly implement Infection Prevention and Control measures (“search and isolate” strategy), a computerized monitoring system for carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE) and Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VRE) carrier and contact patients has been developed in our hospital since 2014. The objectives were to assess the value of a computerized monitoring system in CPE and VRE management and to evaluate the relevance of extended monitoring of all contact patients. MethodsUsing the data extracted from the computerized system, we conducted a descriptive analysis of CPE and VRE carriers detected from 2004 to 2019 and CPE and VRE extensive contact patients (when hospital stay overlapped with the stay of a carrier in the same unit) from 2014 to 2019. ResultsBetween 2015 and 2019 (microbiological data only available during this period), 113 CPE and 558 VRE carriers were registered in the database (DB). Among them, 33.9% CPE and 12.8% VRE carriers were infected (p = 0.02). The most frequent infections were urinary tract infections (52.0%), bloodstream infections (20.0%) and pneumonia (16.0%).Close to 8000 (7679) extended contact patients were exposed. Only 26.2% of them were removed from the DB because of appropriate negative post-exposure rectal screenings. No rectal screening was performed in 33.5% of contact patients.Between 2014 and 2019, 16 outbreaks occurred. The proportion of infected carriers differed significantly between outbreaks (index cases) and non-epidemic episodes (50.0% and 20.5% respectively, p = 0.03).The detection system was able to control diffusion in 99.7% of readmissions of known carriers. Among the 360 readmissions detected by the system, only one was involved in an outbreak due to non-compliance with infection control measures. ConclusionGiven the low screening completion rate (26.2%) and the low detection rate (1.3%), extended monitoring of contact patients does not seem relevant. After five years of use, the computerized monitoring system has demonstrated its effectiveness in terms of responsiveness and limitation of the spread of multidrug-resistant organisms.

Increasing quality of the wireless module for monitoring and supervision of sound series of the expanded purpose

The sound series are considered as an addition to visual and thermal imaging information flows when using computerized monitoring systems (CS). A minimum complete structure of spaced microphones for collecting data on sound rows, which is suitable for calibrating, isolating and transmitting data on sound anomalies (SA), is proposed. Duplication of the data transmission channel by wire and Wi-Fi module for recording and determining the type and coordinates of the SA is provided. An experimental receiving module has been assembled, which includes microphones, amplifiers and signals matching boards for digital and analog forms, an ARDUINO UNO WIFI REV2 controller with an integrated Wi-Fi module. It is presented that its addition with a personal computer and a smartphone with the Android operating system forms a CS for remote wireless control of the course of the experimental analysis of sound series. It has been confirmed experimentally that its structure is minimally complete. An algorithm was developed and a software package was written in C/C++ languages. It is shown that the number of microphones is selected from the conditions of the problem from 1 to 5, but their number is limited to five digital inputs of the ARDUINO UNO WIFI REV2 board. A wave representation of the law of temporal changes in intensity and the integral norm of SA is applied. The possibilities of calibrating all data of sound series in analog and digital form are demonstrated. The article presents the suitability of testing the algorithms for determining the phases of echograms from time series data, containing SAs of different origins and recorded by three different microphones. The effect of connecting a Wi-Fi module on reducing the voltage drop by 0.5–1 V is shown. The necessity of an additional registration condition for all microphones is demonstrated. The software interfaces for the calibration of the receiving module and the operation of the mobile application have been developed.

Effect of sleep-disturbed breathing on maxillofacial growth and development in school-aged children

ABSTRACT Purpose : In children, snoring and apnoea cause impairments in growth, cognitive function, attention, and school performance. In this study, we aimed to identify the association between craniofacial disharmony and paediatric sleep-disordered breathing. Materials and Methods : Forty-one patients with malocclusion (19 boys; 22 girls; mean age, 10.0 ± 2.1 years) were selected from our hospital. The relationship between maxillofacial morphology, pharyngeal airway form, and nasal respiratory function was examined using cephalometric analysis and skeletal patterns. All patients underwent portable monitoring with an overnight out-of-centre sleep testing protocol that could be performed at home using a portable computerized monitoring system. Results : The respiratory disturbance index was significantly greater in patients with mandibular retrusion than those with malocclusion. Arterial oxygen saturation and nasopharyngeal area were significantly smaller in participants with Class II malocclusion than in those with other types of malocclusion. Moreover, dental cast model analyses confirmed that patients with reduced transverse maxillary dimensions had a higher obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS) risk than those with malocclusion. Therefore, patients with mandibular retrusion have a higher OSAS risk than those with other types of malocclusion. Conclusion : Childhood maxillofacial morphology may influence adult OSAS, and early treatment for children with OSAS may help prevent adult OSAS.

Role and applications of IoT in materials and manufacturing industries – Review

In recent trends, all industries are converted into smart and digital based concepts due to rapid production and quality assurance. The control system and computerized monitoring systems are used in modern industries. The sensors, software and other technologies are playing an essential role in industries. It is used to connect and exchange the data with other devices and systems through internet. These concepts are covered in Internet of Things (IoT) and it acts as a convergence of multiple technologies. The present paper is deals with the role of IoT in materials and manufacturing industries through different collection of literature reviews.

The educational organizations buildings and infrastructure health indicators’ monitoring by means of information systems

The development of computerized monitoring systems for the educational environment health-saving indicators is currently one of the most urgent tasks of pedagogical research. The article presents the experience of using the information system developed by the Don State Technical University and used to conduct the monitoring studies in 1210 educational institutions of the Rostov region. The information system for monitoring the education sector includes monitoring the indicators of the educational organizations’ property complex, the technical condition of the school building and the institutions’ visual environment design. The information system used in the Rostov Region is the first computerized system for monitoring the environment of educational institutions in the Russian Federation, which allows automatic control of the environmental factors for students and institutions’ property complex technical re-equipment optimization to ensure the health activities of schools throughout the region.

Результати розробки та дослідження комп’ютеризованої системи моніторингу кліматичних параметрів для сільськогосподарських об’єктів

Nowadays, most countries are projecting the scientific and practical development vector on the introduction of modern computer information and measuring technologies into the agricultural sector. This fact positively affects the national economy growth. One of the most important and informative stages of the crops growing on the open ground is the agricultural work objective planning taking into account climatic factors in real time. The main purpose of the article is rationale of the structural-algorithmic organization of the computerized monitoring system of climatic parameters for agricultural growing crops facilities, which can improve the efficiency of the agricultural growing crops activities in the field conditions. The analysis and logical generalization of the known research results of the development and implementation subject area of the monitoring computerized systems of climatic parameters has been carried out in the article, which made possible to substantiate the promising tasks of the research work. The main scientific and practical results of the article are: substantiation of the component base of the studied computerized monitoring system taking into account field operating conditions; development of the software component of the studied system for computerized monitoring of the climatic parameters; substantiation of the structural-algorithmic organization of the computerized monitoring system; laboratory and field testing of the developed system; recommendations substantiation of the implementation in real operating conditions. Also, promising areas of research have been justified in the presented scientific work, that are aimed at achieving the practical effect from the developed system implementation into agricultural enterprises.

Freshwater shrimp farm monitoring system for Bangladesh based on internet of things

SummaryThe freshwater shrimp (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) fisheries sector is of vital significance to the economy of Bangladesh. This sector plays an important role in supplying nutrition, employment creation, poverty alleviation, and overseas currency acquisition. Rapid population growth, environmental pollution, and global warming are reducing the production level of the fisheries (freshwater shrimp) sector. There are various environmental metrics, such as acidity and salinity level of water, turbidity, dissolved oxygen level, and so on, which play a vital role in the effective production of shrimps. It is hence paramount environmental and production parameters be constantly monitored to ensure quality in the production chain. Nevertheless, old‐fashioned (ie, manual) monitoring systems are cumbersome, time‐consuming, and never performed in real time. Therefore, a constant and computerized monitoring system is the only way to handle those metrics efficiently and in real time. In order to address these problems, a real‐time freshwater shrimp farm monitoring system is presented in this article. This monitoring system integrates technologies such as microcontroller‐based physical devices, internet of things, and web applications, that allow users to remotely monitor a shrimp farm, as well as to receive alerts when an out‐of‐range water parameter (ie, temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, salinity level, and turbidity of water) is detected. The physical implementation of this system consists of a set of sensors that allow for collecting data about the water metrics of shrimp farm. This system was evaluated to test its effectiveness in terms of the size, weight, and the percentage of survival of the shrimp achieved when the shrimp culture pond is monitored by this system.

Fabrication of a novel electrochemical aptasensor assisted by a novel computerized monitoring system for real-time determination of the prostate specific antigen: A computerized experimental method brought elegancy

In this work, a novel and efficient aptasensor assisted by a computerized monitoring system namely SACMES was introduced for real time determination of the prostate specific antigen (PSA). The platform of the aptasensor was a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) modified with graphene quantum dots-chitosan-nafion-ionic liquid/multiwalled carbon nanotubes-graphene-ionic liquid/polypyrrole-MoS2-ionic liquid-AuPt nanoparticles/aptamer (APT/Ppy-MoS2-IL-AuPt NPs/MWCNTs-Gr-IL/GQDs-CS-NAF-IL/GCE). After characterization of the steps of the modification process used to fabricate the aptasensor by electrochemical and microscopic techniques, its square wave voltammetric (SWV) responses at different frequencies as a large-volume of electrochemical data were calibrated with the help of SACMES as an efficient software which helped us to develop an interesting method for real time determination of the PSA. Our records confirmed that the aptasensor response was linearly correlated with PSA concentration in the range of 0.5–350 pg mL−1 with a detection limit of 0.14 pg mL−1. Our results also confirmed that aptasensor was stable, repeatable, reproducible, selective and sensitive for determination of the PSA and its performance in the analysis of real samples was acceptable.

Determination of the Computerized Monitoring System Structure of the Small-Scaly Turbulence of the Water Environment Hydrophysical Fields

The algorithm definition of system’ optimum structure of monitoring hydrophysical fields of the water environment inhomogeneities that provides a specified measurement uncertainty with the minimum cost of the equipment and the experiment is proposed. The algorithm uses the object-evolutionary model of the information-measuring system and the vertical arrangement model of small-scale turbulence layers.

Objective Monitoring of Driving Behavior in Parkinson’s Disease: The Utility of the Chula Parkinson Car®

Introduction: Driving competency is important to evaluate among individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD). Driving in natural situations is the preferred assessment method; thus, we used a naturalistic driving environment to identify driving competency among individuals with PD in comparison to healthy age-matched controls. Methods: Based on a power analysis, we recruited 20 participants (10 with PD and 10 healthy age-matched controls). Each participant completed 3 tasks while driving the ChulaPD car, a 4-door sedan installed with computerized monitoring systems. The tasks were forward and backward vehicle movement, reversing into a parking space, and parking parallel to a sidewalk. Trip start and end times, vehicle speed, and acceleration and deceleration times were logged using steering wheel motion, location parking sensors, and dashboard cameras and compared between groups. Results: Age, gender, possession of a driver’s license, present driving conditions, Thai Mini-Mental State Examination score, and driving experience did not significantly differ between groups. However, the PD group took longer to complete the driving tests (p = 0.002), had slower vehicle speeds (p = 0.002), longer brake times (p = 0.007), and decreased brake pressure ability (p = 0.009). Under normalized conditions, the ratio of failed driver’s license tests was also higher among the PD group than in the control group (70 vs. 10%, p = 0.006). Conclusions: Individuals with PD had less-than-adequate driving ability based on our naturalistic setting. Our assessment method may be useful in other populations with chronic illnesses or for older adults. We discuss how naturalistic assessments could become the standard for evaluating driving ability in Thailand and elsewhere.

Long-Term Adherence to Medications in Secondary Prevention of Urinary Tract Stones.

Purpose: To reduce the high recurrence rate of nephrolithiasis, patients are routinely prescribed secondary chemoprevention therapy with alkali citrate (Alkasolve®; Sam-On Ltd) for uric acid stones and hypocitraturia or hydrochlorthiazide (Disothiazide®; Dexcel Ltd) for hypercalciuria. However, data on adherence to these regimens are limited. The aim of this study was to assess rates of long-term adherence to alkali citrate and hydrochlorothiazide and reasons for nonadherence. Materials and Methods: Patients on follow-up for kidney stone disease at a dedicated tertiary stone clinic, from 2010 to 2016, were asked to complete a telephone survey on adherence to secondary prevention medications and reasons for nonadherence. Compliance was also verified by actual drug distribution as reported through a computerized monitoring system. Results: The cohort included 356 patients with mean age of 58 years, 199 (64% men, 36% women) treated with alkali citrate and 143 (68% men, 32% women) treated with hydrochlorothiazide. Adherence rates were 42% in the alkali citrate group and 52% in the hydrochlorothiazide group (p = 0.05). The main reason for noncompliance in the alkali citrate group (22%) was the number of pills needed to be taken daily. Adverse drug effects were the most common reason for noncompliance in the hydrochlorothiazide group (24%) and in 10% of the alkali citrate group (p < 0.0005). Adherence was poorer in younger patients who did not regularly take other medications than in older patients with other chronic diseases and polypharmacy. Conclusions: About half the patients with clear metabolic abnormalities who were prescribed secondary chemoprevention with hydrochlorothiazide and alkali citrate failed to adhere to the prescribed regimen. Reasons for noncompliance differed between both drugs. The findings of this study may help clinicians to identify patients at risk for nonadherence and suggests potential means to improve compliance rates.

Open field and a behavior score in PNT model for neuropathic pain in pigs.

BackgroundRodent models are frequently used in the research of pain and continue to provide valuable data on the mechanisms driving pain, although they are criticized due to limited translational ability to human conditions. Previously we have suggested pigs as a model for development of drugs for neuropathic pain. In this study, we investigate the spontaneous behavior of pigs following peripheral neuritis trauma (PNT)-induced neuropathic pain.MethodsA computerized monitoring system was used to evaluate the changes in open field test in addition to applying a composite behavior scoring system. The data suggest that the PNT operation did not affect the animal’s ability to walk as the total distance walked by PNT animals was not significantly different from the total distance walked by sham-operated animals. However, PNT animals expressed a significant change in the pattern of walking. This effect was unrelated to the time that the animals spent in the open field. Following treatment with different drugs (morphine, buprenorphine, or gabapentin), the walking pattern of the animals in the open field changed in a drug-specific manner. In addition, the detailed behavior score revealed drug-specific changes following treatment.ResultsPharmacokinetic analysis of the drug concentration in blood and cerebrospinal fluid correlated with the behavioral analysis.ConclusionThe data of this study suggest that the open field test together with the detailed behavior score applied in this model are a powerful tool to assess the spontaneous behavior of pigs following PNT-induced neuropathic pain.

Modern approaches to therapy of burn shock

The article is an overview of publications 2015-2017 on the problems of the infusion therapy of burn shock. Restoration of central and peripheral hemodynamics in the acute period of burn injury is an extremely difficult problem due to the fact that the fluid is especially poorly retained in the bloodstream because of the "capillary leakage" syndrome. A large amount of infusion is dangerous for the development of interstitial edema of tissues and multiple organ failure, therefore the main part of the research is devoted to the development of new methods for optimal infusion therapy of burn shock. At this time, the best results in the treatment of patients during burn shock stage are achieved by the application of early goal directed individualized therapy. This strategy provides for a differentiat ed choice of a combination of colloids and crystalloids for the constant monitoring of hemodynamics using instrumental methods. Further increase in the effectiveness of burn resustication researchers are ass ociated with the use of computerized monitoring systems for infusion therapy, as well as with the improvement of solutions used for transfusion.

Monitoring of Wild Pseudomonas Biofilm Strain Conditions Using Statistical Characterization of Scanning Electron Microscopy Images

The present paper proposes a novel method of quantification of the variation in biofilm architecture, in correlation with the alteration of growth conditions that include, variations of substrate and conditioning layer. The polymeric biomaterial serving as substrates are widely used in implants and indwelling medical devices, while the plasma proteins serve as the conditioning layer. The present method uses descriptive statistics of FESEM images of biofilms obtained during a variety of growth conditions. We aim to explore here the texture and fractal analysis techniques, to identify the most discriminatory features which are capable of predicting the difference in biofilm growth conditions. We initially extract some statistical features of biofilm images on bare polymer surfaces, followed by those on the same substrates adsorbed with two different types of plasma proteins, viz. Bovine serum albumin (BSA) and Fibronectin (FN), for two different adsorption times. The present analysis has the potential to act as a futuristic technology for developing a computerized monitoring system in hospitals with automated image analysis and feature extraction, which may be used to predict the growth profile of an emerging biofilm on surgical implants or similar medical applications.

Qualification of computerized monitoring systems in a cell therapy facility compliant with the good manufacturing practices.

Computerized systems (CS) are essential in the development and manufacture of cell-based medicines and must comply with good manufacturing practice, thus pushing academic developers to implement methods that are typically found within pharmaceutical industry environments. Qualitative and quantitative risk analyses were performed by Ishikawa and Failure Mode and Effects Analysis, respectively. A process for qualification of a CS that keeps track of environmental conditions was designed and executed. The simplicity of the Ishikawa analysis permitted to identify critical parameters that were subsequently quantified by Failure Mode Effects Analysis, resulting in a list of test included in the qualification protocols. The approach presented here contributes to simplify and streamline the qualification of CS in compliance with pharmaceutical quality standards.

Pain Assessment--Can it be Done with a Computerised System? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: Mobile and web technologies are becoming increasingly used to support the treatment of chronic pain conditions. However, the subjectivity of pain perception makes its management and evaluation very difficult. Pain treatment requires a multi-dimensional approach (e.g., sensory, affective, cognitive) whence the evidence of technology effects across dimensions is lacking. This study aims to describe computerised monitoring systems and to suggest a methodology, based on statistical analysis, to evaluate their effects on pain assessment. Methods: We conducted a review of the English-language literature about computerised systems related to chronic pain complaints that included data collected via mobile devices or Internet, published since 2000 in three relevant bibliographical databases such as BioMed Central, PubMed Central and ScienceDirect. The extracted data include: objective and duration of the study, age and condition of the participants, and type of collected information (e.g., questionnaires, scales). Results: Sixty-two studies were included, encompassing 13,338 participants. A total of 50 (81%) studies related to mobile systems, and 12 (19%) related to web-based systems. Technology and pen-and-paper approaches presented equivalent outcomes related with pain intensity. Conclusions: The adoption of technology was revealed as accurate and feasible as pen-and-paper methods. The proposed assessment model based on data fusion combined with a qualitative assessment method was revealed to be suitable. Data integration raises several concerns and challenges to the design, development and application of monitoring systems applied to pain.

Neural network of Gaussian radial basis functions applied to the problem of identification of nuclear accidents in a PWR nuclear power plant

The task of monitoring a nuclear power plant consists on determining, continuously and in real time, the state of the plant’s systems in such a way to give indications of abnormalities to the operators and enable them to recognize anomalies in system behavior. The monitoring is based on readings of a large number of meters and alarm indicators which are located in the main control room of the facility. On the occurrence of a transient or of an accident on the nuclear power plant, even the most experienced operators can be confronted with conflicting indications due to the interactions between the various components of the plant systems; since a disturbance of a system can cause disturbances on another plant system, thus the operator may not be able to distinguish what is cause and what is the effect. This cognitive overload, to which operators are submitted, causes a difficulty in understanding clearly the indication of an abnormality in its initial phase of development and in taking the appropriate and immediate corrective actions to face the system failure. With this in mind, computerized monitoring systems based on artificial intelligence that could help the operators to detect and diagnose these failures have been devised and have been the subject of research. Among the techniques that can be used in such development, radial basis functions (RBFs) neural networks play an important role due to the fact that they are able to provide good approximations to functions of a finite number of real variables. This paper aims to present an application of a neural network of Gaussian radial basis functions for the construction of a diagnostic system that is able to assist the operator in the identification of three nuclear accidents postulated for a nuclear power plant with a pressurized water reactor.

Time required to determine performance variables and production efficiency of lactating dairy cows

Thirty-five lactating dairy cows throughout weeks of lactation (WOL) 16 to 30 were used to determine optimal time needed for reliable measurement of performance variables, and to classify the cows into high-, medium-, and low-efficiency groups. Individual performance variables [body weight (BW), dry matter intake (DMI), and milk production] were measured daily with a computerized monitoring system. Body condition was visually scored weekly and used to calculate retained or depleted body energy as a result of fat content change (REF). Milk composition was analyzed weekly. Body weight, DMI, and total recovered energy (RE), which represents energy in milk production plus REF, were summarized weekly. Efficiency was calculated as RE/DMI and as residual feed intake (RFI; i.e., the difference between actual and expected DMI), which was calculated from multiple linear regression of DMI dependence on BW0.75 and RE. Unexpectedly, it was found that BW did not affect DMI and RE/DMI. Changes and relative changes in phenotypic coefficient of variation and correlations among data from shortened tests ranging from 1wk (WOL 16) to a sequence of 15-wk tests were used to determine optimal test period durations for 5 traits: BW, DMI, RE, RE/DMI, and RFI. Traits were fitted into a mixed model with repeated measures. For each week, the traits were summarized as a sequence of cumulative data, starting from WOL 16 and cumulated over periods that increased in 1-wk steps up to WOL 16 to 29. Weekly cumulations were compared with those for entire test period (WOL 16 to 30). Consistency of each cow’s efficiency classification as high, medium, or low was tested by the total-agreement procedure; the kappa index P-value was used. Throughout WOL 16 to 30, the effects of increasing test period duration on between-animal coefficient of variation differed with respect to the various performance variables and RE/DMI: it tended to change with respect to BW, did not change with respect to DMI, and decreased with respect to RE and RE/DMI. In conclusion, compared with a 15-wk study, a 2-wk study can classify RFI and RE/DMI to 3 efficiency levels, with an individual correlation coefficient of 0.6. When the study was carried out over 3wk or more, the lowest significant index of the classification was P<0.004, the lowest individual correlation coefficient was 0.65, and its lowest significance was P<0.01. The current study indicated that the insignificant effect of the BW of dairy lactating cows on their DMI should be validated in more studies.

Impact of Computerized Banking Monitoring Information System onthe Performance of Nigerian Banking Industry. (A Case Study of Zenith Bank Plc.)

The paper vividly takes a look at the implementation of computerized banking monitoring system in Nigeria banking industry using Zenith bank Nigeria Plc as a case study. Moreover, Computerized banking monitoring information system in Nigerian banking industry is one of the ways the bankers try to reduce fraud and some other irregular activities in transferring cash online. However, the paper makes use of primary data of questionnaires analysis that were distributed to one hundred and fifty (150) staffs of Zenith bank Nigerian Plc. Three hypotheses were tested using spearman's rank correlation coefficient and the result shows thatthe lacks of security on the current automates system has a significant effect on internet banking services and the cost of implementing computerized banking monitoring information system has a significant effect on Zenith bank Performance in Nigeria banking industry. More so, the third results shows that the feasibility in installing computerized monitoring system has a significant effect on banking activities in Zenith bank. Therefore the paper concludes and recommends that when considering using computer monitoring software in the workplace like the banking industry, thorough and extensive research on the technology should be done and the bank should make sure that the monitoring information system in the industry is very efficient and effective in detecting fraud and other irregulaties related to online transaction. Keyword: Computerized banking System, Nigerian banking industry, Spearman's rank correlation coefficient, Zenith bank, online transaction, Computer monitoring software.