Digital Video Recording Research Articles

The study of local mucociliary clearance of the middle nasal meatus in clinically healthy individuals and patients with foreign body in the maxillary sinus

Aim– to obtain the values of local mucociliary clearance (MCC) of the middle nasal meatus in normal conditions and in patients with foreign body in the maxillary sinuses.
 Material and methods.To assess the local MCC, we used the original method of modern high-speed digital video recording of the microscopic picture of the specimen, followed by its mathematical processing. The study included a group of rhinologically healthy individuals (60 people) and a group of patients with foreign body in the maxillary sinus (90 people).
 Results.We obtained the standard values of MCC in rhinologically healthy individuals (11.76 ± 3.01 Hz). In patients with foreign body in the maxillary sinuses, there was a correlation of the local MCC index with the severity of morphological changes, registered by computed tomography (CT), of the paranasal sinuses in the area of the middle nasal meatus and adjacent sinuses. Depending on the results of CT scanning, we identified 3 groups among the patients with foreign bodies in the maxillary sinuses – no morphological changes (CT1), changes outside the ostium (CT2) and pronounced morphological changes in the middle nasal meatus and surrounding paranasal sinuses (CT3). In the CT1 group the average values of the local MCC of the middle nasal meatus were 13.53 ± 2.46 Hz; in group CT2 – 11.71 ± 2.02 Hz; in the CT3 group – 6.84 ± 3.48 Hz. The differences in indicators in groups were statistically significant according to the Mann – Whitney test. The average value of the local MCC of the middle nasal meatus in patients without maxillary sinus mycetoma was 13.30 ± 2.91 Hz, in patients having maxillary sinus mycetoma – 10.74 ± 3.69 Hz; this difference was also statistically significant.

ASSESSMENT OF LOCAL MUCOCILIARY CLEARANCE OF THE MIDDLE NASAL MEATUS AFTER DIFFERENT TYPES OF SURGICAL ACCESS TO THE MAXILLARY SINUS

Abstract. The paper considers an original method for asessment the ciliar beating frequency (CBF) of the ciliated epithelium (mucociliary clearance) of the nasal mucosa using modern high-speed digital video recording of the microscopic picture of the brushed specimen, which followed by mathematical processing. This method used to study the local mucociliary clearance of the middle nasal meatus, which plays a key role in the modern understanding of the osteomeatal complex function. The normal values of the CBF of the middle nasal meatus in healthy individuals (11.76 ± 3.01 Hz) were determined. We studied the changes in the CBF of the ciliary epithelium of the middle nasal meatus with foreign bodies of the maxillary sinus. A correlation found between changes in the CBF of the ciliary epithelium of the middle nasal meatus and the CT changes in the region of the middle nasal meatus and paranasal sinuses. This also determined the effect of surgical trauma on the CBF of the middle nasal meatus and its changes in the early (up to 1 month) and late (1-6 months) following period. We clearly proved the dependence of the mucociliary clearance of the middle nasal meatus on the type of surgical access to the maxillary sinus during surgical interventions for foreign bodies of the maxillary sinus. We revealed certain advantages of transmaxillary and prelacrimal surgical access to the maxillary sinus over endonasal antrostomy during surgical interventions for foreign bodies of the maxillary sinus. Our data allow optimizing surgical interventions on the maxillary sinus with minimization of surgical trauma to the ciliary epithelium of the middle nasal passage and improving the functional and morphological results of surgical treatment of foreign bodies in the maxillary sinuses.

Enhancing Front-Vehicle Detection in Large Vehicle Fleet Management

Transportation safety has been widely discussed for avoiding forward collisions. The broad concept of remote sensing can be applied to detect the front of vehicles without contact. The traditional Haar features use adjacent rectangular areas for many ordinary vehicle studies to detect the front vehicle images in practice. This paper focused on large vehicles using a front-installed digital video recorder (DVR) with a near-infrared (NIR) camera. The views of large and ordinary vehicles are different; thus, this study used a deep learning method to process progressive improvement in moving vehicle detection. This study proposed a You Only Look Once version 4 (YOLOv4) supplemented with the fence method, called YOLOv4(III), to enhance vehicle detection. This method had high detection accuracy and low false omission rates using the general DVR equipment, and it provided comparison results. There was no need to have a high specification front camera, and the proposed YOLOv4(III) was found to have competitive performance. YOLOv4(III) reduced false detection rates and had a more stable frame per second (FPS) performance than with Haar features. This improved detection method can give an alert for large vehicle drivers to avoid serious collisions, leading to a reduction in the waste of social resources.

Biparental incubation behavior in the domestic house-farmed swiftlets (Aerodramus sp.) in central Peninsular Malaysia

Abstract While the breeding biology of the edible-nest swiftlet Aerodramus fuciphagus has previously been studied, research has been limited to direct observations made on cave colonies and details on their incubation behavior remain unknown. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the biparental investment of domestic house-farmed white-nest swiftlets Aerodramus sp. during incubation. This study was conducted at a swiftlet house farm in Bentong, Pahang, central Peninsular Malaysia, from August 2019 to July 2020. An infrared camera connected to a digital video recorder was installed inside the house farm to monitor swiftlets’ daily activities. We determined that the time required for swiftlets to incubate their eggs was 23 ± 0.73 days, while the hatching success rate was 75%. Swiftlets exhibit intermittent incubation with fluctuations in incubation rate from egg-laying until hatching. Both parents incubate equally, with males notably incubate longer at night and females in the morning. The incubation period is influenced by clutch size; parents incubating two eggs have a shorter incubation period than parents that incubating a single egg. Parents alternately exchanged incubation roles when both sexes attended the nest, which often occurred in the early morning before the first emergence period and during nightfall after swiftlets returned to their nests. We identified two behavioral signals during parental exchange: (1) volunteering to move aside and allowing the partner to incubate and (2) being forced by the partner to move aside. The information provided by this study can be useful to bird-nest farmers, who can use it to increase their swiftlet populations by reducing the fatality of nestlings and maintaining a sustainable yield of harvesting.

Prey Delivery Inside an Artificial Nest Box and Burrows Used by Nesting Burrowing Owls in el Paso, Texas

ABSTRACT Determining the diet of species that nest underground, such as the Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia), is challenging. Prey information for Burrowing Owls is often limited to prey remains at nest sites and in owl pellets, images collected from above-ground trail cameras, or direct observations of prey acquisition and delivery. To document prey use and nesting behaviors, we equipped an artificial nest box and burrows at Rio Bosque Wetlands Park in El Paso, Texas, with a digital video recorder and three underground infrared cameras. Herein we document the types and frequencies of prey items delivered inside the nest box during the 2019 nesting season, as reflected in videos and images collected continuously from 1 April to 5 July. We reviewed 23,039 video files and documented 580 prey deliveries. We identified 463 (80%) of the delivered prey items to class and 237 items (41%) to family. Invertebrates made up 75% and vertebrates 25% of the identifiable prey items by frequency. Most (55%) of the invertebrates were insects, especially in the orders Orthoptera and Blattodea; scorpions (Scorpiones) were the second most common group (2% of all items). Vertebrate prey were delivered less often and mostly consisted of rodents (14% of all prey items), especially heteromyids, followed by squamate reptiles (6%). Results from this project will aid in conservation and management of this species.

Effects of Growth Hormone (GH) Supplementation on Dermatoscopic Evolution of Pigmentary Lesions in Children with Growth Hormone Deficiency (GHD)

Recent reports have confirmed higher levels of growth hormone (GH) receptor (GHR) transcripts in malignant melanomas (MM), yet the role of GH in the pathogenesis of MM remains controversial. Although melanocytes appear to be hormonally responsive, the effects of GH on MM cells are less clear. A direct correlation between GH administration and the development of melanoma seems possible. Our study aimed to assess whether GH supplementation in children with growth hormone deficiency (GHD) could induce changes in the melanocytic lesions both from a dimensional and dermoscopic point of view. The study population consisted of 14 patients sorted into two groups. The experimental group consisted of seven GHD pediatric patients who underwent dermatological examination with epiluminescence through the use of digital video recording of all melanocytic lesions before and after 12 months of GH supplementation, whilst the control group consisted of seven healthy pediatric patients matched for age, sex and phototype. All patients were evaluated according to auxological and dermatological features. A total of 225 melanocytic lesions were examined in the experimental group and 236 in the control group. Our study shows a significant increase in the mean size values of the lesions in the study group but not in the control group. Increases in the dermoscopic ABCD Score and in BMI correlated to an increase in the size of the melanocytic lesions and the dermoscopic parameters. The increase in SDS Height correlated with ABCD Score changes and with dermoscopic score structures. No differences were found compared to the control group. Dimensional/structural modifications in melanocytic lesions of patients treated with GH were closely related to weight and statural growth and can be considered a normal physiological process induced by GH supplementation.

Step-by-Step Guide on How to Make a 2-Dimensional Operative Neurosurgical Video: Microsurgical Resection of a Right Lateral Ventricle Subependymoma by an Anterior Interhemispheric Transcallosal Approach.

Digital video recordings are increasingly used across various medical and surgical disciplines with advances in computer hardware and software technologies. The creation of high-quality surgical video footage requires a basic understanding of key technical considerations, together with creativity and sound aesthetic judgment. Online operative videos have become a core resource within neurosurgical education. To provide a step-by-step description for making operative videos using a video from a real case as an example. We recorded an operative video of the microsurgical resection of a right lateral ventricle subependymoma performed by an anterior interhemispheric transcallosal approach. The patient consented to surgical resection of the subependymoma and to publication of this operative video. With the video, we explain the step-by-step process the authors used for developing the raw video into a publishable surgical video. The patient depicted in our video tolerated the surgery well and made a complete recovery. The final video produced from the surgery illustrated elements that Operative Neurosurgery, Neurosurgery, and other journals require in surgical videos. Although more than 1200 peer-reviewed (PubMed) neurosurgical operative videos have been published so far, there has not been a single publication that describes the step-by-step process of producing an operative video. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first published detailed description of editing of an educational operative video in neurosurgery and the first video case report of a microsurgical resection of subependymoma of the lateral ventricle in the peer-reviewed English literature.

Min Jian: The Rise of China's Grassroots Intellectuals

In China, the shock of the June 4, 1989, Tiananmen Massacre abruptly terminated a post-Mao decade of rapid socioeconomic change and halting political liberalization. Deng Xiaoping and old-guard communist leaders decisively rebuffed young and old reform-minded intellectuals who were devoted to the imperial tradition of loyal literati remonstrating with rulers to effect urgently needed changes. This deeply researched and consistently thought-provoking study explores a new turn that Chinese intellectual life took after this debacle. The heterogeneous individuals and groups that Veg subsumes under the deliberately loose-fitting and protean label of min jian (popular, grassroots) intellectuals significantly expanded discursive ground in the 1990s and early 2000s. Whether as freelance writers, independent filmmakers, unofficial and amateur historians, rights lawyers, or journalists and bloggers, their work was facilitated by the internet, the rise of social media, and the availability of new technology (notably, digital video recorders) as well as their own new approaches to addressing persistent social problems.What most of the min jian intellectuals, including many women, had in common was financial independence or, at least, a disdain for material goods in China's increasingly consumerist society. They were impatient with abstract philosophical principles and dogmatism of any kind. Rejecting Marxist class analysis, they were committed to investigating, publicizing, and expediting social change for China's vast number of disadvantaged, exploited, and despised rural dwellers, urban migrants, religious worshippers, vagrants, and sex workers—in short, the lowest rungs of a hierarchical and vastly unequal society dominated by a bureaucratic official caste and nouveaux riches entrepreneurs. Locating themselves between the state and the market economy, the min jian intellectuals focused on concrete problems that individuals were confronting. For example, rights lawyers (weiquan) were bent on helping rural petitioners—dispossessed by avaricious local officials and interred in “black prisons” (invisible and unofficial places of confinement) before being returned home without a proper hearing—to seek justice in Beijing. Unofficial historians gathered the stories of surviving victims of the anti-Rightist campaign of 1957 and the Great Famine of 1959 – 61, most of whose victims were not elite intellectuals but ordinary people crushed by a punitive state. Yang Jisheng's Tombstone, a monumental history of the Great Famine, is one of many books on these disasters that Veg discusses. Independent filmmakers chronicled marginal persons and, in some cases, armed them with digital video recorders to empower them and chronicle their own lives. Whatever the medium of expression, min jian intellectuals provided a counterpoint to the ingrained Chinese tradition of official history and the centrally controlled state monopoly of the media.What is most evident from Veg's copiously footnoted discussion is the vitality, pluralism, and spirited contention among all the different varieties of min jian intellectuals. They did not form a school of thought, nor did they seek consensus. They embodied the free spirit of unfettered inquiry, grounded for many of them in identification with elements of society that Dostoevsky called “the insulted and the injured” in his 1861 novel of that title. Although they were not overtly political and did not pose a frontal threat to the state system but rather worked within its confines to ameliorate its worst features, they were barely tolerated in the 1990s and early 2000s. By the second decade of our century, they were subjected to the intensifying repression that characterizes the reign of Xi Jinping, supreme leader of the Chinese Communist Party. But the spirit that animated the grassroots intellectuals is unlikely to be extirpated and may reemerge, in perhaps different forms, at some time in the future.

Cooperative Buffering Schemes for Time-Shifted Live Streaming of Distributed Appliances

Distributed appliances connected to the Internet have provided various multimedia services. In particular, networked Personal Video Recorders (PVRs) can store broadcast TV programs in their storage devices or receive them from central servers, enabling people to watch the programs they want at any desired time. However, the conventional CDNs capable of supporting a large number of concurrent users have limitations in scalability because more servers are required in proportion to the increased users. To address this problem, we have developed a time-shifted live streaming system over P2P networks so that PVRs can share TV programs with each other. We propose cooperative buffering schemes to provide the streaming services for time-shifted periods even when the number of PVRs playing back at the periods is not sufficient; we do so by utilizing the idle resources of the PVRs playing at the live broadcast time. To determine which chunks to be buffered, they consider the degree of deficiency and proximity and the ratio of playback requests to chunk copies. Through extensive simulations, we show that our proposed buffering schemes can significantly extend the time-shifting hours and compare the performance of two buffering schemes in terms of playback continuity and startup delay.

Usability of Screencast in 1st Basic Physics Lectures During the Covid-19 Pandemic: Student’s Perception Analysis

The enactment of Work from Home (WFH) during the Covid-19 pandemic has affected educational activities. Conventional offline learning must be held online so that effective online learning media is needed. The screencast is an online learning media that believed can provide easy access to students in conducting an online lecture. The screencast is a digital video recording on the computer screen and usually includes audio narration. This study aimed to analyze students' perception on screencast use in 1st Basic Physics lectures during the Covid-19 pandemic. This research involved 76 physics education students in one of the higher education institutions in Tasikmalaya. They consist of 9 males and 67 females in the age range (18-21 years). This research is a descriptive study, with data collection techniques using a Likert scale questionnaire. Analysis of students' perceptions of screencast aspects (content, construct, language, and graphic) are good, with a value of 79. Then, analysis of screencast implications on changes in students' knowledge and skills are a good category with a value of 78. The analysis of students' perceptions found a positive response using screencast in 1st Basic Physics lecture. The screencast can be effective online learning media to enhance student's knowledge and skills

Determination of average vehicle speed utilizing reverse projection.

Reverse projection photogrammetry has long been used to estimate the height of an individual in forensic video examinations. A natural extrapolation would be to apply the same technique on a video to estimate the speed of an object by determining the distance traveled between two points over a set amount of time. To test this theory, five digital video recorders (DVRs) were connected to a single fixed camera to record a vehicle traveling down a track. The vehicle's speed was measured through Doppler radar by a trained operator and the speedometer of the vehicle was also recorded with a video camera. The recorded video was examined and the frames that best depict the beginning and end of the vehicles course were selected. Two reverse projection photogrammetric examinations were performed on the selected frames to establish the position of the vehicle. The distance between the two points was measured, and the time elapsed between the two points was examined. The outcome provided an accurate speed result with a standard degree of uncertainty. This study proves the feasibility of using video data and reverse projection photogrammetry to determine the speed of a vehicle with a limited set of variables. Further research is needed to determine how additional variables would impact the standard degree of uncertainty.

An Automated Approach for Electric Network Frequency Estimation in Static and Non-Static Digital Video Recordings.

Electric Network Frequency (ENF) is embedded in multimedia recordings if the recordings are captured with a device connected to power mains or placed near the power mains. It is exploited as a tool for multimedia authentication. ENF fluctuates stochastically around its nominal frequency at Hz. In indoor environments, luminance variations captured by video recordings can also be exploited for ENF estimation. However, the various textures and different levels of shadow and luminance hinder ENF estimation in static and non-static video, making it a non-trivial problem. To address this problem, a novel automated approach is proposed for ENF estimation in static and non-static digital video recordings. The proposed approach is based on the exploitation of areas with similar characteristics in each video frame. These areas, called superpixels, have a mean intensity that exceeds a specific threshold. The performance of the proposed approach is tested on various videos of real-life scenarios that resemble surveillance from security cameras. These videos are of escalating difficulty and span recordings from static ones to recordings, which exhibit continuous motion. The maximum correlation coefficient is employed to measure the accuracy of ENF estimation against the ground truth signal. Experimental results show that the proposed approach improves ENF estimation against the state-of-the-art, yielding statistically significant accuracy improvements.

Assessment of working conditions and informational loads on car drivers

The article provides an overview of risk factors that are caused by the working conditions of car drivers and provides an example of a methodology for assessing visual loads that were measured using a digital video recorder. To assess real visual loads on a car driver, a method for simultaneous recording of information of visual load and heart rate has been developed and tested. The proposed method made it possible to establish a correlation between the dynamics of the flow of visual traffic information and the response of the driver’s body in the form of response changes in the pulse. The effectiveness of the method was shown and the correlation of video fragments and pulsograms with R = 0.4 was established. The results of the work are applicable to assess the working conditions of car drivers, when visual stress is a leading factor in working conditions, in order to prevent fatigue and road traffic accidents.

Full-field laser heterodyne imaging vibrometry using a CMOS-DVR system.

A laser heterodyne imaging vibrometry is proposed for full-field vibration measurement. The vibration responses are imaged and recorded using a CMOS camera and a digital video recorder. A digital demodulation method based on a cumulative distribution function and autocorrelation is designed to demodulate signals affected by speckle noise. The experimental investigations confirm the viability of the proposed method for vibration measurement. Meanwhile, a comparison with laser Doppler vibrometry is performed to further validate the method. The results prove the proposed vibrometry is an effective and precise option for full-field vibration measurement.

The value of NVR (Network Video Recorder) as a helping hand in criminal investigation

The purpose of this paper is to understand the available closed circuits television available for the purpose of surveillance and to choose the best options to fulfil the higher requirements by providing the best in features that could provide better evidence during an investigation procedure.The main purpose of this paper is to detect the weakness of the digital video recorder technology though which is cost effective but the amount of data provided is ineffective and to highlight the features of network video recorder the successor of DVR which would cover its shortcomings thereby providing higher degree of functionality. The end goal of this project was a fully working wireless network, with appropriate hardware chosen for this task and better video surveillance ensuring security in most vital points.

Effect of in ovo injection of serotonin on the behavior and hormone level in laying hens

Feather pecking is a typically abnormal behavior that significantly impacts breeding efficiency and animal welfare in the egg production sector. Serotonin (5-HT) is essential for neuronal development and behavioral regulation. This study evaluated the effects of birds’ behavioral development (including feather pecking) and changes in serum hormones in chickens followed in ovo injection of 5-HT. On day 11, incubated eggs were injected with 5-HT at 0 (saline control), 5 ug (low) or 15 ug (high) (n = 166 per treatment). The hatched female chicks were raised under similar conditions up to 20 weeks of age (n = 60 per treatment). Birds’ behaviors were recorded using a digital video recording system. The time to first vocalize and first move, along with the duration of vocalization and escape attempts during the isolation test, during isolation test were analyzed on day 1, and week 4, 8, 12, 16 and 20. Blood samples were collected followed behavioral tests (n = 5/treatment). The expression of 5-HTR1A genes in the hypothalamus was measured by real-time PCR. Compared to controls, 5-HT administrated pullets had greater body weight (P < 0.05) with an improved feed conversion rate (P < 0.05) as well as higher serum concentrations of norepinephrine (NE) regardless of their doses. In addition, serum dopamine (DA) concentrations were lower in both high- and low-dose pullets at 8 and 12 weeks of age (P < 0.05). Also, a decrease in fearfulness response was observed based on the test to vocalize and duration of vocalization (P < 0.05). Further, this exhibited a lesser frequency of total aggressive behavior compared with the chicks in the control group, especially at 8 weeks of age (P < 0.05), where it is associated with elevated serum 5-HT concentration and upregulated hypothalamic expression of 5-HTR1A (P < 0.05). The changes of these hormone concentrations and gene expressions suggested that 5-HT accumulation in early embryonic stages may alter both the adrenergic and serotonergic systems, which could further regulate the isolation behavior and improve birds' growth performance to a certain extent.

Importance of dashboard camera (Dash Cam) analysis in fatal vehicle\u2013pedestrian crash reconstruction

The reconstruction of dynamic of traffic injuries remains a challenge in forensic pathology and is often based on circumstantial data. Dash Cams are digital video recorders which can be located inside a vehicle and continuously record the view through the windscreen, thus providing objective evidence. Here we present the case of a traffic crash in which a pedestrian was hit by an articulated lorry. The analysis of a video recorded from a Dash Cam retrieved inside the vehicle during the death scene investigation (DSI) was crucial in the reconstruction of the manner of death. Indeed, the death, which was initially assumed to be accidental, was finally deemed as a suicide on the basis of the video recording, which showed an intentional and sudden rush of the victim to the middle of the roadway. Advantages and disadvantages of the use of Dash Cams will be discussed, focusing on the profound differences in the related national and international regulations. Based on the present case, in traffic crashes, the search for Dash Cams during the DSI may be recommended and the video recordings should be analyzed in the setting of a multidisciplinary and multimodal evaluation of the case, for a proper reconstruction of the facts.

Traffic Sign Detection and Recognition Using Single Shot Multibox Detector

The article is devoted to the automatic detection and recognition of traffic signs system design which processes the images received from the vehicle digital video recorder. The digital video recorder is used both for its intended purpose and to include it in the process of driving, facilitating the driver's work and, thus, significantly increasing safety and driving comfort. The analysis of the solution of the problem of detection and recognition of traffic signs based on the use of convolutional neural networks is carried out. It is shown that the greatest advantage from the point of view of the criteria of accuracy and speed of response has the single shot multibox detector method. The learning of neural network is done based on traffic signs (adopted in Ukraine) learning sample The study showed that the proposed approach for all used datasets gave both the best recognition quality and maximum performance.

Staging the Zimbabwean ‘revolution’: ‘Carnivalising’ the November 2017 demonstration

In this account, I deploy Mikhail Bhakhtin’s concept of the carnival to frame the November 2017 demonstrations in Harare, Zimbabwe, that led to the resignation of former president Robert Mugabe as a carnivalesque or ‘theatrical’ performance. I examine the spatial and theatrical characteristics of this carnivalesque demonstration, highlighting how it created a special form of free and familiar contact among people divided by political, professional and class barriers. Methodologically, I draw from my personal recollections, video recording and photographs in the public domain, the particular spectacular performative that characterize this demonstration as a performance, to historically reconstruct the performance. I submit that these public performances, which mainly took part on the main streets of Harare, challenged and allowed demonstrators to performatively subvert all forms of social (and political) privilege and governmentality. I conclude that through disrupting governmentality and constituting a horizon of meaning and expectation, the performer-demonstrators claimed back their spatial agency, determining and choosing how they democratically used the public space in these urban centres and simultaneously, Zimbabwe’s political landscape.

Exploring Characteristics and Contributory Factors of Road Crashes and Near Misses Recorded via Dashboard Camera

&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; The use of dashboard camera (dashcam), or also known as digital video recorder (DVR) is increasingly becoming popular among personal vehicle owners nowadays due to affordable prices and higher video qualities. Many road-related incidents including vehicle crashes and near-misses can be recorded using dashboard cameras and shared via social media as lessons learned to others. Recorded videos of the incidents in real-time can be observed and used for a variety of purposes, including as supportive evidence for investigation. This paper explores the potential use of recorded dashcam videos in determining the characteristics and factors contributing to road crashes and near-misses under different situations. Selected video records of road crashes and near-misses were obtained from the internet thru social media and were used for analysis. The findings concluded that a dashboard camera is an effective digital video technology for traffic and accident monitoring systems. It has a high potential in providing supportive evidence of many frequently occurring factors and understanding the causes of road crashes and near-miss incidents.&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D;