Simple Signs Research Articles

Facile monitoring for human motion on fireground by using MiEs-TENG sensor

Recently, wearable electronics is rapidly developed in personal protective technology. Human motion monitoring using wearable electronics to protect workers on fireground remains challenging, such as high fabrication cost, materials flammability, operation energy consumption, and insufficient sensor information. Herein, we report a facile method for constructing self-powered sensors based on the triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) to monitor human motion on fireground. Through directly writing the patterned MXenes ink electrodes (MiEs) on the triboelectric materials, the prepared bend sensor and pressure sensor can perceive safety-related information based on human motion, such as simple emergency hand signs and complex gaits. Furthermore, the triboelectric output data collected from pressure sensor is trained by the support vector machine (SVM) algorithm to classify different gaits with an accuracy of 92.18%. Looking forward, these TENG sensors assembled by this method could be incorporated into worker’s clothes to monitor motion for personal protection application on fireground.

The role of digital clinical measures in improving cancer care and research.

e13584 Background: From objectively assessing performance status to recording simple vital signs, the adoption of high quality digital clinical measures offers enormous possibilities for transforming cancer care & research. However, the development & deployment of high quality digital measures in oncology lags behind adoption in other therapeutic areas. At the time of submission, the DiMe library of digital endpoints reports 166 unique digital endpoints being used in industry sponsored trials of new medical products, but none are being used in an oncology trial. There are seven digital clinical measures working their way through the FDA qualification program, but none in oncology. During the pandemic, care for patients with cardiac and other chronic conditions transitioned out of the clinic & into the home powered not only by virtual visits, but high quality information from remote monitoring. A study of oncology care facilities worldwide reported 89% finding difficulty in delivering usual care due to the challenges of safely bringing patients into the clinic during COVID. Methods: From March to Sep 2020, cross-industry stakeholders at the Digital Medicine Society (DiMe), Elektra Labs, Genentech, Koneksa, Myokardia, Sage Bionetworks, Scripps Research, and the US Food & Drug Administration came together to synthesize best practices from the digital health field, breaking down silos to create ‘ The Playbook’, the comprehensive and accessible “how-to” guide to support all stakeholders working to advance the safe, effective, ethical, and equitable use of digital clinical measures to improve lives. In October 2020, DiMe -- a 501c3 non-profit dedicated to advancing digital medicine to improve lives -- convenened a pre-competitive collaboration of 44 participants from 29 organizations to drive the adoption of the best practices articulated in The Playbook. Results: The Playbook describes trans-industry consensus for best practices for developing and deploying digital clinical measures across patient care, clinical research, and public health, including for oncology. Conclusions: The clinical, technical, and operational best practices necessary to develop and deploy high quality digital clinical measures into cancer care & research have been established. There is no reason for their successful adoption in oncology to lag behind other therapeutic areas. The Playbook and additional resources to support implementation due for launch on April 30 are critical tools for the field of oncology.

Kinematics approach with neural networks for early detection of sepsis (KANNEDS)

BackgroundSepsis is a severe illness that affects millions of people worldwide, and its early detection is critical for effective treatment outcomes. In recent years, researchers have used models to classify positive patients or identify the probability for sepsis using vital signs and other time-series variables as input.MethodsIn our study, we analyzed patients’ conditions by their kinematics position, velocity, and acceleration, in a six-dimensional space defined by six vital signs. The patient is affected by the disease after a period if the position gets “near” to a calculated sepsis position in space. We imputed these kinematics features as explanatory variables of long short-term memory (LSTM), convolutional neural network (CNN) and linear neural network (LNN) and compared the prediction accuracies with only the vital signs as input. The dataset used contained information of approximately 4800 patients, each with 48 hourly registers.ResultsWe demonstrated that the kinematics features models had an improved performance compared with vital signs models. The kinematics features model of LSTM achieved the best accuracy, 0.803, which was nine points higher than the vital signs model. Although with lesser accuracies, the kinematics features models of the CNN and LNN showed better performances than vital signs models.ConclusionApplying our novel approach for early detection of sepsis using neural networks will prove to be an invaluable, more accurate method than considering only simple vital signs as input variables. We expect that other researchers with similar objectives can use the model presented in this innovative approach to improve their results.

Physical examination for the detection of hypervolemia among patients on chronic dialysis: A diagnostic-test study.

Assessment of dry-weight among patients on dialysis is challenging in the absence of reliable markers to define fluid overload (FO). This study aimed to explore the value of two simple clinical signs, pedal edema, and crackles at pulmonary auscultation, in diagnosing hypervolemia, using bioimpendence spectroscopy (BIS) as reference standard. In a cohort of 107 asymptomatic dialysis patients, FO was assessed with physical examination and BIS shortly before the mid-week dialysis session. Patients were also asked to perform home blood pressure (BP) monitoring with a validated, automatic device (HEM-705, Omron, Healthcare) for 1 week in order to determine their BP outside of dialysis. Patients within the high tertile of predialysis FO had longer dialysis vintage, lower serum albumin and higher home systolic BP, despite the more aggressive treatment with a higher average number of antihypertensives daily. In receiver-operating-characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, pedal edema (area under curve [AUC]: 0.534; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.416-0.651) and pulmonary crackles (AUC: 0.551; 95% CI: 0.432-0.671) had limited accuracy in detecting excess predialysis FO > 2.2 L. The agreement of pedal edema (k-coefficient: 0.065) and pulmonary crackles (k-coefficient: 0.122) with BIS-derived FO was poor. In multivariate linear regression analysis, longer dialysis vintage (β: 0.306, p < 0.001) and higher home systolic BP (β: 0.287, p < 0.01) were the two factors that were associated with predialysis FO. This study showed that among asymptomatic dialysis patients, pedal edema and pulmonary crackles in physical examination had limited discriminatory power in detection of FO, as assessed with the method of BIS.

THE MEANS OF VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS IN THE ARCHITECTURAL ENVIRONMENT OF EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENTS

The current trends in the use of graphic design tools in the formation of the architectural environment are highlighted. The integration of the full range of visual information systems in the structure of educational institutions is of special importance, because of their purpose to remain modern and attractive to the young generation, understandable in orientation and perform their main function - motivation for learning and development. Means of visual communication in architecture are designed to implement a wide range of functions, which together are designed to ensure the implementation of a key idea - a person's belonging to the architectural space. The choice of technological means, style and color scheme of interior graphics depends on a number of criteria - the specifics of the space, its functional purpose, target audience, general style and architectural solution of the building and should take into account aspects of its emotional impact on people. Based on the analysis and generalization of the world practice of organization of the internal space of educational institutions, the main approaches to the introduction of visual communications in architecture and design are formulated. It is determined that the means of visual communication in the architectural environment of educational institutions are designed to implement a number of functions: spatial orientation and structuring routes, creating visual style of the institution, motivation for educational activities, artistic expression, individualization of space. A study of the interior design of educational institutions has revealed that the revolutionary progress in the means of visual communication from simple signs and pointers to interactive multimedia screens and media facades continues to gain momentum with the advent of virtual and augmented reality tools that make their adjustments and revolutionize design in architecture, endowing it with interactive properties.

Case Management of COVID-19 (Secondary Version).

Case management of COVID-19 is critically important to save lives and reduce the fear and anxiety evoked by this disease in communities. However, most healthcare systems have been overwhelmed in many parts of the world. It is also essential to screen patients to be able to identify those who are likely to suffer from severe disease, to ensure more effective use of medical resources. Disease severity can be determined based on simple vital signs; some laboratory markers are useful adjuncts.Treatment for COVID-19 is largely supportive although a number of repurposed drugs have been evaluated for its efficacy in clinical trials. For example, dexamethasone has now been considered as a standard therapy for severe cases, while remdesivir and tocilizumab are promising agents in selected patient groups.

Gaze Deviation and Paresis Score (GPS) Sufficiently Predicts Emergent Large Vessel Occluding Strokes

ObjectivesThe prognosis of patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) essentially depends on both prompt diagnosis and appropriate treatment. Endovascular stroke therapy (EST) proved to be highly efficient in the treatment of emergent large vessel occluding (ELVO) strokes in the anterior circulation. To achieve a timely diagnosis, a robust combination of few and simple signs to identify ELVOs in AIS patients applicable by paramedics in the prehospital triage is worthwhile. Materials and MethodsThis retrospective single-center study included 904 AIS patients (324 ELVO, 580 non-ELVO) admitted between 2010 and 2015 in a tertiary stroke center. We re-evaluated two symptoms based on NIHSS items, gaze deviation and hemiparesis of the limbs (“Gaze deviation and Paresis Score, GPS”) for the pre-hospital prediction of ELVO. ResultsA positive GPS AIS in patients predicted ELVO with a sensitivity of 0.89, specificity = 0.97, positive predictive value (PPV) = 0.95, negative predictive value (NPV) = 0.94 and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) = 34.25 (CI: 20.75–56.53). The positive Likelihood-ratio (LR+) was 29.67, the negative Likelihood ratio (LR−) 0.11. NIHSS of patients with positive GPS (gaze palsy NIHSS ≥ 0, Motor arm NIHSS ≥2 and Motor leg NIHSS ≥2) was markedly higher compared to negative GPS patients (p < 0.001). ConclusionsThe GPS proved to be similarly accurate in detecting ELVO in the anterior circulation of AIS patients and even more specific than other published clinical scores. Its simplicity and clarity might enable non-neurological medical staff to identify ELVO AIS patients with high certainty in a preclinical setting.

Septic Arthritis of Facet Joint in Children

Due to the low resolution of historical imaging technologies, descriptions of Septic Arthritis of Facet Joint (SAFJ) in children are scarce, though severe cases are known. We first aimed to estimate the incidence rate of SAFJ in children; we further aimed to specify SAFJ clinical, imaging and laboratory findings, and identify avenues for appropriate management. A 10-year consecutive SAFJ case series using our imaging center database combined with a 50-year systematic review of literature cases. The mean ± SD incidence of pediatric SAFJ was 0.23 ± 0.4/100,000 children-years. The key symptoms were potty refusal (in toddlers) or painful sitting (78%) and lateralized signs (paravertebral tenderness and/or swelling, 88%). SAFJ diagnosis and extension were obtained using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) (94%), and found an epidural extension in 8/16 cases. The mean duration of antibiotic treatment was 5.1 weeks. The compliance with guidelines was 79% for empiric and 62% for targeted antibiotic therapies. SAFJ incidence in children is much greater than expected from the literature. Half of cases were complicated by an epidural infection. Simple clinical symptoms detected as early as the bedside allow a strong suspicion of SAFJ, justifying the use of a first-line MRI to confirm the diagnosis and precisely describe the extension. Focusing on simple clinical signs is key to justify the transfer of a child or the shortening of the delay to obtain an MRI. However, as MRI availability increases in most Western countries, and the capacity for diagnosis increases, the awareness of SAFJ must be spread to avoid missed cases.

The Effect Of Puzzle Game For Early Literacy Achievement of Underachiever Students

Early literacy skills are the capacity to name letters and write them down, spell simple words, recognize letters and signs around them, identify books from titles, and perform book-related activities. Early literacy consists of nine components, namely language, rules/provisions/habits, knowledge of letters, awareness of language elements, the suitability of phonemes, pretend reading, pretend writing, notation, and cognitive skills. However, mentally retarded children only emphasize the recognition of vowels as the basis of initial literacy. This study aims at determine the effect of game media puzzle to improve initial literacy skills through vowel recognition for mild second-grade mentally retarded students. This study uses a case study. The sampling technique that will be used by researchers is to use quantitative and qualitative analysis techniques. Quantitative analysis with simple statistics is used in the survey results to see students' understanding of learning vowels. Qualitative analysis techniques are used in the results of interview data, focus group discussions, observation and documentation. The number of samples used was 3 students from 6 class II students. The research instrument was in the form of observations and interviews. The results of the observation indicate that the average value before being given treatment is 6.0 and the value after being given media treatment is 8.7. Thus it can be predicted the application of game media puzzle effective to improve initial literacy skills through vowel recognition for mild second-grade mentally retarded students.

Early management of hypokalaemia in severely malnourished children under five could help to reduce deaths in developing countries.

This study evaluated the factors associated with hypokalaemia and their outcomes, in severely malnourished children under 5years of age. We focused on 407 severely malnourished children under five who were admitted to the Dhaka Hospital, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, from April 2011 to June 2012. The cases were 139 with hypokalaemia, and the comparisons were 268 without hypokalaemia. Cases were older than the comparisons, with a poor socio-economic status and a higher death rate of 12% vs 7%. They were more likely to present with a history of measles, diarrhoea, lethargy, lower pulse rates, hyponatraemia, metabolic acidosis, hypocalcaemia, hypomagnesaemia, higher height or length, severe underweight, severe wasting and leucocytosis on admission. At discharge, cases had lower potassium levels and a higher proportion had persistent hypokalaemia. Cases received longer treatment with ampicillin and micronutrients. After adjusting for confounders, hypokalaemia was independently associated with poor socio-economic status, diarrhoea, lower pulse rates, hypocalcaemia, metabolic acidosis and leucocytosis. Identifying simple clinical signs, like diarrhoea and lower pulse rates, and laboratory parameters, such as hypocalcaemia and metabolic acidosis, may enable the early management of hypokalaemia in severely malnourished children under 5years. This could reduce morbidity and mortality.

Fuzzy Histogram Equalization and Computer Vision Automated Identification of Microcalcifications in Breast Cancer

Simple signs existent in mammograms for diagnosing breast cancer are considered to be microcalcifications or MCs. Therefore, true detection of MCs is needed to minimize schedule diagnosis, efficient care and death rate due to breast cancer. A challenging task is to evaluate and interpret mammograms and, moreover to the poor contrast consistency of MCs relative to the remainder of the tissue, the precise identification of MCs, such as the minor size and random shape and size of the MC clusters, has several obstacles. These restrictions in the manual analysis of MCs increase the demand for an automated recognition system to help radiologists in mammogram analysis and it is important to design strength algorithm for this purpose. The goal of this paper is to present an efficient procedure that can be used to enhance images for extracting features to give excellent classification. The classifier senses which the region was normal, benign or malignant. The performance of KNN classifier with fuzzy histogram equalization using Otsu’s multi-threshold segmentation gives excellent results in detection and recognition in mammograms for breast cancer distinguished in image mammograms obtained from the hospital.

The effectiveness of regulatory signs in controlling human behaviour and Northern gannet (Morus bassanus) disturbance during breeding: an experimental test

Human disturbance to wildlife is on the rise and disturbance management is a key activity in conservation. Although disturbance can be controlled with relative ease in nature reserves that are properly resourced and managed by employed staff, most reserves do not fall into this category, and most wildlife exists outside managed reserves entirely. Thus, developing and demonstrating the effectiveness of simple, low-cost approaches to minimising disturbance is an important objective in conservation. In this study we examine the effectiveness of regulatory signs in controlling the behaviour and impacts of visitors on a colonial island-nesting bird, the Northern gannet (Morus bassanus), on an unmanaged island. First, we found that the percentage of successful nests declined with proximity to the disturbed edge of the colony, and was much higher in an undisturbed control area. Second, the number of birds displaced by visitors correlated negatively with the minimum visitor approach distance. Third, visitor proximity to the colony was dramatically reduced in the presence of a regulatory sign in comparison to periods without signs, which resulted in fewer birds being displaced from their nests. Photographers were the only visitor group who didn’t always comply with the sign. Our results show that breeding success in a species often thought to be well adapted to human presence, suffers from tourist pressure, and that simple and informative regulatory signs can be a cost-effective way of reducing the disturbance caused by visitors at unmanaged wildlife sites.

COVID-19 IN PETS, WHAT DO WE KNOW?

The COVID-19 caused by the coronavirus 2 severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV-2), was first reported in Wuhan, China, starting an outbreak that affected countries around the whole world. The disease leads to simple clinical signs, such as colds common to more serious conditions as pneumonia and severe respiratory insufficiency. It is assumed that the agent was originated from bats in China, considering its as natural reservoirs, however, this relationship is still being investigated, as well as the possible intermediate hosts. Little is known about the relationship of animals with the disease epidemiological cycle, however, until now, the human transmission to companion animals and vice versa, is not yet evidenced. Nevertheless, some care must be considered if the tutors are infected by the disease.&#x0D;

The Use of Abdominal Computed Tomography Imaging Technology in the Treatment of Surgical Acute Abdominal Perforation

Objective: The objective of this study is to explore the imaging features of abdominal Computed Tomography (CT) in patients with surgical acute abdominal perforation and to improve the diagnostic ability of perforated acute appendicitis (PAA). Method: Patients with suspected acute appendicitis and abdominal pain are selected as the study objects. According to the surgical records and pathological results, the patients are divided into PAA group and nonperforated acute appendicitis (NPAA) group. All patients are examined by abdominal CT. Postprocessing reconstruction technology such as multiple planar reconstruction (MPR) algorithm and curved planar reformat (CPR) algorithm are used as assistance to display the appendix, analyze and compare the images, observe the image performance of abdominal CT, and measure the diameter of the appendix. Results: The incidence of PAA specific signs (i.e. cellulitis around the appendix, abscess around the appendix, enhancement defect of the appendix wall, air accumulation outside the appendix cavity, fecal stone outside the appendix cavity) in PAA group is significantly higher than that in NPAA group (P &lt; 0.05). Appearance of at least one specific sign for the diagnosis of PAA is 95.65%, the specificity is 92.59%, and the accuracy is 94.00%. The diameter of appendix in PAA group is significantly larger than that in NPAA group (P &lt; 0.05). Compared with the diagnosis of simple specific signs, the specificity and accuracy of the combination of appendiceal diameter and specific signs in the diagnosis of PAA have been improved. Conclusion: With the help of MPR algorithm and CPR algorithm, abdominal CT imaging technology can accurately identify PAA and NPAA, which has important diagnostic value.

Validation of a new system for triage of ophthalmic emergencies: the alphabetical triage score for ophthalmology (ATSO).

To propose a modified ophthalmic triage system based on simple ophthalmic symptoms, signs and anamnestic data and validate its safety and effectiveness. Phase 1 of the study was a retrospective review of chart records of patients admitted at the ophthalmic emergencies room (OER); phase 2 was a prospective study conducted on all consecutive patients presenting in the OER between April 1st, 2018, and May 30th, 2018. We selected the following six factors as predictors of urgency levels: altered vision, ocular behavior, color, distress, eye trauma, floaters and flashes. ATSO final score can be eventually converted into risk groups: low-risk group (scoring 0-3), intermediate-risk group (scoring 4-5) and high-risk group (scoring > 6). A total of 953 consecutive patients who presented to our OER over a two-month period were considered for participation in the study. The male-to-female ratio was 1.24:1. The mean age of the participants was 53years (range 18-92, SD 19years). ATSO score significantly correlated with urgency levels (p < .00001). The sensitivity of ATSO in differentiating urgent from non-urgent conditions was 91.4%, and the specificity was 98.2%. All hospitalized patients (30, 3.15%) have been coded as intermediate/high risk according to the ATSO score. The use of the ATSO score for patients at the OER provides the clinician with a reliable predictor of urgency, being at the same time safe and effective. The ATSO score may represent a valuable tool to implement triage of ocular patients in the emergency department.

IoT Based Automatic Fire Alarm System

In industry's mishap is a spontaneous and uncontrolled occasion wherein an activity or response of an item, a substance, an individual, or a radiation brings about close to home damage. There are a few mishaps occur because of fire. Fire identifiers are utilized to recognize the fire or smoke at a beginning time and can help in sparing lives. Right now, IOT based alarm has been planned utilizing temperature and smoke sensor. It would not just flag the nearness of fire in a specific reason yet will likewise send related data to portable through IOT. By utilizing the temperature sensor, smoke sensor and there is a simple to advanced convertor, which changes over the simple signs got at the sensor end to computerized and afterward transmits them to a smaller scale controller and to the Arduino. The small-scale controller is modified to turn on the ringer, when the temperature and the smoke arrive at an edge esteem. Simultaneously, Arduino sends the information to the Wi-Fi module ESP8266. ESP8266 will then the accompanying information to the IOT site, where, approved individuals can take fitting measure so as to check the fire. The gadget id is the one-of-a-kind id given to a gadget, which would enable the work force to get data identified with the area, where the fire is detected. This paper can urge numerous new specialists to do investigate in the forthcoming space of IOT.

Functional cognitive disorders: update on diagnostic status.

Many patients referred to cognitive disorders clinics are not found to have evidence of any neurological disorder(s) to account for their symptoms. Many demonstrate incongruence between their subjective cognitive symptoms and preserved social and occupational functions. The term 'functional cognitive disorders' (FCD) has been used to denote this diagnostic category. This article aims to review the current state of knowledge regarding FCD. Studies of FCD are in their infancy, but available evidence suggests positive diagnosis may be made based on typical clinical profiles, including language discourse and simple clinical signs. Concurrent mood disorder and sleep disturbance are common, as well as other functional disorders. Pathogenesis is yet to be determined, but a disorder of metamemory has been suggested.

Association Between Heart Rate and Reversibility of the Symptom, Refractoriness to Palliative Treatment, and Survival in Dyspneic Cancer Patients

ContextDyspnea is one of the most distressing symptoms for terminally ill cancer patients and a predictor of poor prognosis. Identification of simple clinical signs, such as heart rate, indicating clinical course of each patient is of value. ObjectivesTo explore the potential association between heart rate and reversibility of the symptom, treatment response to palliative intervention, and survival in terminally ill cancer patients with dyspnea at rest. MethodsThis is a secondary analysis of a multicenter prospective cohort study of patients with advanced cancer to validate multiple prognostic tools. In the patients with dyspnea at rest at the baseline, we examined a potential association between heart rate and the reversibility of dyspnea and refractoriness to palliative treatment using logistic regression analysis. Survivals were compared using the Cox proportional hazards model among four groups with different levels of the heart rate (≤74, 75–84, 85–97, and ≥98). ResultsA total of 2298 patients were enrolled, and 418 patients (18%) had dyspnea at rest. Reversibility of dyspnea was significantly higher in the patients with lower heart rate (P for trend = 0.008), and the refractoriness to palliative treatment tended to be higher in the patients with higher heart rate (P for trend = 0.101). The median survival for each heart rate quartile groups was significantly higher in the lower heart rate group (24 vs. 21 vs. 14 vs. 9 days; heart rate ≤74, 75–84, 85–97, and ≥98, respectively; log-rank P < 0.001). ConclusionHeart rate may help clinicians to make the prediction of the patient's clinical course more accurate.

Application on character recognition system on road sign for visually impaired: case study approach and future

Many visually impaired people worldwide are unable to travel safely and autonomously because they are physically unable to perceive effective visual information during their daily lives. In this research, we study how to extract the character information of the road sign and transmit it to the visually impaired effectively, so they can understand easier. Experimental method is to apply the Maximally Stable External Region and Stroke Width Transform method in Phase I so that the visually impaired person can recognize the letters on the road signs. It is to convey text information to the disabled. The result of Phase I using samples of simple road signs was to extract the sign information after dividing the exact character area, but the accuracy was not good for the Hangul (Korean characters) information. The initial experimental results in the Phase II succeeded in transmitting the text information on Phase I to the visually impaired. In the future, it will be required to develop a wearable character recognition system that can be attached to the visually impaired. In order to perform this task, we need to develop and verify a miniaturized and wearable character recognition system. In this paper, we examined the method of recognizing road sign characters on the road and presented a possibility that may be applicable to our final development.

Sign Language Semantic Translation System using Ontology and Deep Learning

Translation and understanding sign language may be difficult for some. Therefore, this paper proposes a solution to this problem by providing an Arabic sign language translation system using ontology and deep learning techniques. That is to interpret user’s signs to different meanings. This paper implemented ontology on the sign language domain to solve some sign language challenges. In this first version, simple static signs composed of Arabic alphabets and some Arabic words started to translate. Deep Convolution Neural Network (CNN) architecture was trained and tested on a pre-made Arabic sign language dataset and on a dataset collected in this paper to obtain better accuracy in recognition. Experimental results show that according to the pre-made Arabic sign language dataset the classification accuracy of the training set (80% of the dataset) was 98.06% and recognition accuracy of the testing set (20% of the dataset) was 88.87%. According to the collected dataset, the classification accuracy of the training set was 98.6% and Semantic recognition accuracy of the testing set was 94.31%.