Apparatus for monitoring load bearing rehabilitation exercises of a transfemoral amputee fitted with an osseointegrated fixation : a proof-of-concept study

The purpose of this proof-of-concept study was to determine the relevance of direct measurements to monitor the load applied on the osseointegrated fixation of transfemoral amputees during static load bearing exercises. The objectives were (A) to introduce an apparatus using a three-dimensional load transducer, (B) to present a range of derived information relevant to clinicians, (C) to report on the outcomes of a pilot study and (D) to compare the measurements from the transducer with those from the current method using a weighing scale. One transfemoral amputee fitted with an osseointegrated implant was asked to apply 10 kg, 20 kg, 40 kg and 80 kg on the fixation, using self-monitoring with the weighing scale. The loading was directly measured with a portable kinetic system including a six-channel transducer, external interface circuitry and a laptop. As the load prescribed increased from 10 kg to 80 kg, the forces and moments applied on and around the antero-posterior axis increased by 4 fold anteriorly and 14 fold medially, respectively. The forces and moments applied on and around the medio-lateral axis increased by 9 fold laterally and 16 fold from anterior to posterior, respectively. The long axis of the fixation was overloaded and underloaded in 17 % and 83 % of the trials, respectively, by up to ±10 %. This proof-of-concept study presents an apparatus that can be used by clinicians facing the challenge of improving basic knowledge on osseointegration, for the design of equipment for load bearing exercises and for rehabilitation programs.

Rover autonomous integrity monitoring of GNSS RTK positioning solutions with multi-constellations

This paper studies receiver autonomous integrity monitoring (RAIM) algorithms and performance benefits of RTK solutions with multiple-constellations. The proposed method is generally known as Multi-constellation RAIM -McRAIM. The McRAIM algorithms take advantage of the ambiguity invariant character to assist fast identification of multiple satellite faults in the context of multiple constellations, and then detect faulty satellites in the follow-up ambiguity search and position estimation processes. The concept of Virtual Galileo Constellation (VGC) is used to generate useful data sets of dual-constellations for performance analysis. Experimental results from a 24-h data set demonstrate that with GPS&VGC constellations, McRAIM can significantly enhance the detection and exclusion probabilities of two simultaneous faulty satellites in RTK solutions.

Evaluation of aerial remote sensing techniques for vegetation management in power line corridors

The following paper presents an evaluation of airborne sensors for use in vegetation management in powerline corridors. Three integral stages in the management process are addressed including, the detection of trees, relative positioning with respect to the nearest powerline and vegetation height estimation. Image data, including multi-spectral and high resolution, are analyzed along with LiDAR data captured from fixed wing aircraft. Ground truth data is then used to establish the accuracy and reliability of each sensor thus providing a quantitative comparison of sensor options. Tree detection was achieved through crown delineation using a Pulse-Coupled Neural Network (PCNN) and morphologic reconstruction applied to multi-spectral imagery. Through testing it was shown to achieve a detection rate of 96%, while the accuracy in segmenting groups of trees and single trees correctly was shown to be 75%. Relative positioning using LiDAR achieved a RMSE of 1.4m and 2.1m for cross track distance and along track position respectively, while Direct Georeferencing achieved RMSE of 3.1m in both instances. The estimation of pole and tree heights measured with LiDAR had a RMSE of 0.4m and 0.9m respectively, while Stereo Matching achieved 1.5m and 2.9m. Overall a small number of poles were missed with detection rates of 98% and 95% for LiDAR and Stereo Matching.

Central venous oxygen saturation monitoring

It has been established that mixed venous oxygen saturation (SvO2) reflects the balance between systemic oxygen deliver y and consumption. Literature indicates that it is a valuable clinical indicator and has good prognostic value early in patient course. This article aims to establish the usefulness of SvO2 as a clinical indicator. A secondary aim was to determine whether central venous oxygen saturation (ScvO2) and SvO2 are interchangeable. Of particular relevance to cardiac nurses is the link between decreased SvO2 and cardiac failure in patients with myocardial infarction, and with decline in myocardial function, clinical shock and arrhythmias. While absolute values ScvO2 and SvO2 are not interchangeable, ScvO2 and SvO2are equivalent in terms of clinical course. Additionally, ScvO2 monitoring is a safer and less costly alternative to SvO2 monitoring. It can be concluded that continuous ScvO2 monitoring should potentially be undertaken in patients at risk of haemodynamic instability.

Building the toolkit of quality monitoring clinical outcomes as a means of assessing quality in residential care

Residential aged care in Australia does not have a system of quality assessment related to clinical outcomes, creating a significant gap in quality monitoring. Clinical outcomes represent the results of all inputs into care, thus providing an indication of the success of those inputs. To fill this gap, an assessment tool based on resident outcomes (the ResCareQA) was developed and evaluated in collaboration with residential care providers. A useful output of the ResCareQA is a profile of resident clinical status, and this paper will use such outputs to present a snapshot of nine residential facilities. Such comprehensive data has not yet been available within Australia, so this will provide an important insight. ResCareQA data was collected from all residents (N=498) of nine aged care facilities from two major aged care providers. For each facility, numerator–denominator data were calculated to assess the degree of potential clinical problems. Results varied across clinical areas and across facilities, and rank-ordered facility results for selected clinical areas are reviewed and discussed. Use of the ResCareQA to generate clinical outcome data provides a concrete means of monitoring care quality within residential facilities; regular use of the ResCareQA could thus contribute to improved care outcomes within residential aged care.

Community food security gaps in surveillance and monitoring

This paper describes the gaps in monitoring and surveillance identified while conducting Community Food Security assessments in three geographical areas located in south-east Queensland, Australia

Investigation of MEMS inertial sensors and aircraft dynamic models in global positioning system integrity monitoring for approaches with vertical guidance

An Approach with Vertical Guidance (APV) is an instrument approach procedure which provides horizontal and vertical guidance to a pilot on approach to landing in reduced visibility conditions. APV approaches can greatly reduce the safety risk to general aviation by improving the pilot’s situational awareness. In particular the incidence of Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT) which has occurred in a number of fatal air crashes in general aviation over the past decade in Australia, can be reduced. APV approaches can also improve general aviation operations. If implemented at Australian airports, APV approach procedures are expected to bring a cost saving of millions of dollars to the economy due to fewer missed approaches, diversions and an increased safety benefit. The provision of accurate horizontal and vertical guidance is achievable using the Global Positioning System (GPS). Because aviation is a safety of life application, an aviation-certified GPS receiver must have integrity monitoring or augmentation to ensure that its navigation solution can be trusted. However, the difficulty with the current GPS satellite constellation alone meeting APV integrity requirements, the susceptibility of GPS to jamming or interference and the potential shortcomings of proposed augmentation solutions for Australia such as the Ground-based Regional Augmentation System (GRAS) justifies the investigation of Aircraft Based Augmentation Systems (ABAS) as an alternative integrity solution for general aviation. ABAS augments GPS with other sensors at the aircraft to help it meet the integrity requirements. Typical ABAS designs assume high quality inertial sensors to provide an accurate reference trajectory for Kalman filters. Unfortunately high-quality inertial sensors are too expensive for general aviation. In contrast to these approaches the purpose of this research is to investigate fusing GPS with lower-cost Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) Inertial Measurement Units (IMU) and a mathematical model of aircraft dynamics, referred to as an Aircraft Dynamic Model (ADM) in this thesis. Using a model of aircraft dynamics in navigation systems has been studied before in the available literature and shown to be useful particularly for aiding inertial coasting or attitude determination. In contrast to these applications, this thesis investigates its use in ABAS. This thesis presents an ABAS architecture concept which makes use of a MEMS IMU and ADM, named the General Aviation GPS Integrity System (GAGIS) for convenience. GAGIS includes a GPS, MEMS IMU, ADM, a bank of Extended Kalman Filters (EKF) and uses the Normalized Solution Separation (NSS) method for fault detection. The GPS, IMU and ADM information is fused together in a tightly-coupled configuration, with frequent GPS updates applied to correct the IMU and ADM. The use of both IMU and ADM allows for a number of different possible configurations. Three are investigated in this thesis; a GPS-IMU EKF, a GPS-ADM EKF and a GPS-IMU-ADM EKF. The integrity monitoring performance of the GPS-IMU EKF, GPS-ADM EKF and GPS-IMU-ADM EKF architectures are compared against each other and against a stand-alone GPS architecture in a series of computer simulation tests of an APV approach. Typical GPS, IMU, ADM and environmental errors are simulated. The simulation results show the GPS integrity monitoring performance achievable by augmenting GPS with an ADM and low-cost IMU for a general aviation aircraft on an APV approach. A contribution to research is made in determining whether a low-cost IMU or ADM can provide improved integrity monitoring performance over stand-alone GPS. It is found that a reduction of approximately 50% in protection levels is possible using the GPS-IMU EKF or GPS-ADM EKF as well as faster detection of a slowly growing ramp fault on a GPS pseudorange measurement. A second contribution is made in determining how augmenting GPS with an ADM compares to using a low-cost IMU. By comparing the results for the GPS-ADM EKF against the GPS-IMU EKF it is found that protection levels for the GPS-ADM EKF were only approximately 2% higher. This indicates that the GPS-ADM EKF may potentially replace the GPS-IMU EKF for integrity monitoring should the IMU ever fail. In this way the ADM may contribute to the navigation system robustness and redundancy. To investigate this further, a third contribution is made in determining whether or not the ADM can function as an IMU replacement to improve navigation system redundancy by investigating the case of three IMU accelerometers failing. It is found that the failed IMU measurements may be supplemented by the ADM and adequate integrity monitoring performance achieved. Besides treating the IMU and ADM separately as in the GPS-IMU EKF and GPS-ADM EKF, a fourth contribution is made in investigating the possibility of fusing the IMU and ADM information together to achieve greater performance than either alone. This is investigated using the GPS-IMU-ADM EKF. It is found that the GPS-IMU-ADM EKF can achieve protection levels approximately 3% lower in the horizontal and 6% lower in the vertical than a GPS-IMU EKF. However this small improvement may not justify the complexity of fusing the IMU with an ADM in practical systems. Affordable ABAS in general aviation may enhance existing GPS-only fault detection solutions or help overcome any outages in augmentation systems such as the Ground-based Regional Augmentation System (GRAS). Countries such as Australia which currently do not have an augmentation solution for general aviation could especially benefit from the economic savings and safety benefits of satellite navigation-based APV approaches.

Toward robust image detection of crown-of-thorns starfish for autonomous population monitoring

Robust texture recognition in underwater image sequences for marine pest population control such as Crown-Of-Thorns Starfish (COTS) is a relatively unexplored area of research. Typically, humans count COTS by laboriously processing individual images taken during surveys. Being able to autonomously collect and process images of reef habitat and segment out the various marine biota holds the promise of allowing researchers to gain a greater understanding of the marine ecosystem and evaluate the impact of different environmental variables. This research applies and extends the use of Local Binary Patterns (LBP) as a method for texture-based identification of COTS from survey images. The performance and accuracy of the algorithms are evaluated on a image data set taken on the Great Barrier Reef.

Controversies of prophylactic hypothermia and the emerging use of brain tissue oxygen tension monitoring and decompressive craniectomy in traumatic brain-injured children

Background Despite being the leading cause of death and disability in the paediatric population, traumatic brain injury (TBI) in this group is largely understudied. Clinical practice within the paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) has been based upon adult guidelines however children are significantly different in terms of mechanism, pathophysiology and consequence of injury. Aim To review TBI management in the PICU and gain insight into potential management strategies. Method To conduct this review, a literature search was conducted using MEDLINE, PUBMED and The Cochrane Library using the following key words; traumatic brain injury; paediatric; hypothermia. There were no date restrictions applied to ensure that past studies, whose principles remain current were not excluded. Results Three areas were identified from the literature search and will be discussed against current acknowledged treatment strategies: Prophylactic hypothermia, brain tissue oxygen tension monitoring and decompressive craniectomy. Conclusion Previous literature has failed to fully address paediatric specific management protocols and we therefore have little evidence-based guidance. This review has shown that there is an emerging and ongoing trend towards paediatric specific TBI research in particular the area of moderate prophylactic hypothermia (MPH).

Optimal mission path planning (MPP) for an air sampling unmanned aerial system

This paper presents advanced optimization techniques for Mission Path Planning (MPP) of a UAS fitted with a spore trap to detect and monitor spores and plant pathogens. The UAV MPP aims to optimise the mission path planning search and monitoring of spores and plant pathogens that may allow the agricultural sector to be more competitive and more reliable. The UAV will be fitted with an air sampling or spore trap to detect and monitor spores and plant pathogens in remote areas not accessible to current stationary monitor methods. The optimal paths are computed using a Multi-Objective Evolutionary Algorithms (MOEAs). Two types of multi-objective optimisers are compared; the MOEA Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithms II (NSGA-II) and Hybrid Game are implemented to produce a set of optimal collision-free trajectories in three-dimensional environment. The trajectories on a three-dimension terrain, which are generated off-line, are collision-free and are represented by using Bézier spline curves from start position to target and then target to start position or different position with altitude constraints. The efficiency of the two optimization methods is compared in terms of computational cost and design quality. Numerical results show the benefits of coupling a Hybrid-Game strategy to a MOEA for MPP tasks. The reduction of numerical cost is an important point as the faster the algorithm converges the better the algorithms is for an off-line design and for future on-line decisions of the UAV.

An economic case for systematic student monitoring and intervention in the first year in higher education

Previous work has established the effectiveness of systematically monitoring first year higher education students and intervening with those identified as at-risk of attrition. This nuts-and-bolts paper establishes an economic case for a systematic monitoring and intervention program, identifying the visible costs and benefits of such a program at a major Australian university. The benefit of such a program is measured in savings to the institution which would otherwise be lost revenue, in the form of retained equivalent full-time student load (EFTSL). The session will present an economic model based on a number of assumptions. These assumptions are explored along with the applicability of the model to other institutions.