Alternative Intrabladder Manometry Technique for the Indirect Measurement of Intra-abdominal Pressure in Horses

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Indirect measurement of photosynthetic pigments in the leaves of Jatropha curcas

The aim of this work was to generate mathematical models capable of identifying photosynthetic pigments and soluble proteins from the leaves of Jatropha curcas using the relationship between classical readings performed by spectrophotometry and the chlorophyll meter, ClorofiLOG ® 1030. The work was conducted at Embrapa Cotton, in the city of Campina Grande, state of Paraíba, Brazil. For indirect analysis, portable equipment was used to read leaf discs at different stages of development. The chlorophyll in these discs was then determined using a classical method, while the Bradford method was used to determine soluble proteins. The data were subjected to analysis of variance and regression analyses, in which the readings obtained using the portable chlorophyll meter were the dependent variables and the photosynthetic pigments and soluble protein determined by the classical method the independents variables. The results indicated that with the exception of chlorophyll b and soluble protein, the mathematical models obtained with the portable chlorophyll ClorofiLOG ® 1030 can be used to estimate the concentration of photosynthetic pigments with high precision, thus saving time and the chemical reagents required for conventional procedures.

Comparison of arterial blood pressure measurements and hypertension scores obtained by use of three indirect measurement devices in hospitalized dogs

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the agreement of blood pressure measurements and hypertension scores obtained by use of 3 indirect arterial blood pressure measurement devices in hospitalized dogs. Design-Diagnostic test evaluation. ANIMALS: 29 client-owned dogs. PROCEDURES: 5 to 7 consecutive blood pressure readings were obtained from each dog on each of 3 occasions with a Doppler ultrasonic flow detector, a standard oscillometric device (STO), and a high-definition oscillometric device (HDO). RESULTS: When the individual sets of 5 to 7 readings were evaluated, the coefficient of variation for systolic arterial blood pressure (SAP) exceeded 20% for 0% (Doppler), 11 % (STO), and 28% (HDO) of the sets of readings. After readings that exceeded a 20% coefficient of variation were discarded, repeatability was within 25 (Doppler), 37 (STO), and 39 (HDO) mm Hg for SAP. Correlation of mean values among the devices was between 0.47 and 0.63. Compared with Doppler readings, STO underestimated and HDO overestimated SAP. Limits of agreement between mean readings of any 2 devices were wide. With the hypertension scale used to score SAP, the intraclass correlation of scores was 0.48. Linear-weighted inter-rater reliability between scores was 0.40 (Doppler vs STO), 0.38 (Doppler vs HDO), and 0.29 (STO vs HDO). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Results of this study suggested that no meaningful clinical comparison can be made between blood pressure readings obtained from the same dog with different indirect blood pressure measurement devices.

Climate and infectious disease: Use of remote sensing for detection of Vibrio cholerae by indirect measurement

It has long been known that cholera outbreaks can be initiated when Vibrio cholerae, the bacterium that causes cholera, is present in drinking water in sufficient numbers to constitute an infective dose, if ingested by humans. Outbreaks associated with drinking or bathing in unpurified river or brackish water may directly or indirectly depend on such conditions as water temperature, nutrient concentration, and plankton production that may be favorable for growth and reproduction of the bacterium. Although these environmental parameters have routinely been measured by using water samples collected aboard research ships, the available data sets are sparse and infrequent. Furthermore, shipboard data acquisition is both expensive and time-consuming. Interpolation to regional scales can also be problematic. Although the bacterium, V. cholerae, cannot be sensed directly, remotely sensed data can be used to infer its presence. In the study reported here, satellite data were used to monitor the timing and spread of cholera. Public domain remote sensing data for the Bay of Bengal were compared directly with cholera case data collected in Bangladesh from 1992–1995. The remote sensing data included sea surface temperature and sea surface height. It was discovered that sea surface temperature shows an annual cycle similar to the cholera case data. Sea surface height may be an indicator of incursion of plankton-laden water inland, e.g., tidal rivers, because it was also found to be correlated with cholera outbreaks. The extensive studies accomplished during the past 25 years, confirming the hypothesis that V. cholerae is autochthonous to the aquatic environment and is a commensal of zooplankton, i.e., copepods, when combined with the findings of the satellite data analyses, provide strong evidence that cholera epidemics are climate-linked.

Second-Generation Orthopaedic Measurement Device for in-vivo Assessment of Bone Quality

There are two main types of bone in the human body, trabecular and cortical bone. Cortical bone is primarily found on the outer surface of most bones in the body while trabecular bone is found in vertebrae and at the end of long bones (Ross 2007). Osteoporosis is a condition that compromises the structural integrity of trabecular bone, greatly reducing the ability of the bone to absorb energy from falls. The current method for diagnosing osteoporosis and predicting fracture risk is measurement of bone mineral density. Limitations of this method include dependence on the bone density measurement device and dependence on type of test and measurement location (Rubin 2005). Each year there are approximately 250,000 hip fractures in the United States due to osteoporosis (Kleerekoper 2006). Currently, the most common method for repairing a hip fracture is a hip fixation surgery. During surgery, a temporary guide wire is inserted to guide the permanent screw into place and then removed. It is believed that directly measuring this screw pullout force may result in a better assessment of bone quality than current indirect measurement techniques (T. Bowen 2008-2010, pers. comm.). The objective of this project is to design a device that can measure the force required to extract this guide wire. It is believed that this would give the surgeon a direct, quantitative measurement of bone quality at the site of the fixation. A first generation device was designed by a Bucknell Biomedical Engineering Senior Design team during the 2008- 2009 Academic Year. The first step of this project was to examine the device, conduct a thorough design analysis, and brainstorm new concepts. The concept selected uses a translational screw to extract the guide wire. The device was fabricated and underwent validation testing to ensure that the device was functional and met the required engineering specifications. Two tests were conducted, one to test the functionality of the device by testing if the device gave repeatable results, and the other to test the sensitivity of the device to misalignment. Guide wires were extracted from 3 materials, low density polyethylene, ultra high molecular weight polyethylene, and polypropylene and the force of extraction was measured. During testing, it was discovered that the spring in the device did not have a high enough spring constant to reach the high forces necessary for extracting the wires without excessive deflection of the spring. The test procedure was modified slightly so the wires were not fully threaded into the material. The testing results indicate that there is significant variation in the screw pullout force, up to 30% of the average value. This significant variation was attributed to problems in the testing and data collection, and a revised set of tests was proposed to better evaluate the performance of the device. The fabricated device is a fully-functioning prototype and further refinements and testing of the device may lead to a 3rd generation version capable of measuring the screw pullout force during hip fixation surgery.

Implementation of a probabilistic based framework for safety assessment of existing timber elements

The assessment of existing timber structures is often limited to information obtained from non or semi destructive testing, as mechanical testing is in many cases not possible due to its destructive nature. Therefore, the available data provides only an indirect measurement of the reference mechanical properties of timber elements, often obtained through empirical based correlations. Moreover, the data must result from the combination of different tests, as to provide a reliable source of information for a structural analysis. Even if general guidelines are available for each typology of testing, there is still a need for a global methodology allowing to combine information from different sources and infer upon that information in a decision process. In this scope, the present work presents the implementation of a probabilistic based framework for safety assessment of existing timber elements. This methodology combines information gathered in different scales and follows a probabilistic framework allowing for the structural assessment of existing timber elements with possibility of inference and updating of its mechanical properties, through Bayesian methods. The probabilistic based framework is based in four main steps: (i) scale of information; (ii) measurement data; (iii) probability assignment; and (iv) structural analysis. In this work, the proposed methodology is implemented in a case study. Data was obtained through a multi-scale experimental campaign made to old chestnut timber beams accounting correlations of non and semi-destructive tests with mechanical properties. Finally, different inference scenarios are discussed aiming at the characterization of the safety level of the elements.

Electrical conductivity of soil irrigated with swine wastewater estimated by time-domain reflectometry¹

Wastewater application to soil is an alternative for fertilization and water reuse. However, particular care must be taken with this practice, since successive wastewater applications can cause soil salinization. Time-domain reflectometry (TDR) allows for the simultaneous and continuous monitoring of both soil water content and apparent electrical conductivity and thus for the indirect measurement of the electrical conductivity of the soil solution. This study aimed to evaluate the suitability of TDR for the indirect determination of the electrical conductivity (ECse) of the saturated soil extract by using an empirical equation for the apparatus TDR Trase 6050X1. Disturbed soil samples saturated with swine wastewater were used, at soil proportions of 0, 0.45, 0.90, 1.80, 2.70, and 3.60 m³ m-3. The probes were equipped with three handmade 0.20 cm long rods. The fit of the empirical model that associated the TDR measured values of electrical conductivity (EC TDR) to ECse was excellent, indicating this approach as suitable for the determination of electrical conductivity of the soil solution.

Refinement of Rapid PCC Coarse Aggregate Testing Program, HR-1071, 1999

The characterization and categorization of coarse aggregates for use in portland cement concrete (PCC) pavements is a highly refined process at the Iowa Department of Transportation. Over the past 10 to 15 years, much effort has been directed at pursuing direct testing schemes to supplement or replace existing physical testing schemes. Direct testing refers to the process of directly measuring the chemical and mineralogical properties of an aggregate and then attempting to correlate those measured properties to historical performance information (i.e., field service record). This is in contrast to indirect measurement techniques, which generally attempt to extrapolate the performance of laboratory test specimens to expected field performance. The purpose of this research project was to investigate and refine the use of direct testing methods, such as X-ray analysis techniques and thermal analysis techniques, to categorize carbonate aggregates for use in portland cement concrete. The results of this study indicated that the general testing methods that are currently used to obtain data for estimating service life tend to be very reliable and have good to excellent repeatability. Several changes in the current techniques were recommended to enhance the long-term reliability of the carbonate database. These changes can be summarized as follows: (a) Limits that are more stringent need to be set on the maximum particle size in the samples subjected to testing. This should help to improve the reliability of all three of the test methods studied during this project. (b) X-ray diffraction testing needs to be refined to incorporate the use of an internal standard. This will help to minimize the influence of sample positioning errors and it will also allow for the calculation of the concentration of the various minerals present in the samples. (c) Thermal analysis data needs to be corrected for moisture content and clay content prior to calculating the carbonate content of the sample.

Trojan Horse Method: a useful tool for electron screening effect investigation

Direct measurements in the last decades have highlighted a new problem related to the lowering of the Coulomb barrier between the interacting nuclei due to the presence of the ""electron screening"" in the laboratory measurements. It was systematically observed that the presence of the electronic cloud around the interacting ions in measurements of nuclear reactions cross sections at astrophysical energies gives rise to an enhancement of the astrophysical S(E)-factor as lower and lower energies are explored [1]. Moreover, at present Such an effect is not well understood as the value of the potential for screening extracted from these measurements is higher than the tipper limit of theoretical predictions (adiabatic limit). On the other hand, the electron screening potential in laboratory measurement is different from that occurring in stellar plasmas thus the quantity of interest in astrophysics is the so-called ""bare nucleus cross section"". This quantity can only be extrapolated in direct measurements. These are the reasons that led to a considerable growth on interest in indirect measurement techniques and in particular the Trojan Horse Method (THM) [2,3]. Results concerning the bare nucleus cross sections measurements will be shown in several cases of astrophysical interest. In those cases the screening potential evaluated by means of the THM will be compared with the adiabatic limit and results arising from extrapolation in direct measurements.

Redes neurais artificiais no ambiente de redes industriais foundation fieldbus usando blocos funcionais padrões

Industrial automation networks is in focus and is gradually replacing older architectures of systems used in automation world. Among existing automation networks, most prominent standard is the Foundation Fieldbus (FF). This particular standard was chosen for the development of this work thanks to its complete application layer specification and its user interface, organized as function blocks and that allows interoperability among different vendors' devices. Nowadays, one of most seeked solutions on industrial automation are the indirect measurements, that consist in infering a value from measures of other sensors. This can be made through implementation of the so-called software sensors. One of the most used tools in this project and in sensor implementation are artificial neural networks. The absence of a standard solution to implement neural networks in FF environment makes impossible the development of a field-indirect-measurement project, besides other projects involving neural networks, unless a closed proprietary solution is used, which dos not guarantee interoperability among network devices, specially if those are from different vendors. In order to keep the interoperability, this work's goal is develop a solution that implements artificial neural networks in Foundation Fieldbus industrial network environment, based on standard function blocks. Along the work, some results of the solution's implementation are also presented

Coloração verde nas folhas da cultura do alho vernalizado em resposta à adubação nitrogenada

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Medida indireta da clorofila e sua relação com o manejo da adubação nitrogenada em plantas cítricas fertirrigadas

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Teor de clorofila e produtividade do feijoeiro em razão da adubação nitrogenada

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Intra-abdominal hypertension in horses

Intra-abdominal hypertension (IAH) may lead to a multiple organ dysfunction syndrome associated with significant dysfunction of the cardiovascular, respiratory, renal, gastrointestinal and central nervous systems of human patients. A recent prospective multicentre epidemiological investigation in man concluded that IAH was associated with an increased risk of mortality in critically ill patients. In this review, we present current information pertaining to the potential clinical importance of IAH in the context of equine clinical practice. In conclusion, consideration of intra-abdominal pressure should be a part of the clinical assessment of patient well-being in critically ill equine patients. © 2011 EVJ Ltd.