Design of Improved and Semi-Automated Red Raspberry Cane Bundling and Taping Machine Based on Field Evaluation

2019 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 821-829
Author(s):  
Kapil Khanal ◽  
Santosh Bhusal ◽  
Manoj Karkee ◽  
Patrick Scharf ◽  
Qin Zhang

Abstract. Canopy management activities such as bundling, tying, and pruning are labor-intensive operations in red raspberry production. These activities are responsible for about 50% of the total production cost, the majority of which is spent on bundling and tying canes. In a previous study, a cane bundling and tying mechanism was developed to bundle red raspberry primocanes and wrap adhesive tape around them in an experimental red raspberry plot, with an overall success rate of 83%. The prototype was fabricated primarily for functionality evaluation, which was limited by size and precision issues. Based on the findings from that study with the first prototype, an improved mechanism with novel components was designed and fabricated to increase the accuracy and efficiency of operation in the field. The bundling and taping process was automated using a machine vision system for cane detection and localization. The time required for the mechanism to complete the bundling and taping process was decreased from 3 min to 30 s. The improved system achieved an overall success rate of 90% when tested in a red raspberry plot. The durability of two types of adhesive tape (used in the taping mechanism) in holding the bundled canes together was also evaluated. Forty-five red raspberry plants were randomly selected and tied with type I tape (tensile strength of 316 N m-1) and type II tape (tensile strength of 27 N m-1). The bundles were evaluated six months after tying. The failure of the tape to keep the cane bundles intact was significantly lower with type I tape (higher adhesive and tensile strength; two failures out of 39 tapings) compared to type II tape (seven failures out of 39 tapings). For yield comparison, manual tying was performed with baling twine (~5 mm diameter) on another 45 randomly selected plants. The mean fruit yield between machine taped and manually tied raspberry plants showed no significant difference (two-sample t-test, df = 88, p = 0.67) at 5% significance. All these results showed good potential for the development of a high-speed automated red raspberry cane bundling and taping mechanism. Keywords: Agricultural machinery, Automation, Cane bundling, Cane tying, Machine vision.

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ang Gao ◽  
Yongqiang Wang ◽  
Miao Yu ◽  
Xiaoguang Liu

Abstract Background Few studies describe thoracolumbar disc herniation (TLDH) as an isolated category, it is frequently classified as the lower thoracic spine or upper lumbar spine. Thus, less is known about the morphology and aetiology of TLDH compared to lumbar disc herniation (LDH). The aim of study is to investigate sagittal alignment in TLDH and analyze sagittal profile with radiographic parameters. Methods Data from 70 patients diagnosed with TLDH were retrospectively reviewed. The thoracic-lumbar alignment was depicted by description of curvatures (the apex of lumbar curvature, the apex of thoracic curvature, and inflexion point of the two curvatures) and radiographic parameters from complete standing long-cassette spine radiographs. The rank sum test was utilised to compare radiographic parameter values in each subtype. Results We found two subtypes differentiated by the apex of thoracic kyphotic curves. The sagittal profile was similar to that of the normal population in type I, presenting the apex of the thoracic kyphotic curve located in the middle thoracic spine. The well aligned thoracic-lumbar curve was disrupted in type II, presenting the apex of the thoracic kyphotic curve located in the thoracolumbar region in type II patients. Thirty-six patients were classified as type I, and 34 patients were classified as type II. The mean sagittal vertical axis, T1 pelvic angle and L1 pelvic angle were 27.9 ± 24.8°, 8.2 ± 7.3° and 6.2 ± 4.9°, respectively. There was significant difference (p < 0.001) of thoracolumbar angle between type I (14.9 ± 7.9°) and type II patients (29.1 ± 13.7°). Conclusions We presented two distinctive sagittal profiles in TLDH patients, and a regional kyphotic deformity with a balanced spine was validated in both subtypes. In type I patients, disc degeneration was accelerated by regional kyphosis in the thoracolumbar junction and eventually caused disc herniation. In type II patients, excessive mechanical stress was directly loaded at the top of the curve (thoracolumbar apex region) rather than being diverted by an arc as in a normal population or type I patients. Mismatch between shape and sacral slope value was observed, and better agreement was found in Type II patients.


2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 28-28
Author(s):  
Joel Lambert ◽  
Sanya Caratella ◽  
Eloise Lawrence ◽  
Bilal Alkhaffaf

Abstract Background Anastomotic leak after esophagectomy is associated with high levels of morbidity and may impact negatively on oncological outcomes. The aim of this single centre study was to describe our experience in managing these complications Methods From 2007–2017 data was reviewed retrospectively from our prospectively maintained electronic database. All patients underwent either 2 or 3 phase esophagectomy for cancer of the oesophagus or esophago-gastric junction. All histological sub-types and stage of cancer were included in the analysis. Anastomotic leaks were classified according to the Esophagectomy Complications Consensus Group (ECCG) guidelines; type I—conservative management, type II—non-surgical intervention, type III—surgical intervention. Results 224 esophagectomies were included in our analysis (104 (46%) minimally invasive, 120 (54%) open approach). The incidence of all anastomotic leaks was 10% (23/224). Surgical approach did not influence the incidence of anastomotic leak (minimally invasive 10 (43%), open approach 13(57%), P = 0.76). Five patients (22%) had a type I leak, 9 patients (39%) type II and 9 (39%) had a type III leak. There was an increase in the number of leaks managed non-surgically over the last 5 years compared to those in the first five years of our dataset (2012–2017: 11/23 (48%) vs 2007–2012: 4/23 (17%) P = 0.08). The median time for leak diagnosis was 8 days. Most leaks were diagnosed with oral contrast CT 19 (83%). Median hospital stay after anastomotic leak was 58.5 days. Type III leaks were associated with an increased length of stay (median 84 days) compared to type I&II leaks (median (38.5 days) (P = 0.002 95% CI 18.19- 74.41). There was no significant difference in 30-day mortality between type I&II (0 patients) and type III leaks (1 patient) P = 0.260. Conclusion Low mortality rates with anastomotic leak can be achieved. In centres with experienced radiological and endoscopic skills, most anastomotic leaks can be managed non-surgically. Disclosure All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.


2021 ◽  
Vol 71 (4) ◽  
pp. 187-193
Author(s):  
Putu Astawa ◽  
Made Agus Maharjana ◽  
Surya Adisthanaya ◽  
Made Winatra Satya Putra ◽  
Agus Suarjaya Putra ◽  
...  

Introduction: Displaced supracondylar fracture in children is a challenging injury that may result in impaired functional and cosmetic outcome if not well-treated. Utilization of Closed Reduction and Percutaneus Pinning (CRPP) increased for this pathology, some authors believe ORIF results better anatomical reduction and lower rate of loss of reduction. Study aims to compare CRPP and ORIF for pediatric supracondylar humerus fracture. Method: Systematic review was conducted based on PRISMA guideline. Inclusion criteria were age <18 years old, comparing CRPP and ORIF for Supracondylar Humerus Fractures Gartland Type II, II.Studies of one surgical technique, Gartland type I, case reports were excluded. For meta-analysis, 6 studies were included and fixed effect model used to pool the result. In each study, mean difference (MD) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was calculated for dichotomous outcomes using Review Manager. Result: Total of 252 patients aged 0-15 years old were included. CRPP more often performed than ORIF. Satisfactory outcomes measured by Flynn’s criteria were achieved in 87.74% in CRPP and 86.73% in ORIF patient group, indicating significant difference (Heterogeneity, I2 = 23%; WMD, 1.26; 0.58 to 2.73; P =0.56). Conclusion: Current systematic review and meta-analysis suggest that for displaced supracondylar humerus fractures, ORIF offers a comparable functional and cosmetic outcome compared to CRPP.


Sensors ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (9) ◽  
pp. 2690 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jannat Yasmin ◽  
Santosh Lohumi ◽  
Mohammed Raju Ahmed ◽  
Lalit Mohan Kandpal ◽  
Mohammad Akbar Faqeerzada ◽  
...  

The feasibility of a color machine vision technique with the one-class classification method was investigated for the quality assessment of tomato seeds. The health of seeds is an important quality factor that affects their germination rate, which may be affected by seed contamination. Hence, segregation of healthy seeds from diseased and infected seeds, along with foreign materials and broken seeds, is important to improve the final yield. In this study, a custom-built machine vision system containing a color camera with a white light emitting diode (LED) light source was adopted for image acquisition. The one-class classification method was used to identify healthy seeds after extracting the features of the samples. A significant difference was observed between the features of healthy and infected seeds, and foreign materials, implying a certain threshold. The results indicated that tomato seeds can be classified with an accuracy exceeding 97%. The infected tomato seeds indicated a lower germination rate (<10%) compared to healthy seeds, as confirmed by the organic growing media germination test. Thus, identification through image analysis and rapid measurement were observed as useful in discriminating between the quality of tomato seeds in real time.


2015 ◽  
Vol 25 (7) ◽  
pp. 1201-1207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Esther Louise Moss ◽  
Tim Evans ◽  
Philippa Pearmain ◽  
Sarah Askew ◽  
Kavita Singh ◽  
...  

IntroductionThe dualistic theory of ovarian carcinogenesis proposes that epithelial “ovarian” cancer is not one entity with several histological subtypes but a collection of different diseases arising from cells of different origin, some of which may not originate in the ovarian surface epithelium.MethodsAll cases referred to the Pan-Birmingham Gynaecological Cancer Centre with an ovarian, tubal, or primary peritoneal cancer between April 2006 and April 2012 were identified from the West Midlands Cancer Registry. Tumors were classified into type I (low-grade endometrioid, clear cell, mucinous, and low-grade serous) and type II (high-grade serous, high-grade endometrioid, carcinosarcoma, and undifferentiated) cancers.ResultsOvarian (83.5%), tubal (4.3%), or primary peritoneal carcinoma (12.2%) were diagnosed in a total of 583 woman. The ovarian tumors were type I in 134 cases (27.5%), type II in 325 cases (66.7%), and contained elements of both type I and type II tumors in 28 cases (5.7%). Most tubal and primary peritoneal cases, however, were type II tumors: 24 (96.0%) and 64 (90.1%), respectively. Only 16 (5.8%) of the ovarian high-grade serous carcinomas were stage I at diagnosis, whereas 240 (86.6%) were stage III+. Overall survival varied between the subtypes when matched for stage. Stage III low-grade serous and high-grade serous carcinomas had a significantly better survival compared to clear cell and mucinous cases,P= 0.0134. There was no significant difference in overall survival between the high-grade serous ovarian, tubal, or peritoneal carcinomas when matched for stage (stage III,P= 0.3758; stage IV,P= 0.4820).ConclusionsType II tumors are more common than type I and account for most tubal and peritoneal cancers. High-grade serous carcinomas, whether classified as ovarian/tubal/peritoneal, seem to behave as one disease entity with no significant difference in survival outcomes, therefore supporting the proposition of a separate classification of “tubo-ovarian serous carcinoma”.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Yufeng Chen ◽  
Huilin Yang ◽  
Lianfang Zhang ◽  
Yue Wang ◽  
Jun Zou

Objective. This study aimed to investigate if the presence of Modic changes (MCs) was correlated with lower back pain (LBP) and LBP-related disability in patients who underwent nonsurgical treatment. Methods. In this study, 129 patients who experienced consecutive LBP and underwent lumbar spine magnetic resonance imaging in our institute were divided into three groups according to the presence or type of MCs. The Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and visual analog scale (VAS) were used to assess the outcomes of the treatment. Results. Based on the achieved results, there was no significant difference between three groups before treatment (P>0.05). Three months after undergoing nonsurgical treatment, the rates of improved ODI and VAS scores were statistically significantly different (P=0.014,  0.023). After an additional 3 months of treatment, in patients with Modic type I changes, the symptoms significantly improved in comparison with those 3 months prior (P=0.037,  0.026), while that improvement did not occur in patients with Modic type II changes (P>0.05). Conclusions. The existence of MCs affects the outcomes of nonsurgical treatment in patients with LBP. However, symptoms can be improved after an additional round of treatment for Modic type I changes, while this is not confirmed for Modic type II changes.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kurai Z. Chako ◽  
Heather Phillipo ◽  
Erisi Mafuratidze ◽  
Danai Tavonga Zhou

Diabetics have chronically elevated glucose levels. High levels of glucose result in nonenzymatic formation of glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c). Therefore, elevated HbA1c is a good indicator of poorly controlled diabetes. We used the standard HbA1c method to determine glycemic control in diabetics attending a public health facility in Harare, Zimbabwe. Our study sought to assess the prevalence of elevated HbA1c amongst treated diabetics and compare the HbA1c levels by type of diabetes. The cross-sectional study was carried out at one of the main public health centres in Zimbabwe: the Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals in Harare. Type I and type II diabetics were recruited and had their blood HbA1c levels measured. The standard one tailed proportion z test was used to test the hypothesis at 5% significance level. Combined prevalence of type I and type II diabetics with elevated HbA1c was 27%. There was no significant difference in levels of HbA1c by age and sex. Over half (54%) of Type I diabetics had elevated HbA1c, suggesting poor glycemic control. In contrast only 24% of the Type II diabetics studied had elevated HbA1c. The difference in proportion of Type I and Type II diabetics with elevated HbA1c suggestive of poor glycemic control was significant (P=0.0067).


Hand ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 418-422 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Quan Pang ◽  
Nathan Douglass ◽  
Robin N. Kamal

Background: We examined the relationship between lunate morphology (type 1 without a medial facet; type II with a medial facet) and dorsal intercalated segmental instability (DISI) in patients with scapholunate ligament injuries. We tested the primary null hypothesis that there is no relationship between lunate morphology and development of DISI. Secondary analysis compared the agreement of classifying lunate morphology based on the presence of a medial lunate facet, capitate-to-triquetrum (CT) distance, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Methods: We performed a retrospective chart review of patients with known scapholunate ligament injuries from 2001 to 2016. Posterior-anterior radiographs and MRI, when available, were evaluated. CT distances were measured as a secondary classification method. DISI and scapholunate instability were determined as radiolunate angle >15° and scapholunate angle >60°, respectively. Differences between groups were determined using chi-square analysis with significance set at P < .05. Agreement between plain radiographs, MRI, and CT distance was calculated using the kappa statistic. Results: Our search found 58 of 417 patients who met inclusion criteria; 41 of 58 had type II and 17 of 58 had type I lunates. There was no significant difference between groups in regard to DISI or scapholunate instability. Subanalysis using MRI alone or correcting any discrepancy between plain film and MRI classification, using MRI as the standard, found no difference between groups in regard to DISI or scapholunate instability. Conclusions: In patients with scapholunate ligament injuries, there are no differences in the development of DISI or scapholunate instability between patients with type I and type II lunates.


2002 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Winston B. Yoshida ◽  
Luiz E. Naresse ◽  
Antonio C. Rodrigues ◽  
Viciany E. Fabris ◽  
Aparecida Y. Angeleli

End-to-end conventional arterial anastomosis is time consuming, requires prolonged clamping times and is associated with focal necrosis, granulocyte infiltration and subsequently, fibrosis and calcification of the arterial wall. Fibrin glue as an alternative for microarterial anastomosis may obviate these lesions, with less adherence to adjacent tissues and better coaptation of the arterial margins. OBJECTIVE: In this study we compared the healing process of conventional to fibrin glue end-to-end anastomosis in larger arteries. METHODS: In 22 rabbits, both carotid arteries were cross sectioned and repaired by end-to-end anastomosis with 4 interrupted sutures and fibrin glue in one side (GI) and with 8 conventional interrupted sutures in the other side (G2). After 3 and 15 days, the animals were randomly allocated for tensile strength, hydroxyproline determination (8 animals), and histologic analysis of the anastomosis (3 animals). Conventional staining procedures (hematoxylin-eosin and Masson methods) and picrosirius red polarization (PSP) technique for collagen type determination were employed. RESULTS: From 3 to 15 days, the tensile strength increased in both groups, from 280.0± 32.6 g to 432.2± 131.2g in Group I and from 221.4± 72.4g to 452.2± 132.0g in Group 2 (p<0.001), with no statistical difference between the groups in each period of the study. The hydroxyproline content, expressed as hydroxyproline /protein ratio, varied from 0.0816 ± 0.0651 to 0.0622 ± 0.0184 in Group l and from 0.0734 ± 0.0577 to 0.0460 ± 0.0271 in Group 2, with no significant difference between periods and groups (p>0.05). Histology showed slight increase of inflammatory and reparative reactions in Group 2. PSP technique demonstrated predominant type I collagen in relation to type III collagen in the anastomosis of both groups, with no significant difference between them. CONCLUSION: Fibrin glue was less harmful to the arterial wall than conventional suture. Even using less sutures in fibrin glue anastomosis, similar tensile strength and healing characteristics were noted in both groups. Completion times for the fibrin glue group was significantly greater than for the conventional anastomosis.


2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (12) ◽  
pp. 2040-2043
Author(s):  
Munir Ahmed ◽  
Abdul Hayee ◽  
Shahla Afsheen Memon ◽  
Ismail Salim Memon ◽  
Abdul Qayoom Memon

Objectives: To determine the frequency of diastolic dysfunction in patients presenting with type II Diabetes Mellitus. Study Design: Cross sectional study. Setting: Sheikh Zayed Hospital, Rahim Yar Khan. Period: From 01-01-2017 to 30-06-2017. Material & Methods: In this study the cases were selected via non probability consecutive sampling of both male and female gender with age more than 40 years having type II DM of at least more than 2 years were included. The cases suffering from type I DM, gestational DM and those with HTN, end stage kidney and liver failure were excluded. Trans thoracic echocardiography was done to label diastolic dysfunction and was labelled as yes when the E/A ratio was <0.8. The data was analysed using chi square test and p value less than 0.05 was taken as significant. Results: In this study, 100 cases of type II DM were included with mean age of 51.31±7.89 years at presentation. There were 61% males and 39% females. Diastolic dysfunction was observed in 53% of the cases. There was no significant difference in terms of gender where it affected 56.41% of females with p= 0.92. Diastolic dysfunction was more in cases that had duration of DM more than 3 years affecting 48 (70.58%) cases with p= 0.001 and it was also significantly high in cases that had BMI more than 30 where it was seen in 40 (70.17%) of cases with p= 0.001. Conclusion: Diastolic dysfunction seen in half of the cases suffering from type II DM and it is significantly high in cases that had duration of DM more than 3 years and BMI more than 30.


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