1502 UK National Survey of Huber Needle Availability for Deflation of Gastric Band Balloon in The Acute Setting

Introduction The laparoscopic gastric band was popularised in the 1990’s. The procedure involves placement of an adjustable band around the proximal stomach, aiming to induce satiety and offering a surgical solution to morbid obesity. Complications such as band slippage and erosion, together with succession by sleeve gastrectomy and gastric bypass which offer more significant weight loss has meant the procedure has gone out of favour. However, their legacy continues with a stream of patients presenting annually with complications, many of whom have travelled abroad for the procedure. The aim of this study was to examine Huber needle availability in acute surgical units nationally. Method All acute general surgical admission units across the UK were identified from the National Emergency Laparotomy Audit database. The senior nurse managing each unit was contacted by telephone and asked three questions; whether their hospital has an elective bariatric service on site, whether they review acute bariatric emergencies and whether the unit stocks Huber needles. Results 151 acute general surgical units were identified across the UK, of which 60% responded. 30/90(33%) have an elective bariatric service on site and 65/90(72%) reviewed acute bariatric patients. 8/90(8.9%) stock Huber needles for the acute deflation of gastric bands. Conclusions Patients presenting acutely with gastric band complications typically need urgent deflation of the gastric band. The Huber needle is a non-coring needle used for gastric band adjustment, preventing damage to the port. The Huber needle is a low-cost item and should be stocked by all acute general surgical units.

Long-term cross calibration of HJ-1A CCD1 and Terra MODIS reflective solar bands

Since its launch on September 6, 2008, HJ-1A has been in the orbit for 13 years. The CCD1 sensor on the HJ-1A has four reflected solar bands. Since the calibration frequency is limited to the annual site calibration, cross-calibration is an effective method to improve the calibration frequency. In this paper, we use 420 image pairs of HJ-1A CCD1 and Terra MODIS over the Dunhuang test site for gains calculation, where we take MODIS as the reference sensor. The spectral band adjustment factors (SBAFs) for cross-calibration are then calculated to compensate for the spectral mismatch. The cross-calibration results are also validated by the field calibration results. From 2008 to 2019, a total of six campaigns have been cross-calibrated on the same day. The gain difference between the site calibration and cross-calibration is less than 3%. The long-term cross-calibration results further indicate that due to the adjustment of HJ-1A CCD gain state in October 2009, an abrupt change occurred 405 days after launch. After 12 years of on-orbit operation, the attenuation rate has reached 23.51%, 21.89%, 8.11%, and 13.37%, respectively by the end of 2019 based on the cross-calibration results.

A Literature Review of Bimodal Fitting

Although there are quite a few bimodal cochlear implant users, bimodal fitting guidelines were not fully developed. Bimodal fitting optimization is one of the factors that contribute to successful bimodal outcomes. The purpose of this study is to investigate recent literatures related to bimodal fitting to establish evidence based bimodal fitting guidelines. Three databases including Google Scholar, PubMed publisher, and PLOS One were searched to review bimodal fitting literatures. A total of 599,604 articles were identified by using ten bimodal relevant keywords at the initial stage. Then, we included 192 articles with abstract review, inclusion and exclusion criteria and removals of duplicates. Lastly, two authors reviewed full texts and identified a total of 19 bimodal fitting articles. Results were categorized into type of bimodal intervention, procedures, and outcomes. Bimodal fitting procedures, test materials, and questionnaires were also summarized. A total of 18 articles consist of bimodal hearing aid fitting covering hearing aid fitting formula, gain adjustment, loudness balance, frequency band, frequency lowering technology, and overall bimodal fitting guidelines. Only one article includes bimodal cochlear implant fitting with low frequency band adjustment. Several factors including real-ear measurement, loudness balance test, frequency band selection considering cochlear dead region, and subjective questionnaires are considered to optimize bimodal hearing aid fitting. Bimodal fitting guidelines considering several relevant factors will optimize bimodal fitting and improve bimodal benefits.

Modelling Reservoir Chlorophyll-a, TSS, and Turbidity Using Sentinel-2A MSI and Landsat-8 OLI Satellite Sensors with Empirical Multivariate Regression

Sentinel-2A/MSI (S2A) and Landsat-8/OLI (L8) data products present a new frontier for the assessment and retrieval of optically active water quality parameters including chlorophyll-a (Chl-a), suspended particulate matter (TSS), and turbidity in reservoirs. However, because of their differences in spatial and spectral samplings, it is critical to evaluate how well the sensors are suited for the seamless generation of the water quality parameters (WQPs). This study presents results from the retrieval of the WQP in a reservoir from L8 and S2A optical sensors, after atmospheric correction and standardization through band adjustment. An empirical multivariate regression model (EMRM) algorithmic approach is proposed for the estimation of the water quality parameters in correlation with in situ laboratory measurements. From the results, both sensors estimated Chl-a concentrations with R2 of greater than 70% from the visible green band for L8 and a combination of green and SWIR-1 bands for S2A. While the NMSE% was nearly the same for both sensors in Chl-a estimation, the RMSE was <10 μg/L and >10 μg/L for L8 and S2A estimations of Chl-a, respectively. For TSS retrieval, L8 outperformed S2A by 31% in accuracy with R2>0.9 from L8’s red, blue, and green bands, as compared to 0.47≤R2≥0.61 from S2A’s red and NIR bands. The RMSE were the same as for Chl-a, and the NMSE% were both in the same range. Both sensors retrieved turbidity with high and nearly equal accuracy of R2>70% from the visible and NIR bands, with equal RMSE at <10% NTU and NMAE% from S2A being higher by more than 30% as compared to L8’s NMAE% at 15%. The study concluded that the higher performance accuracy of L8 is attributed to its higher SNR and spectral bandwidth placement as compared to S2A bands. Comparatively, S2A overestimated Chl-a and turbidity but performed equally well compared to OLI in the estimation of TSS. The results show that while absolute accuracy of retrieval of the WQPs still requires improvements, the developed algorithms are broadly able to discern the biooptical water quality in reservoirs.

Combination of Cross- and Inter-Band Radiometric Calibrations for a Hyperspectral Sensor Using Model-Based Spectral Band Adjustment

Recently, the growing number of hyperspectral satellite sensors have increased the demand for a flexible and robust approach to their calibration. This paper proposes an operational method for the simultaneous correction of inter-sensor and inter-band biases in hyperspectral sensors via the soil line concept for spectral band adjustment. Earth Observing-1 Hyperion was selected as an example, with the Terra Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) as a reference. The results over the Railroad Valley Playa calibration site indicated that the discrepancy in the analogous bands between Hyperion and MODIS during 2001–2008 was approximately 4–6% and 7–9% of the root-mean-square error in the top-of-atmosphere (TOA) radiance at the visible and near-infrared region and shortwave infrared region, respectively. For all Hyperion bands, the relative cross-calibration coefficients during this period were calculated (typically ranging from 0.9 to 1.1) to correct the Hyperion TOA radiance to be consistent with the MODIS and the other Hyperion bands. The application of the proposed approach could allow for more flexible cross-calibration of irregular-orbit sensors aboard the International Space Station.

Quantum dot-modified titanium dioxide nanoparticles as an energy-band tunable electron-transporting layer for open air-fabricated planar perovskite solar cells

Perovskite solar cells have been attracted as new representatives for the third-generation photovoltaic devices. Simple strategies for high efficiency with the long-term stability of solar cells are the challenges for commercial solar cell technology. Another challenge of the development toward industrial scale in perovskite solar cells is the production under the ambient and high humidity. In this sense, we successfully fabricated perovskite solar cells via solution depositions of all layers under ambient air with a relative humidity above 50%. Titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles with the roles for efficient charge extraction and electron transportation properties were used as an electron-transporting layer in the cell fabrication. The modification of TiO2 nanoparticles for energy band adjustment was done by doping with nontoxic cadmium sulfide (CdS) quantum dots. With the variation of CdS concentrations, energy band is not only changeable, but the enhancement of the perovskite solar cells efficiency could be achieved compared with the conventional cells made of pristine-TiO2 film and TiO2 nanoparticles.