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A Two-branch Edge Guided Lightweight Network for infrared image saliency detection
Get PDFIn the dynamic landscape of saliency detection, convolutional neural networks have emerged as catalysts for innovation, but remain largely tailored for RGB imagery, falling short in the context of infrared images, particularly in memory-restricted environments. These existing approaches tend to overlook the wealth of contour information vital for a nuanced analysis of infrared images. Addressing this notable gap, we introduce the novel Two-branch Edge Guided Lightweight Network (TBENet), designed explicitly for the robust analysis of infrared image saliency detection. The main contributions of this paper are as follows. First, we formulate the saliency detection task as two subtasks, contour enhancement and foreground segmentation. Therefore, the TBENet is divided into two specialized branches: a contour prediction branch for extracting target contour and a saliency map generation branch for separating the foreground from the background. The first branch employs an encoder–decoder architecture to meticulously delineate object contours, serving as a guiding blueprint for the second branch. This latter segment adeptly integrates spatial and semantic data, creating a precise saliency map that is refined further by an innovative edge-weighted contour loss function. Second, to enhance feature integration capabilities, we propose depthwise multi-scale and multi-cue modules, facilitating sophisticated feature aggregation. Third, a high-level linear bottleneck module is devised to ensure the extraction of rich semantic information, and by replacing the standard convolution with the depthwise convolution, it is beneficial to reduce model complexity. Additional, we reduce the number of channels of the feature maps from each stage of the decoder to further enhance the lightweight of the model. Last, we construct a novel infrared ship dataset Small-IRShip to train and evaluate our proposed model. Experimental results on the homemade dataset Small-IRShip and two publicly available datasets, namely RGB-T and IRSTD-1k, demonstrate TBENet’s superior performance over state-of-the-art methods, affirming its effectiveness in harnessing edge information and incorporating advanced feature integration strategies
Managing COVID-19 from the Nurses' Perspectives at Primary Healthcare Facilities in Maseru Lesotho
Get PDFBackground: Nurses are at the forefront of the fight against COVID-19. The modest number of perspectives among healthcare practitioners remained an issue, particularly in developing nations such as Lesotho. Objectives: This study aimed to assess the perspectives of nurses working in the primary healthcare setting on managing COVID-19 in Lesotho. Method: A quantitative descriptive cross-sectional survey design was used to collect data using a structured questionnaire from a conveniently selected sample of nurses. Data were analysed using SPSS, and the results were presented using descriptive and analytic statistics. Results: A total of 120 nurses completed the questionnaire, with a 100% response rate. Very few proportions of nurses received formal training (52.4%) and were taught and trained on the safe and accurate ways of using personal protective equipment (PPE) (21.8%) as a preventative measure. Less than half (36.7%) of the participants could implement guidelines to screen, report a suspected case (32.5%) and manage confirmed cases of COVID-19 (30.8%). The levels of knowledge and practices for the pandemic were moderate during the study. There was a significant correlation between the nurses' knowledge and practices [X 2 (442, N=120) =1022.6, p<.05] in the management of COVID-19. Conclusion: The level of perspectives of nurses in Lesotho was moderate regarding the management of COVID-19. Unsatisfactory numbers of nurses were reasonably knowledgeable and capable of implementing pandemic response measures. This study provides the information necessary for health authorities to prioritise training programmes that support nurses during COVID-19 and other similar pandemics
Physiological responses to capture, handling and tagging in the critically endangered flapper skate (Dipturus intermedius)
Get PDFCatch-and-release angling is a popular recreational pastime and an essential component of many fish research programmes. Marked physiological disturbances have been documented in elasmobranchs in response to angling and handling, but skates and rays remain understudied. Here, we describe for the first time the physiological responses of the critically endangered flapper skate (Dipturus intermedius) to angling, handling and tagging in Scotland. Sixty-one skate were captured by angling as part of a tagging research programme. We assessed individual health, measured blood parameters at two time points (post-capture and prior to release) and recorded heart and respiratory rates during handling and the surgical insertion of acoustic tags. Injuries or infections were identified in 10% of individuals and attributed to prior angling in two cases. Skate generally experienced a mild metabolic acidosis characterized by decreases in blood pH and bicarbonate and increases in lactate and glucose. Respiratory acidosis characterized by limited increases in PCO2 was also observed. The degree of acidosis was greater with warmer sea temperatures and longer fight times, and worsened during the time that skate were handled on deck. Heart rates during handling were negatively associated with body size, positively associated with temperature and also linked to time on the line. Taken together, our results suggest that elevated fight times and temperatures increase the physiological stress experienced by rod and reel-caught flapper skate. Efforts to reduce fight times and minimize heat exposure (including shading, irrigation and reduced handling time) should be beneficial for skate
A Systematic Review of the Effectiveness of Personalised Auditory Stimuli in Managing Critically Ill Adult Comatose Patients
No full textCreep
No full textTimber is particularly sensitive to load duration and creep. Any deformation calculation must include an assessment of creep deformations
Glued Laminated Timber (Glulam) Properties
No full textGlued Laminated Timber, commonly referred to as glulam or GLT, has an excellent strength-to-weight ratio. It is comparatively light, and as such can generate economies in foundations costs when used efficiently
Designing with Glue Laminated Timber (Glulam)
No full textGlued Laminated Timber, commonly referred to as Glulam or GLT, comprises several layers of dimensioned, strength-graded timber bonded together with structural adhesive to increase structural performance
ESPP: Efficient Sector-based Charging Scheduling and Path Planning for WRSNs with Hexagonal Topology
Get PDFWireless Power Transfer (WPT) is a promising technology that can potentially mitigate the energy provisioning problem for sensor networks. In order to efficiently replenish energy for these battery-powered devices, designing appropriate scheduling and charging path planning algorithms is essential and challenging. Whilst previous studies have tackled this challenge, the conjoint influences of network topology, charging path planning, and energy threshold distribution in Wireless Rechargeable Sensor Networks (WRSNs) are still in their infancy. We mitigate the aforementioned problem by proposing novel algorithmic solutions to efficient sector-based on-demand charging scheduling and path planning. Specifically, we first propose a hexagonal cluster-based deployment of nodes such that finding an NP-Complete Hamiltonian path is feasible. Second, each cluster is divided into multiple sectors and a charging path planning algorithm is implemented to yield a Hamiltonian path, aimed at improving the Mobile Charging Vehicle (MCV) efficiency and charging throughput. Third, we propose an efficient algorithm to calculate the importance of nodes to be used for charging duration decision-making and prioritization. Fourth, a non-pre-emptive dynamic priority scheduling algorithm is proposed for charging tasks’ assignments and scheduling. Finally, extensive simulations have been conducted, revealing the significant advantages of our proposed algorithms in terms of energy efficiency, response time, dead nodes’ density, and queuing processing
Change in child mental health during the Ukraine war: evidence from a large sample of parents
Get PDFThe ongoing war in Ukraine is expected to negatively impact the mental health of the country’s population. This study aims to provide a preliminary estimate of the degree of change in the mental health problems of Ukrainian children following Russia’s invasion in February 2022, and to identify the sociodemographic and war-related risk factors associated with these changes. A nationwide, opportunistic sample of 1238 parents reported on a single randomly chosen child within their household as part of The Mental Health of Parents and Children in Ukraine Study. Data were collected between July 15th and September 5th, 2022. Participants completed modified versions of the Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC-17) which was adapted to capture change in the frequency of symptoms since the beginning of the war. Parents reported increases across all 17 indicators of internalizing, externalizing, and attention problems of the PSC-17. Increased problems were most pronounced within the internalizing domain, with 35% of parents reporting that their child worried more since the beginning of the war. A number of individual, parental, and war-related factors were associated with increases across the three domains. Exposure to war trauma, pre-existing mental health problems, and child age were among the strongest predictors of change. This survey provides preliminary evidence that the Russian war on Ukraine has led to an increase in common mental health problems among children in the general population. Further research is required to determine the extent and sequela of this increase, and to develop intervention strategies for those most in need
Healers and Midwives Accused of Witchcraft (1563-1736) - What Secondary Analysis of the Scottish Survey of Witchcraft Can Contribute to the Teaching of Nursing and Midwifery History
Get PDFBackground: Nearly 4000 people were accused of witchcraft in Scotland between 1563-1736. Some of these were healers, midwives, and nurses. Objective: To investigate Scotland’s folk-healers and midwives accused of witchcraft and review their work from a nursing and midwifery perspective.Design: Secondary analysis of the Survey of Scottish Witchcraft.Methods: Those on the Survey with witchcraft accusations relating to folk-healing or midwifery were identified and their biographies were created from Survey data (2021). Individual biographical data were descriptively analysed. Healing/midwifery practice information was tabulated and thematically analysed. Results: 142 individuals were identified (85% women), 51% were found guilty, 90% were executed. Most (98%) were folk-healers with 10 accused for midwifery reasons. Mainly their work was accused of causing harm. Three themes emerged: their use of rituals; unorthodox religious practices and treatments. Rituals included actions carried out a certain number of times. Religious practices frequently referenced Catholicism. Many of their treatments for ingestion, application or bathing used items still recognised for their health properties. Approximately, 10% of the 142, mainly in the 1500s/early 1600s, utilised expensive items and complex treatments which had more in common with ‘elite’ knowledge rather than simple folklore.Conclusions: Across all 142 people, many aspects of their work are identifiable within more contemporary nursing and midwifery practice including their use of rituals, treatments, and holism. Mostly the accused were folk-practitioners, but a few (1500s/early 1600s) appear to have been healers working akin to physicians. Following the Protestant reformation (1560) their work, unlike that of physicians, was marginalised, considered unorthodox and harmful because they were women and/or their work reflected Catholicism. European hospital nursing originates in the monastic houses, but little is known about these early religious nurses. This study is novel in suggesting that whoever taught these accused witch/healers may have been connected to the monastic hospitals pre-Reformation
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