1,721,010 research outputs found
Pleurodesis with povidone–iodine for refractory chylothorax in newborns: Personal experience and literature review
No full textIntroduction: Refractory chylothorax is a severe clinical issue, particularly in neonates. Conventional primary approach is based on diet with medium-chain fatty acids and/or total parenteral nutrition. In nonresponders, proposed second line treatments include chemical or surgical pleurodesis, thoracic duct ligation, pleuroperitoneal shunting and pleurectomy but none of these have been shown to be superior to other in terms of resolution rate and safety. Our aim is to report our experience on povidone-iodine use for chemical pleurodesis in newborn infants with chylothorax unresponsive to conservative treatment.Our aim is to report our experience on povidone-iodine use for chemical pleurodesis in newborn infants with chylothorax unresponsive to conservative treatment.Methods: Since 2013, povidone-iodine pleurodesis was attempted in all patients with persistent chylothorax who failed conservative treatment (no response to at least 10 days of total parenteral nutrition and maximum dosage of intravenous octreotide). Pleurodesis consisted in the injection of 2 ml/kg of a 4% povidone-iodine solution inside the pleural space, leaving the pleural tube clamped for the subsequent 4 hours.Results: Five patients were treated with chemical pleurodesis of persistent chylothorax. Four of 5 patients had their pleural effusion treated by one single povidone-iodine infusion. Median time for resolution was 4 days. A patient with massive superior vena cava thrombosis did not benefit from pleurodesis. None of the patients experienced long term side effects of the treatment.Conclusion: Our data suggest that povidone-iodine pleurodesis may be considered a safe and effective option to treat refractory chylothorax in newborns. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Pathogenetic and prognostic factors for neonatal gastric perforation: Personal experience and systematic review of the literature
No full textIntroduction: Neonatal gastric perforation (NGP) is a rare entity. Our aim was to report our experience and review the recent literature to characterize NGP, describe associated factors, and define prognostic factors.Materials and methods: Retrospective review of all consecutive patients with NGP treated between June 2009 and December 2017 in a third level pediatric hospital. In addition, a systematic review of Medline and Scopus database was performed using a defined strategy. All articles referring to NGP published between 2005 and 2017 were retrieved. Variables considered: prematurity (< 37 weeks gestation), birth weight (BW), Apgar score, prenatal complications, age at diagnosis, bag ventilation, pathogenetic events, site of perforation, treatment of perforation, sepsis, and outcome. Mann-Whitney or Fisher's test were used as appropriate. Results are median (range) or prevalence.Results: Between 2009 and 2016 we treated 8 consecutive patients for NGP and 199 further cases were retrieved from the systematic review (total of 207 patients). Overall survival was 73%. Most frequently reported pathogenesis: iatrogenic (20 patients), hypoxic/ ischemic or infection stress (13 patients), duodenal/jejunal obstruction (11 patients), drugs (11 patients), esophageal atresia (10 patients). 60% patients had only primary repair of the perforation as gastric surgery. Sepsis developed in 56 patients (34%).Conclusion: Although the pathogenesis of NGP is pleomorphic, prematurity and low BWs are frequent in these patients. Reviewing our experience and the available literature, none of the variables considered, but sepsis was associated with mortality
An integrated dynamic method for allocating roles and planning tasks for mixed human-robot teams
No full textThis paper proposes a novel dynamic method based on Behavior Trees (BTs) that integrates planning and allocation of tasks in mixed human robot teams, suitable for manufacturing environments. The Behavior Tree formulation allows encoding a single job as a compound of different tasks with temporal and logic constraints. In this way, instead of formulating an offline centralized optimization problem, the role allocation problem is solved with multiple simplified online optimization sub-problems, without complex and cross-schedule task dependencies. These sub-problems are defined as Mixed-Integer Linear Programs (MILPs), that, according to the worker-actions related costs and the workers' availability, allocate the yet-to-execute tasks among the available workers. To characterize the behavior of the developed method, we opted to perform different simulation experiments, in which the results of the action-worker allocation and the computational complexity are evaluated. The obtained results, due to the nature of the algorithm and to the possibility of simulating the agents' behavior, illustrate adequately also how the algorithm performs in real experiments
A visuo-haptic guidance interface for mobile collaborative robotic assistant (MOCA)
No full textIn this work, we propose a novel visuo-haptic guidance interface to enable mobile collaborative robots to follow human instructions in a way understandable by non-experts. The interface is composed of a haptic admittance module and a human visual tracking module. The haptic guidance enables an individual to guide the robot end-effector in the workspace to reach and grasp arbitrary items. The visual interface, on the other hand, uses a real-time human tracking system and enables autonomous and continuous navigation of the mobile robot towards the human, with the ability to avoid static and dynamic obstacles along its path. To ensure a safer human-robot interaction, the visual tracking goal is set outside of a certain area around the human body, entering which will switch robot behaviour to the haptic mode. The execution of the two modes is achieved by two different controllers, the mobile base admittance controller for the haptic guidance and the robot's whole-body impedance controller, that enables physically coupled and controllable locomotion and manipulation. The proposed interface is validated experimentally, where a human-guided robot performs the loading and transportation of a heavy object in a cluttered workspace, illustrating the potential of the proposed Follow-Me interface in removing the external loading from the human body in this type of repetitive industrial tasks
Il castello di Amendolea a Condofuri. Scavo e struttura stratigrafica
No full textEdizione dello scavo condotto nelle prime due campagne nel castello dell'Amendole
A Collaborative Robotic Approach to Autonomous Pallet Jack Transportation and Positioning
No full textThis paper proposes a novel loco-manipulation control framework for the execution of complex tasks with kinodynamic constraints using mobile manipulators. As a representative example, we consider the handling and re-positioning of pallet jacks (or lifts/carriers with similar characteristics) in unstructured environments. This task is associated with significant challenges in terms of locomotion, due to the mobility constraints that are imposed by their limited kinematics while moving, and manipulation, due to the existence of dynamic uncertainties while grasping and handling of pallet jacks. To tackle these challenges, our solution enables the robotic platform to autonomously reach a pallet jack location while avoiding the obstacles, and to detect and manipulate its handle by fusing the perception and the contact force data. Subsequently, the transportation of the pallet jack is achieved through a whole-body impedance controller and a trajectory planner which takes into account the mobility constraints of the robot-pallet jack chain. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed solution in reaching and displacing the pallets to desired locations through simulation studies and experimental results. While these results reveal with a proof-of-concept the effectiveness of the proposed framework, they also demonstrate the high potential of mobile manipulators for relieving human workers from such repetitive and labor intensive tasks. We believe that this extended functionality can contribute to increasing the usability of mobile manipulators in different application scenarios
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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