High-Precision Calibration of a Monocular-Vision-Guided Handheld Line-Structured-Light Measurement System.

Due to the advantages of simple construction, easy application and good environmental suitability, handheld structured-light measurement systems have broad application prospects in 3D measurements. Here, a monocular-vision-guided line-structured-light measurement system is developed, and the posture of the handheld device can be obtained via a specifically designed target attached to it. No more marker points need to be adhered onto the object under inspection. The key for the system calibration is to obtain the coordinate transformation matrix from the sensor to the featured target coordinate system. The mathematical model of the system is first established. Then, an improved multi-view calibration method is proposed, where a selection process for the image pairs is conducted for accuracy improvement. With this method, the maximum relative error of the measured stair heights can be reduced from 0.48% to 0.16%. The measurement results for the specific parts further verified the effectiveness of the proposed system and the calibration method.

[Analysis of the effect of target-directed treatment based on nutrition-oriented information software on nutritional compliance rate in adults with severe traumatic brain injury: a mixed cohort study].

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the effect of target-oriented treatment based on nutrition-oriented information software on nutritional standards of adult patients with severe traumatic brain injury (sTBI). METHODS: Adult patients with sTBI admitted to the department of emergency intensive care unit (EICU) of Huzhou First People's Hospital were enrolled. Taking the online time of information software as the node on March 1st 2019, the patients who underwent early standardized enteral nutrition (EN) process from March 1st 2018 to February 28th 2019 were taken as the control group. The patients who received nutrition management by the nutritional support management system software for critical patients from March 1st 2019 to February 29th 2020 were used as the experimental group. The software was integrated with critical information system software. The effects of nutritional support in two groups were evaluated, including starting time of EN; total energy supply, total protein supply, energy compliance rate on 7 days and 14 days; the total albumin. And the related indicators of critical illness management were evaluated, including the survival rate of intensive care unit (ICU) at 28 days, duration of invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV), successful rates of weaning from IMV, rapid shallow breath index (RSBI) after spontaneous breathing test (SBT), serum cholinesterase on 7 days and 14 days, etc. RESULTS: Fifty-one patients with sTBI were included in the analysis, 28 in the control group and 23 in the experimental group. There were no significant differences in baseline data between the two groups, such as gender, age, body mass index (BMI), acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II (APACHE II) score, sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score, nutritional risk score (NUTRIC), etc., which were comparable. Compared with the control group, the starting time of EN in experimental group was significantly earlier (hours: 26.82±8.33 vs. 36.73±12.86, P = 0.046). The total protein supply on 7 days and 14 days [g×kg-1×d-1: 1.87 (1.36, 1.92) vs. 1.02 (0.87, 1.67), 2.63 (1.49, 1.92) vs. 1.23 (0.89, 1.92), both P < 0.05], the total energy supply on 14 days (kJ×kg-1×d-1: 154.26±68.16 vs. 117.99±112.42, P = 0.033), the energy compliance rate on 14 days [80.0% (16/20) vs. 35.7% (10/28), P = 0.002], and the serum cholinesterase on 14 days [U/L: 5 792.5 (4 621.0, 8 131.0) vs. 4 689.7 (3 639.0, 7 892.0), P = 0.048] in experimental group were significantly increased. There were no significant differences in other indicators between the two groups [total energy supply on 7 days (kJ×kg-1×d-1): 91.50±30.50 vs. 92.88±28.16, P = 0.184; energy compliance rate on 7 days: 34.7% (8/23) vs. 21.4% (6/28), P = 0.288; total albumin (g): 97.80±46.29 vs. 114.29±52.68, P = 0.086; 28-day survival rate of ICU: 87.0% vs. 78.6%, P = 0.081; duration of IMV (days): 14.33±7.68 vs. 15.68±6.82, P = 0.074; successful rates of weaning from IMV: 69.6% vs. 67.9%, P = 0.895; RSBI after SBT (breaths×min-1×L-1): 26.84±10.69 vs. 33.68±8.94, P = 0.052; serum cholinesterase on 7 days (U/L): 4 289.7 (2 868.0, 7 291.0) vs. 3 762.2 (2 434.0, 6 892.0), P = 0.078]. CONCLUSIONS: The development and clinical application of nutrition support information software is helpful for the standardized implementation of the nutritional support treatment process for adult patients with sTBI, which is worthy of further clinical research and promotion.

The effects of an enteral nutrition feeding protocol on critically ill patients: A prospective multi-center, before-after study.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to explore the effects of an enteral nutrition (EN) feeding protocol in critically ill patients. METHODS: This was a prospective multi-center before-after study. We compared energy related and prognostic indicators between the control group (pre-implementation stage) and intervention group (post-implementation stage). The primary endpoint was the percentage of patients receiving EN within 7 days after ICU admission. RESULTS: 209 patients in the control group and 230 patients in the intervention group were enrolled. The implementation of the EN protocol increased the percentage of target energy reached from day 3 to day 7, and the difference between two groups reached statistical significance in day 6 (P = .01) and day 7 (P = .002). But it had no effects on proportion of patient receiving EN (P = .65) and start time of EN (P = .90). The protocol application might be associated with better hospital survival (89.1% vs 82.8%, P = .055) and reduce the incidence of EN related adverse (P = .004). There was no difference in ICU length of stay, duration of mechanical ventilation and ICU cost. CONCLUSION: The implementation of the enteral feeding protocol is associated with improved energy intake and a decreased incidence of enteral nutrition related adverse events for critically ill patients, but it had no statistically beneficial effects on reducing the hospital mortality rate. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02976155. Registered November 29, 2016- Retrospectively registered, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02976155.

Role of Eclipta prostrata extract in improving spatial learning and memory deficits in D-galactose-induced aging in rats.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the role of Eclipta prostrata (E. prostrata) extract in improving spatial learning and memory deficits in D-galactose-induced aging in rats. METHODS: Rats were divided into five groups, with 10 animals in each group. Aging rats were produced by treatment with 100 mg·kg-1·d-1 of D-galactose for 6 weeks. Rats in the E. prostrata treatment groups received an aqueous extract of E. prostrata orally at a concentration of 50, 100, or 200 mg·kg-1·d-1 for 3 weeks. Animals in both the normal and model groups were treated with similar volumes of saline. Spatial memory performance was measured using the Morris water maze. The mRNA levels and enzyme activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and glutathione reductase (GR) were analyzed using real-time quantitative PCR and spectrophotometry, respectively. The levels of induced nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), nitric oxide (NO), dopamine (DA), norepinephrine (NE), and serotonin (5-HT) were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and spectrophotometry. RESULTS: Compared with the normal group, rats in the D-galactose-treated model group exhibited significant memory loss. There was severe damage to the hippocampal CA1 area, and expression levels of SOD, CAT, GPx, and GR were significantly decreased in the model group compared with the normal group. In the model group, levels of iNOS and NO were significantly increased compared with the normal group. However, treatment with E. prostrata extract reversed the conditions caused by D-galactose-induced aging, especially in the groups with higher treatment concentrations. Compared with the normal group, the levels of DA, NE, and 5-HT were significantly lower in the D-galactose-treated model group. In the E. prostrata extract-treated groups, however, there was a dose-dependent upregulation of DA, NE, and 5-HT expression. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that administration of E. prostrata extract can result in an improvement in the learning and memory impairments that are induced by D-galactose treatment in rats. This improvement may be the result of enhanced antioxidative ability, decreased iNOS and NO levels, and the induction of DA, NE, and 5-HT expression in the brain.

Four novel Candida species in the Candida albicans/Lodderomyces elongisporus clade isolated from the gut of flower beetles.

Flower-visiting beetles belonging to three species of Cetoniidae were collected on three mountains near Beijing, China, and yeasts were isolated from the gut of the insects collected. Based on the 26S rDNA D1/D2 domain and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region sequence analysis and phenotypic characterization, four novel anamorphic yeast species located in the Candida albicans/Lodderomyces elongisporus clade were identified from 18 of the strains isolated. The new species and type strains are designated as Candida blackwellae AS 2.3639(T) (=CBS 10843(T)), Candida jiufengensis AS 2.3688(T) (=CBS 10846(T)), Candida oxycetoniae AS 2.3656(T) (=CBS 10844(T)), and Candida pseudojiufengensis AS 2.3693(T) (=CBS 10847(T)). C. blackwellae sp. nov. was basal to the branch formed by C. albicans and C. dubliniensis with moderately strong bootstrap support. The closest relative of C. oxycetoniae was L. elongisporus. C. jiufengensis sp. nov. and C. pseudojiufengensis sp. nov. were closely related with each other and formed a branch in a subclade represented by C. parapsilosis and L. elongisporus.

Ogataea ganodermae sp. nov., a methanol-assimilating yeast species isolated from basidiocarps of Ganoderma sp.

Three methanol-utilizing yeast strains were isolated from basidiocarps of Ganoderma sp. collected from a tree trunk in Mangshan Mountain, Hunan Province, southern China. These strains formed hat-shaped ascospores in unconjugated and deliquescent asci. Sequence analysis of the large-subunit rRNA gene D1/D2 domain and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region, electrophoretic karyotype comparison and phenotypic characterization demonstrated that the three strains represent a novel species of the genus Ogataea, which is described as Ogataea ganodermae sp. nov. (type strain SHS 2.1(T) =CGMCC AS 2.3435(T) =CBS 10646(T)). Phylogenetically, the novel species was closely related to Ogataea pini and Ogataea henricii. The latter two taxa with similar D1/D2 sequences were confirmed to represent separate species by ITS sequence and electrophoretic karyotype comparisons.

[Application of molecular biology techniques in the identification of pathogenic fungi and the diagnosis of fungal infection].

With the increasing incidence and mortality of fungal infection, the requirements for strict diagnostic approaches became a very urgent issue. Because of the traditional detective techniques, such as culture, gave poor diagnostic outcomes, the molecular biological techniques are expected to develop the potential diagnostic approaches. During the past decades, we have carried out serial studies on the molecular properties of pathogenic fungi, and we would like to review as following. Firstly, we applied several molecular tools in classification and identification of pathogenic fungi. We performed random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD), restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and other techniques in studying the typing, to classify and identify the properties of Dermatophytes, Candida spp., Cryptococcus neoformans, Dematiaceous fungi, and Aspergillus spp. Interestingly, we found the same T. rubrum strain might infect different sites of the host, while a site-specificity displayed in T. mentagrophytes. This finding indicated the genetic discrepancies among the fungi. Beside, we also found that the E. dermatitis strains with different virulences possessed some discrepancies at gene level. We then developed a PCR-based molecular procedure to identify the novel species in Exophiala spp. As the applicable strategy, we also investigated the rDNA sequence properties in several fungi. And as a result, we submitted for the first time to GenBank the complete sequence of Aspergillus fumigatus rDNA/ITSI/ITSII, which provided the basis for designing the species-specific probes and for its further clinical applications. Secondly, we have tried to develop the molecular diagnostic approaches based on our DNA sequence data which were used for identification studies previously. By analyzing the DNA sequence of Aspergillus fumigatus rDNA/ITSI/ITSII, we developed a nested PCR method to detect Aspergillus fumigatus genes. Our preliminary results indicated that this PCR-based molecular approach has great importance in the diagnosis of invasive aspergillosis. We also designed the species-specific probes and then established several in situ hybridization procedures. We found these hybridization methods could get the positive rate up to 81% (13/16), which suggests that these methods have potential diagnostic value for invasive candidiasis and aspergillosis. Based on our experiences, we would conclude that the molecular biological techniques possess great value to investigate the biological properties of pathogenic fungi, and we are looking forward to see more and more molecular tools will be used in the pathogenic mechanisms of fungal infections and antifungal activity studies.