Image segmentation using transfer learning and Fast R-CNN for diabetic foot wound treatments.

Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) are considered the most challenging forms of chronic ulcerations to handle their multifactorial nature. It is necessary to establish a comprehensive treatment plan, accurate, and systematic evaluation of a patient with a DFU. This paper proposed an image recognition of diabetic foot wounds to support the effective execution of the treatment plan. In the severity of a diabetic foot ulcer, we refer to the current qualitative evaluation method commonly used in clinical practice, developed by the International Working Group on the Diabetic Foot: PEDIS index, and the evaluation made by physicians. The deep neural network, convolutional neural network, object recognition, and other technologies are applied to analyze the classification, location, and size of wounds by image analysis technology. The image features are labeled with the help of the physician. The Object Detection Fast R-CNN method is applied to these wound images to build and train machine learning modules and evaluate their effectiveness. In the assessment accuracy, it can be indicated that the wound image detection data can be as high as 90%.

The Autonomic Progress Bar Motivates Treatment Completion for Patients of Stimulant Use Disorder and Cannabis Use Disorder.

Background: The intrinsic motivation behind the "need to complete" is more influential than external incentives. We introduced a novel progress-bar tool to motivate the completion of programs designed to treat stimulant and cannabis use disorders. We further examined the effectiveness of the progress bar's scoring approach in forecasting consistently negative urine tests. Methods: This study's participants included 568 patients with stimulant, amphetamine-type, and cannabis use disorders who were undergoing 12-month mandatory treatment programs at Taichung Veterans General Hospital in Taiwan. Patients were given scores of 1, -1, or 0 depending on whether they received negative, positive, or missing urinalysis reports, respectively. The autonomic progress bar generated weekly score totals. At the group level, scorei donated scores from all patients for a given week (i denoted the week). Scorei was standardized to adjusted scorei. We then conducted Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) Model of time-series analyses for the adjusted scorei. Results: A total of 312 patients maintained treatment progress over the 12-month program. The autonomic score calculator totaled the shared achievements of these patients. The coefficients of the lag variables for mean (p), lag variables for residual error term (q), and number of orders for ensuring stationary (d) were estimated at p = 3, d = 4, and q = 7 for the first half of the treatment program, and were estimated at p = 2, d = 2, and q = 3 for the second half. Both models were stationary and tested as fit for prediction (p < 0.05). Sharply raised adjusted scores were predicted during the high-demand treatment phase. Discussion: This study's novel progress-bar tool effectively motivated treatment completion. It was also effective in forecasting continually negative urine tests. The tool's free open-source code makes it easy to implement among many substance-treatment services.

Boosting treatment stabilization in patients of amphetamine-type stimulant use disorder.

BACKGROUND: To investigate boosting effects on treatment stabilization in the mandatory treatment modality for patients of amphetamine-type stimulant use disorder. METHODS: This is a retrospective follow-up study over a period from January 2013 to December 2018. We analyzed 425 patients of amphetamine-type stimulant use disorder under mandating treatments. Treatment stabilization for a given patient was defined once 4 negative urinalysis had been observed. We developed a dynamic monitoring model of boosting effects informed by the available data, specifically the number of negative urine samples required to reach stabilization, the sum of urinalyses done at the time when the given number of negative urine samples had been observed and who the patient was. To represent the simulated population, a Monte Carlo method was used to generate p-values from 1000 experiments conducted on a computer. RESULTS: In the observed samples, the probability of 4 negative results in urinalysis from 4 outpatient visits was 75.5%. In comparison, the probability for achieving 4th negative results in urinalysis over 4 visits from negative binominal distribution was 57.3%, and from the computer simulation, 49.8%. The observed samples had significantly higher probability of achieving 4 negative results in urinalysis over 4 outpatient visits (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The mandatory treatment modality boosted treatment stabilization for patients of amphetamine-type stimulant use disorder. The major benefit of using the monitoring model is the ability to monitor boosting effects of stabilization. Results supported the effectiveness of this mandatory treatment modality and can be implemented in deferred-prosecution based treatment modality.

Ionic separation efficiency of a novel electric-field-assisted membrane module comprising an array of microchannel units.

The ionic separation efficiency of a novel membrane module comprising an array of microchannel units is analyzed. Under the Debye-Hückel approximation, we derive a semianalytical expression for the ionic separation efficiency. Analyses reveal that the effects of the size of the microchannel, the fixed charge density in the membrane layer, and the permittivity of the membrane layer on ionic separation efficiency depend strongly on the valence type of electrolyte in treated water. Under the condition of a symmetric electrolyte, the ionic separation efficiency is found to be about unity and unresponsive to variation of system parameters. If the valence of the cation is higher than that of the anion, the ionic separation efficiency is larger than unity, and decreases to unity as the size of the microchannel increases. In contrast, if the valence of the cation is lower than that of the anion, the ionic separation efficiency is smaller than unity and increases to unity as the size of the microchannel increases. Under the latter two conditions, the effects of both fixed charge density in the membrane layer and permittivity of the membrane layer on the ionic separation efficiency are found to be reversed.

Residence time distribution for electrokinetic flow through a microchannel comprising a bundle of cylinders.

The electrokinetic flow of an electrolyte solution through a microchannel that comprises a bundle of cylinders is investigated for the case of constant surface potential. The system under consideration is simulated by a unit cell model, and analytical expressions for the flow field and the corresponding residence time distribution under various conditions are derived. These results are readily applicable to the assessment of the performance of a microreactor such as that which comprises a bundle of optical fibers. Numerical simulations are conducted to investigate the influences of the key parameters, including the thickness of the double layer, the strength of the applied electric field, the magnitude of the applied pressure gradient, and the characteristic sizes of a microchannel, on the residence time distribution. We show that the following could result in a shorter residence time: thin double layer, strong applied electric field, large applied pressure gradient, and small number of cylinders. Based on the thickness of the double layer, criteria are proposed for whether the flow field can be treated as a laminar flow or as a plug flow, two basic limiting cases in reactor design.

Electrokinetic flow in an elliptic microchannel covered by ion-penetrable membrane.

The electrokinetic flow of an electrolyte solution in an elliptical microchannel covered by an ion-penetrable, charged membrane layer is examined theoretically. The present analysis extends previous results in that a two-dimensional problem is considered, and the system under consideration simulates the flow of a fluid, for example, in a microchannel of biological nature such as vein. The electroosmostic volumetric flow rate, the total electric current, the streaming potential, and the electroviscous effect of the system under consideration are evaluated. We show that, for a constant hydraulic diameter, the variations of these quantities as a function of the aspect ratio of a microchannel may have a local minimum or a local maximum at a medium level of ionic strength, which depends on the thickness of the membrane layer. For a constant cross-sectional area, the electroosmostic volumetric flow rate, the total electric current, and the streaming potential increase monotonically with the increase in the aspect ratio, but the reverse is true for the electroviscous effect.

Analytical expressions for the electrical potential near planar, cylindrical, and spherical surfaces for symmetric electrolytes.

The conjecture of Tuinier (J. Colloid Interface Sci. 258 (2003) 45) for the electrical potentials near a cylindrical surface and near a spherical surface under the conditions of symmetric electrolyte and large scaled radius are derived by solving the corresponding Poisson-Boltzmann equation. The surface charge density-surface potential relations for these surfaces are also derived under the conditions of constant surface potential. We show that the level of surface charge density for planar, cylindrical, and spherical surfaces follows the order spherical surface > cylindrical surface > planar surface.

Electrophoresis in a Carreau fluid at arbitrary zeta potentials.

The electrophoresis of colloidal particles has been studied extensively in the past. Relevant analyses, however, are focused mainly on the electrophoretic behavior of a particle in a Newtonian fluid. Recent advances in science and technology suggest that the electrophoresis conducted in a non-Newtonian fluid can play a role in practice. Here, the electrophoresis of a concentrated colloidal dispersion in a Carreau fluid is investigated under the conditions of arbitrary electrical potential where the effect of double-layer polarization may be significant. A pseudo-spectral method coupled with a Newton-Raphson iteration scheme is used to solve the governing equations, which describe the electric, the flow, and the concentration fields. The results of numerical simulation reveal that, due to the effect of shear thinning, the electrophoretic mobility for the case of a Carreau fluid is greater than for that of a Newtonian fluid. Also, the higher the surface potential of a particle, the more significant the non-Newtonian nature of a Carreau fluid on its electrophoretic mobility.

Electrokinetic flow through an elliptical microchannel: effects of aspect ratio and electrical boundary conditions.

The electrokinetic flow of an electrolyte solution through an elliptical microchannel is studied theoretically. The system under consideration simulates the flow of a fluid, for example, in vein. We show that, for a constant cross-sectional area, both the electroosmotic volumetric flow rate and the streaming potential increase monotonically with an increase in the aspect ratio, and both the total electric current and the electroviscous effect may exhibit a local minimum as the aspect ratio varies. Also, for a constant average potential on the channel wall, the difference between the results based on three kinds of boundary conditions, which include constant surface charge, constant surface potential, and charge-regulated surface, is inappreciable if the hydraulic diameter is larger than 1 mum.