WISTA: A Wireless Telemedicine System for Disaster Patient Care

In this paper, we introduce a low-cost and easy-to-deploy wireless telemedicine system, denoted WISTA, that can assist on-site patient care during disasters. The proposed system facilitates real-time transfer of multimedia data from video cameras, sensors, medical images and text from multiple disaster sites to the control center of the disaster area. WISTA enables disaster managers to obtain patients’ status information in real-time from the entire disaster site, which can assist the timely diagnosis as well as the treatment of patients. Moreover, the disaster managers in the control center can remotely control the information sent from the individual disaster sites. The proposed system uses a hierarchical architecture which allows scalable implementation. For dense disaster areas, a layered structure is applied to support information dissemination from s large number of patients. We have implemented the system prototype over a wireless channel and successfully demonstrated simultaneous transmission of video, sensor information, medical images and text from multiple sites to the control center. In addition, the scalability of the system is evaluated using OPNET simulation. Both experiments validate our system design.     

Multimedia friendly home wireless LANs

Home wireless local area networks (LANs) will carry diverse multimedia applications such as data, video, voice, and time sensitive control information. To enable quality delivery of such applications, these networks should incorporate an efficient quality of service (QoS) support mechanism. However, existing home wireless LANs do not provide support for multimedia applications. In this paper, we introduce our software based solution that provides QoS support for voice, video and data while using existing wireless home networks. The experimental results we have obtained provide evidence that our solution provides QoS support for multimedia applications.     

Optimum cycle redundancy-check codes with 16-bit redundancy

Optimal binary cyclic redundancy-check codes with 16 parity bits (CRC-16 codes) are presented and compared to those in existing standards for minimum-distance, undetected-error probability on binary symmetric channels (BSCs) and properness. The codes in several cases are seen to be superior at block lengths of practical interest when they are used on low-noise BSCs. The optimum minimum distance obtainable by some CRC-16 codes is determined for all block lengths. For several typical low-noise BSCs the minimum undetected error probability achievable with some CRC-16 codes is given for all block lengths     

A Bayesian framework for automated cardiovascular risk scoring on standard lumbar radiographs

We present a fully automated framework for scoring a patient's risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and mortality from a standard lateral radiograph of the lumbar aorta. The framework segments abdominal aortic calcifications for computing a CVD risk score and performs a survival analysis to validate the score. Since the aorta is invisible on X-ray images, its position is reasoned from 1) the shape and location of the lumbar vertebrae and 2) the location, shape, and orientation of potential calcifications. The proposed framework follows the principle of Bayesian inference, which has several advantages in the complex task of segmenting aortic calcifications. Bayesian modeling allows us to compute CVD risk scores conditioned on the seen calcifications by formulating distributions, dependencies, and constraints on the unknown parameters. We evaluate the framework on two datasets consisting of 351 and 462 standard lumbar radiographs, respectively. Promising results indicate that the framework has potential applications in diagnosis, treatment planning, and the study of drug effects related to CVD.     

Performance of Multibeam Packet Satellite Systems with Conflict Free Scheduling

The concept of a multibeam satellite system With on-board processing and memory is studied. In this system multiple slotted ALOHA uplinks carry the traffic to the satellite. Packets are accepted at the satellite, when memory is available, and are routed to their destination zones using a TDM protocol. We present a model which can be used to evaluate a satellite system with conflict-free scheduling, i.e., a system in which several packets can be simultaneously chosen for downlink transmissions, given each earth zone is served by at most one satellite transponder in each slot. We compute the system throughput, packet delays, and buffer overflow probabilities for a general configuration. It is shown that for some configurations the one beam per zone restriction can have a significant effect on the system performance. The presented model can be also used to evaluate satellite systems when this restriction is removed and to evaluate a variety of other satellite systems.     

Blood loss in total hip arthroplasty. Lateral position combined with preservation of the capsule versus supine position combined with capsulectomy

The intraoperative blood loss of 40 uncomplicated primary total hip arthroplasties was studied in a retrospective, matched pair analysis. Half of them were implanted in the supine position after complete excision of the capsule and the other half in the lateral position with preservation of the capsule. The patients were matched for mono- or bilateral procedure. Only one surgeon carried out the operations using the same operative technique and identical prosthesis in both groups. The intraoperative blood loss associated with the lateral position and preservation of the capsule averaged 830 ml and was significantly lower (P = 0.01) than 1165 ml with the supine position and complete capsulectomy. Thus, the intraoperative blood loss can be significantly reduced in primary total hip arthroplasty by choosing the lateral position and preserving the capsule.     

Localization of human intestinal defensin 5 in Paneth cell granules

Antibiotic peptides of higher animals include the defensins, first discovered in phagocytic cells but recently also found to be produced by epithelial cells. We biosynthesized recombinant human intestinal defensin 5 (rHD-5) using the baculovirus-insect cell expression system. Since insect cells process defensin incompletely and secrete the precursor proHD-5, we substituted a methionine for an alanine at a likely processing site to allow selective chemical cleavage with cyanogen bromide, and rHD-5 was used to elicit polyclonal antibodies. By the immunoperoxidase-staining technique, the antibodies selectively stained Paneth cells of the normal adult small intestine. Immunogold electron microscopy further localized HD-5 to the Paneth cell secretory granules. Since some defensins exert activity cytotoxic to mammalian cells, we assayed the effect of rHD-5 on the human intestinal cell lines Caco2 and Int407. proHD-5 did not exert cytotoxic activity, and rHD-5 showed only minimal activity against Int407 and was inert against Caco2. Since Paneth cells release their granules adjacent to the mitotic cells of the intestinal crypts, HD could protect this cell population against invasion and parasitization by microbes.