Effect of automatic image realignment on visuomotor coordination in simulated laparoscopic surgery

During laparoscopic surgery, the surgeon's hand-eye coordination is often disrupted by the incongruent mapping between the orientation of the endoscopic view and the actual operative field. Two experiments were conducted to examine the effect of automatic image realignment on the performance of laparoscopic surgery. The first experiment investigated how visual-motor misalignment impacted laparoscopic surgery performance. Novice subjects were randomly assigned to one of the two paired viewing conditions in a simulated laparoscopic surgery environment: 1) the endoscope was either at the center of the modeled workspace with an optical axis of 90°, or at -45° from the midline of the subjects with an optical axis 45°; 2) the endoscope was either at 0°, or at 180° from the midline of the subjects, both with an optical axis of 45°. Each group of twelve subjects performed a dynamic point-and-touch task under the assigned pair of viewing conditions, each with eight image orientations, in a repeated-measures mixed design. The second experiment examined whether the automatic realigning mechanism that was activated mid-task (such that a congruent mapping between display and control was re-established if the mapping at the beginning of the task had been misaligned) was helpful to improve performance. Twelve novice subjects performed the same task as in the first experiment in a repeated-measures design. Performance was examined under three misaligned visuomotor mappings, each followed by the realigned mapping activated by the automatic realigning mechanism. Results showed that performance was best when the endoscopic image was perfectly aligned with the actual task space (0° image orientation), but degraded progressively as a function of deviation from perfect alignment. Subjects' performance maintained a consistent pattern across 8 image orientations regardless of optical axis orientation and endoscope location. Performance was improved with the automatic realigning mechanism. It is recommended that any solution to restore the visuomotor congruency in laparoscopic surgery should first align the image with the task space. This work has implications for the design of visualization systems in laparoscopic surgery.     

Characteristics of job rotation in the Midwest US manufacturing sector

Job rotation has been advocated as a suitable intervention to control work-related musculoskeletal disorders. However, little is known regarding the prevalence of job rotation, methods used to identify jobs for rotation or the benefits or limitations of job rotation. A web-based questionnaire was developed to survey job rotation practices from Midwest US manufacturing companies. Results indicated that 42.7% of the companies contacted used job rotation, where the median time for which they had used job rotation was 5 years. Job rotation was used mainly to reduce exposure to risk factors for work-related injuries and to reduce work related injuries, whereas supervisor decisions and ergonomic analyses were used to select jobs for the rotation scheme. Major limitations to successful implementation of job rotation included rotation of individuals with medical restrictions, decreased product quality and lack of jobs to rotate to. These findings suggest that further study is needed to determine if exposure to risk factors is reduced through current efforts.     

Parametric synthesis of pulsar time

A new method of generating pulsar time based on a coherent representation of a sequence of observed events is considered. The properties of pulsar time compared with the traditional approach are analyzed. __________ Translated from Izmeritel’naya Tekhnika, No. 6, pp. 39–44, June, 2006.     

Substrate rotation effects on β-FeSi2 epitaxial film growth using MBE

This study showed that substrate rotation plays an important role in the growth of high-quality β-FeSi₂ epitaxial film on hydrogen terminated Si (1 1 1) substrate using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). The present work elucidated the substrate rotation effects on morphology, thickness, and purity. Results verified that substrate rotation is essential to grow thicker epilayers with better morphology and compositional uniformity. In addition, purity analyses indicated that substrate rotation increases the concentration of non-metallic impurities (H, C, and O), but does not further introduce metallic impurities into β-FeSi₂ films.     

The Role of Visual and Nonvisual Information in the Control of Locomotion.

During locomotion, retinal flow, gaze angle, and vestibular information can contribute to one's perception of self-motion. Their respective roles were investigated during active steering: Retinal flow and gaze angle were biased by altering the visual information during computer-simulated locomotion, and vestibular information was controlled through use of a motorized chair that rotated the participant around his or her vertical axis. Chair rotation was made appropriate for the steering response of the participant or made inappropriate by rotating a proportion of the veridical amount. Large steering errors resulted from selective manipulation of retinal flow and gaze angle, and the pattern of errors provided strong evidence for an additive model of combination. Vestibular information had little or no effect on steering performance, suggesting that vestibular signals are not integrated with visual information for the control of steering at these speeds. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

用于中子剂量当量仪校准的同位素中子参考辐射的建立

建立了三种辐射中子源项的同位素中子参考辐射场,对有关技术内容和方法以及达到的技术指标进行了总结;介绍了参考辐射场的标准化中子参数及其测量方法。结果表明,已建立的同位素中子参考辐射满足有关技术规范要求,可用于中子剂量当量仪的校准和检定。     

CSP连铸结晶器液位控制系统

介绍珠钢连铸采用Co60为放射源的结晶器液位控制系统配置、控制方式和控制算法．     

NetSlice的设计与实现

NetSlice是一种基于软件实现的自动测量和分析网络系统软件延迟的工具，本文首先介绍NeSlice的设计基础，接着详细描述NetSlice在奔腾Ⅲ处理器和Linux操作系统上的实现，主要包括NetSlice各组成模块的功能，模块间关系和关键算法的实现，最后，通过实例，具体给出NetSlice的使用方法。     

基于PLC的多台虹吸式离心机自动控制系统

本文介绍基于可编程控制器的多台虹吸式离心机自动控制系统。着重介绍系统的组成、各个部分的功能，以及控制流程等。随着可编程控制器功能模块的发展，扩展了它在工业生产过程自动化中的应用。     

连续转子式电池生产线的技术实现

本文从机械原理分析了间隙式和连续式生产的差别，显示电池连续生产的重大意义，并且对如何实现连续转子式电池生产线作了深入的讨论。