Comparative analysis of spontaneous blinking and the corneal reflex.

Ocular surface health, the cognitive status, psychological health or human neurological disorders, among others, can be assessed by studying eye blinking, which can be differentiated in spontaneous, reflex and voluntary. Its diagnostic potential has provided a great number of works that evaluate their characteristics and variations depending on the subject's condition (sex, tiredness, health, …). The objective of this study was to analyse the differences in blinking kinematics of spontaneous and reflex blinks, distinguishing between direct and consensual reflexes, using a self-developed, non-invasive and image processing-based method.

Influence of Neighborhood Size and Cross-Correlation Peak-Fitting Method on Location Accuracy.

A known technique to obtain subpixel resolution by using object tracking through cross-correlation consists of interpolating the obtained correlation function and then refining peak location. Although the technique provides accurate results, peak location is usually biased toward the closest integer coordinate. This effect is known as the peak-locking error and it strongly limits this calculation technique's experimental accuracy.

Role of the Phytochemical Compounds like Modulators in Gut Microbiota and Oxidative Stress.

Background: Currently, daily consumption of green herb functional food or medicinal herbs has increased as adopted by many people worldwide as a way of life or even as an alternative to the use of synthetic medicines. Phytochemicals, which are a series of compounds of relatively complex structures and restricted distribution in plants, usually perform the defensive functions for plants against insects, bacteria, fungi or other pathogenic factors. A series of studies have found their effectiveness in the treatment or prevention of systemic diseases such as autoimmune diseases, cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, Crohn's disease and so on.

Long-term corneal multifocal stability following a presbyLASIK technique analysed by a light propagation algorithm.

Background: There is a lack of scientific evidence on long-term follow-up of the outcomes of the presbyLASIK techniques. This study aimed to objectively evaluate corneal stability three years following excimer laser central presbyLASIK.

Methods: This is a longitudinal, retrospective, observation of a consecutive series of cases comprising 24 eyes which had been treated by central myopic or hyperopic Presbymax central presbyLASIK.

Surgical and functional outcomes of cochlear implantation in post-lingual and cross-over patients: First 5-year review of the National Ministry of Health Malaysia cochlear implant programme.

Introduction: There has been a paradigm shift in the management of acquired sensory neural deafness in the past 30years. This is due to the emergence of implantable hearing devices such as the cochlear implant. The objective of this study is to identify surgical and functional outcomes of post-lingual and cross-over patients implanted with a cochlear implant under the National Ministry of Heath Cochlear Implant (CI) Program between 2009-2013.

Corneal Stability following Hyperopic LASIK with Advanced Laser Ablation Profiles Analyzed by a Light Propagation Study.

Purpose: To assess anterior corneal surface stability 12 months following hyperopic LASIK correction with a light propagation algorithm.

Setting: Vissum Instituto Oftalmológico de Alicante, Universidad Miguel Hernández, Alicante, Spain.

Methods: This retrospective consecutive observational study includes 37 eyes of 37 patients treated with 6th-generation excimer laser platform (Schwind Amaris).

Blinking characterization from high speed video records. Application to biometric authentication.

The evaluation of eye blinking has been used for the diagnosis of neurological disorders and fatigue. Despite the extensive literature, no objective method has been found to analyze its kinematic and dynamic behavior. A non-contact technique based on the high-speed recording of the light reflected by the eyelid in the blinking process and the off-line processing of the sequence is presented.

Non-Contact Smartphone-Based Monitoring of Thermally Stressed Structures.

The in-situ measurement of thermal stress in beams or continuous welded rails may prevent structural anomalies such as buckling. This study proposed a non-contact monitoring/inspection approach based on the use of a smartphone and a computer vision algorithm to estimate the vibrating characteristics of beams subjected to thermal stress. It is hypothesized that the vibration of a beam can be captured using a smartphone operating at frame rates higher than conventional 30 Hz, and the first few natural frequencies of the beam can be extracted using a computer vision algorithm.

Parametric Evaluation of Errors Using Isolated Dots for Movement Measurement by Image Cross-Correlation.

Digital Image Correlation (DIC) is a common tool for assessing the movement of objects in a scene. Among others, one of the most popular techniques consists of tracking a dotted texture imitating speckle patterns. In this work, we analyzed the individual dots that form this pattern in order to propose an optimum size, shape, and dynamic range that allows minimizing the tracking error.

The role of methionine on metabolism, oxidative stress, and diseases.

Methionine is an aliphatic, sulfur-containing, essential amino acid, and a precursor of succinyl-CoA, homocysteine, cysteine, creatine, and carnitine. Recent research has demonstrated that methionine can regulate metabolic processes, the innate immune system, and digestive functioning in mammals. It also intervenes in lipid metabolism, activation of endogenous antioxidant enzymes such as methionine sulfoxide reductase A, and the biosynthesis of glutathione to counteract oxidative stress.

Climate Change Impacts on Harmful Algal Blooms in U.S. Freshwaters: A Screening-Level Assessment.

Cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (CyanoHABs) have serious adverse effects on human and environmental health. Herein, we developed a modeling framework that predicts the effect of climate change on cyanobacteria concentrations in large reservoirs in the contiguous U.S.

Analysis of the Impact of Isoquinoline Alkaloids, Derived from Extract, on the Development and Innate Immune Response in Swine and Poultry.

Medicinal extract has been chronicled extensively in traditional Chinese medicine. Isoquinoline alkaloids, extract of (Willd.) R.

Realistic limits for subpixel movement detection.

Object tracking with subpixel accuracy is of fundamental importance in many fields since it provides optimal performance at relatively low cost. Although there are many theoretical proposals that lead to resolution increments of several orders of magnitude, in practice this resolution is limited by the imaging systems. In this paper we propose and demonstrate through simple numerical models a realistic limit for subpixel accuracy.

Infections in critically ill burn patients.

Severe burn patients are one subset of critically patients in which the burn injury increases the risk of infection, systemic inflammatory response and sepsis. The infections are usually related to devices and to the burn wound. Most infections, as in other critically ill patients, are preceded by colonization of the digestive tract and the preventative measures include selective digestive decontamination and hygienic measures.

Method for targetless tracking subpixel in-plane movements.

We present a targetless motion tracking method for detecting planar movements with subpixel accuracy. This method is based on the computation and tracking of the intersection of two nonparallel straight-line segments in the image of a moving object in a scene. The method is simple and easy to implement because no complex structures have to be detected.

A high-resolution binocular video-oculography system: assessment of pupillary light reflex and detection of an early incomplete blink and an upward eye movement.

Background: The pupillary light reflex characterizes the direct and consensual response of the eye to the perceived brightness of a stimulus. It has been used as indicator of both neurological and optic nerve pathologies. As with other eye reflexes, this reflex constitutes an almost instantaneous movement and is linked to activation of the same midbrain area.

External mill monitoring of wheat flour fortification programs: an approach for program managers using experiences from Jordan.

The fortification of wheat flour with micronutrients is a common strategy to increase vitamin and mineral intake. While wheat flour mills are often inspected by agencies affiliated with national ministries to ensure compliance with national fortification standards, few countries use data derived from these inspections to construct an external monitoring system for use in program management and evaluation. The primary objective of this paper is to assess the performance of the external monitoring system utilized in Jordan according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Updated Guidelines for Evaluating Public Health Surveillance Systems.

Vibration frequency measurement using a local multithreshold technique.

In this paper, we demonstrate the use of a video camera for measuring the frequency of small-amplitude vibration movements. The method is based on image acquisition and multilevel thresholding and it only requires a video camera with high enough acquisition rate, not being necessary the use of targets or auxiliary laser beams. Our proposal is accurate and robust.

Image processing for safety assessment in civil engineering.

Behavior analysis of construction safety systems is of fundamental importance to avoid accidental injuries. Traditionally, measurements of dynamic actions in civil engineering have been done through accelerometers, but high-speed cameras and image processing techniques can play an important role in this area. Here, we propose using morphological image filtering and Hough transform on high-speed video sequence as tools for dynamic measurements on that field.

Open-access operating algorithms for commercial videokeratographer and improvement of corneal sampling.

We present an algorithm to process images of reflected Placido rings captured by a commercial videokeratoscope. Raw data are obtained with no Cartesian-to-polar-coordinate conversion, thus avoiding interpolation and associated numerical artifacts. The method provides a characteristic equation for the device and is able to process around 6 times more corneal data than the commercial software.

Repeatability and reproducibility of corneal thickness using SOCT Copernicus HR.

Purpose: The aim of this study is to determine the reliability of corneal thickness measurements derived from SOCT Copernicus HR (Fourier domain OCT).

Methods: Thirty healthy eyes of 30 subjects were evaluated. One eye of each patient was chosen randomly.

Resolution limits to object tracking with subpixel accuracy.

Subpixel methods increase the accuracy and efficiency of image detectors, processing units, and algorithms and provide very cost-effective systems for object tracking. Published methods achieve resolution increases up to three orders of magnitude. In this Letter, we demonstrate that this limit can be theoretically improved by several orders of magnitude, permitting micropixel and submicropixel accuracies.

Measurement of wide frequency range structural microvibrations with a pocket digital camera and sub-pixel techniques.

Analysis of vibrations and displacements is a hot topic in structural engineering. Although there is a wide variety of methods for vibration analysis, direct measurement of displacements in the mid and high frequency range is not well solved and accurate devices tend to be very expensive. Low-cost systems can be achieved by applying adequate image processing algorithms.

Ultrasonic in vivo measurement of ocular surface expansion.

Our aim was to ascertain whether the ultrasonic measurement of longitudinal corneal apex displacements carried out in a proper headrest is a credible method of ocular pulse (OP) detection. To distinguish between longitudinal movements of the eye globe treated as a rigid body and ocular surface expansion caused by the variations of the eye-globe volume, two ultrasound distance sensors were applied to noninvasively measure displacements of cornea and sclera. The same sensors were used to examine the influence of the anterio-posterior movements of a fixed head on the registration of corneal apex pulsation.