-
Diabetes Technology & Therapeutics May 2020People with diabetes-related ulcers may benefit from hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy and from continuous glucose monitors (CGM). Although blood glucose (BG) meters...
People with diabetes-related ulcers may benefit from hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy and from continuous glucose monitors (CGM). Although blood glucose (BG) meters based on glucose oxidase (GO) report erroneously low values at high pO, BG meters based on glucose dehydrogenase (GD) do not. We therefore examined the performance of a GO-based CGM system in comparison to GO-based and GD-based BG systems in normobaric air (NBAir), hyperbaric air (HBAir), and HBO environments. Twenty-six volunteers without diabetes mellitus (DM) wore Dexcom G6 CGM systems and provided periodic blood samples before, during, and after a standard HBO treatment consisting of three 30-min intervals of HBO separated by two 5-min intervals of HBAir. Accuracy of the CGM and GO-based BG meter were assessed by comparisons with the GD-based values. The mean absolute relative difference for the CGM system was 15.96% and for the GO-based meter was 8.52%. Compared to NBAir, HBO exposure resulted in significantly higher CGM values (+3.76 mg/dL, < 0.001) and significantly lower GO-based meter values (-10.38 mg/dL, < 0.001). Pre-HBO and post-HBO values obtained in NBAir were also significantly different when measured by CGM (+4.13 mg/dL, = 0.015) or the GO-based meter (-9.04 mg/dL, < 0.001). In volunteers without DM, HBO exposure results in statistically significant differences in glucose measurements obtained with GO-based devices, but not a GD-based device. Standard HBO treatment results in statistically significant effects on glucose concentrations. These differences are of unlikely clinical significance.
Topics: Adult; Aged; Blood Glucose; Blood Glucose Self-Monitoring; Female; Humans; Hyperbaric Oxygenation; Male; Middle Aged; Reproducibility of Results; Young Adult
PubMed: 31916854
DOI: 10.1089/dia.2019.0390 -
Indoor Air Feb 2022Since the beginning of the pandemic, the transmission modes of SARS-CoV-2-particularly the role of aerosol transmission-have been much debated. Accumulating evidence...
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the transmission modes of SARS-CoV-2-particularly the role of aerosol transmission-have been much debated. Accumulating evidence suggests that SARS-CoV-2 can be transmitted by aerosols, and not only via larger respiratory droplets. In this study, we quantified SARS-CoV-2 in air surrounding 14 test subjects in a controlled setting. All subjects had SARS-CoV-2 infection confirmed by a recent positive PCR test and had mild symptoms when included in the study. RT-PCR and cell culture analyses were performed on air samples collected at distances of one, two, and four meters from test subjects. Oronasopharyngeal samples were taken from consenting test subjects and analyzed by RT-PCR. Additionally, total aerosol particles were quantified during air sampling trials. Air viral concentrations at one-meter distance were significantly correlated with both viral loads in the upper airways, mild coughing, and fever. One sample collected at four-meter distance was RT-PCR positive. No samples were successfully cultured. The results reported here have potential application for SARS-CoV-2 detection and monitoring schemes, and for increasing our understanding of SARS-CoV-2 transmission dynamics. Practical implications. In this study, quantification of SARS-CoV-2 in air was performed around infected persons with mild symptoms. Such persons may go longer before they are diagnosed and may thus be a disproportionately important epidemiological group. By correlating viral concentrations in air with behavior and symptoms, we identify potential risk factors for viral dissemination in indoor environments. We also show that quantification of total aerosol particles is not a useful strategy for monitoring SARS-CoV-2 in indoor environments.
Topics: Aerosols; Air Microbiology; Air Pollution, Indoor; COVID-19; Humans; Pandemics; SARS-CoV-2
PubMed: 35225394
DOI: 10.1111/ina.13001 -
Frontiers in Public Health 2022To understand the blood glucose meter buying behavior of type 2 diabetic patients with poor glycemic control (two or more HbA1c ≥ 8% during visits in one year) and...
OBJECTIVE
To understand the blood glucose meter buying behavior of type 2 diabetic patients with poor glycemic control (two or more HbA1c ≥ 8% during visits in one year) and identify factors influencing it.
METHODS
A survey was conducted among 585 diabetic patients with poor glycemic control who were treated in the outpatient or inpatient clinics of the Department of Endocrinology, Taizhou Hospital, Zhejiang Province from June 2020 to May 2021. The questionnaire collected general information and clinical data, and assessed blood glucose meter buying behavior. Chi-square test was used to compare the essential characteristics and clinical data between buyers and non-buyers of blood glucose meters. Additionally, stepwise logistic regression was used to analyze the factors influencing purchase.
RESULTS
Of the 585 questionnaires distributed, 527 (90.09%) valid questionnaires were collected. Of the 527 respondents, 285 (54.08%) had purchased blood glucose meters. Not receiving insulin therapy (OR: 1.77, 95% CI: 1.13-2.77) and unawareness of self-monitoring of blood glucose (OR: 19.46, 95% CI: 12.51-30.26) were risk factors for non-purchase.
CONCLUSION
There is a need to actively increase the purchase of glucose meters among diabetic patients, by educating them about the importance of self-monitoring of blood glucose.
Topics: Blood Glucose; Blood Glucose Self-Monitoring; Diabetes Mellitus; Humans; Hyperglycemia; Outpatients
PubMed: 35651857
DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.880088 -
Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) Jul 2021At present, pointer meters are still widely used because of their mechanical stability and electromagnetic immunity, and it is the main trend to use a computer...
At present, pointer meters are still widely used because of their mechanical stability and electromagnetic immunity, and it is the main trend to use a computer vision-based automatic reading system to replace inefficient manual inspection. Many correction and recognition algorithms have been proposed for the problems of skew, distortion, and uneven illumination in the field-collected meter images. However, the current algorithms generally suffer from poor robustness, enormous training cost, inadequate compensation correction, and poor reading accuracy. This paper first designs a meter image skew-correction algorithm based on binary mask and improved Mask-RCNN for different types of pointer meters, which achieves high accuracy ellipse fitting and reduces the training cost by transfer learning. Furthermore, the low-light enhancement fusion algorithm based on improved Retinex and Fast Adaptive Bilateral Filtering (RBF) is proposed. Finally, the improved ResNet101 is proposed to extract needle features and perform directional regression to achieve fast and high-accuracy readings. The experimental results show that the proposed system in this paper has higher efficiency and better robustness in the image correction process in a complex environment and higher accuracy in the meter reading process.
PubMed: 34300630
DOI: 10.3390/s21144891 -
IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics,... Aug 2022Common clamp-on ultrasonic flow meters consist of two single-element transducers placed on the pipe wall. Flow speed is measured noninvasively, i.e., without...
Common clamp-on ultrasonic flow meters consist of two single-element transducers placed on the pipe wall. Flow speed is measured noninvasively, i.e., without interrupting the flow and without perforating the pipe wall, which also minimizes safety risks and avoids pressure drops inside the pipe. However, before metering, the transducers have to be carefully positioned along the pipe axis to correctly align the acoustic beams and obtain a well-calibrated flowmeter. This process is done manually, is dependent on the properties of the pipe and the liquid, does not account for pipe imperfections, and becomes troublesome on pipelines with an intricate shape. Matrix transducer arrays are suitable to dynamically steer acoustic beams and realize self-alignment upon reception, without user input. In this work, the design of a broadband 37×17 matrix array (center frequency of 1 MHz) to perform clamp-on ultrasonic flow measurements over a wide range of liquids ( c=1000-2000 m/s, α ≤ 1 dB/MHz · cm) and pipe sizes is presented. Three critical aspects were assessed: efficiency, electronic beam steering, and wave mode conversion in the pipe wall. A prototype of a proof-of-concept flowmeter consisting of two 36-element linear arrays (center frequency of 1.1 MHz) was fabricated and placed on a 1-mm-thick, 40-mm inner diameter stainless steel pipe in a custom-made flow loop filled with water. At resonance, simulated and measured efficiencies in water of the linear arrays compared well: 0.88 and 0.81 kPa/V, respectively. Mean flow measurements were achieved by electronic beam steering of the acoustic beams and using both compressional and shear waves generated in the pipe wall. Correlation coefficients of between measured and reference flow speeds were obtained, thus showing the operational concept of an array-based clamp-on ultrasonic flowmeter.
Topics: Acoustics; Equipment Design; Transducers; Ultrasonics; Water
PubMed: 35749331
DOI: 10.1109/TUFFC.2022.3186170 -
ISA Transactions Mar 2020The subject of this paper is the review of advanced technology used in hydraulic systems. The technology in question is termed Independent Metering (IM); this is used in...
The subject of this paper is the review of advanced technology used in hydraulic systems. The technology in question is termed Independent Metering (IM); this is used in hydraulically driven mobile machinery, such as agricultural, construction, municipal, and forestry vehicles. The idea behind the concept is to modify the connection between the actuator, which could be a cylinder or a motor, and a flow control valve. Traditionally, spool hydraulic valves were used to control the fluid flow into and out of hydraulic actuators. This keeps the meter-in and the meter-out of the actuator mechanically connected due to the construction of these valves. This connection makes the control system blind to pressure changes in one of the hydraulic chambers in the actuator. This, in turn, reduces the overall system controllability. It also increases energy losses, especially under an overrunning load. These two main weaknesses led researchers to break this mechanical connection and get into a new technology with different characteristics. The proposed technology was called Independent Metering. New and more complex control techniques can now be applied to the hydraulic systems using this technology that were not possible before or could be applied to more conventional servo design. This paper reviews Independent Metering (IM) and the technologies used or developed in this field to date. The paper reviews the state of art hydraulic technologies and indicates the links between them and IM. It also reviews the different types of hydraulic valves used when implementing IM. This review also discusses some control algorithms, IM layouts, IM challenges, and identifies where further improvements may be achieved.
PubMed: 31522820
DOI: 10.1016/j.isatra.2019.08.057 -
Materials (Basel, Switzerland) Sep 2022This study investigated the variation of bulk resistivity () and charge passed for various high-performance concrete (HPC) mixtures based on significant factors (i.e.,...
This study investigated the variation of bulk resistivity () and charge passed for various high-performance concrete (HPC) mixtures based on significant factors (i.e., geometric size, operation frequency, and mixture constituents and proportions) using three testing instruments. These instruments were a surface resistivity (SR) meter and two bulk conductivity meters: one for using the data at a constant frequency, and the other at a wide range of frequencies. These HPC mixtures were categorized into several groups based on various supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs). The variation and distribution of and the charge passed were investigated and statistical analysis results showed that the addition of SCMs and their varying replacement level remarkably influenced the reduction of charge passed in each group over an extended period. The results revealed that, for fly ash-based ternary mixtures, the addition of 3% metakaolin or 12% silica fume resulted in the highest reduction of charge passed over time (82% and 90%, respectively). For cost purposes, 5% silica fume replacement in ternary mixtures was chosen as an optimal solution. Finally, this study offered promising options for charge passed computation to assess corrosion in light of simple, rapid, and reliable SR/BR measurement.
PubMed: 36234036
DOI: 10.3390/ma15196694 -
Journal of Diabetes Science and... Sep 2019Glucose meter evaluations are common and provide important information about glucose meter performance versus standards. Although some meters meet guidelines and others...
Glucose meter evaluations are common and provide important information about glucose meter performance versus standards. Although some meters meet guidelines and others fall short in these evaluations, most results are within the A and B zones of a glucose meter error grid. Another data source that is seldom used is the FDA adverse event database (MAUDE). This database describes glucose meter malfunctions and injury as reported by actual users and returned 10 837 adverse events across all meters for the first 7 months of 2018. Reliability growth management is an established tool to reduce failure rates. A reliability growth example is presented followed by a discussion of how this tool could be applied to reduce glucose meter failure events using the MAUDE database.
Topics: Algorithms; Blood Glucose; Blood Glucose Self-Monitoring; Data Management; Databases, Factual; Humans; Internet of Things; Quality Assurance, Health Care; Reproducibility of Results; United States; United States Food and Drug Administration
PubMed: 30580582
DOI: 10.1177/1932296818814457 -
Current Urology Reports Aug 2023Urinary pH is an important factor related to renal stone disease, and it plays an essential role in stone prevention. Monitoring of urinary pH by patients at home... (Review)
Review
PURPOSE OF REVIEW
Urinary pH is an important factor related to renal stone disease, and it plays an essential role in stone prevention. Monitoring of urinary pH by patients at home provides information that can help to assess the treatment needed by each patient. We conducted a systematic review is to assess the available evidence concerning urinary pH monitoring methods along with their accuracy, cost, and usefulness by patients with urolithiasis.
RECENT FINDINGS
A total of 9 articles were included (1886 urinary pH measurements). They reported information about urinary dipsticks, portable electronic pH meters and electronic strip readers, amongst other methods. Accuracy was compared with a laboratory pH meter (gold standard). Urinary dipsticks were found to be not accurate enough to guide clinical decision making and portable electronic pH meters showed promising results. Urinary dipsticks are neither precise nor accurate enough. Portable electronic pH meters seem to be more accurate, easy to use, and cost-effective. They are a reliable source for patients to use at home in order to prevent future episodes of nephrolithiasis.
Topics: Humans; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Kidney Calculi; Urolithiasis; Urinary Tract; Forecasting
PubMed: 37314611
DOI: 10.1007/s11934-023-01166-5 -
Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) Jan 2020Optical sensors can be used to assess crop N status to assist with N fertilizer management. Differences between cultivars may affect optical sensor measurement. Cultivar...
Optical sensors can be used to assess crop N status to assist with N fertilizer management. Differences between cultivars may affect optical sensor measurement. Cultivar effects on measurements made with the SPAD-502 (Soil Plant Analysis Development) meter and the MC-100 (Chlorophyll Concentration Meter), and of several vegetation indices measured with the Crop Circle ACS470 canopy reflectance sensor, were assessed. A cucumber ( L.) crop was grown in a greenhouse, with three cultivars. Each cultivar received three N treatments, of increasing N concentration, being deficient (N1), sufficient (N2) and excessive (N3). There were significant differences between cultivars in the measurements made with both chlorophyll meters, particularly when N supply was sufficient and excessive (N2 and N3 treatments, respectively). There were no consistent differences between cultivars in vegetation indices. Optical sensor measurements were strongly linearly related to leaf N content in each of the three cultivars. The lack of a consistent effect of cultivar on the relationship with leaf N content suggests that a unique equation to estimate leaf N content from vegetation indices can be applied to all three cultivars. Results of chlorophyll meter measurements suggest that care should be taken when using sufficiency values, determined for a particular cultivar.
Topics: Chlorophyll; Crops, Agricultural; Cucumis sativus; Fertilizers; Nitrogen; Optical Imaging; Phenotype; Plant Leaves
PubMed: 31963226
DOI: 10.3390/s20020509