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19 pages, 5196 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Bilateral Defect Cutting Strategy for Sawn Timber Based on Artificial Intelligence Defect Detection Model

by Chenlong Fan, Zilong Zhuang, Ying Liu, Yutu Yang, Haiyan Zhou and Xu Wang

Sensors 2024, 24(20), 6697; https://doi.org/10.3390/s24206697 - 18 Oct 2024

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1397

Solid wood is renowned as a superior material for construction and furniture applications. However, characteristics such as dead knots, live knots, piths, and cracks are easily formed during timber’s growth and processing stages. These features and defects significantly undermine the mechanical characteristics of sawn timber, rendering it unsuitable for specific applications. This study introduces BDCS-YOLO (Bilateral Defect Cutting Strategy based on You Only Look Once), an artificial intelligence bilateral sawing strategy to advance the automation of timber processing. Grounded on a dual-sided image acquisition platform, BDCS-YOLO achieves a commendable mean average feature detection precision of 0.94 when evaluated on a meticulously curated dataset comprising 450 images. Furthermore, a dual-side processing optimization module is deployed to enhance the accuracy of defect detection bounding boxes and establish refined processing coordinates. This innovative approach yields a notable 12.3% increase in the volume yield of sawn timber compared to present production, signifying a substantial leap toward efficiently utilizing solid wood resources in the lumber processing industry. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in AI-Based Processing of Image and Video Data Acquired by Various Sensors)

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11 pages, 773 KiB

Open AccessReview

Conservative Management of Vulvar Cancer—Where Should We Draw the Line?

by Neville F. Hacker and Ellen L. Barlow

Cancers 2024, 16(17), 2991; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers16172991 - 28 Aug 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1887

Abstract

Vulvar cancer is a rare disease, and cure rates were low until the mid-20th century. The introduction of an en bloc radical vulvectomy and bilateral groin and pelvic lymph node dissection saw them rise from 15–20% to 60–70%. However, this very radical surgery was associated with high physical and psychological morbidity. Wounds were usually left open to granulate, and the average post-operative hospital stay was about 90 days. Many attempts have been made to decrease morbidity without compromising survival. Modifications that have proven to be successful are as follows: (i) the elimination of routine pelvic node dissection, (ii) the use of separate incisions for groin dissection, (iii) the use of unilateral groin dissection for lateral, unifocal lesions, (iv) and radical local excision with 1 cm surgical margins for unifocal lesions. Sentinel node biopsy with ultrasonic groin surveillance for patients with node-negative disease has been the most recent modification and is advocated for patients whose primary cancer is <4 cm in diameter. Controversy currently exists around the need for 1 cm surgical margins around all primary lesions and on the appropriate ultrasonic surveillance for patients with negative sentinel nodes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Evolving Trends in the Surgical Therapy of Patients with Gynecological Cancer)

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14 pages, 990 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Clinical Characterization of Pediatric Erythromelalgia: A Single-Center Case Series

by Jenny Sun, Don Daniel Ocay, Meghan Halpin, Kimberly Lobo, Dafni F. T. Frohman, Carolina Donado, Catherine A. Brownstein, Casie A. Genetti, Anna Madden and Charles B. Berde

Children 2023, 10(8), 1282; https://doi.org/10.3390/children10081282 - 26 Jul 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3052

Abstract

Erythromelalgia is a descriptive term for severe burning pain and erythema in the distal extremities relieved by cold and exacerbated by heat. Pediatric case series to date are relatively small. We extracted and analyzed medical record data for 42 pediatric patients to describe clinical characteristics, associated conditions, and responses to treatments. Informed consent was obtained according to an IRB-approved protocol that included gene discovery. Three patients had confirmed Nav1.7 sodium channelopathies, with six additional patients under investigation with novel gene candidates. There was a female predominance (2.5:1), and the median onset age was 12 years (IQR = 3–14). Patients saw a median of three specialists (IQR = 2–3) for a diagnosis. The majority (90%) reported bilateral symptoms. Cooling methods usually provided partial relief, while heat and exercise exacerbated pain. No medication appeared to be consistently effective; commonly prescribed medications included sodium channel blockers (n = 37), topical analgesics (n = 26), gabapentin (n = 22), and aspirin (n = 15). Based on the currently published literature, we believe this cohort is the largest pediatric study of erythromelalgia to date. Many findings are consistent with those of previously published case series. Work is in progress to establish a prospective cohort and multi-center registry. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Pediatric Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine)

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12 pages, 216 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Beggar-Thy-Neighbour vs. Danube Basin Strategy: Habsburg Economic Networks in Interwar Europe

by Andreas Weigl

Religions 2016, 7(11), 129; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel7110129 - 3 Nov 2016

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 5984

Abstract

After the dissolution of the Habsburg Empire, leaders in successor states were eager to become economically independent from the former capital Vienna. They therefore quickly implemented a set of neomercantilistic measures, especially nationalization programs. Nevertheless, the 1920s saw a reestablishment of the common market in the former territories of the Habsburg Empire in terms of interregional trade and interlocking directorates, mainly because of the business strategy of international financial syndicates that were based on the traditional Viennese commercial relations with the successor states. The international credit of Jewish bankers like Louis Rothschild, Rudolf Sieghart, and Max Feilchenfeld and others mattered. After the “Big Bang” at Wall Street in 1929, the industrial holdings of the Viennese banks and the maturity problem (short-term borrowing, long-term lending) in their relations to East European debtors and Western financiers caused the Creditanstalt-crisis of 1931 and put an end to Vienna’s position as a financial hub in East Central Europe. However, even during the crisis of the 1930s, the share of the successor states in the bilateral balances of trade indicates path dependency on a smaller scale. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Empire, Socialism and Jews: Writing the Monarchy Back into Austrian History)

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