A Study of the electronic information monitoring of bruxism

Objective：Bruxism is the term used for teeth grinding or jaw clenching. An electronic monitor of bruxism was developed to evaluate bruxism duration and frequency. Methods： Ten cases were selected in the Department of Prosthodontics of Jiangsu Stomatological Hospital to evaluate the monitor. A stabilization occlusal splint was fabricated for each of the 10 cases. The vertical dimension for each splint was 0.5 nun lower than mandibular postural position. Some sensors had been prearranged at each splint which could transfer the variation of the biting force into electronic signals. The data of sleeping duration, grinding duration and grinding frequency were recorded with this new type of bruxism monitor, which had been specifically invented to study bruxism. Results：The data from 10 bruxism cases were collected and the results were considered reliable. Subjects nocturnal duration parameters did not change significantly from night-to-night. Conclusion：The bmxism monitor can automatically measure and record bruxism data using an occlusal splint. This device is valuable for diagnosis and evaluation of bruxism.

Imperative for improvements and international convergence of intrapartum fetal monitoring: A bird's eye view

Intrapartum fetal monitoring has been criticized for the lack of evidence of improvement in fetal outcome despite causing increased operative intervention. Paradoxically, cardiotocography （CTG） has been a major driver for litigation for neonatal neurological injury. This analytical review tries to explore why extensive clinical studies and trials over 50 years have failed to demonstrate or bring about signifcant improvement in intrapartum fetal monitoring. There seems a need for significant reform. International congruence on most aspects of CTG interpretation [defnitions of fetal heart rate （FHR） parameters, CTG recording speed, 3-tier systems, etc .] is highly desirable to facilitate future meaningful clinical studies, evaluation and progress in this field. The FHR changes are non-specific and poor surrogate for fetal well-being. As a compromise for maintaining low false-negative results for fetal acidemia, a high false-positive value may have to be accepted. The need for redefning the place of adjuvant tests of fetal well-being like fetal blood sampling or fetal electrocardiography （ECG） is discussed. The FHR decelerations are often deterministic （center-stage） in CTG interpretation and 3-tier categorization. It is discussed if their scientifc and physiological classifcation （avoiding framing and confirmation biases） may be best based on time relationship to uterine contractions alone. This may provide a more sound foundation which could improve the reliability and further evolution of 3-tier systems. Results of several trials of fetal ECG （STAN） have been inconclusive and a need for a fresh approach or strategy is considered. It is hoped that the long anticipated Computer-aided analysis of CTG will be more objective and reliable （overcome human factors） and will offer valuable support or may eventually replace visual CTG interpretation. In any case, the recording and archiving all CTGs digitally and testing cord blood gases routinely in every delivery would be highly desirable for future research. This would facilitate well designed retrospective studies which can be very informative especially when prospective randomised controlled trials are often diffcult and resource-intensive.

Virulence of the Populations of the Whitebacked Planthopper, Sogatella furcifera Reared on Different Resistant Rice Varieties

ARC and ND colony were obtained by rearing the whitebacked planthopper (WBPH), Sogatella furcifera (Horvath), exclusively on ARC10239 (ARC, carrying resistance gene Wbph2) and N'Diang Marie (ND, carrying resistance gene Wbph5) till 15 generations. Taichung Native 1 (TN1) and Rathu Heenati (RHT) served as susceptible and resistant check, respectively. The results of electronic recording revealed that duration of salivation and X-waveform of the two colonies on their corresponding hosts was short while the duration of phloem ingestion was long. The amount of honeydew excreted by ARC and ND colony did not differ on their corresponding host varieties from TN1 and was much higher than that of RHT. The number of eggs laid on their host varieties and TN1 were significantly higher than that on RHT. No distinct change was observed for these two colonies in term of percentage of developed eggs. The nymph survival rate of ND colony on its selection host was 45.0%, significantly different from that on TNI(71.4%) and RHT(21.0%), while that of ARC colony was 68.3%, not significantly different from that on TN1 (77.5%), but much higher than that on RHT(22.6%). The nymphal development duration of these two colonies on the corresponding hosts was not different from that on TN1, but significantly shorter than that on RHT. In brief, these two colonies had almost adapted to their corresponding host varieties based on feeding and oviposition, but the nymphal survival rate of ND colony was still low.

Computerized Analysis of Antepartum Cardiotocography: A Review

Cardiotocography measures the human fetal heart rate and uterine activity using ultrasound.While it has been a mainstay in antepartum care since the 1960s,cardiotocograms consist of complex signals that have proven difficult for clinicians to interpret accurately and as such clinical inference is often difficult and unreliable.Previous attempts at codifying approaches to analyzing the features within these signals have failed to demonstrate reliability or gain sufficient traction.Since the early 1990s,the Dawes-Redman system of automated computer analysis of cardiotocography signals has enabled robust analysis of cardiotocographic signal features,employing empirically-derived criteria for assessing fetal wellbeing in the antepartum.Over the past 30 years,the Dawes-Redman system has been iteratively updated,now incorporating analyses from over 100,000 pregnancies.In this review,we examine the history of cardiotocography,signal processing methodologies and feature identification,the development of the Dawes-Redman system,and its clinical applications.

Stretchable human-machine interface based on skin-conformal sEMG electrodes with self-similar geometry

Current stretchable surface electrodes have attracted increasing attention owing to their potential applications in biological signal monitoring, wearable human-machine interfaces（HMIs） and the Internet of Things. The paper proposed a stretchable HMI based on a surface electromyography（sEMG） electrode with a self-similar serpentine configuration. The sEMG electrode was transfer-printed onto the skin surface conformally to monitor biological signals, followed by signal classification and controlling of a mobile robot. Such electrodes can bear rather large deformation（such as 〉30%） under an appropriate areal coverage. The sEMG electrodes have been used to record electrophysiological signals from different parts of the body with sharp curvature, such as the index finger,back of the neck and face, and they exhibit great potential for HMI in the fields of robotics and healthcare. The electrodes placed onto the two wrists would generate two different signals with the fist clenched and loosened. It is classified to four kinds of signals with a combination of the gestures from the two wrists, that is, four control modes. Experiments demonstrated that the electrodes were successfully used as an HMI to control the motion of a mobile robot remotely.