PURPOSE This is a report of a case of choroidal excavation accompanied by polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV) and retinal pigment epithelium detachment (PED). METHODS A 57-year-old Japanese woman who had begun complaining of metamorphopsia in her left eye 7 months earlier underwent spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT), fluorescein angiography (FA), and indocyanine green a...

In automating an excavation task it is required to deene a nominal trajectory for the motion of the excavator tool, so that its motion can be programmed and controlled. During the motion, the excavating tool (the bucket for instance, in the case of a loader), experiences the excavating forces that must be overcome by the active forces for moving the bucket, in order for the excavation to take p...

BACKGROUND Little is known about the impact of tricuspid annuloplasty (TAP) on annular dynamics. We assessed tricuspid annular dynamics using 3-D transesophageal echocardiography (3D-TEE) before and after TAP with different types of prosthetic ring. METHODS AND RESULTS 3D-TEE of the tricuspid valve was acquired in 30 patients (TAP with rigid ring [RR], n=8; TAP with flexible ring [FR], n=10; ...

BACKGROUND Functional tricuspid regurgitation (TR) is increasingly recognized as a source of morbidity. Current repair strategies focus on annular remodeling because annular dilatation is common in patients with TR. Although papillary muscle (PM) displacement is recognized in functional mitral regurgitation, its role in TR is less well characterized. The objective of this in vitro study was to ...

With the gradual deepening of mine excavation depth, strong disturbance deep strata becomes more and obvious. Rock’s failure under blasting mainly depends on its dynamic tensile strength. The changes in rock’s properties are obviously affected by temperature water. In order to study annular sandstone specimens influence water, was drilled, followed water bath tests at eight temperatures (25~95 ...

BACKGROUND remodeling of the mitral annulus contributes to progression of mitral regurgitation (MR). In patients with moderate-to-severe MR, short-term treatment with β-blockers has been shown to increase left ventricular (LV) end-diastolic and end-systolic volume, and this could deleteriously increase mitral valve annular dimensions. The objective of this study was to quantify the effects of a...

We propose a methodology to automatically generate plans for a robot excavator like a bucket loader or a backhoe. The task is formulated as one of constrained optimization in an action space that is spanned by the parameters of a prototypical digging plan. We show how geometric and force constraints are imposed on the action space to build the set of feasible plans, and discuss methods to optim...

BACKGROUND 3D transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) may provide more accurate aortic annular and left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) dimensions and geometries compared with 2D TEE. We assessed agreements between 2D and 3D TEE measurements with multislice computed tomography (MSCT) and changes in annular/LVOT areas and geometries after transcatheter aortic valve implantations (TAVI). METHOD...

with the world as excavation. In order to effectively plan its actions, our robot excavator requires a method that allows it to predict the resistive forces experienced as it scoops soil from the terrain. In this paper we present methods for a robot to predict the resistive forces and to improve its predictions based on experience. We start with a simple analytical model of a flat blade moving ...

OBJECTIVES Proper valve selection is critical to ensure appropriate valve replacement for patients, because implantation of a small valve might place the patient at risk for persistent gradients. Labeled valve size is not the same as millimeter measure of prosthetic valve diameters or the annulus into which it will fit. Studies that use the labeled valve size in lieu of actual measured diameter...