The integration of cutting-edge technologies, such as wearables, in complex systems is crucial for enhancing collaboration between humans and machines in the era of Industry 5.0. However, this ...increased interaction also introduces new challenges and risks, including the potential for human errors. A thorough analysis of the literature reveals an absence of studies that have quantified these risks, underscoring the utmost importance of this research. To address the above gap, the present study introduces the STPA-PSO methodology, which aims to quantify the risks associated with the use of smart glasses in complex systems, with a specific focus on human error risks. The proposed methodology leverages the Systems-Theoretic Process Analysis (STPA) approach to proactively identify hazards, while harnessing the power of the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm to accurately calculate and optimize risks, including those related to human errors. To validate the effectiveness of the methodology, a case study involving the assembly of a refrigerator was conducted, encompassing various critical aspects, such as the Industrial, Financial, and Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) aspects. The results provide evidence of the efficacy of the STPA-PSO approach in assessing, quantifying, and managing risks during the design stage. By proposing a robust and comprehensive risk quantification framework, this study makes a significant contribution to the advancement of system safety analysis in complex environments, providing invaluable insights for the seamless integration of wearables and ensuring safer interactions between humans and machines.
•a) The integration of STPA with PSO algorithm represents a pioneering approach to quantifying risks, including human error risks, in complex systems involving wearables like smart glasses.•Demonstrating the practical utility of the STPA-PSO methodology through a case study on refrigerator assembly, validating its effectiveness in addressing contemporary challenges in Industry 5.0.•Filling a significant void in literature by offering a quantifiable framework for assessing risks associated with IoTs and wearables, providing invaluable insights for safer human-machine interactions.•Offering a comprehensive analysis encompassing Industrial, Financial, and Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) aspects, ensuring a holistic understanding of risks and facilitating informed risk management decisions
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Manual assembly operations are sensitive to human errors that can diminish the quality of final products. The paper shows an application of human reliability analysis in a realistic manufacturing ...context to identify where and why manual assembly errors occur. The techniques SHERPA and HEART were used to perform the analysis of human reliability. Three critical tasks were selected for analysis based on quality records: (1) installation of three types of brackets using fasteners, (2) fixation of a data cable to the assembly structure using cushioned loop clamps and (3) installation of cap covers to protect inlets. The identified error modes with SHERPA were: 36 action errors, nine selection errors, eight information retrieval errors and six checking errors. According to HEART, the highest human error probabilities were associated with assembly parts sensitive to geometry-related errors (brackets and cushioned loop clamps). The study showed that perceptually engaging assembly instructions seem to offer the highest potential for error reduction and performance improvement. Other identified areas of action were the improvement of the inspection process and workers’ provision with better tracking and better feedback. Implementation of assembly guidance systems could potentially benefit worker’s performance and decrease assembly errors.
Due to their specialized training, engineers play a crucial role in the design and development of new products and infrastructure, as well as in the creation of wealth. Consequently, engineers ...recognize that they have a specific responsibility in the performance of these functions to take such measures as are appropriate to safeguard the environment, health, safety and well-being of the public. This book proposes a series of sixteen practical cases, integrating knowledge from different fields.
Introduction: Pituitary apoplexy (PA) is a rare phenomenon, characterized by a hemorrhagic or ischemic event of the pituitary gland, most often in association with a pituitary lesion. Severe acute ...respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the strain of virus responsible for the internationally recognized global pandemic COVID-19. Multiple clinical manifestations associated with this virus have been described, ranging from asymptomatic, mild flu symptoms to acute respiratory distress syndrome, end-organ failure leading to death. Cases of patients with concomitant COVID-19 infections and PA are being further recognized in the literature, but the causal association between the 2 entities remains speculative. Objectives: The objectives of this case series are 3-fold: to describe additional cases of patients with concomitant COVID-19 infection and PA (1), to review the current evidence regarding this potential complication associated with a COVID-19 infection (2), and to discuss physiopathological hypotheses, treatments, and prognoses of this newly recognized association (3). Method: We conducted an electronic chart review of patients treated for PA with concomitant COVID-19 infection from March 2020 to December 2021. A literature review was performed using MEDLINE, Web of Science, and Embase databases to identify other cases of COVID-19-associated PA. Results: From March 2020 to December 2021, 3 patients presented to our center with PA following a symptomatic COVID-19 infection. Two of these patients developed PA symptoms days following the viral infection, whereas the third patient developed PA after a 2-month period. The 2 first patients were managed surgically because of persistent visual symptoms. Results from our literature review yielded 12 other cases of COVID-19-associated PAs. Conclusions: The association between COVID-19 infection and PA has been increasingly reported in the literature. With the addition of the 3 cases described in our article, a total of 15 cases have been published. Many contributing mechanisms may lead to PA following COVID-19 infection. Coagulopathy is probable major contributing cause responsible for hemorrhage or infarction of the pituitary gland. Our case series provides further arguments that PA may be a direct manifestation of a COVID-19 infection.
In recent years, the focus in safety management has shifted from failure-based analysis towards a more systemic perspective, redefining a successful or failed performance as a complex and emergent ...event rather than as a conclusion of singular errors or root causes. This paradigm shift has also necessitated the introduction of innovative tools capable of capturing the complex and dynamic nature of modern sociotechnical systems. In our research, we argued at previous stages for adopting a more systemic and human-centric perspective to evaluate the context of aircraft de-icing operations. The Functional Resonance Analysis Method (FRAM) was applied in the first stage for this purpose. Consequently, fuzzy logic was combined with FRAM in the second stage to provide a quantified representation of performance variability. Fuzzy logic was used as a quantification tool suitable for computing with natural language. Several limitations were found in the data collection and rule generation process for the first prototype. In the third phase, the model was further improved by integrating rough sets as a data-mining tool to generate and reduce the size of the rule base and classify outcomes. In this paper, we reflect on the three stages of the project and discuss in a qualitative manner the challenges and limitations faced in the development and application of the models. A summary of the advantages and disadvantages of the three models as experienced in our case are presented at the end. The objective is to present an outlook for future studies to address methodological limitations in the study of complex sociotechnical systems.
The spinal cord white and gray matter can be affected by various pathologies such as multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or trauma. Being able to precisely segment the white and gray ...matter could help with MR image analysis and hence be useful in further understanding these pathologies, and helping with diagnosis/prognosis and drug development. Up to date, white/gray matter segmentation has mostly been done manually, which is time consuming, induces a bias related to the rater and prevents large-scale multi-center studies. Recently, few methods have been proposed to automatically segment the spinal cord white and gray matter. However, no single method exists that combines the following criteria: (i) fully automatic, (ii) works on various MRI contrasts, (iii) robust towards pathology and (iv) freely available and open source. In this study we propose a multi-atlas based method for the segmentation of the spinal cord white and gray matter that addresses the previous limitations. Moreover, to study the spinal cord morphology, atlas-based approaches are increasingly used. These approaches rely on the registration of a spinal cord template to an MR image, however the registration usually doesn't take into account the spinal cord internal structure and thus lacks accuracy. In this study, we propose a new template registration framework that integrates the white and gray matter segmentation to account for the specific gray matter shape of each individual subject. Validation of segmentation was performed in 24 healthy subjects using T2*-weighted images, in 8 healthy subjects using diffusion weighted images (exhibiting inverted white-to-gray matter contrast compared to T2*-weighted), and in 5 patients with spinal cord injury. The template registration was validated in 24 subjects using T2*-weighted data. Results of automatic segmentation on T2*-weighted images was in close correspondence with the manual segmentation (Dice coefficient in the white/gray matter of 0.91/0.71 respectively). Similarly, good results were obtained in data with inverted contrast (diffusion-weighted image) and in patients. When compared to the classical template registration framework, the proposed framework that accounts for gray matter shape significantly improved the quality of the registration (comparing Dice coefficient in gray matter: p=9.5×10−6). While further validation is needed to show the benefits of the new registration framework in large cohorts and in a variety of patients, this study provides a fully-integrated tool for quantitative assessment of white/gray matter morphometry and template-based analysis. All the proposed methods are implemented in the Spinal Cord Toolbox (SCT), an open-source software for processing spinal cord multi-parametric MRI data.
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•Automatic segmentation of the spinal cord white/gray matter in various MRI contrasts.•Robust white/gray matter segmentation in patients with spinal cord injury.•Vertebral level information as a shape prior for white/gray matter segmentation.•Improved template-based analysis framework that accounts for gray matter shape.
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Recent research suggests that museum visits can benefit psychological well-being by reducing symptoms of stress and anxiety. However, these reported relaxing effects remain inconsistent between ...studies. Shedding light on the underlying cerebral mechanisms of museum visits might support a better understanding of how it affects psychological well-being. This study aimed to investigate the prefrontal engagement evoked by artwork analysis during a museum visit and to determine if these prefrontal substrates are associated with the museum's effect on psychological well-being in older adults. Nineteen adults aged between 65 and 79, toured a Baroque-style exhibit at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts for approximately 20 minutes while equipped with a near-infrared spectroscopy system measuring the prefrontal cortex's hemodynamic activity. For each painting, participants received the instruction to either (1): analyze the painting and produce a personal interpretation of its signification (
) or (2) visualize the painting without any specific thoughts (
). Questionnaires measuring stress, anxiety, and well-being were administered before and after the visit. Sixteen older women (71.5 ± 4 years) were included in the analyses. Results showed that, at the group level, the
was associated with an increased activation pattern in the left ventrolateral prefrontal region, typically related to attentional processes (not observed in the
. The activation associated with the
predicted pre-/post-visit reductions in self-reported anxiety and stress in the sample of older women. These observations suggest that the level of engagement of attentional processes during artwork analysis may play a major role in the effect of a museum's visit on self-reported symptoms of anxiety.
Background. Epithelial myoepithelial carcinomas (EMCs) are rare low-grade salivary gland tumors. Here, we report the case of a 75-year-old man presenting with an oncocytic variant of EMC of the nasal ...cavity, initially diagnosed as an oncocytoma. Methods. Our patient underwent functional sinus surgery in 2012. On pathology, an oncocytic neoplasm was found in the right nasal cavity, characterized by fragments of uniform bland oncocytic cells with bilayered arrangement of nuclei. Immunohistochemical stains demonstrated biphasic cells: luminal epithelial and basal cell–type myoepithelial cells. The tumor was best diagnosed as an oncocytoma. In 2015, the patient presented with a recurrent right inferior turbinate lesion, compatible with oncocytic EMC. Results. The patient underwent oncological surgery and received adjuvant radiotherapy. He had no disease recurrence. Conclusion. Different variants of EMCs exist, such as oncocytic EMC. EMCs should be treated aggressively because they can be locally invasive, recur, and give rise to distant metastases.
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Building information modelling (BIM) and product lifecycle management (PLM) technologies provide automatic model checking (AMC) tools that can be used for the prevention of occupational health and ...safety (OHS) risks through design (PtD). Considering that the risks related to energy sources during the operation stage of industrial facilities can be major, our objective is to propose a PtD approach for this type of risk that uses AMC tools. For this purpose, our methodology is based on the information systems design-science paradigm. Considering that both BIM and PLM mock-ups can be used to design industrial facilities and that Catia V5 is one of the main software programs used to design industrial equipment and facilities, our methodology specifically includes a comparative literature review of the uses of AMC tools to check BIM and PLM mock-ups and a comparative study of the OHS risk prevention capabilities of the AMC tools available in Catia V5. Therefore, the PtD approach that we propose is specific to Catia V5. It consists of: 1) extracting rules related to hazardous energy control from regulatory requirements and classifying them according to their automation potential, 2) expressing the rules in a form that is compatible with the RASE method, 3) interpreting the rules using the RASE method, and 4) using a macro script to automatically check the compliance of the digital mock-ups. The proposed approach's contribution is that it makes it possible to support facility designers in automatically identifying hazardous energy sources in systems. In future studies, we intend to couple this PtD approach with methods that integrate dynamic system behavior to assess the level of risk corresponding to the hazardous sources identified.
•The prevention of risks related to energy sources can be seen as a problem related to the effectiveness of the early management of available knowledge during the design stage of industrial facilities.•Occupational health and safety regulations and standards make it possible to integrate constraints related to human factors engineering into facilities' design.•Automatic Model Checking tools allow to check the compliance of facilities designed with requirements regarding the prevention of risks related to energy sources.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
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