Search results for: medical resonance (MR) images

Authors: Ryan Houser

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Introduction: Previous studies have found that public health systems within the United States are inadequately prepared for an act of biological terrorism. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, few studies have evaluated bioterrorism preparedness of Emergency Medical Services, even in the accelerating environment of biothreats. Methods: This study utilized an Internet-based survey to assess the level of preparedness and willingness to respond to a bioterrorism attack and identify factors that predict preparedness and willingness among Nebraska EMS (Emergency Medical Services ) providers. The survey was available for one month in 2021, during which 190 EMS providers responded to the survey. Results: Only 56.8% of providers were able to recognize an illness or injury as potentially resulting from exposure to a CBRN agent. The provider Clinical Competency levels range from a low of 13.6% (ability to initiate patient care within his/her professional scope of practice and arrange for prompt referral appropriate to the identified condition(s)) to a high of 74% (the ability to respond to an emergency within the emergency management system of his/her practice, institution and community). Only 10% of the respondents are both willing and able to effectively function in a bioterror environment. Discussion: In order to effectively prepare for and respond to a bioterrorist attack, all levels of the healthcare system need to have the clinical skills, knowledge, and abilities necessary to treat patients exposed. Policy changes and increased focus on training and drills are needed to ensure a prepared EMS system which is crucial to a resilient state. EMS entities need to be aware of the extent of their available workforce so that the country can be prepared for the increasing threat of bioterrorism or other novel emerging infectious disease outbreaks. A resilient nation relies on a prepared set of EMS providers who are willing to respond to biological terrorism events.

Keywords: bioterrorism, prehospital, EMS, disaster, emergency, medicine, preparedness, policy

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Authors: Shabnam Etemadi

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Background: Infertility is one of the most important issues in any society due to its psychological, medical and economic consequences that can greatly influence overall health and life. This study aims to assess the relationship between inhalation or exposing workplace pollution and dysfunction of the male reproductive system. Semen samples are male employees in south of Iran who exposed to work environmental pollutants for long hours. Method: Due to descriptive-analytical, the analysis of all interviews of all male patients of Bu Ali Medical Center and Pasteur Laboratory are conducted within 6 months. Random sampling numbered and patients signed informed consent. To analyze the data, Miller's fertility motivation questionnaires and the Miller-Smith lifestyle assessment inventory are used and Working Conditions Survey is developed. For analyzing the collecting data SPSS is used. Findings: Although sperm motility and volume had no statistically significant relationship with any of the lifestyle components, the weak relationship between sperm movement and work environment conditions (P = 0.07) lead to other factors to be investigated. * Among the factors of Working Environment Condition, smoking, work in the open environment and presence of more than 6 hours in the work environment with sperm mobility, smoking, contact with chemicals and radioactive with sperm volume at a level less than 0.05 had a statistically significant relationship. Conclusion: Finding revealed the environment pollution is one of the important factors in male infertility and strengthens this hypothesis. Working Environmental pollutants in the field of metropolitan pollution should be considered as a unifying hypothesis, possibly could interfere with male reproductive function.

Keywords: infertility, lifestyle, workplace pollution, male infertility

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Authors: Usman Ahmed Khan

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Urbanization directly affects the existing infrastructure, landscape modification, environmental contamination, and traffic pollution, especially if there is a lack of urban planning. Recently, the rapid urban sprawl has resulted in less developed green areas and has devastating environmental consequences. This study was aimed to study the past urban expansion rates and measure LST from satellite data. The land use land cover (LULC) maps of years 1996, 2010, 2013, and 2017 were generated using landsat satellite images. Four main classes, i.e., water, urban, bare land, and vegetation, were identified using unsupervised classification with iterative self-organizing data analysis (isodata) technique. The LST from satellite thermal data can be derived from different procedures: atmospheric, radiometric calibrations and surface emissivity corrections, classification of spatial changeability in land-cover. Different methods and formulas were used in the algorithm that successfully retrieves the land surface temperature to help us study the thermal environment of the ground surface. To verify the algorithm, the land surface temperature and the near-air temperature were compared. The results showed that, From 1996-2017, urban areas increased to about a considerable increase of about 48%. Few areas of the city also shown in a reduction in LST from the year 1996-2017 that actually began their transitional phase from rural to urban LULC. The mean temperature of the city increased averagely about 1ºC each year in the month of October. The green and vegetative areas witnessed a decrease in the area while a higher number of pixels increased in urban class.

Keywords: LST, LULC, isodata, urbanization

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Authors: Poojitha Vemula

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Understanding how we use image manipulation to communicate through an audience’s perceptions and conceive visual intelligence. With the use of many software and high-end skills, designers have developed a third eye to combine two different visuals and create the desired image by using photoshop and other software skills. The purpose of visual intelligence is to convey a message to the targeted audience. For instance, the images of models are retouched on their skin to make it more convincing and draw attention from the audience. There are many ways of manipulating an image, such as double exposure, retouching photography inks or paint airbrushing and piecing photos together, or enhancing the brightness and contrast. To understand visual intelligence, a questionnaire survey as well as research was conducted on how image manipulation is used by both the audience and the designers. This depends on the message that needs to be conveyed by the brands. For instance, Fair & Lovely, a brightening cream for ladies use a lot of retouching and effects to show the dramatic change the cream takes effect on dark or dusky faces. Thus the designer’s role is to use their third eye to incorporate the message into visuals. The research and questionnaire survey concludes the perceptions and manipulations used in visual communication. However this is all to make an effortless communication between the designer and the audience by using the skills of the designer and the features provided by the software. The objective of visual intelligence is to covet the message of the brands that advertise their products or services by using visuals through softwares. Conveying a message through visual intelligence requires an audiences perceptions and understanding from the visuals created by the artists or designers. Visual intelligence determines how we use our technical skills to retouch and manipulate an image for a better understanding to convey the message to the targeted audience. This also bridges the communication between the brand and the audience.

Keywords: graphic design, visual communication, convey messages, photoshop, image manipulation

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Authors: Bensaid A., Mostephaoui T., Nedjai R.

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Climatic factors are the subject of considerable research, both methodologically and instrumentally. Under the effect of climate change, the approach to climate parameters with precision remains one of the main objectives of the scientific community. This is from the perspective of assessing climate change and its repercussions on humans and the environment. However, many regions of the world suffer from a severe lack of reliable instruments that can make up for this deficit. Alternatively, the use of empirical methods becomes the only way to assess certain parameters that can act as climate indicators. Several scientific methods are used for the evaluation of evapotranspiration which leads to its evaluation either directly at the level of the climatic stations or by empirical methods. All these methods make a point approach and, in no case, allow the spatial variation of this parameter. We, therefore, propose in this paper the use of three sources of information (network of weather stations of Meteo France, World Databases, and Moodis satellite images) to evaluate spatial evapotranspiration (ETP) using the Turc method. This first step will reflect the degree of relevance of the indirect (satellite) methods and their generalization to sites without stations. The spatial variation representation of this parameter using the geographical information system (GIS) accounts for the heterogeneity of the behaviour of this parameter. This heterogeneity is due to the influence of site morphological factors and will make it possible to appreciate the role of certain topographic and hydrological parameters. A phase of predicting the evolution over the medium and long term of evapotranspiration under the effect of climate change by the application of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) scenarios gives a realistic overview as to the contribution of aquatic systems to the scale of the region.

Keywords: climate change, ETP, MODIS, GIEC scenarios

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Authors: Jean-François Caron

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The current attempts to develop what we can call 'super soldiers' are problematic in many regards. This is what this text will try to explore by concentrating primarily on the repercussions of this technology and medical research on the physical and psychological integrity of soldiers. It argues that medicines or technologies may affect soldiers’ psychological and mental features and deprive them of their capacity to reflect upon their actions as autonomous subjects and that such a possibility entails serious moral as well as judicial consequences.

Keywords: military research, super soldiers, involuntary intoxication, criminal responsibility

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Authors: Sadaf Ambreen, Ayesha Bibi, Sara Rafiq

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Hypertension is a medical condition in which blood pressure in the arteries is elevated than the normal, having systolic blood pressure more than 120mmHg and diastolic blood pressure more than 80 mmHg. It leads to health complications and increase the risk of diseases such as stroke, heart failure, heart attack, and even death. The aim of the current study was to evaluate nutritional status and activity level among hypertensive early adults in District Mardan Data was collected from the subjects of Public Hospital, Mardan Medical Complex, through questionnaire. A complete information about individual sociodemographic, anthropometry and health status were collected, and physical activity was assessed by using IPAQ questionnaire. A total of 150 individuals were included in the study, in which 90% were females, and 10% were males. Data was analyzed through SPSS Version 22. Majority of the study subjects, 88%, were married, 70% having nuclear living system, 43% were having elementary education, and 43% were working as laborer. Body mass index and waist circumference in female counterpart were found to be positively associated with hypertension and was found statistically significant P=<0.01. Results showed that majority of females were fall in hypertension crisis category with mild activity, and males were having hypertension stage 1 with moderate activity. Our study concluded that non-optimal nutritional status and physical inactivity resulted in elevated blood pressure in females, therefore, lifestyle change such as optimal nutritional status and physical activity may play key role in reducing risk of hypertension.

Keywords: obesity/overwight, body mass index, waist circumference, early adulthood

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Authors: Malgorzata Sekulowicz, Krystyna Boron-Krupinska, Paulina Morga, Blazej Cieslik

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Burnout is highly prevalent in health care employees, especially in physicians. It significantly reduces the efficiency of these employees, which can have negative consequences for both physicians and patients. Resilience and mindfulness enhancing positive emotions, leading to sustainable development and personal commitment, can have a significant impact on burnout. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the relationship between burnout symptoms and mindfulness and resilience among physicians. The authors conducted a cross-sectional survey study among seventy-four polish physicians. Participants filled out the following psychometric tools: the Maslach Burnout Inventory - Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS), Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), Areas of Work-Life Survey (AWS), International Personality Item Pool (IPIP), the Resilience Assessment Scale (SPP-25) and the Mini-COPE Inventory. The relationship between burnout and resilience and mindfulness was assessed with path analysis. Analyzing the relationship between MBI-HSS components and mindfulness, a significant negative correlation of the FFMQ score with emotional exhaustion (-0.50, p < 0.05) and depersonalization (-0.43, p < 0.05) and a positive correlation with personal accomplishment (0.50, p < 0.05) was demonstrated. Analyzing resilience, a statistically significant relationship of SPP-25 with all tested components of MBI-HSS was demonstrated: emotional exhaustion (-0.54, p < 0.05), depersonalization (-0.31, p < 0.05) and personal accomplishment (0.35, p < 0.05). In the group of medical doctors, the higher the level of mindfulness and resilience, the lower the risk of burnout. Furthermore, the more frequently used active coping strategies (planning, acceptance), the lower the risk of burnout, while the use of passive, evasive strategies increases the risk of burnout. It may be worth considering implementing mindfulness intervention to effectively manage burnout symptoms in this group.

Keywords: burnout, medical doctors, mindfulness, physicians, resilience

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Authors: Alaeddin Ebrahimi, Narasimman Sundararajan, Bernhard Pracejus

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Development of salt domes, often a rising from depths of some 10 km or more, causes an intense faulting of the surrounding host rocks (salt tectonics). The fractured rocks then present ideal space for oil that can migrate and get trapped. If such moving of hydrocarbons passes uranium-carrying rock units (e.g., shales), uranium is collected and enriched by organic carbon compounds. Brines from the salt body are also ideal carriers for oxidized uranium species and will further dislocate uranium when in contact with uranium-enriched oils. Uranium then has the potential to mineralize in the vicinity of the dome (blue halite is evidence for radiation having affected salt deposits elsewhere in the world). Based on this knowledge, the Qarat Kibrit salt dome was investigated by a well-established geophysical method like very low frequency electromagnetic (VLF-EM) along five traverses approximately 250 m in length (10 m intervals) in order to identify subsurface fault systems. In-phase and quadrature components of the VLF-EM signal were recorded at two different transmitter frequencies (24.0 and 24.9 kHz). The images of Fraser filtered response of the in-phase components indicate a conductive zone (fault) in the southeast and southwest of the study area. The Karous-Hjelt current density pseudo section delineates subsurface faults at depths between 10 and 40 m. The stacked profiles of the Fraser filtered responses brought out two plausible trends/directions of faults. However, there seems to be no evidence for uranium enrichment has been recorded in this area.

Keywords: salt dome, uranium, fault, in-phase component, quadrature component, Fraser filter, Karous-Hjelt current density

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Authors: Hongbo Zhang, Xinlu Tang, Jiangwei Li, Chi Yan

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Home zone parking pilot (HPP) is a fast-growing segment in low-speed autonomous driving applications. It requires the car automatically cruise around a parking lot and park itself in a range of up to 100 meters inside a recurrent home/office parking lot, which requires precise parking lot mapping and localization solution. Although Lidar is ideal for SLAM, the car OEMs favor a low-cost fish-eye camera based visual SLAM approach. Recent approaches have employed segmentation models to extract semantic features and improve mapping accuracy, but these AI models are memory unfriendly and computationally expensive, making deploying on embedded ADAS systems difficult. To address this issue, we proposed a new method that utilizes object detection models to extract robust and accurate parking lot features. The proposed method could reduce computational costs while maintaining high accuracy. Once combined with vehicles’ wheel-pulse information, the system could construct maps and locate the vehicle in real-time. This article will discuss in detail (1) the fish-eye based Around View Monitoring (AVM) with transparent chassis images as the inputs, (2) an Object Detection (OD) based feature point extraction algorithm to generate point cloud, (3) a low computational parking lot mapping algorithm and (4) the real-time localization algorithm. At last, we will demonstrate the experiment results with an embedded ADAS system installed on a real car in the underground parking lot.

Keywords: ADAS, home zone parking pilot, object detection, visual SLAM

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Authors: L. Mentar, O. Baka, M. R. Khelladi, A. Azizi

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Zinc oxide (ZnO), as a transparent semiconductor with a wide band gap of 3.4 eV and a large exciton binding energy of 60 meV at room temperature, is one of the most promising materials for a wide range of modern applications. With the development of film growth technologies and intense recent interest in nanotechnology, several varieties of ZnO nanostructured materials have been synthesized almost exclusively by thermal evaporation methods, particularly chemical vapor deposition (CVD), which generally require a high growth temperature above 550 °C. In contrast, wet chemistry techniques such as hydrothermal synthesis and electro-deposition are promising alternatives to synthesize ZnO nanostructures, especially at a significantly lower temperature (below 200°C). In this study, the electro-deposition method was used to produce zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO)-coated conducting glass substrate from chloride bath. We present the influence of KCl concentrations on the electro-deposition process, morphological, structural and optical properties of ZnO nanostructures. The potentials of electro-deposition of ZnO were determined using the cyclic voltammetry. From the Mott-Schottky measurements, the flat-band potential and the donor density for the ZnO nanostructure are determined. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) images showed different sizes and morphologies of the nanostructures which depends on the concentrations of Cl-. Very netted hexagonal grains are observed for the nanostructures deposited at 0.1M of KCl. X-ray diffraction (XRD) study confirms the Wurtzite phase of the ZnO nanostructures with a preferred oriented along (002) plane normal to the substrate surface. UV-Visible spectra showed a significant optical transmission (~80%), which decreased with low Cl-1 concentrations. The energy band gap values have been estimated to be between 3.52 and 3.80 eV.

Keywords: Cl-, electro-deposition, FESEM, Mott-Schottky, XRD, ZnO

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Authors: Alhage Drammeh

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The research is on the occurrence of certain diseases among children in rural and far-flung parts of the Gambia and the extent to which they are caused by lack of access to clean water. A baseline survey was used to discover, describe, and explain the actual processes. The paper explains the purpose of the research, which is majorly to improve the health condition of children, especially those living in rural communities. The paper also gives a brief overview of the socio-economic situation of The Gambia, emphasizing its status as a Least Developed Country (LDC) and the majority of its population living below the poverty line, with women and children hardest hit. The research used as case studies of two rural communities in the Gambia -Basse Dampha Kunda Village and Foni Besse. Data was collected through oral interviews and medical tests conducted among people in both villages, with an emphasis on children. The demographic detail of those tested is tabulated for a clearer understanding. The results were compared, revealing that skin rashes, hepatitis, and certain other diseases are more prevalent in communities lacking access to safe drinking water. These results were also presented in a tabular form. The study established how some policy failures and neglect on the part of the Government of The Gambia are imperiling the health of many rural dwellers in the country, the most glaring being that the research team was unable to test water samples collected from the two communities, as there are no laboratory reagents for testing water anywhere in The Gambia. Many rural communities lack basic amenities, especially clean and potable water, as well as health facilities. The study findings also highlighted the need for healthcare providers and medical NGOs to voice the plight of rural dwellers and collaborate with the government to set up health facilities in rural areas of The Gambia.

Keywords: jaundice, skin rashes, children, rural communities, the Gambia, causes

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Authors: Lie-Fen Lin, Tzu-Hsuan Lin, Ching-Heng Lin

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Hospice care for terminally ill patients provides not only a better quality of life but also cost-saving benefits. However, the utilization of home-based hospice care (HBH care) remains low even for countries covered by National Health Insurance (NHI) programs in Taiwan. In the current commercial insurance policy, only hospital-based hospice benefits were covered. It may have an influence on the insureds chosen to receive end-of-life care in a hospitalized manner. Thus, how to propose a feasible method to advocate HBH care utilization rate of public health policies is an important issue. A total of 130,219 cancer decedents in the year 2011-2013 from the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) in Taiwan were included in this study. By adding a day volume pays benefits of HBH care as a commercial insurance rider, will provide alternative benefits for the insureds. A multiple-state Markov chain model was incorporated to estimate the transition intensities of patients in different states at the end of their lives (Non-hospice, HBH, hospital-based hospice), and the premiums were estimated. HBH care insurance benefits provide financial support and reduce the burden of care for patients. The rate-making of this product is very sensitive while the utilization rate is rising, especially for high ages. The proposed HBH care insurance is a feasible way to reduce the financial burden, enhance the care quality and family satisfaction of insureds. Meanwhile, insurance companies can participate in advocating a good medical policy to enhance the social image. In addition, the medical costs of NHI can reduce effectively.

Keywords: home-based hospice care, commercial insurance, Markov chain model, the day volume pays

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Authors: Saba Fahham, Supak Ngamsom, Suchaya Damrongsri

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Objective: The objective is to determine the optimal threshold of Romexis software for the airway volume and minimum cross-section area (MCA) analysis using Image J as a gold standard. Materials and Methods: A total of ten cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) images were collected. The airway volume and MCA of each patient were analyzed using the automatic airway segmentation function in the CBCT DICOM viewer (Romexis). Airway volume and MCA measurements were conducted on each CBCT sagittal view with fifteen different threshold values from the Romexis software, Ranging from 300 to 1000. Duplicate DICOM files, in axial view, were imported into Image J for concurrent airway volume and MCA analysis as the gold standard. The airway volume and MCA measured from Romexis and Image J were compared using a t-test with Bonferroni correction, and statistical significance was set at p<0.003. Results: Concerning airway volume, thresholds of 600 to 850 as well as 1000, exhibited results that were not significantly distinct from those obtained through Image J. Regarding MCA, employing thresholds from 400 to 850 within Romexis Viewer showed no variance from Image J. Notably, within the threshold range of 600 to 850, there were no statistically significant differences observed in both airway volume and MCA analyses, in comparison to Image J. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that the utilization of Planmeca Romexis Viewer 6.4.3.3 within threshold range of 600 to 850 yields airway volume and MCA measurements that exhibit no statistically significant variance in comparison to measurements obtained through Image J. This outcome holds implications for diagnosing upper airway obstructions and post-orthodontic surgical monitoring.

Keywords: airway analysis, airway segmentation, cone beam computed tomography, threshold

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Authors: Alyaa Farouk AbdelFattah Ibrahim, Agnes Monica, Dolores I. Cabansag

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The prevalence of diabetes mellitus is reaching epidemic proportions in many parts of the world causing an increasing public health concern. Cases of Type 2 diabetes are rapidly increasing in the Middle East region. Deprived of lifestyle deviations, a section of the Middle East’s inhabitants will be pretentious by 2035. As all sociocultural factors have created unhealthy lifestyles, which have become part of the social norms within Saudi society, thereby increased the prevalence of sedentary lifestyle and obesity in women living in Saudi Arabia. So, this study aimed to assess the impact of diabetes mellitus on quality of life of female nursing students in King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh. In a crossectional study design, 151 nursing students at King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for health sciences in Riyadh were included in the study. Biosociodemographic questionnaire and Short-Form 36 (SF-36) Health Related Quality of life Survey Arabic version were used for data collection, and all included students were screened for random blood glucose level. Results depicted that among 151 subjects included in the study 17 (11.3%) had diagnosed medical problems, and 29.4% of those participants with medical problems were diabetics. Univariate regression model for the relation between diabetes mellitus and overall percent score of SF-36 health survey domains showed no statistically significant difference between diabetic and non-diabetic subjects 0.990(0.931-1.053). In conclusion, although the diabetes prevalence was high among the study subjects it did not affect their quality of life may be due to age of the study population.

Keywords: diabetes mellitus, diabetes prevalence, quality of life, university students' health

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Authors: Ramandeep Kaur M. Malhi, Prashant K. Srivastava, G.Sandhya Kiran

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Quantitative estimates of foliar biochemicals, namely chlorophyll content (CC), serve as key information for the assessment of plant productivity, stress, and the availability of nutrients. This also plays a critical role in predicting the dynamic response of any vegetation to altering climate conditions. The advent of hyperspectral data with an enhanced number of available wavelengths has increased the possibility of acquiring improved information on CC. Retrieval of CC is extensively carried through well known spectral indices derived from hyperspectral data. In the present study, an attempt is made to develop hyperspectral indices by identifying optimum bands for CC estimation in Butea monosperma (Lam.) Taub growing in forests of Shoolpaneshwar Wildlife Sanctuary, Narmada district, Gujarat State, India. 196 narrow bands of EO-1 Hyperion images were screened, and the best optimum wavelength from blue, green, red, and near infrared (NIR) regions were identified based on the coefficient of determination (R²) between band reflectance and laboratory estimated CC. The identified optimum wavelengths were then employed for developing 12 hyperspectral indices. These spectral index values and CC values were then correlated to investigate the relation between laboratory measured CC and spectral indices. Band 15 of blue range and Band 22 of green range, Band 40 of the red region, and Band 79 of NIR region were found to be optimum bands for estimating CC. The optimum band based combinations on hyperspectral data proved to be the most effective indices for quantifying Butea CC with NDVI and TVI identified as the best (R² > 0.7, p < 0.01). The study demonstrated the significance of band characterization in the development of the best hyperspectral indices for the chlorophyll estimation, which can aid in monitoring the vitality of forests.

Keywords: band, characterization, chlorophyll, hyperspectral, indices

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Authors: Joyce Onoromhenre Agofure

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Research has shown how fictional work and films reflect the destruction of the environment due to the exploitation of oil, gas, gold, and forest products by multinational companies for profits but overlook discussions on conflict resolution and peacebuilding. However, this paper examines the manner art forms project peace and conflict resolution, thereby contributing to mediation and stability geared towards changing appalling situations in the resource extraction regions of Nigeria. This paper draws from selected Nigerian films- Blood and Oil (2019), directed by Curtis Graham, Black November (2012), directed by Jeta Amata, and a novel- Death of Eternity (2007), by Adamu Kyuka Usman. The study seeks to show that the disruptions caused in the natural resource regions of Nigeria have not only left adverse effects on the social well-being of the people but require resolutions through means of peacebuilding. By adopting the theoretical insights of Social Conflict, this paper focuses on artistic processes that enhance peacebuilding and conflict resolution in non-violent ways by using scenes, visual effects, themes, and images that can educate by shaping opinions, influencing attitudes, and changing ideas and behavioral patterns of individuals and communities. Put together; the research will open up critical perceptions brought about by the artists of study to shed light on the dire need to sustain peace and actively participate in conflict resolution in natural resource extraction spaces.

Keywords: natural resource, extraction, conflict resolution, peace building

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Authors: Anupalli Roja Rani, Pavithra Dasari

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Background: Among several, breast cancer has emerged as the most common female cancer in developing countries. It is the most common cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide among women. It is a molecularly and clinically heterogeneous disease. Moreover, it is a hormone–dependent tumor in which estrogens can regulate the growth of breast cells by binding with estrogen receptors (ERs). Moreover, the use of natural products in cancer therapeutics is due to their properties of biocompatibility and less toxicity. Plants are the vast reservoirs for various bioactive compounds. Coleus barbatus (Lamiaceae) contains anticancer properties against several cancer cell lines. Method: In the present study, an attempt is being made to enrich the knowledge of the anticancer activity of pure compounds extracted from Coleus barbatus (Andrew). On human breast cancer cell lines MCF-7. Here in, we are assessing the antiproliferative activity of Coleus barbatus (Andrew) plant extracts against MCF 7 and also evaluating their toxicity in normal human mammary cell lines such as Human Mammary Epithelial Cells (HMEC). The active fraction of plant extract was further purified with the help of Flash chromatography, Medium Pressure Liquid Chromatography (MPLC) and preparative High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). The structure of pure compounds will be elucidated by using modern spectroscopic methods like Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), Electrospray Ionisation Mass Spectrometry (ESI-MS) methods. Later, the growth inhibition morphological assessment of cancer cells and cell cycle analysis of purified compounds were assessed using FACS. The growth and progression of signaling molecules HER2, GRP78 was studied by secretion assay using ELISA and expression analysis by flow cytometry. Result: Cytotoxic effect against MCF-7 with IC50 values were derived from dose response curves, using six concentrations of twofold serially diluted samples, by SOFTMax Pro software (Molecular device) and respectively Ellipticine and 0.5% DMSO were used as a positive and negative control. Conclusion: The present study shows the significance of various bioactive compounds extracted from Coleus barbatus (Andrew) root material. It acts as an anti-proliferative and shows cytotoxic effects on human breast cancer cell lines MCF7. The plant extracts play an important role pharmacologically. The whole plant has been used in traditional medicine for decades and the studies done have authenticated the practice. Earlier, as described, the plant has been used in the ayurveda and homeopathy medicine. However, more clinical and pathological studies must be conducted to investigate the unexploited potential of the plant. These studies will be very useful for drug designing in the future.

Keywords: coleus barbatus, HPLC, MPLC, NMR, MCF7, flash chromatograph, ESI-MS, FACS, ELISA.

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Authors: Pegah Ebrahimi, Farshad Oveissi, Iman Manavi-Tehrani, Sina Naficy, David F. Fletcher, Fariba Dehghani, David S. Winlaw

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Despite advances in modern surgery, congenital heart disease remains a medical challenge and a major cause of infant mortality. Cardiovascular prostheses are routinely used in surgical procedures to address congenital malformations, for example establishing a pathway from the right ventricle to the pulmonary arteries in pulmonary valvar atresia. Current off-the-shelf options including human and adult products have limited biocompatibility and durability, and their fixed size necessitates multiple subsequent operations to upsize the conduit to match with patients’ growth over their lifetime. Non-physiological blood flow is another major problem, reducing the longevity of these prostheses. These limitations call for better designs that take into account the hemodynamical and anatomical characteristics of different patients. We have integrated tissue engineering techniques with modern medical imaging and image processing tools along with mathematical modeling to optimize the design of cardiovascular grafts in a patient-specific manner. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis is done according to models constructed from each individual patient’s data. This allows for improved geometrical design and achieving better hemodynamic performance. Tissue engineering strives to provide a material that grows with the patient and mimic the durability and elasticity of the native tissue. Simulations also give insight on the performance of the tissues produced in our lab and reduce the need for costly and time-consuming methods of evaluation of the grafts. We are also developing a methodology for the fabrication of the optimized designs.

Keywords: computational fluid dynamics, cardiovascular grafts, design optimization, tissue engineering

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Authors: Jeanne Grace, Melkamu D. Kassa

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Background: Despite the recognized benefits of physical exercise, including a reduction of health risk factor indicators, illness and deaths related to Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension, and cancer, the extent of its recognition and use as a prevention strategy by healthcare professionals working in Ethiopian referral hospitals is unknown. Objective: This study explored healthcare professionals’ use of physical exercise as a non-communicable disease prevention strategy in the Ethiopian public sector healthcare system. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a self-administered questionnaire was conducted after being piloted to ensure validity and reliability. For the study, 312 participants were selected from 13 purposively selected Ethiopian referral hospitals, these being 99 physicians who were purposively selected and 213 nurses who were proportionately and randomly selected. Results: The results indicated that three-quarters (78%) of healthcare professionals working in Ethiopian hospitals are not using physical exercise as a strategy to prevent NCDs. Increased specialization (AOR = 20.203, p < 0.001), longer service years (AOR = 0.041, p = 0.014), young age (AOR = 19.871, p < 0.001), and being male (AOR = 0.269, p < 0.001), were predictors of using physical exercise as a strategy for the prevention of NCDs. Conclusion: Healthcare professionals’ utilization of physical exercise as a strategy for NCDs prevention was inadequate in Ethiopia. Given the increasing burden of NCD disease in Ethiopia, training nurses, physicians and medical managers have to acknowledge the use of physical exercise as an NCD prevention strategy. The results of this study highlight the importance of formulating physical exercise intervention strategies for NCDs patients, and the need to incorporate training for healthcare professionals on the type, intensity, duration, and frequency of physical exercise to prevent NCDs in the Ethiopian healthcare system.

Keywords: exercise, medical managers, nurses, physicians

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Authors: Sonal Sethi, Mukesh Yadav, Abhimanyu Gupta

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The upcoming field of radiogenomics has the potential to upgrade the role of imaging in lung cancer management by noninvasive characterization of tumor histology and genetic microenvironment. Receptor positivity like epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) genotyping are critical in lung adenocarcinoma for treatment. As conventional identification of receptor positivity is an invasive procedure, we analyzed the features on non-invasive computed tomography (CT), which predicts the receptor positivity in lung adenocarcinoma. Retrospectively, we did a comprehensive study from 77 proven lung adenocarcinoma patients with CT images, EGFR and ALK receptor genotyping, and clinical information. Total 22/77 patients were receptor-positive (15 had only EGFR mutation, 6 had ALK mutation, and 1 had both EGFR and ALK mutation). Various morphological characteristics and metastatic distribution on CT were analyzed along with the clinical information. Univariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were used. On multivariable logistic regression analysis, we found spiculated margin, lymphangitic spread, air bronchogram, pleural effusion, and distant metastasis had a significant predictive value for receptor mutation status. On univariate analysis, air bronchogram and pleural effusion had significant individual predictive value. Conclusions: Receptor positive lung cancer has characteristic imaging features compared with nonreceptor positive lung adenocarcinoma. Since CT is routinely used in lung cancer diagnosis, we can predict the receptor positivity by a noninvasive technique and would follow a more aggressive algorithm for evaluation of distant metastases as well as for the treatment.

Keywords: lung cancer, multidisciplinary cancer care, oncologic imaging, radiobiology

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Authors: Turki Adnan Kamal, Abdulmajeed Ahmad Alsofiany, Nemer Khidhran Husain Alghamdi, Ali Eissa Hassan Al-Rajhi

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Background:- Health care workers are ranked as one of the most vulnerable groups experiencing violence and aggressive behavior compared to other occupational groups. Objectives:- To estimate the prevalence rate and characteristics and assess the avoidance measures, and notification of the violence among medical staff working in primary health care centers in Taif city. Subject and methods:- A cross-sectional study design was applied among all physicians and a representative sample of nurses working in primary health care centers affiliated with the Ministry of Health (MOH) in Taif city. A predesigned Arabic/English validated self-administered questionnaire was used. Results:- In this study, 56 physicians and 145 nurses responded, giving a response rate of 77.6%. Their age ranged from 25 and 60 years (36.2±8.2), with 59.7% of them aged between 25 and 35 years. Males represent 55.7% of them. More than half of them (52.2%) were Saudis. The prevalence of workplace violence was 30.3%. Verbal abuse was the commonest reported type (86.9%). The absence of security, training on the procedures that must be followed and special uniforms at the workplace were significantly associated with workplace violence. We concluded that workplace violence is a significant problem facing a considerable proportion of HCWs in primary health care centers in Taif, Saudi Arabia. Most violence incidents were verbal. Conclusion:- Findings of this study revealed that HCWs who were dealing with male patients only were at high risk of workplace violence and the absence of measures to avoid workplace violence, particularly security, training on the procedures that must be followed and special uniform at the workplace was significantly associated with workplace violence.

Keywords: violence, workplace, primary health care, prevalence, avoidance

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Authors: Emma Castiglioni, Nigel Scrutton, Derren Heyes, Alistair Fielding

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By using light as trigger, it is possible to study many biological processes, such as the activity of genes, proteins, and other molecules, with precise spatiotemporal control. Caged compounds, where biologically active molecules are generated from an inert precursor upon laser photolysis, offer the potential to initiate such biological reactions with high temporal resolution. As light acts as the trigger for cleaving the protecting group, the ‘caging’ technique provides a number of advantages as it can be intracellular, rapid and controlled in a quantitative manner. We are developing caging strategies to study the catalytic cycle of a number of enzyme systems, such as nitric oxide synthase and ethanolamine ammonia lyase. These include the use of caged substrates, caged electrons and the possibility of caging the enzyme itself. In addition, we are developing a novel freeze-quench instrument to study these reactions, which combines rapid mixing and flashing capabilities. Reaction intermediates will be trapped at low temperatures and will be analysed by using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy to identify the involvement of any radical species during catalysis. EPR techniques typically require relatively long measurement times and very often, low temperatures to fully characterise these short-lived species. Therefore, common rapid mixing techniques, such as stopped-flow or quench-flow are not directly suitable. However, the combination of rapid freeze-quench (RFQ) followed by EPR analysis provides the ideal approach to kinetically trap and spectroscopically characterise these transient radical species. In a typical RFQ experiment, two reagent solutions are delivered to the mixer via two syringes driven by a pneumatic actuator or stepper motor. The new mixed solution is then sprayed into a cryogenic liquid or surface, and the frozen sample is then collected and packed into an EPR tube for analysis. The earliest RFQ instrument consisted of a hydraulic ram unit as a drive unit with direct spraying of the sample into a cryogenic liquid (nitrogen, isopentane or petroleum). Improvements to the RFQ technique have arisen from the design of new mixers in order to reduce both the volume and the mixing time. In addition, the cryogenic isopentane bath has been coupled to a filtering system or replaced by spraying the solution onto a surface that is frozen via thermal conductivity with a cryogenic liquid. In our work, we are developing a novel RFQ instrument which combines the freeze-quench technology with flashing capabilities to enable the studies of both thermally-activated and light-activated biological reactions. This instrument also uses a new rotating plate design based on magnetic couplings and removes the need for mechanical motorised rotation, which can otherwise be problematic at cryogenic temperatures.

Keywords: caged compounds, freeze-quench apparatus, photolysis, radicals

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Authors: Harmeet Pal Singh Dhooria, Deepinder Chinna, UPS Sidhu, Alok Jain

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Serious infections caused by gram-negative bacteria are a significant cause of mortality and morbidity in the hospital setting. In acute care facilities like in intensive care units (ICUs), the intensity of antimicrobial use together with a population highly susceptible to infection, creates an environment, which facilitates both emergence and transmission of Extended Spectrum -lactamase (ESBL) producing Enterobacteriaceae species. The study was conducted in the Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU) and the Pulmonary Critical Care Unit (PCCU) of the Department of Medicine, Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana, Punjab, India. Out of a total of 1108 samples of urine, blood and respiratory tract secretions received for culture and sensitivity analysis from Medical Intensive Care Unit and Pulmonary Critical Care Unit, a total of 170 isolates of Enterobacteriaceae species were obtained which were then included in our study. Out of these 170 isolates, confirmed ESBL production was seen in 116 (68.24%) cases. E.coli was the most common species isolated (56.47%) followed by Klebsiella (32.94%), Enterobacter (5.88%), Citrobacter (3.53%), Enterobacter (0.59%) and Morganella (0.59%) among the total isolates. The rate of ESBL production was more in Klebsiella (78.57%) as compared to E.coli (60.42%). ESBL producers were found to be significantly more common in patients with prior history of hospitalization, antibiotic use, and prolonged ICU stay. Also significantly increased the prevalence of ESBL related infections was observed in patients with a history of catheterization or central line insertion but not in patients with the history of intubation. Patients who had an underlying malignancy had significantly higher prevalence of ESBL related infections as compared to other co-morbid illnesses. A slightly significant difference in the rate of mortality/LAMA was observed in the ESBL producer versus the non-ESBL producer group. The rate of mortality/LAMA was significantly higher in the ESBL related UTI but not in the ESBL related respiratory tract and bloodstream infections. ESBL producing isolates had significantly higher rates of resistance to Cefepime and Piperacillin/Tazobactum, and to non β-lactum antibiotics like Amikacin and Ciprofloxacin. The level of resistance to Imipenem was lower as compared to other antibiotics. However, it was noted that ESBL producing isolates had higher levels of resistance to Imipenem as compared to non-ESBL producing isolates. Conclusion- The prevalence of ESBL producing organisms was found to be very high (68.24%) among Enterobacteriaceae isolates in our ICU setting as among other ICU care settings around the world.

Keywords: enterobacteriaceae, extended spectrum B-lactamase (ESBL), ICU, antibiotic resistance

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Authors: Jacob Dangerfield, Jacob Pollard, Jennifer DeCou

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Introduction: Burnout, anxiety, and depression are three conditions that are prevalent in medical providers. This is especially the case in the field of anesthesia, which has a high number of providers suffering from burnout and burnout syndrome. A major contributor to this issue is isolation in the workplace, with a perceived lack of peer support as a major risk factor for burnout. Two organizational interventions that can be done to help improve this issue are small group sessions and providing affordable mental health services. Per American College of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Guidelines, these affordable mental health services are a requirement of all residency programs, but for a variety of reasons, many residents do not access them. As physicians, we are often not good at asking for help. With this in mind, we hypothesized that carrying out small group resiliency sessions facilitated by Graduate Medical Education (GME) Wellness Counselors would improve both resident peer support as well as the likelihood that a resident will reach out to GME Wellness in a time of need. Methods: We held small group resiliency sessions with the GME Wellness Mental Health Professionals during protected didactic time. These sessions were small groups, including the members of one’s class (i.e., first-year residents on their own), and were facilitated by 1-2 mental health professionals. After these sessions, we surveyed residents who attended using a short Google Forms survey and using a 5-point Likert Scale, asked residents about some outcomes from the session. A “strongly agree” or “agree” was considered a positive response. Results: Results from our survey showed that the resident sessions had multiple positive outcomes. This survey was sent to 29 residents, and we had a 62% response rate. We found out through this survey that these small group sessions had a perceived positive impact on resident personal well-being, increased perceived peer support from classmates, and made residents more likely to reach out to GME Wellness in the future. Perceived positive impact on well-being was found in 83% of resident respondents, improved perceived peer support in 83% of respondents, and 78% of resident respondents stated that this session increased their likelihood of reaching out to mental health professionals. Conclusions: Through this study, we can conclude that our hypothesis was correct in that Small Group Resiliency Sessions that are facilitated by GME Wellness Counselors improve both resident peer support as well as the likelihood a resident reaches out to these mental health professionals in time of need. We believe these findings are very important as they address two important factors that can aid in decreasing a provider’s risk of experiencing burnout. Through this simple means, we believe other residency programs can help the well-being of their residents, and together, we can decrease the number of cases of burnout in anesthesia.

Keywords: anesthesiology, burnout, wellness, depression, residents, trainees, mental health

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Authors: Lukas Ded

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Studying the tissue structure and histogenesis in the natural, 3D context is challenging but highly beneficial process. Contrary to classical approach of the physical tissue sectioning and subsequent imaging, it enables to study the relationships of individual cellular and histological structures in their native context. Recent developments in the tissue clearing approaches and microscopic volume imaging/data processing enable the application of these methods also in the areas of developmental and reproductive biology. Here, using the CLARITY tissue procedure and 3D confocal volume imaging we optimized the protocol for clearing, staining and imaging of the mice seminiferous tubules isolated from the testes without cardiac perfusion procedure. Our approach enables the high magnification and fine resolution axial imaging of the whole diameter of the seminiferous tubules with possible unlimited lateral length imaging. Hence, the large continuous pieces of the seminiferous tubule can be scanned and digitally reconstructed for the study of the single tubule seminiferous stages using nuclear dyes. Furthermore, the application of the antibodies and various molecular dyes can be used for molecular labeling of individual cellular and subcellular structures and resulting 3D images can highly increase our understanding of the spatiotemporal aspects of the seminiferous tubules development and sperm ultrastructure formation. Finally, our newly developed algorithms for 3D data processing enable the massive parallel processing of the large amount of individual cell and tissue fluorescent signatures and building the robust spermatogenic models under physiological and pathological conditions.

Keywords: CLARITY, spermatogenesis, testis, tissue clearing, volume imaging

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Authors: Henrique Fernandes, Sofia Catalucci, Richard Leach, Kapil Sugand

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Background: Holograms are 3D images formed by the interference of light beams from a laser or other coherent light source. Pepper’s ghost is a form of hologram conceptualised in the 18th century. This Holographic visualisation with metrology measuring techniques by displaying measurements taken in real-time in holographic form can assist in research and education. New structural designs such as the Plexiglass Stand and the Hologram Box can optimise the holographic experience. Method: The equipment used included: (i) Zeiss’s ATOS Core 300 optical coordinate measuring instrument that scanned real-world objects; (ii) Cloud Compare, open-source software used for point cloud processing; and (iii) Hologram Box, designed and manufactured during this research to provide the blackout environment needed to display 3D point clouds in real-time measurements in holographic format, in addition to a portability aspect to holograms. The equipment was tailored to realise the goal of displaying measurements in an innovative technique and to improve on conventional methods. Three test scans were completed before doing a holographic conversion. Results: The outcome was a precise recreation of the original object in the holographic form presented with dense point clouds and surface density features in a colour map. Conclusion: This work establishes a way to visualise data in a point cloud system. To our understanding, this is a work that has never been attempted. This achievement provides an advancement in holographic visualisation. The Hologram Box could be used as a feedback tool for measurement quality control and verification in future smart factories.

Keywords: holography, 3D scans, hologram box, metrology, point cloud

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Authors: F. M. Pisano, M. Ciminello

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Aerospace, mechanical, and civil engineering infrastructures can take advantages from damage detection and identification strategies in terms of maintenance cost reduction and operational life improvements, as well for safety scopes. The challenge is to detect so called “barely visible impact damage” (BVID), due to low/medium energy impacts, that can progressively compromise the structure integrity. The occurrence of any local change in material properties, that can degrade the structure performance, is to be monitored using so called Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) systems, in charge of comparing the structure states before and after damage occurs. SHM seeks for any "anomalous" response collected by means of sensor networks and then analyzed using appropriate algorithms. Independently of the specific analysis approach adopted for structural damage detection and localization, textual reports, tables and graphs describing possible outlier coordinates and damage severity are usually provided as artifacts to be elaborated for information extraction about the current health conditions of the structure under investigation. Visual Analytics can support the processing of monitored measurements offering data navigation and exploration tools leveraging the native human capabilities of understanding images faster than texts and tables. Herein, a SHM system enrichment by integration of a Visual Analytics component is investigated. Analytical dashboards have been created by combining worksheets, so that a useful Visual Analytics tool is provided to structural analysts for exploring the structure health conditions examined by a Principal Component Analysis based algorithm.

Keywords: interactive dashboards, optical fibers, structural health monitoring, visual analytics

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Authors: F. Infante, W. Kaal, S. Perfetto, S. Herold

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In the last decade the demand of wireless sensors and low-power electric devices for condition monitoring in mechanical structures has been strongly increased. Networks of wireless sensors can potentially be applied in a huge variety of applications. Due to the reduction of both size and power consumption of the electric components and the increasing complexity of mechanical systems, the interest of creating dense nodes sensor networks has become very salient. Nevertheless, with the development of large sensor networks with numerous nodes, the critical problem of powering them is drawing more and more attention. Batteries are not a valid alternative for consideration regarding lifetime, size and effort in replacing them. Between possible alternative solutions for durable power sources useable in mechanical components, vibrations represent a suitable source for the amount of power required to feed a wireless sensor network. For this purpose, energy harvesting from structural vibrations has received much attention in the past few years. Suitable vibrations can be found in numerous mechanical environments including automotive moving structures, household applications, but also civil engineering structures like buildings and bridges. Similarly, a dynamic vibration absorber (DVA) is one of the most used devices to mitigate unwanted vibration of structures. This device is used to transfer the primary structural vibration to the auxiliary system. Thus, the related energy is effectively localized in the secondary less sensitive structure. Then, the additional benefit of harvesting part of the energy can be obtained by implementing dedicated components. This paper describes the design process of an energy harvesting tuned vibration absorber (EHTVA) for rotating systems using piezoelectric elements. The energy of the vibration is converted into electricity rather than dissipated. The device proposed is indeed designed to mitigate torsional vibrations as with a conventional rotational TVA, while harvesting energy as a power source for immediate use or storage. The resultant rotational multi degree of freedom (MDOF) system is initially reduced in an equivalent single degree of freedom (SDOF) system. The Den Hartog’s theory is used for evaluating the optimal mechanical parameters of the initial DVA for the SDOF systems defined. The performance of the TVA is operationally assessed and the vibration reduction at the original resonance frequency is measured. Then, the design is modified for the integration of active piezoelectric patches without detuning the TVA. In order to estimate the real power generated, a complex storage circuit is implemented. A DC-DC step-down converter is connected to the device through a rectifier to return a fixed output voltage. Introducing a big capacitor, the energy stored is measured at different frequencies. Finally, the electromechanical prototype is tested and validated achieving simultaneously reduction and harvesting functions.

Keywords: energy harvesting, piezoelectricity, torsional vibration, vibration absorber

Procedia PDF Downloads 147

Authors: Bo Wang

Abstract:

The geometric processing of multi-source remote sensing data using control data of different scale and different accuracy is an important research direction of multi-platform system for earth observation. In the existing block bundle adjustment methods, as the controlling information in the adjustment system, the approach using single observation scale and precision is unable to screen out the control information and to give reasonable and effective corresponding weights, which reduces the convergence and adjustment reliability of the results. Referring to the relevant theory and technology of quotient space, in this project, several subjects are researched. Multi-layer quotient space of multi-geometric features is constructed to describe and filter control data. Normalized granularity merging mechanism of multi-layer control information is studied and based on the normalized scale factor, the strategy to optimize the weight selection of control data which is less relevant to the adjustment system can be realized. At the same time, geometric positioning experiment is conducted using multi-source remote sensing data, aerial images, and multiclass control data to verify the theoretical research results. This research is expected to break through the cliché of the single scale and single accuracy control data in the adjustment process and expand the theory and technology of photogrammetry. Thus the problem to process multi-source remote sensing data will be solved both theoretically and practically.

Keywords: multi-source image geometric process, high precision geometric positioning, quotient space of multi-geometric features, optimized weight selection

Procedia PDF Downloads 285