Search results for: medical architecture

Authors: Sajadian Akram, Tavasoli F.

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Breast cancer is the second most common cancer in the world and certainly the most frequent cancer mostly among women. This study was aimed to compare the effectiveness of individual counseling and group narrative therapy on female patients' life expectancy afflicted by breast cancer. The present study is a pre-test-post-test clinical trial. Fifty-five patients with breast cancer were randomly selected in the follow-up period and after their active medical treatment completion. Then, they were randomly divided into two groups: individual counseling and group counseling. Herth hope index (HHI) was used to measure the patients' hope level. Data were analyzed using t-test and SPSS software. hope rate was statistically significant in both groups receiving individual and group narrative therapy in the post-test compared to the pre-test (P <00000). Moreover, the comparative evaluation of hope in both groups (individual & group counseling) in the post-test showed that group narrative counseling is more effective than individual narrative counseling (P <00000). Conclusion: Narrative therapy promotes hope in breast cancer patients effectively. Due to the nature of breast cancer and its psychological effects in the post-treatment period, providing narrative group therapy can improve life quality. Patients' life quality changes in tandem with changes in hope.

Keywords: hope, narrative therapy, counseling, breast cancer

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Authors: Mohamed Radwan

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Introduction: Polycystic ovary syndrome is becoming very common among girls from ages 14 to 21 years old, alongside women in their childbearing period. A combination of menstrual irregularities, overweight or obesity, insulin resistance (type 2 diabetes), and symptoms of virilization are characteristics of these cases. Background: A multidisciplinary team should be involved in managing these cases and may consist of A gynecologist, endocrinologist, nutritionist, and psychologist. The role of nutritionists is crucial in these cases in weight reduction and nutritional management. It is mandatory to present some questions that may help in expanding further our understanding of the nutritional management of this syndrome, such as it is not an easy process to reduce the weight of PCO patients (2) we need to know what suitable nutritional plans for these cases are. Methodology: It is not successful to use one diet plan for all patients or a specific plan, but we need to give tailored plans for each patient. We will summarize the medical, nutritional therapy and weight management in polycystic ovary patients and highlight the best eating plan and dietary composition in the treatment of these women. We will also discuss the role of dieticians in treating polycystic ovary cases and overcoming the challenges these women face. Conclusion: All diet plans would decrease the weight of Polycystic ovary cases as low calory diet, low glycemic index diet, high protein diet, as well as Dash diet, but the most suitable diet plan to improve hormones and lead to spontaneous pregnancy is the Mediterranean diet.

Keywords: obesity, PCO mediteranian diet, dash diet, high protein diet

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Authors: Zohra Benfodda, Valentin Duvauchelle, Chaimae Majdi, David Bénimélis, Catherine Dunyach-Remy, Patrick Meffre

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New antibiotics are necessary to treat microbial pathogens, especially ESKAPE pathogens that are becoming increasingly resistant to available treatment. Despite the medical need, the number of newly approved drugs continues to decline. The majority of antibiotics under clinical development are natural products or derivatives thereof. 43 juglone/naphthazarin derivatives were synthesized using Minisci-type direct C–H alkylation and evaluated for their antibacterial properties against various clinical and reference Gram-positive MSSA, clinical Gram-positive MRSA. Different compounds of the synthesized series showed promising activity against clinical and reference MSSA (MIC: 1–8 μg/ml) and good efficacy against clinical MRSA (MIC: 2–8 μg/ml) strains. The synergistic effects of active compounds were evaluated with reference antibiotics (vancomycin and cloxacillin), and it was found that the antibiotic combination with those active compounds efficiently enhanced the antimicrobial activity and consequently the MIC values of reference antibiotics were lowered up to 1/16th of the original MIC. These synthesized compounds did not present hemolytic activity on sheep red blood cells. In addition to the in silico prediction of ADME profile parameter which is promising and encouraging for further development.

Keywords: juglone, naphthazarin, antibacterial, clinical MRSA, synergistic studies, MIC determination

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Authors: Belgherbi Aicha, Hadjidj Ismahen, Bessaid Abdelhafid

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The phase of segmentation is an important step in the processing and interpretation of medical images. In this paper, we focus on the segmentation of liver and spleen from the abdomen computed tomography (CT) images. The importance of our study comes from the fact that the segmentation of ROI from CT images is usually a difficult task. This difficulty is the gray’s level of which is similar to the other organ also the ROI are connected to the ribs, heart, kidneys, etc. Our proposed method is based on the anatomical information and mathematical morphology tools used in the image processing field. At first, we try to remove the surrounding and connected organs and tissues by applying morphological filters. This first step makes the extraction of interest regions easier. The second step consists of improving the quality of the image gradient. In this step, we propose a method for improving the image gradient to reduce these deficiencies by applying the spatial filters followed by the morphological filters. Thereafter we proceed to the segmentation of the liver, spleen. To validate the segmentation technique proposed, we have tested it on several images. Our segmentation approach is evaluated by comparing our results with the manual segmentation performed by an expert. The experimental results are described in the last part of this work.The system has been evaluated by computing the sensitivity and specificity between the semi-automatically segmented (liver and spleen) contour and the manually contour traced by radiological experts.

Keywords: CT images, liver and spleen segmentation, anisotropic diffusion filter, morphological filters, watershed algorithm

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Authors: Delies L. Alejo

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This study explores the psychosocial influences of Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) on patients in the Philippine Orthopedic Center Hospital in the Philippines, examining their social functioning and proposing interventions for reintegration. Quantitative data were collected through surveys using a concurrent triangulation research design, while qualitative insights were obtained via interviews. Findings revealed significant psychosocial challenges among SCI patients, impacting relationships, family dynamics, work, friendships, parenting, education, and self-care. Demographic profiles indicated variations in psychosocial functioning. The study underscores the importance of tailored interventions for SCI patients based on age, marital status, gender, education, and occupation. Triangulation of data enhanced understanding, revealing four themes: ‘Resilient Navigation of Intimacy and Connection,’ ‘Family Dynamics and Care Challenges,’ ‘Occupational Hurdles and Work Engagement,’ and ‘Social and Community Integration Obstacles.’ The study proposes a holistic intervention plan, addressing emotional challenges, creating support networks, implementing vocational rehabilitation, promoting community engagement, and sustaining collaboration with healthcare professionals.

Keywords: spinal cord injury, psychosocial influences, social functioning, concurrent triangulation, intervention plan

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Authors: Esra Bora, Alper Omeroglu, Zeynep Pelin Polat, Oguzhan Kara, Fatih Akdogan, Sema Ucak Basat

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Hyponatremia is one of the most encountered electrolyte imbalance among all medical fields. It has a wide range of symptoms as well as complications from fatigue to loss of consciousness. Although a lot of factors can cause low sodium levels in serum, combining specific medications can lead to severe hyponatremia in a rapid onset which can cause high mortality and morbidity. The objective of this case report was to underline that prescribing specific medications disregarding their side effects can cause this common electrolyte imbalance but in a more severe manner. In this case report, we present a 46-year-old male patient with a serum sodium level of 104 mEq/L who consumed hydrochlorothiazide for hypertension and was under treatment with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) for major depression. The patient had tonic-clonic seizures at the second hour of the treatment and intubation was needed due to loss of consciousness and hypoxia. After proper replacement of sodium with hypertonic solutions in intensive care unit for nine days, extubation indicated. Even in healthy young males, hyponatremia due to two separately prescribed medications can lead life-threatening hyponatremia. Physicians should be aware of the side effects of diuretics, especially hydrochlorothiazides and SSRIs and their combinations.

Keywords: diuretics, hydrochlorothiazide, hyponatremia, SSRI

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Authors: A. Kamel Abd Elaziz Mohamed, B. Sameh Kamal el Maraghi

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Introduction: Adaptive support ventilation (ASV) is an improved closed-loop ventilation mode that provides both pressure-controlled ventilation and PSV according to the patient’s needs. Aim of the work: To compare the short-term effects of Adaptive support ventilation (ASV), with conventional Pressure support ventilation (PSV) in weaning of intubated COPD patients. Patients and methods: Fifty patients admitted in the intensive care with acute exacerbation of COPD and needing intubation were included in the study. All patients were initially ventilated with control/assist control mode, in a stepwise manner and were receiving standard medical therapy. Patients were randomized into two groups to receive either ASV or PSV. Results: Out of fifty patients included in the study forty one patients in both studied groups were weaned successfully according to their ABG data and weaning indices. APACHE II score showed no significant difference in both groups. There were statistically significant differences between the groups in term of, duration of mechanical ventilation, weaning hours and length of ICU stay being shorter in (group 1) weaned by ASV. Re-intubation and mortality rate were higher in (group 11) weaned by conventional PSV, however the differences were not significant. Conclusion: ASV can provide automated weaning and achieve shorter weaning time for COPD patients hence leading to reduction in the total duration of MV, length of stay, and hospital costs.

Keywords: COPD patients, ASV, PSV, mechanical ventilation (MV)

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Authors: Mukadder Baran, Mustafa Sözbilir

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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the applicabillity of the Context- and Problem-Based Learning (CPBL) in general chemistry course to the subject of “Thermodynamics” but also the influence of CPBL on students’ achievement, retention of knowledge, their interest, attitudes, motivation and problem-solving skills. The study group included 13 freshman students who were selected with the sampling method appropriate to the purpose among those taking the course of General Chemistry within the Program of Medical Laboratory Techniques at Hakkari University. The application was carried out in the Spring Term of the academic year of 2012-2013. As the data collection tool, Lesson Observation form were used. In the light of the observations held, it was revealed that CPBL increased the students’ intragroup and intergroup communication skills as well as their self-confidence and developed their skills in time management, presentation, reporting, and technology use; and that they were able to relate chemistry to daily life. Depending on these findings, it could be suggested that the area of use of CPBL be widened; that seminars related to constructive methods be organized for teachers. In this way, it is believed that students will not be passive in the group any longer. In addition, it was concluded that in order to avoid the negative effects of the socio-cultural structure on the education system, research should be conducted in places where there is socio-cultural obstacles, and appropriate solutions should be suggested and put into practice.

Keywords: chemistry, education, science, context-based learning

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Authors: Lamia Bensissaid

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Goals: Endometriosis affects 6 to 10% of women of childbearing age. 17 to 44% of them have ovarian endometriomas. Medical and surgical treatments represent the two therapeutic axes with which PMA can be associated. Laparoscopic intraperitoneal ovarian cystectomy is described as the reference technique in the management of endometriomas by learned societies (CNGOF, ESHRE, NICE). However, it leads to a significant short-term reduction in the AMH level and the number of antral follicles, especially in cases of bilateral cystectomy, large cyst size or cystectomy after recurrence. Often, the disease is at an advanced stage with several surgical patients. Most have adhesions, which increase the risk of surgical complications and suboptimal resection and, therefore recurrence of the cyst. These results led to a change of opinion towards a conservative approach. Sclerotherapy is an old technique which acts by fibrinoid necrosis. It consists of injecting a sclerosing agent into the cyst cavity. Results : Recurrence was less than 15% for a 12-month follow-up; these rates are comparable to those of surgery. It does not seem to have a negative impact on ovarian reserve, but this is not sufficiently evaluated. It has an advantage in IVF pregnancy rates compared to cystectomy, particularly in cases of recurrent endometriomas. It has the advantages: · To be done on an outpatient basis. · To be inexpensive. · To avoid sometimes difficult and iterative surgery: · To allow an increase in pregnancy rates and the preservation of the ovarian reserve compared to iterative surgery. · of great interest in cases of bilateral endometriomas (kissing ovaries) or recurrent endometriomas. Conclusions: Ethanol sclerotherapy could be a good alternative to surgery.

Keywords: Endometrioma, Sclerotherapy, infertility, Ethanol

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Authors: Qurat-ul-Ain, Humaira Mehmood

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Background: HIV infection (a global pandemic) in pregnant women has turn out to be an emerging aspect of public health because of its role in the spread of HIV infection, predominantly among children. Aim: The aim was to analyze the trends of diagnosis with respect to gestational age and an overview of the mode of delivery over ten years. Methods: A retrospective data collection from clinical records of diagnosed HIV infected pregnant females attended at HIV antenatal clinic (special clinic), at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad, for various complaints during the period of 10 years from February 2007 to December 2016 was done. Results: A total of 113 pregnancies were reported with HIV infection in 10 years. Cases diagnosed at the 1st trimester (1-12 weeks) of pregnancy were (50.4%, 57/113), at the 2nd trimester (13-26 weeks) were (24.8%, 28/113), at the 3rd trimester (27-40+ weeks) were (24.7%, 28/113). Most deliveries were by caesarean section (53.1%, 60/113), elective caesarean sections were (58.3%, 35/60) and emergency caesarean sections were (41.6%,25/60). Vaginal deliveries were (26.5%, 30/113). Reported miscarriages were (17.7%, 20/113). Conclusion: At 1st trimester, 50% of the females were diagnosed with HIV infection, and 50% remained undiagnosed at their 1st trimester. Routine antenatal HIV testing throughout the country is vastly needed for timely diagnoses and prompt treatment(antiretroviral therapy), to suppress the virus, to reduce the risk of spread of HIV infection, to plan elective caesarean section delivery and to prevent mother-to-child transmission.

Keywords: gestational age, HIV infection, mode of delivery, pregnancy

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Authors: Shahabeddin Sotudian, M. H. Fazel Zarandi, I. B. Turksen

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Hepatitis is one of the most common and dangerous diseases that affects humankind, and exposes millions of people to serious health risks every year. Diagnosis of Hepatitis has always been a challenge for physicians. This paper presents an effective method for diagnosis of hepatitis based on interval Type-II fuzzy. This proposed system includes three steps: pre-processing (feature selection), Type-I and Type-II fuzzy classification, and system evaluation. KNN-FD feature selection is used as the preprocessing step in order to exclude irrelevant features and to improve classification performance and efficiency in generating the classification model. In the fuzzy classification step, an “indirect approach” is used for fuzzy system modeling by implementing the exponential compactness and separation index for determining the number of rules in the fuzzy clustering approach. Therefore, we first proposed a Type-I fuzzy system that had an accuracy of approximately 90.9%. In the proposed system, the process of diagnosis faces vagueness and uncertainty in the final decision. Thus, the imprecise knowledge was managed by using interval Type-II fuzzy logic. The results that were obtained show that interval Type-II fuzzy has the ability to diagnose hepatitis with an average accuracy of 93.94%. The classification accuracy obtained is the highest one reached thus far. The aforementioned rate of accuracy demonstrates that the Type-II fuzzy system has a better performance in comparison to Type-I and indicates a higher capability of Type-II fuzzy system for modeling uncertainty.

Keywords: hepatitis disease, medical diagnosis, type-I fuzzy logic, type-II fuzzy logic, feature selection

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Authors: Cara Williams

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This paper considers the media’s role in formulating a dominant social deviance paradigm and medicalised portrayal of disabled people and examines how those representations of impairment reinforce the personal tragedy view that underpins the social value given to the category of disability. According to a materialist perspective, the personal tragedy medical model approach condemns disabled people to live an inferior 'life apart', socially excluded and prevented from living as fully participating citizens on an equal basis to non-disabled people. Commonly, disabled people are portrayed as a person who needs to be cured in order to achieve a better 'quality of life'; otherwise stories center on deviance, criminality or scrounger. Media representations have consistently used negative language and images that reinforce the personal tragedy 'deficient' view of disability. The systematic misrepresentation within film, literature, TV and other art forms have validated a process about what it means to be 'normal' and how 'difference' and 'identity' are interpreted. The impact of these stereotyped disabling images for disabled people is a barrier not experienced by many other oppressed minority groups. Applying a materialist analysis, this paper contends that the impact on audience’s perceptions of impaired bodies and minds, and the harmful effects on disabled people can be linked with agenda setting theory - the relationship between the media and the political agenda.

Keywords: media, disabled people, political agenda, personal tragedy

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Authors: L. Dinco John Christian, C. Ramos Camille, C. Reyes Maria Eloisa

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HIV/AIDS has been dubbed as one of the most stigmatised diseases of the recent century. Nelson Mandela pointed out that PLWHA (People Living With HIV/AIDS) are not killed by the disease, but by the stigma surrounding it. Despite the numerous studies on HIV/AIDS Stigmatisation globally, little is known about how evident and how powerful the media can be in framing the views of the readers when it comes to print in the Philippine context. This study dealt with a quantitative content analysis of HIV/AIDS-related news articles published by the top three broadsheets such as Philippine Daily Inquirer, Manila Bulletin and the Philippine Star in the span of one year. The HIV/AIDS-related news articles were collected and subjected to coding according to their tones, stigmatising statements/terminologies and news prominence. An analysis of the results had supported the researchers’ objectives (1) that there are different tones of HIV/AIDS-related news articles, (2) that there is a significant relation between the Stigmatizing Statements/Terminologies and the tone and that the (3) technical properties of HIV/AIDS related news articles determine the news prominence. Results revealed that despite the fact that the broadsheets were overtly reporting HIV/AIDS in Anti-Stigma-toned articles, they were covertly suggesting Stigma by the use of Stigmatising statements/terminologies present in it rather than plainly disseminating current medical knowledge about the transmission and treatments of the disease; the technical properties of the HIV/AIDS related news articles determined its prominence.

Keywords: HIV, AIDS, newspaper, content analysis

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Authors: En Hyung Kim

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Partial unilateral lentiginosis (PUL) is an unusual pigmentary disorder characterized by numerous lentigines grouped within an area of normal skin. Although treatment is not necessary, many patients with facial PUL seek medical help for cosmetic reasons. There is no established standard treatment for PUL. Conventional lasers may cause postinflammatory hyperpigmentation because keratinocytes are injured during the process. Also scarring, long downtime and pain are important issues. Case: A 19-year-old patient with facial PUL was treated with 1064-nm Q-Switched Neodymium-Doped Yttrium Aluminum Garnet (QS Nd:YAG) laser. The patient was treated at one-week intervals starting with a spot size of 6 mm, a fluence of 2.5 J/cm2 and a pulse rate of 10 Hz with 1-2 passes of slow sliding technique with approximately 5-15 % overlap. The fluence was elevated to 3 J/cm2 after the 4th session according to treatment response and patient tolerance. After 10 treatment sessions the lesions were remarkably improved. Discussion: Although the exact mechanism by which low fluence 1,064-nm QS Nd:YAG laser improves pigmentary lesions is unclear, the term ‘subcellular selective photothermolysis’ and ‘melanocyte apoptosis and replacement’ have been proposed. If appropriate measures are taken to monitor patient response during and after the procedure, low fluence 1064-nm QS Nd:YAG laser may achieve good cosmetic result in the treatment of PUL with a very safe and effective profile.

Keywords: laser toning, low fluence, 1064-nm Q-switched neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet laser, partial unilateral lentiginosis

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Authors: Marcela Davalos Lopez

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The history of the circulation of hygienic knowledge and the consolidation of public health in Latin American cities towards the end of the 19th century is well known. Among them, Mexico City was inserted in international politics, strengthened institutions, medical knowledge, applied parameters of modernity and built sanitary engineering works. Despite the power that this hygienist system achieved, its scope was relative: it cannot be generalized to all cities. From a comparative and contextual analysis, it will be shown that conclusions derived from modern urban historiography present, from our contemporary observations, fractures. Between 1890 and 1930, the small cities and areas surrounding the Mexican capital adapted in their own way the international and federal public health regulations. This will be shown for neighborhoods located around Mexico City and in a medium city, close to the Mexican capital (about 80 km), called Cuernavaca. While the inhabitants of the neighborhoods kept awaiting the evolutionary process and the forms that public hygiene policies were taking (because they were witnesses and affected in their territories), in Cuernavaca, the dictates came as an echo. While the capital was drained, large roads were opened, roundabouts were erected, residents were expelled, and drains, sewers, drinking water pipes, etc., were built; Cuernavaca was sheltered in other times and practices. What was this due to? Undoubtedly, the time and energy that it took politicians and the group of "scientists" to carry out these enormous works in the Mexican capital took them away from addressing the issue in remote villages. It was not until the 20th century that the federal hygiene policy began to be strengthened. Despite this, there are other factors that emphasize the particularities of each site. I would like to draw attention here to the different receptions that each town prepared on public hygiene. We will see that Cuernavaca responded to its own semi-rural culture, history, orography and functions, prolonging for much longer, for example, the use of its deep ravines as sewers. For their part, the neighborhoods surrounding the capital, although affected and excluded from hygienist policies, chose to move away from them and solve the deficiencies with their own resources (they resorted to the waste that was left from the dried lake of Mexico to continue their lake practices). All of this points to a paradox that shapes our contemporary concerns: on the one hand, the benefits derived from medical knowledge and its technological applications (in this work referring particularly to the urban health system) and, on the other, the alteration it caused in environmental settings. Places like Cuernavaca (classified by the nineteenth-century and hygienists of the first decades of the twentieth century as backward), as well as landscapes such as neighborhoods, affected by advances in sanitary engineering, keep in their memory buried practices that we observe today as possible ways to reestablish environmental balances: alternative uses of water; recycling of organic materials; local uses of fauna; various systems for breaking down excreta, and so on. In sum, what the nineteenth and first half of the twentieth centuries graduated as levels of backwardness or progress, turn out to be key information to rethink the routes of environmental conservation. When we return to the observations of the scientists, politicians and lawyers of that period, we find historically rejected cultural alterity. Populations such as Cuernavaca that, due to their history, orography and/or insufficiency of federal policies, kept different relationships with the environment, today give us clues to reorient basic elements of cities: alternative uses of water, waste of raw materials, organic or consumption of local products, among others. It is, therefore, a matter of unearthing the rejected that cries out to emerge to the surface.

Keywords: sanitary hygiene, Mexico city, cultural alterity, environmental conservation, environmental history

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Authors: Marie Kristel A. Gabawa

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The accessibility of health programs, specifically family planning programs and maternal and child health care (FP/MCH), are generally low in urban poor communities. Moreover, most of FP/MCH programs are directed toward medical terms that are usually not included in ideation of the body of urban poor dwellers. This study aims to explore the beliefs on reproduction that will encompass, but not limited to, beliefs on conception, pregnancy, and maternal and child health care. The site of study will be the 2 barangays of North Bay Boulevard South 1 (NBBS1) and North Bay Boulevard South 2 (NBBS2). These 2 barangays are the nearest residential community within the Navotas Fish Port Complex (NFPC). Data gathered will be analyzed using grounded-theory method of analysis, with the theories of cultural materialism and equity feminism as foundation. Survey questionnaires, key informant interviews, and focus group discussions will be utilized in gathering data. Further, the presentation of data will be recommended to health program initiators and use the data gathered as a tool to customize FP/MCH programs to the perception and beliefs of women residing in NBBS1and NBBS2, and to aid any misinformation for FP/MCH techniques.

Keywords: beliefs on reproduction, fish port community, family planning, maternal and child health care, Navotas

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Authors: L. Siva Rama Krishna, Sriram Venkatesh, M. Sastish Kumar, M. Uma Maheswara Chary

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Rapid Prototyping (RP) is a technology that produces models and prototype parts from 3D CAD model data, CT/MRI scan data, and model data created from 3D object digitizing systems. There are several RP process like Stereolithography (SLA), Solid Ground Curing (SGC), Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM), 3D Printing (3DP) among them SLS and FDM RP processes are used to fabricate pattern of custom cranial implant. RP technology is useful in engineering and biomedical application. This is helpful in engineering for product design, tooling and manufacture etc. RP biomedical applications are design and development of medical devices, instruments, prosthetics and implantation; it is also helpful in planning complex surgical operation. The traditional approach limits the full appreciation of various bony structure movements and therefore the custom implants produced are difficult to measure the anatomy of parts and analyse the changes in facial appearances accurately. Cranioplasty surgery is a surgical correction of a defect in cranial bone by implanting a metal or plastic replacement to restore the missing part. This paper aims to do a comparative study on the dimensional error of CAD and SLS RP Models for reconstruction of cranial defect by comparing the virtual CAD with the physical RP model of a cranial defect.

Keywords: rapid prototyping, selective laser sintering, cranial defect, dimensional error

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Authors: Edwina Owusu Panin, Derrick Antwi

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Autism and cerebral palsy are fraternal twins in the world of communication and social interaction challenges. Caring for autistic and cerebral palsied female teenagers in Ghana can be difficult and stressful for parents. We highlight the findings of dealing with stress, where female teenagers are more daunting than male teenagers, related to the demand for a lot of attention linked to the puberty transition. This brief examines the challenges that parents face in caring for teenagers with autism and cerebral palsy in Ghana and the stress that can develop from parental care. The article also highlights the importance of identifying and addressing mental health and self-care issues in parents of disabled female teenagers, as these issues can significantly affect the well-being of both parents and their children. Parents of teenagers with disabilities often face a variety of challenges, including managing their children's care and medical needs, navigating the educational system, and addressing social and emotional needs. These challenges can be even more disheartening in Ghana, where resources and support for families of children with disabilities are limited. In a nutshell, the challenges of caring for female teenagers with autism and cerebral palsy can be significant in Ghana. The article outlines methods that parents in Ghana can take to manage their stress and provide a brighter future for their female teenagers. Parents are better able to cope with the challenges of parenting and provide the best care possible for their female teenagers with disabilities.

Keywords: autism, cerebral palsy, female teenagers, parental care

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Authors: Dmytro D. Buiadzhy

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The modern psychiatric discourse proves the existence of the direct ties between the children's mental health and their success in life as adults. The unresolved mental health problems in childhood are likely to lead individuals to poverty, isolation, and social exclusion as stated by Marcus Richards. Such an approach justifies the involvement of children in the view of supervision and control of power. The discourse, related to the mental health of children, provides a tight impact of family, educational institutions and medical authorities on the child through any manifestations of his psychic, having signs of "abnormality.” Throughout the adult life, the individual continues to feel the pressure of power through legal, political, and economic institutions that also appeal to the mental health regulation. The juvenile law declares the equality of a child and an adult, but in fact simply delegates the powers of parents to impersonal social institutions of the guardianship, education, and social protection. The psychiatric power in this study is considered in accordance with the Michel Foucault’s concept of power as a manifestation of "positive" technologies of power, which include various manifestations of subjectivity, in particular children’s one, in a view of supervision and control of the state power. The main issue disclosed in this paper is how weakening of the parental authority, in the context of legislative ratification of the child rights, strengthens the other forms of power over children, especially the psychiatric power, which justifies and affects the children mancipation.

Keywords: child rights, psychiatric power, discourse, parental authority

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Authors: W. Ling, Mohamed Saufi Bin Awang

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Introduction: Mycobacterium tuberculosis post a major health problem worldwide. Central nervous system (CNS) infection by mycobacterium tuberculosis is one of the most devastating complications of tuberculosis. Although with advancement in medical fields, we are yet to understand the pathophysiology of how mycobacterium tuberculosis was able to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and infect the CNS. CNS TB may present with nonspecific clinical symptoms which can mimic other diseases/conditions; this is what makes the diagnosis relatively difficult and challenging. Public health has to be informed and educated about the spread of TB, and early identification of TB is important as it is a curable disease. Case Report: A young 21-year-old Malay gentleman was initially presented to us with symptoms of ear discharge, tinnitus, and right-sided headache for the past one year. Further history reveals that the symptoms have been mismanaged and neglected over the period of 1 year. Initial investigation reveals features of inflammation of the ear. Further imaging showed the feature of chronic inflammation of the otitis media and atypical right cerebral abscess, which has the same characteristic features and consistency. He further underwent a biopsy, and results reveal positive Mycobacterium tuberculosis of the otitis media. With the results and the available imaging, we were certain that this is likely a case of disseminated tuberculosis causing CNS TB. Conclusion: We aim to highlight the challenge and difficult face in our health care system and public health in early identification and treatment.

Keywords: central nervous system tuberculosis, intracranial tuberculosis, tuberculous encephalopathy, tuberculous meningitis

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Authors: Iqra Yaseen

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One of the well-known areas of computer science and engineering, image processing in the context of computer vision has been essential to automation. In remote sensing, medical science, and many other fields, it has made it easier to uncover previously undiscovered facts. Grading of diverse items is now possible because of neural network algorithms, categorization, and digital image processing. Its use in the classification of agricultural products, particularly in the grading of seeds or grains and their cultivars, is widely recognized. A grading and sorting system enables the preservation of time, consistency, and uniformity. Global population growth has led to an increase in demand for food staples, biofuel, and other agricultural products. To meet this demand, available resources must be used and managed more effectively. Image processing is rapidly growing in the field of agriculture. Many applications have been developed using this approach for crop identification and classification, land and disease detection and for measuring other parameters of crop. Vegetation localization is the base of performing these task. Vegetation helps to identify the area where the crop is present. The productivity of the agriculture industry can be increased via image processing that is based upon Unmanned Aerial Vehicle photography and satellite. In this paper we use the machine learning techniques like Convolutional Neural Network, deep learning, image processing, classification, You Only Live Once to UAV imaging dataset to divide the crop into distinct groups and choose the best way to use it.

Keywords: image processing, UAV, YOLO, CNN, deep learning, classification

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Authors: Igna Brajević Gizdić, Gorka Vuletić

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Introduction: Addiction is a chronic brain relapsing disorder. Opioid Substitution Therapy (OST) using buprenorphine as a medical treatment option shows as a promising option for achieving and maintaining abstinence in opioid-addicted patients. This research aimed to determine and evaluate the quality of life (QoL) in opiate-addicted patients after five years of buprenorphine therapy. Method: The total sample included 44 buprenorphine-maintained opiate addicts in outpatient treatment. The participants were administered the QoL questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF) at two-time points (T1 and T2) with an interval of at least five years. WHOQOL-BREF contains a total of 26 questions. The first two questions, related to overall QoL and general health status, and the remaining questions (3–26), which represented four domains—physical, psychological, social, and environmental health—were evaluated separately. Results: The results indicated no significant differences in overall self-assessed QoL nor in individual domains after five years (T2) of abstinence with OST buprenorphine- maintenance. Conclusion: These findings indicated no improvement in QoL of buprenorphine-maintenance opiate addicts in outpatient treatment. However, this might be due to the smaller sample size and participants' overall high scores in QoL at T1. This study suggests the importance of expectations when considering the QoL and general health of buprenorphine-maintenance opiate addicts in outpatient treatment.

Keywords: abstinence, addicts, buprenorphine, opioid substitution therapy, quality of life

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Authors: Hamid Reza Behnood, Esmaeel Ayati, Tom Brijs, Mohammadali Pirayesh Neghab

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Investment projects in road safety planning can benefit from an effectiveness evaluation regarding their expected safety outcomes. The objective of this study is to develop a decision support system (DSS) to support policymakers in taking the right choice in road safety planning based on the efficiency of previously implemented safety measures in a set of regions in Iran. The measures considered for each region in the study include performance indicators about (1) police operations, (2) treated black spots, (3) freeway and highway facility supplies, (4) speed control cameras, (5) emergency medical services, and (6) road lighting projects. To this end, inefficiency measure is calculated, defined by the proportion of fatality rates in relation to the combined measure of road safety performance indicators (i.e., road safety measures) which should be minimized. The relative inefficiency for each region is modeled by the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) technique. In a next step, a fuzzy decision-making system is constructed to convert the information obtained from the DEA analysis into a rule-based system that can be used by policy makers to evaluate the expected outcomes of certain alternative investment strategies in road safety.

Keywords: performance indicators, road safety, decision support system, data envelopment analysis, fuzzy reasoning

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Authors: Teo Hao Jing, Shane Ho Ken Wae, Lee Jin Yu, Burra Venkata Durga Kumar

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Current distributed healthcare systems face the challenge of interoperability of health data. Storing electronic health records (EHR) in local databases causes them to be fragmented. This problem is aggravated as patients visit multiple healthcare providers in their lifetime. Existing solutions are unable to solve this issue and have caused burdens to healthcare specialists and patients alike. Blockchain technology was found to be able to increase the interoperability of health data by implementing digital access rules, enabling uniformed patient identity, and providing data aggregation. Consortium blockchain was found to have high read throughputs, is more trustworthy, more secure against external disruptions and accommodates transactions without fees. Therefore, this paper proposes a blockchain-based model for data management applications. In this model, a consortium blockchain is implemented by using a delegated proof of stake (DPoS) as its consensus mechanism. This blockchain allows collaboration between users from different organizations such as hospitals and medical bureaus. Patients serve as the owner of their information, where users from other parties require authorization from the patient to view their information. Hospitals upload the hash value of patients’ generated data to the blockchain, whereas the encrypted information is stored in a distributed cloud storage.

Keywords: blockchain technology, data management applications, healthcare, interoperability, delegated proof of stake

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Authors: Claudio Clemente, Valentina Gargiulo, Alessio Occhicone, Giovanni Piero Pepe, Giovanni Ausanio, Michela Alfè

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Volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions represent a serious risk to human health and the integrity of the ecosystems, especially at high concentrations. For this reason, it is very important to continuously monitor environmental quality and develop fast and reliable portable sensors to allow analysis on site. Chemiresistors have become promising candidates for VOC sensing as their ease of fabrication, variety of suitable sensitive materials, and simple sensing data. A chemoresistive gas sensor is a transducer that allows to measure the concentration of an analyte in the gas phase because the changes in resistance are proportional to the amount of the analyte present. The selection of the sensitive material, which interacts with the target analyte, is very important for the sensor performance. The most used VOC detection materials are metal oxides (MOx) for their rapid recovery, high sensitivity to various gas molecules, easy fabrication. Their sensing performance can be improved in terms of operating temperature, selectivity, and detection limit. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have attracted a lot of attention also in the field of gas sensing due to their high porosity, high surface area, tunable morphologies, structural variety. MOFs are generated by the self-assembly of multidentate organic ligands connecting with adjacent multivalent metal nodes via strong coordination interactions, producing stable and highly ordered crystalline porous materials with well-designed structures. However, most MOFs intrinsically exhibit low electrical conductivity. To improve this property, MOFs can be combined with organic and inorganic materials in a hybrid fashion to produce composite materials or can be transformed into more stable structures. MOFs, indeed, can be employed as the precursors of metal oxides with well-designed architectures via the calcination method. The MOF-derived MOx partially preserved the original structure with high surface area and intrinsic open pores, which act as trapping centers for gas molecules, and showed a higher electrical conductivity. Core-shell heterostructures, in which the surface of a metal oxide core is completely coated by a MOF shell, forming a junction at the core-shell heterointerface, can also be synthesized. Also, nanocomposite in which MOF structures are intercalated with graphene related materials can also be produced, and the conductivity increases thanks to the high mobility of electrons of carbon materials. As MOF structures, zinc-based MOFs belonging to the ZIF family were selected in this work. Several Zn-based materials based and/or derived from MOFs were produced, structurally characterized, and arranged in a chemo resistive architecture, also exploring the potentiality of different approaches of sensing layer deposition based on PLD (pulsed laser deposition) and, in case of thermally labile materials, MAPLE (Matrix Assisted Pulsed Laser Evaporation) to enhance the adhesion to the support. The sensors were tested in a controlled humidity chamber, allowing for the possibility of varying the concentration of ethanol, a typical analyte chosen among the VOCs for a first survey. The effect of heating the chemiresistor to improve sensing performances was also explored. Future research will focus on exploring new manufacturing processes for MOF-based gas sensors with the aim to improve sensitivity, selectivity and reduce operating temperatures.

Keywords: chemiresistors, gas sensors, graphene related materials, laser deposition, MAPLE, metal-organic frameworks, metal oxides, nanocomposites, sensing performance, transduction mechanism, volatile organic compounds

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Authors: Mai Ali

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Advancing beyond the junior stage of a paediatrician’s career is a crucial step where they accumulate essential skills and knowledge. This process prepares them for the challenges they'll encounter throughout their profession, particularly in dealing with paediatric emergencies. This can be especially demanding for trainees specializing in fields like endocrinology, particularly in the management of Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA) in the UK. In different societal contexts, junior doctors, whether specializing in pediatrics or other medical fields, are generally expected to possess a fundamental level of knowledge and skills necessary for managing diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) emergencies. These physicians consistently concurred in recognizing prevalent problems in the healthcare facilities they examined. Such issues include the lack of established guidelines for DKA treatment and the inadequate availability of comprehensive training opportunities. The abstract underscores the critical importance of junior paediatricians acquiring expertise in managing paediatric emergencies, with a specific focus on DKA. Commonly, issues like the lack of standardized protocols and training deficiencies are recurring themes across healthcare facilities. This research proposal aims to conduct a thematic analysis of the proficiency of paediatric trainees in the United Kingdom when handling DKA in various clinical contexts. The primary goal is to assess their competency and suggest effective strategies for comprehensive DKA training improvement.

Keywords: junior pediatrician, DKA, standardized protocols, level of competence

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Authors: Olga Kononova, Sergey Lyapin

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Global information society requirements are transparency and reliability of data, as well as ability to manage information resources independently; particularly to search, to analyze, to evaluate information, thereby obtaining new expertise. Moreover, it is satisfying the society information needs that increases the efficiency of the enterprise management and public administration. The study of structurally organized thematic and semantic contexts of different types, automatically extracted from unstructured data, is one of the important tasks for the application of information technologies in education, science, culture, governance and business. The objectives of this study are the contextual knowledge typologization, selection or creation of effective tools for extracting and analyzing contextual knowledge. Explication of various kinds and forms of the contextual knowledge involves the development and use full-text search information systems. For the implementation purposes, the authors use an e-library 'Humanitariana' services such as the contextual search, different types of queries (paragraph-oriented query, frequency-ranked query), automatic extraction of knowledge from the scientific texts. The multifunctional e-library «Humanitariana» is realized in the Internet-architecture in WWS-configuration (Web-browser / Web-server / SQL-server). Advantage of use 'Humanitariana' is in the possibility of combining the resources of several organizations. Scholars and research groups may work in a local network mode and in distributed IT environments with ability to appeal to resources of any participating organizations servers. Paper discusses some specific cases of the contextual knowledge explication with the use of the e-library services and focuses on possibilities of new types of the contextual knowledge. Experimental research base are science texts about 'e-government' and 'computer games'. An analysis of the subject-themed texts trends allowed to propose the content analysis methodology, that combines a full-text search with automatic construction of 'terminogramma' and expert analysis of the selected contexts. 'Terminogramma' is made out as a table that contains a column with a frequency-ranked list of words (nouns), as well as columns with an indication of the absolute frequency (number) and the relative frequency of occurrence of the word (in %% ppm). The analysis of 'e-government' materials showed, that the state takes a dominant position in the processes of the electronic interaction between the authorities and society in modern Russia. The media credited the main role in these processes to the government, which provided public services through specialized portals. Factor analysis revealed two factors statistically describing the used terms: human interaction (the user) and the state (government, processes organizer); interaction management (public officer, processes performer) and technology (infrastructure). Isolation of these factors will lead to changes in the model of electronic interaction between government and society. In this study, the dominant social problems and the prevalence of different categories of subjects of computer gaming in science papers from 2005 to 2015 were identified. Therefore, there is an evident identification of several types of contextual knowledge: micro context; macro context; dynamic context; thematic collection of queries (interactive contextual knowledge expanding a composition of e-library information resources); multimodal context (functional integration of iconographic and full-text resources through hybrid quasi-semantic algorithm of search). Further studies can be pursued both in terms of expanding the resource base on which they are held, and in terms of the development of appropriate tools.

Keywords: contextual knowledge, contextual search, e-library services, frequency-ranked query, paragraph-oriented query, technologies of the contextual knowledge extraction

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Authors: Kazunari Ozaki, Mitsuru Kageyama, Kenki Miyazawa, Yoshio Nakamura

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Background: Kampo (Japanese Traditional medicine) is a medicine traditionally practiced in Japan, based on ancient Chinese medicine. Most Kampo doctors have used decoction of crude drug pieces for treatment. 93% of the Kampo drugs sold in Japan are Kampo products nowadays. Of all Kampo products, 81% of them are Kampo extract formulations for prescription, which is prepared in powdered or granulated form from medicinal crude drug extracts mixed with appropriate excipient. Physicians with medical license for Western medicine prescribe these Kampo extract formulations for prescription in Japan. Objectives: Our study aims at presenting a brief history of Kampo extract formulations for prescription in Japan. Methods: Systematic searches for relevant studies were conducted using not only printed journals but also electronic journals from the bibliographic databases, such as PubMed/Medline, Ichushi-Web, and university/institutional websites, as well as search engines, such as Google and Google Scholar. Results: The first commercialization of Kampo extract formulations for general use (or OTC (over-the-counter) Kampo extract formulation) was achieved after 1957. The number of drugs has been subsequentially increased, reaching 148 Kampo extract formulation for prescription currently. Conclusion: We provide a history of Kampo extract formulations for prescription in Japan. The originality of this research is that it analyzes the background history of Kampo in parallel with relevant transitions in the government and insurance systems.

Keywords: health insurance system, history, Kampo, Kampo extract formulation for prescription, OTC Kampo extract formulation, pattern corresponding prescription (Ho-sho-so-tai) system

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Authors: Adnan Sahin, Ufuk Uylas, Ercument Pasaoglu, Tarik Caga, Enver Ihtiyar, Serdar Erkasap, Ersin Ates, Fatih Yasar

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Background: In this study, it was evaluated the demographic features, etiological factors and the management of acute pancreatitis. Methods: 106 patient hospitalized due to acute pancreatitis were retrospectively examined from 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2015 in Department of General Surgery of ESOGUMF. The data of gender, signs and symptoms, etiological factors, WBC, AST, ALT, Amilase, USG and CT findings treatment options ERCP, and complications, mortality rate were analysed. Results: The mean age of patients were 58.8 (53 men and 53 women). The causes of acute pancreatitis were as follows: gallbladder stone was 89, hyperlipidemia was 5 and idiopathic were 16 patients. Severe pancreatitis was developed in 16 patients in the biliary pancreatitis group and ERCP was performed. Cholecystectomy was performed to all biliary pancreatitis group patients after acute pancreatitis subside. The mean hospital stay period was 9.33 (2-37) day. Discussion and conclusion: Severe acute pancreatitis is a mortal disease. The most common etiological cause of acute pancreatitis is biliary origin. The first line treatment modality of acute pancreatitis is medical. Cholecystectomy should be planned to the all-biliary caused acute pancreatitis patients after the attack subside. ERCP is a useful treatment modality in the case of clinical worsening and suspicion of acute cholangitis. ERCP procedure used 16 patients in our series and these patients have a good morbidity and mean hospital period is lower than the others. We suppose that ERCP procedure should be planned selectively and conservatively.

Keywords: acute pancreatitis, ERCP, morbidity, treatment

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Authors: Fatema Salman, Ridha Hammam, Fatima Khairallah, Fatima Aradi, Nafeesa Abdulla, Mohammed Alsafar

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Purpose: This study aims at measuring the extent of nurses’ knowledge and attitudes toward the use of physical restraints in different hospital wards at Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC). Background: The habitual use of physical restraint is a widespread practice among nurses working in the clinical settings. Restraints inflict many deleterious consequences on patients physically and psychologically which in turn increases their morbidity and mortality risk and jeopardizes care quality. Nurses’ knowledge and attitudes toward physical restraints are crucial determinants of the persistence of this practice. Literature review: the evidence of lack of knowledge among nurses regarding the use of physical restraints is overwhelming in various clinical settings, especially in two main areas which are the negative consequences and the available alternatives to physical restraints. Studies explored nurses’ attitudes toward physical restraints yielded inconsistent findings. Equally comparable, some studies found that nurses hold positive attitudes toward the use of physical restraints while some others reported just the opposite. Methods: Self-administered knowledge and attitudes scales to 106 nurses working in the SMC. Findings: nurses hold the moderate level of knowledge about restraints (M=58%) with weak negative attitudes (M = -20%) toward using it. Significant moderately-strong negative correlation (r= -0.57, r2= 0.32, p= 0.000) was uncovered between nurses knowledge and their attitudes which provided an empirical explanation of this phenomenon (use of physical restraints). Recommendations: Induction of awareness program that especially focuses on the negative consequences and encourages the use of alternatives is an evident need. This effort necessarily should be adjoined with policy and procedure adjustments.

Keywords: attitudes, knowledge, nurses, restraints

Procedia PDF Downloads 315