Search results for: depression detection

Authors: Ngabilas Salama

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Background: Indonesia has the 2nd highest number of incidents of tuberculosis (TB). It accounts for 1.020.000 new cases per year, only 30% of which has been reported. To find the lost 70%, a massive active case discovery was conducted through two programs: Ketuk Pintu Layani Dengan Hati (KPLDH) and Kader Juru Pemantau Batuk (Jumantuk cadres), who also plays a role in child TB screening. Methods: Data was collected and analyzed through Tuberculosis Integrated Online System from 2014 to 2017 involving 129 DOTS facility with 86 primary health centers in East Jakarta. Results: East Jakarta consists of 2.900.722 people. KPLDH program started in February 2016 consisting of 84 teams (310 people). Jumantuk cadres was formed 4 months later (218 orang). The number of new TB cases in East Jakarta (primary health center) from 2014 to June 2017 respectively is as follows: 6.499 (2.637), 7.438 (2.651), 8.948 (3.211), 5.701 (1.830). Meanwhile, the percentage of child TB case discovery in primary health center was 8,5%, 9,8%, 12,1% from 2014 to 2016 respectively. In 2017, child TB case discovery was 13,1% for the first 3 months and 16,5% for the next 3 months. Discussion: Increased TB incidence rate from 2014 to 2017 was 14,4%, 20,3%, and 27,4% respectively in East Jakarta, and 0,5%, 21,1%, and 14% in primary health center. This reveals the positive role of KPLDH and Jumantuk in TB detection and reporting. Likewise, these programs were responsible for the increase in child TB case discovery, especially in the first 3 months of 2017 (Ketuk Pintu TB Day program) and the next 3 months (active TB screening). Conclusion: KPLDH dan Jumantuk are actively involved in increasing TB case discovery in both adults and children.

Keywords: tuberculosis, case discovery program, primary health center, cadre

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Authors: Hao Yang, Lei Chen, Ting Mei, Jianbang Zheng

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Currently, the uncooled PbSe photodetectors in the mid-infrared range (2-5μm) with sensitization technology extract more photoelectric response than traditional ones, and enable the room temperature (300K) photo-detection with high detectivity, which have attracted wide attentions in many fields. This technology generally contains the film fabrication with vapor phase deposition (VPD) and a sensitizing process with doping of oxygen and iodine. Many works presented in the recent years almost provide and high temperature activation method with oxygen/iodine vapor diffusion, which reveals that oxygen or iodine plays an important role in the sensitization of PbSe material. In this paper, we provide our latest experimental results and discussions in the stoichiometry of oxygen and iodine and its influence on the polycrystalline structure and photo-response. The experimental results revealed that crystal orientation was transformed from (200) to (420) by sensitization, and the responsivity of 5.42 A/W was gained by the optimal stoichiometry of oxygen and iodine with molecular density of I2 of ~1.51×1012 mm-3 and oxygen pressure of ~1Mpa. We verified that I2 plays a role in transporting oxygen into the lattice of crystal, which is actually not its major role. It is revealed that samples sensitized with iodine transform atomic proportion of Pb from 34.5% to 25.0% compared with samples without iodine from XPS data, which result in the proportion of about 1:1 between Pb and Se atoms by sublimation of PbI2 during sensitization process, and Pb/Se atomic proportion is controlled by I/O atomic proportion in the polycrystalline grains, which is very an important factor for improving responsivity of uncooled PbSe photodetector. Moreover, a novel sensitization and dopant activation method is proposed using oxygen ion implantation with low ion energy of < 500eV and beam current of ~120μA/cm2. These results may be helpful to understanding the sensitization mechanism of polycrystalline lead salt materials.

Keywords: polycrystalline PbSe, sensitization, transport, stoichiometry

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Authors: Narayana Murthy Akurathi, Vijaya Lakshmi Marella

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The literature is reviewed with regard to online Super critical fluid extraction (SFE) coupled directly with supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) -mass spectrometry that have typically more sensitive than conventional LC-MS/MS and GC-MS/MS. It is becoming increasingly interesting to use on-line techniques that combine sample preparation, separation and detection in one analytical set up. This provides less human intervention, uses small amount of sample and organic solvent and yields enhanced analyte enrichment in a shorter time. The sample extraction is performed under light shielding and anaerobic conditions, preventing the degradation of thermo labile analytes. It may be able to analyze compounds over a wide polarity range as SFC generally uses carbon dioxide which was collected as a by-product of other chemical reactions or is collected from the atmosphere as it contributes no new chemicals to the environment. The diffusion of solutes in supercritical fluids is about ten times greater than that in liquids and about three times less than in gases which results in a decrease in resistance to mass transfer in the column and allows for fast high resolution separations. The drawback of SFC when using carbon dioxide as mobile phase is that the direct introduction of water samples poses a series of problems, water must therefore be eliminated before it reaches the analytical column. Hundreds of compounds analysed simultaneously by simple enclosing in an extraction vessel. This is mainly applicable for pharmaceutical industry where it can analyse fatty acids and phospholipids that have many analogues as their UV spectrum is very similar, trace additives in polymers, cleaning validation can be conducted by putting swab sample in an extraction vessel, analysing hundreds of pesticides with good resolution.

Keywords: super critical fluid extraction (SFE), super critical fluid chromatography (SFC), LCMS/MS, GCMS/MS

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Authors: Mariam Ismail, Kazeem Rufai, Jeremiah Balogun

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A study was conducted to apply fuzzy logic to the development of a monitoring model for child pornography based on associated risk factors, which can be used by forensic experts or integrated into forensic systems for the early detection of child pornographic activities. A number of methods were adopted in the study, which includes an extensive review of related works was done in order to identify the factors that are associated with child pornography following which they were validated by an expert sex psychologist and guidance counselor, and relevant data was collected. Fuzzy membership functions were used to fuzzify the associated variables identified alongside the risk of the occurrence of child pornography based on the inference rules that were provided by the experts consulted, and the fuzzy logic expert system was simulated using the Fuzzy Logic Toolbox available in the MATLAB Software Release 2016. The results of the study showed that there were 4 categories of risk factors required for assessing the risk of a suspect committing child pornography offenses. The results of the study showed that 2 and 3 triangular membership functions were used to formulate the risk factors based on the 2 and 3 number of labels assigned, respectively. The results of the study showed that 5 fuzzy logic models were formulated such that the first 4 was used to assess the impact of each category on child pornography while the last one takes the 4 outputs from the 4 fuzzy logic models as inputs required for assessing the risk of child pornography. The following conclusion was made; there were factors that were related to personal traits, social traits, history of child pornography crimes, and self-regulatory deficiency traits by the suspects required for the assessment of the risk of child pornography crimes committed by a suspect. Using the values of the identified risk factors selected for this study, the risk of child pornography can be easily assessed from their values in order to determine the likelihood of a suspect perpetuating the crime.

Keywords: fuzzy, membership functions, pornography, risk factors

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Authors: Marzia Bilkiss, Muhammad J. A. Shiddiky, Mostafa K. Masud, Prabhakaran Sambasivam, Ido Bar, Jeremy Brownlie, Rebecca Ford

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A greater achievement in the Integrated Disease Management (IDM) to prevent the loss would result from early diagnosis and quantitation of the causal pathogen species for accurate and timely disease control. This could significantly reduce costs to the growers and reduce any flow on impacts to the environment from excessive chemical spraying. Necrotrophic fungal disease botrytis grey mould, caused by Botrytis cinerea and Botrytis fabae, significantly reduce temperate legume yield and grain quality during favourable environmental condition in Australia and worldwide. Several immunogenic and molecular probe-type protocols have been developed for their diagnosis, but these have varying levels of species-specificity, sensitivity, and consequent usefulness within the paddock. To substantially improve speed, accuracy, and sensitivity, advanced nanoparticle-based biosensor approaches have been developed. For this, two sets of primers were designed for both Botrytis cinerea and Botrytis fabae which have shown the species specificity with initial sensitivity of two genomic copies/µl in pure fungal backgrounds using multiplexed quantitative PCR. During further validation, quantitative PCR detected 100 spores on artificially infected legume leaves. Simultaneously an electro-catalytic assay was developed for both target fungal DNA using functionalised magnetic nanoparticles. This was extremely sensitive, able to detect a single spore within a raw total plant nucleic acid extract background. We believe that the translation of this technology to the field will enable quantitative assessment of pathogen load for future accurate decision support of informed botrytis grey mould management.

Keywords: biosensor, botrytis grey mould, sensitive, species specific

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Authors: Ali Aydin, Mert Sudagidan, Aysen Coban, Alparslan Kadir Devrim

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Pseudomonas spp. (specifically, P. fluorescens and P. fragi) are considered the principal spoilage microorganisms of refrigerated poultry meats. The higher the level psychrophilic spoilage Pseudomonas spp. on carcasses at the end of processing lead to decrease the shelf life of the refrigerated product. The aim of the study was the identification of psychrophilic Pseudomonas spp. having proteolytic and lipolytic activities from poultry meats by 16S rRNA and rpoB gene sequencing, investigation of protease and lipase related genes and determination of proteolytic activity of Pseudomonas spp. In the of isolation procedure, collected chicken meat samples from local markets and slaughterhouses were homogenized and the lysates were incubated on Standard method agar and Skim Milk agar for selection of proteolytic bacteria and tributyrin agar for selection of lipolytic bacteria at +4 °C for 7 days. After detection of proteolytic and lipolytic colonies, the isolates were firstly analyzed by biochemical tests such as Gram staining, catalase and oxidase tests. DNA gene sequencing analysis and comparison with GenBank revealed that 126 strong enzyme Pseudomonas spp. were identified as predominantly P. fluorescens (n=55), P. fragi (n=42), Pseudomonas spp. (n=24), P. cedrina (n=2), P. poae (n=1), P. koreensis (n=1), and P. gessardi (n=1). Additionally, protease related aprX gene was screened in the strains and it was detected in 69/126 strains, whereas, lipase related lipA gene was found in 9 Pseudomonas strains. Protease activity was determined using commercially available protease assay kit and 5 strains showed high protease activity. The results showed that psychrophilic Pseudomonas strains were present in chicken meat samples and they can produce important levels of proteases and lipases for food spoilage to decrease food quality and safety.

Keywords: Pseudomonas, chicken meat, protease, lipase

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Authors: Dongguk Im, Gunfeel Moon, Younwoo Nam, Kangwoo Chun

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Recognition of the needs about protecting environment throughout worldwide is widespread. In the shipping industry, International Maritime Organization (IMO) has been regulating pollutants emitted from ships by MARPOL 73/78. Recently, the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) of IMO, at its 68th session, approved the definition of Black Carbon (BC) specified by the following physical properties (light absorption, refractory, insolubility and morphology). The committee also agreed to the need for a protocol for any voluntary measurement studies to identify the most appropriate measurement methods. Filter Smoke Number (FSN) based on light absorption is categorized as one of the IMO relevant BC measurement methods. EUROMOT provided a FSN measurement data (measured by smoke meter) of 31 different engines (low, medium and high speed marine engines) of member companies at the 3rd International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) workshop on marine BC. From the comparison of FSN, the results indicated that BC emission from low speed marine diesel engines was ranged from 0.009 to 0.179 FSN and it from medium and high speed marine diesel engine was ranged 0.012 to 3.2 FSN. In consideration of measured the low FSN from low speed engine, an experimental study was conducted using both a low speed marine diesel engine (2 stroke, power of 7,400 kW at 129 rpm) and a high speed marine diesel engine (4 stroke, power of 403 kW at 1,800 rpm) under E3 test cycle. The results revealed that FSN was ranged from 0.01 to 0.16 and 1.09 to 1.35 for low and high speed engines, respectively. The measurement equipment (smoke meter) ranges from 0 to 10 FSN. Considering measurement range of it, FSN values from low speed engines are near the detection limit (0.002 FSN or ~0.02 mg/m3). From these results, it seems to be modulated the measurement range of the measurement equipment (smoke meter) for enhancing measurement accuracy of marine BC and evaluation on performance of BC abatement technologies.

Keywords: black carbon, filter smoke number, international maritime organization, marine diesel engine (two and four stroke), particulate matter

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Authors: Guilherme Giacomini, Ana Luiza Menegatti Pavan, Allan Felipe Fattori Alves, Marcela de Oliveira, Fernando Antonio Bacchim Neto, José Ricardo de Arruda Miranda, Seizo Yamashita, Diana Rodrigues de Pina

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The maxillary sinus (MS), part of the paranasal sinus complex, is one of the most enigmatic structures in modern humans. The literature has suggested that MSs function as olfaction accessories, to heat or humidify inspired air, for thermoregulation, to impart resonance to the voice and others. Thus, the real function of the MS is still uncertain. Furthermore, the MS anatomy is complex and varies from person to person. Many diseases may affect the development process of sinuses. The incidence of rhinosinusitis and other pathoses in the MS is comparatively high, so, volume analysis has clinical value. Providing volume values for MS could be helpful in evaluating the presence of any abnormality and could be used for treatment planning and evaluation of the outcome. The computed tomography (CT) has allowed a more exact assessment of this structure, which enables a quantitative analysis. However, this is not always possible in the clinical routine, and if possible, it involves much effort and/or time. Therefore, it is necessary to have a convenient, robust, and practical tool correlated with the MS volume, allowing clinical applicability. Nowadays, the available methods for MS segmentation are manual or semi-automatic. Additionally, manual methods present inter and intraindividual variability. Thus, the aim of this study was to develop an automatic tool to quantity the MS volume in CT scans of paranasal sinuses. This study was developed with ethical approval from the authors’ institutions and national review panels. The research involved 30 retrospective exams of University Hospital, Botucatu Medical School, São Paulo State University, Brazil. The tool for automatic MS quantification, developed in Matlab®, uses a hybrid method, combining different image processing techniques. For MS detection, the algorithm uses a Support Vector Machine (SVM), by features such as pixel value, spatial distribution, shape and others. The detected pixels are used as seed point for a region growing (RG) segmentation. Then, morphological operators are applied to reduce false-positive pixels, improving the segmentation accuracy. These steps are applied in all slices of CT exam, obtaining the MS volume. To evaluate the accuracy of the developed tool, the automatic method was compared with manual segmentation realized by an experienced radiologist. For comparison, we used Bland-Altman statistics, linear regression, and Jaccard similarity coefficient. From the statistical analyses for the comparison between both methods, the linear regression showed a strong association and low dispersion between variables. The Bland–Altman analyses showed no significant differences between the analyzed methods. The Jaccard similarity coefficient was > 0.90 in all exams. In conclusion, the developed tool to quantify MS volume proved to be robust, fast, and efficient, when compared with manual segmentation. Furthermore, it avoids the intra and inter-observer variations caused by manual and semi-automatic methods. As future work, the tool will be applied in clinical practice. Thus, it may be useful in the diagnosis and treatment determination of MS diseases. Providing volume values for MS could be helpful in evaluating the presence of any abnormality and could be used for treatment planning and evaluation of the outcome. The computed tomography (CT) has allowed a more exact assessment of this structure which enables a quantitative analysis. However, this is not always possible in the clinical routine, and if possible, it involves much effort and/or time. Therefore, it is necessary to have a convenient, robust and practical tool correlated with the MS volume, allowing clinical applicability. Nowadays, the available methods for MS segmentation are manual or semi-automatic. Additionally, manual methods present inter and intraindividual variability. Thus, the aim of this study was to develop an automatic tool to quantity the MS volume in CT scans of paranasal sinuses. This study was developed with ethical approval from the authors’ institutions and national review panels. The research involved 30 retrospective exams of University Hospital, Botucatu Medical School, São Paulo State University, Brazil. The tool for automatic MS quantification, developed in Matlab®, uses a hybrid method, combining different image processing techniques. For MS detection, the algorithm uses a Support Vector Machine (SVM), by features such as pixel value, spatial distribution, shape and others. The detected pixels are used as seed point for a region growing (RG) segmentation. Then, morphological operators are applied to reduce false-positive pixels, improving the segmentation accuracy. These steps are applied in all slices of CT exam, obtaining the MS volume. To evaluate the accuracy of the developed tool, the automatic method was compared with manual segmentation realized by an experienced radiologist. For comparison, we used Bland-Altman statistics, linear regression and Jaccard similarity coefficient. From the statistical analyses for the comparison between both methods, the linear regression showed a strong association and low dispersion between variables. The Bland–Altman analyses showed no significant differences between the analyzed methods. The Jaccard similarity coefficient was > 0.90 in all exams. In conclusion, the developed tool to automatically quantify MS volume proved to be robust, fast and efficient, when compared with manual segmentation. Furthermore, it avoids the intra and inter-observer variations caused by manual and semi-automatic methods. As future work, the tool will be applied in clinical practice. Thus, it may be useful in the diagnosis and treatment determination of MS diseases.

Keywords: maxillary sinus, support vector machine, region growing, volume quantification

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Authors: Lewis Mehl-Madrona, Barbara Mainguy, Patrick McFarlane

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Introduction: There are many risk factors for attempting suicide, including young age, “minority stress,” which would include Transgender and Gender Diverse orientations (TGD). The rate of TGD youths for suicide attempts is 3 times higher than heterosexual cis-gender youth. Half of TGD youth have seriously contemplated taking their own lives; of those, about half attempted suicide; and 18% of the TGD teenagers reported suicidal thoughts linked to their gender identity. Native American TGD have a six times higher suicide attempt rate. Conventional mental health has not generally helped these individuals. Stigma and discrimination contribute to healthcare disparities. Storytelling plays a crucial role in the development of human culture and individual identities. Sharing narrative artwork, creative writing, and personal stories allow people to build trust and to share their vulnerabilities. This helps people become aware of themselves in relation to others and gain a sense of comfort that their stories are similar; they may also be transformed in the process. Art provides a means to reach people who are otherwise difficult to engage in services. Methods: TGD individuals are recruited through a snowballing procedure. Following a life story interview, participants complete a scale of gender dysphoria, identification with conventional masculinity, patient-reported anxiety, and depression measure, and a quality-of-life scale. The interview completes the Columbia Suicide Scale. Following this, an artist and a therapist works with the participant to create a story related to their gender identity using the six-part story method. This story is then rendered to an artists’ book, which combines narrative with art (drawings, collage, computer images, etc.) and can take the form of a graphic novella, a zine, or a comic book. The pages can range from plain to ornate, as can the covers. Participants describe their process of making the books as the work unfolds and then participate in an exit interview at the completion of their book, remarking on what has changed for them and how the process affected them. Results: Preliminary results show high levels of suicidal thoughts among this population, as expected. Participants participate enthusiastically in the life story interview process and in the construction of a story related to gender identity. They enthusiastically participate in the studio process of putting their story into the form of a graphic novel, zine, or comic book. Participants reported feeling more comfortable with their TGD identity after the process and more able to resist negative judgments of family members and society. Suicidal thoughts diminish, and participants reported improved emotional wellbeing. Quantitative analysis of questionnaire data is underway Conclusions: A process in which narrative therapy is combined with art therapy shows promise for attracting and helping TGD individuals to reduce their risk for suicide without the stigma of going for mental health treatment. This process can be done outside of conventional mental health settings, on college and University campuses. This can provide an exciting alternative pathway for minority stressed and stigmatized individuals to engage in reflective, psychotherapeutic work without the trappings of psychotherapy or mental health treatment.

Keywords: minority stress, narrative process, artists' books, life story interview

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Authors: Melis Inalpulat, Levent Genc

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In the present study, an attempt was made to state the Land Use Land Cover (LULC) transformation over three decades around the urban regions of Balıkesir, Bursa, and Çanakkale provincial centers (PCs) in Turkey. Landsat imageries acquired in 1984, 1999 and 2014 were used to determine the LULC change. Images were classified using the supervised classification technique and five main LULC classes were considered including forest (F), agricultural land (A), residential area (urban) - bare soil (R-B), water surface (W), and other (O). Change detection analyses were conducted for 1984-1999 and 1999-2014, and the results were evaluated. Conversions of LULC types to R-B class were investigated. In addition, population changes (1985-2014) were assessed depending on census data, the relations between population and the urban areas were stated, and future populations and urban area needs were forecasted for 2030. The results of LULC analysis indicated that urban areas, which are covered under R-B class, were expanded in all PCs. During 1984-1999 R-B class within Balıkesir, Bursa and Çanakkale PCs were found to have increased by 7.1%, 8.4%, and 2.9%, respectively. The trend continued in the 1999-2014 term and the increment percentages reached to 15.7%, 15.5%, and 10.2% at the end of 30-year period (1984-2014). Furthermore, since A class in all provinces was found to be the principal contributor for the R-B class, urban sprawl lead to the loss of agricultural lands. Moreover, the areas of R-B classes were highly correlated with population within all PCs (R²>0.992). Depending on this situation, both future populations and R-B class areas were forecasted. The estimated values of increase in the R-B class areas for Balıkesir, Bursa, and Çanakkale PCs were 1,586 ha, 7,999 ha and 854 ha, respectively. Due to this fact, the forecasted values for 2,030 are 7,838 ha, 27,866, and 2,486 ha for Balıkesir, Bursa, and Çanakkale, and thus, 7.7%, 8.2%, and 9.7% more R-B class areas are expected to locate in PCs in respect to the same order.

Keywords: landsat, LULC change, population, urban sprawl

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Authors: Ana Neves, John Leander, Ignacio Gonzalez, Raid Karoumi

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Systematic monitoring and inspection are needed to assess the present state of a structure and predict its future condition. If an irregularity is noticed, repair actions may take place and the adequate intervention will most probably reduce the future costs with maintenance, minimize downtime and increase safety by avoiding the failure of the structure as a whole or of one of its structural parts. For this to be possible decisions must be made at the right time, which implies using systems that can detect abnormalities in their early stage. In this sense, Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) is seen as an effective tool for improving the safety and reliability of infrastructures. This paper explores the decision-making problem in SHM regarding the maintenance of civil engineering structures. The aim is to assess the present condition of a bridge based exclusively on measurements using the suggested method in this paper, such that action is taken coherently with the information made available by the monitoring system. Artificial Neural Networks are trained and their ability to predict structural behavior is evaluated in the light of a case study where acceleration measurements are acquired from a bridge located in Stockholm, Sweden. This relatively old bridge is presently still in operation despite experiencing obvious problems already reported in previous inspections. The prediction errors provide a measure of the accuracy of the algorithm and are subjected to further investigation, which comprises concepts like clustering analysis and statistical hypothesis testing. These enable to interpret the obtained prediction errors, draw conclusions about the state of the structure and thus support decision making regarding its maintenance.

Keywords: artificial neural networks, clustering analysis, model-free damage detection, statistical hypothesis testing, structural health monitoring

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Authors: Yazeed Al-Sheikh

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Pregnancy represents a risk factor in the occurrence of vulvovaginal candidiasis. To investigate the prevalence rate of vaginal carriage of Candida species in Saudi pregnant and non-pregnant women, high vaginal swab (HVS) specimens (707) were examined by direct microscopy (10% KOH and Giemsa staining) and parallel cultured on Sabouraud Dextrose Agar (SDA) as well as on “CHROM agar Candida” medium. As expected, Candida-positive cultures were frequently observed in pregnant-test group (24%) than in non-pregnant group (17%). The frequency of culture positive was correlated to pregnancy (P=0.047), parity (P=0.001), use of contraceptive (P=0.146), or antibiotics (P=0.128), and diabetic-patients (P < 0.0001). Out of 707 HVS examined specimens, 157 specimens were yeast-positive culture (22%) on Sabouraud Dextrose Agar or “CHROM agar Candida”. In comparison, the sensitivities of the direct 10% KOH and the Giemsa stain microscopic examination methods were 84% (132/157) and 95% (149/157) respectively but both with 100% specificity. As for the identity of recovered 157 yeast isolates, based on API 20C biotype carbohydrate assimilation, germ tube and chlamydospore formation, C. albicansand C. glabrata constitute 80.3 and 12.7% respectively. Rates of C. tropicalis, C. kefyr, C. famata or C. utilis were 2.6, 1.3, and 0.6% respectively. Sachromyces cerevisiae and Rhodotorula mucilaginosa yeasts were also encountered at a frequency of 1.3 and 0.6% respectively. Finally, among all recovered 157 yeast-isolates, strains resistant to ketoconazole were not detected, whereas 5% of the C. albicans and as high as 55% of the non-albicans yeast isolates (majority C. glabrata) showed resistance to fluconazole. Our findings may prove helpful for continuous determination of the existing vaginal candidiasis causative species during pregnancy, its lab-diagnosis and/or control and possible measures to minimize the incidence of the disease-associated pre-term delivery.

Keywords: vaginal candidiasis, Candida spp., pregnancy, risk factors, API 20C-yeast biotypes, giemsa stain, antifungal agents

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Authors: Susan Amirsalari, Azime Khosrinejad, Elham Rahimian

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Objective: Epilepsy is a common brain disorder characterized by a persistent tendency to develop in neurological, cognitive, and psychological contents. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a neuroimaging test facilitating the detection of structural epileptogenic lesions. This study aimed to compare the MRI findings between patients with intractable and drug-responsive epilepsy. Material & methods: This case-control study was conducted from 2007 to 2019. The research population encompassed all 1-16- year-old patients with intractable epilepsy referred to the Shafa Neuroscience Center (n=72) (a case group) and drug-responsive patients referred to the pediatric neurology clinic of Baqiyatallah Hospital (a control group). Results: There were 72 (23.5%) patients in the intractable epilepsy group and 200 (76.5%) patients in the drug-responsive group. The participants' mean age was 6.70 ±4.13 years, and there were 126 males and 106 females in this study Normal brain MRI was noticed in 21 (29.16%) patients in the case group and 184 (92.46%) patients in the control group. Neuronal migration disorder (NMD)was also exhibited in 7 (9.72%) patients in the case group and no patient in the control group. There were hippocampal abnormalities and focal lesions (mass, dysplasia, etc.) in 10 (13.88%) patients in the case group and only 1 (0.05%) patient in the control group. Gliosis and porencephalic cysts were presented in 3 (4.16%) patients in the case group and no patient in the control group. Cerebral and cerebellar atrophy was revealed in 8 (11.11%) patients in the case group and 4 (2.01%) patients in the control group. Corpus callosum agenesis, hydrocephalus, brain malacia, and developmental cyst were more frequent in the case group; however, the difference between the groups was not significant. Conclusion: The MRI findings such as hippocampal abnormalities, focal lesions (mass, dysplasia), NMD, porencephalic cysts, gliosis, and atrophy are significantly more frequent in children with intractable epilepsy than in those with drug-responsive epilepsy.

Keywords: magnetic resonance imaging, intractable epilepsy, drug responsive epilepsy, neuronal migrational disorder

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Authors: Eman Ghoneim

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The Arabian deserts include some of the driest areas on Earth. Yet, its landforms reserved a record of past wet climates. During humid phases, the desert was green and contained permanent rivers, inland deltas and lakes. Some of their water would have seeped and replenished the groundwater aquifers. When the wet periods came to an end, several thousand years ago, the entire region transformed into an extended band of desert and its original fluvial surface was totally covered by windblown sand. In this work, radar and thermal infrared images were used to reveal numerous hidden surface/subsurface features. Radar long wavelength has the unique ability to penetrate surface dry sands and uncover buried subsurface terrain. Thermal infrared also proven to be capable of spotting cooler moist areas particularly in hot dry surfaces. Integrating Radarsat images and GIS revealed several previously unknown paleoriver and lake basins in the region. One of these systems, known as the Kufrah, is the largest yet identified river basin in the Eastern Sahara. This river basin, which straddles the border between Egypt and Libya, flowed north parallel to the adjacent Nile River with an extensive drainage area of 235,500 km2 and massive valley width of 30 km in some parts. This river was most probably served as a spillway for an overflow from Megalake Chad to the Mediterranean Sea and, thus, may have acted as a natural water corridor used by human ancestors to migrate northward across the Sahara. The Gilf-Kebir is another large paleoriver system located just east of Kufrah and emanates from the Gilf Plateau in Egypt. Both river systems terminate with vast inland deltas at the southern margin of the Great Sand Sea. The trends of their distributary channels indicate that both rivers drained to a topographic depression that was periodically occupied by a massive lake. During dry climates, the lake dried up and roofed by sand deposits, which is today forming the Great Sand Sea. The enormity of the lake basin provides explanation as to why continuous extraction of groundwater in this area is possible. A similar lake basin, delimited by former shorelines, was detected by radar space data just across the border of Sudan. This lake, called the Northern Darfur Megalake, has a massive size of 30,750 km2. These former lakes and rivers could potentially hold vast reservoirs of groundwater, oil and natural gas at depth. Similar to radar data, thermal infrared images were proven to be useful in detecting potential locations of subsurface water accumulation in desert regions. Analysis of both Aster and daily MODIS thermal channels reveal several subsurface cool moist patches in the sandy desert of the Arabian Peninsula. Analysis indicated that such evaporative cooling anomalies were resulted from the subsurface transmission of the Monsoonal rainfall from the mountains to the adjacent plain. Drilling a number of wells in several locations proved the presence of productive water aquifers confirming the validity of the used data and the adopted approaches for water exploration in dry regions.

Keywords: radarsat, SRTM, MODIS, thermal infrared, near-surface water, ancient rivers, desert, Sahara, Arabian peninsula

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Authors: Melkamu A., Woldu B., Sitotaw C., Seyoum M., Aynalem M.

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Background: Liver disease is any condition that affects the liver cells and their function. It is directly linked to coagulation disorders since most coagulation factors are produced by the liver. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the magnitude and associated factors of coagulation abnormalities among liver disease patients. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from August to October 2022 among 307 consecutively selected study participants at the University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Hospital. Sociodemographic and clinical data were collected using a structured questionnaire and data extraction sheet, respectively. About 2.7 mL of venous blood was collected and analyzed by the Genrui CA51 coagulation analyzer. Data was entered into Epi-data and exported to STATA version 14 software for analysis. The finding was described in terms of frequencies and proportions. Factors associated with coagulation abnormalities were analyzed by bivariable and multivariable logistic regression. Result: In this study, a total of 307 study participants were included. Of them, the magnitude of prolonged Prothrombin Time (PT) and Activated Partial Thromboplastin Time (APTT) were 68.08% and 63.51%, respectively. The presence of anemia (AOR = 2.97, 95% CI: 1.26, 7.03), a lack of a vegetable feeding habit (AOR = 2.98, 95% CI: 1.42, 6.24), no history of blood transfusion (AOR = 3.72, 95% CI: 1.78, 7.78), and lack of physical exercise (AOR = 3.23, 95% CI: 1.60, 6.52) were significantly associated with prolonged PT. While the presence of anaemia (AOR = 3.02; 95% CI: 1.34, 6.76), lack of vegetable feeding habit (AOR = 2.64; 95% CI: 1.34, 5.20), no history of blood transfusion (AOR = 2.28; 95% CI: 1.09, 4.79), and a lack of physical exercise (AOR = 2.35; 95% CI: 1.16, 4.78) were significantly associated with abnormal APTT. Conclusion: Patients with liver disease had substantial coagulation problems. Being anemic, having a transfusion history, lack of physical activity, and lack of vegetables showed significant association with coagulopathy. Therefore, early detection and management of coagulation abnormalities in liver disease patients are critical.

Keywords: coagulation, liver disease, PT, Aptt

Procedia PDF Downloads 64

Authors: Faisal A. Salih

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Vinpocetine (Vin) is an ethyl ester of apovincamic acid and is a semisynthetic derivative of vincamine, an alkaloid from plants of the genus Periwinkle (plant) vinca minor. It was found that this compound stimulates cerebral metabolism: it increases the uptake of glucose and oxygen, as well as the consumption of these substances by the brain tissue. Vinpocetine enhances the flow of blood in the brain and has a vasodilating, antihypertensive, and antiplatelet effect. Vinpocetine seems to improve the human ability to acquire new memories and restore memories that have been lost. This drug has been clinically used for the treatment of cerebrovascular disorders such as stroke and dementia memory disorders, as well as in ophthalmology and otorhinolaryngology. It has no side effects, and no toxicity has been reported when using vinpocetine for a long time. For the quantitative determination of Vin in dosage forms, the HPLC methods are generally used. A promising alternative is potentiometry with Vin- selective electrode, which does not require expensive equipment and materials. Another advantage of the potentiometric method is that the pills and solutions for injections can be used directly without separation from matrix components, which reduces both analysis time and cost. In this study, it was found that the choice of a good plasticizer an electrode with the following membrane composition: PVC (32.8 wt.%), ortho-nitrophenyl octyl ether (66.6 wt.%), tetrakis-4-chlorophenyl borate (0.6 wt.%) exhibits excellent analytical performance: lower detection limit (LDL) 1.2•10⁻⁷ M, linear response range (LRR) 1∙10⁻³–3.9∙10⁻⁶ M, the slope of the electrode function 56.2±0.2 mV/decade). Vin masses per average tablet weight determined by direct potentiometry (DP) and potentiometric titration (PT) methods for the two different sets of 10 tablets were (100.35±0.2–100.36±0.1) mg for two sets of blister packs. The mass fraction of Vin in individual tablets, determined using DP, was (9.87 ± 0.02–10.16 ±0.02) mg, while the RSD was (0.13–0.35%). The procedure has very good reproducibility, and excellent compliance with the declared amounts was observed.

Keywords: vinpocetine, potentiometry, ion selective electrode, pharmaceutical analysis

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Authors: Mahdieh Farzin Asanjan, Erkan Unal Mumcuoglu

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Mitochondria are cytoplasmic organelles of the cell, which have a significant role in the variety of cellular metabolic functions. Mitochondria act as the power plants of the cell and are surrounded by two membranes. Significant morphological alterations are often due to changes in mitochondrial functions. A powerful technique in order to study the three-dimensional (3D) structure of mitochondria and its alterations in disease states is Electron microscope tomography. Detection of mitochondria in electron microscopy images due to the presence of various subcellular structures and imaging artifacts is a challenging problem. Another challenge is that each image typically contains more than one mitochondrion. Hand segmentation of mitochondria is tedious and time-consuming and also special knowledge about the mitochondria is needed. Fully automatic segmentation methods lead to over-segmentation and mitochondria are not segmented properly. Therefore, semi-automatic segmentation methods with minimum manual effort are required to edit the results of fully automatic segmentation methods. Here two editing tools were implemented by applying spline surface dragging and interactive live-wire segmentation tools. These editing tools were applied separately to the results of fully automatic segmentation. 3D extension of these tools was also studied and tested. Dice coefficients of 2D and 3D for surface dragging using splines were 0.93 and 0.92. This metric for 2D and 3D for live-wire method were 0.94 and 0.91 respectively. The root mean square symmetric surface distance values of 2D and 3D for surface dragging was measured as 0.69, 0.93. The same metrics for live-wire tool were 0.60 and 2.11. Comparing the results of these editing tools with the results of automatic segmentation method, it shows that these editing tools, led to better results and these results were more similar to ground truth image but the required time was higher than hand-segmentation time

Keywords: medical image segmentation, semi-automatic methods, transmission electron microscopy, surface dragging using splines, live-wire

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Authors: Mercy Tshilidzi Mulaudzi, Lufuno Mashamba, Lufuno Ramabulana

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Access to high-quality mental health services is sometimes challenging, especially for underserved populations in rural areas, including racial and ethnic minorities, and those from low socioeconomic status (SES). Youth experience more mental health challenges which need to be attended to by mental health specialists. They present symptoms which range from mild to severe. Once they consult mental health services, the diagnosis is made, and the etiology of the condition is identified so that treatment can be prescribed. This study used a qualitative approach to understand the barriers preventing utilisation of mental health service for young people in rural communities. In-depth individual interviews were conducted with 5 youth aged 22-30. Thematic Content analysis was used where 10 main themes emerged and were grouped as follows: (i) Poor mental health literacy / Lack of awareness of available mental health services, (ii) Travelling long distances to reach services which becomes expensive, (iii) Lack of access to transportation, (iv) Parents’ and teachers’ poor/delayed detection youth problems, (v) Lack of qualified professionals in their region who specialize in youth mental health, (vi) Stigma and social exclusion towards youth who utilise mental health services, (vii) Increased time out of work or school, (viii) Belief that problems would go away without help, (ix) Misinformation about mental health problems, (x) Rural community factors such as gossip networks and social visibility. An awareness campaign needs to be conducted where youth are provided with information on mental health and available services. The co-existence of mental health and general health services is suggested as one way to reduce the fear associated with being seen entering a stand-alone mental health service. Mobile clinics which offer primary health care is imperative. It is also recommended that community and school-based interventions which aim at reducing the social stigma of young people with mental illness in rural communities be developed.

Keywords: barrier, mental health services, utilisation, youth

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Authors: Fatema-Tuz-Zohra Khanam, Ali Al-Naji, Asanka G. Perera, Kim Gibson, Javaan Chahl

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Conventional contact-based vital signs monitoring sensors such as pulse oximeters or electrocardiogram (ECG) may cause discomfort, skin damage, and infections, particularly in neonates with fragile, sensitive skin. Therefore, remote monitoring of the vital sign is desired in both clinical and non-clinical settings to overcome these issues. Camera-based vital signs monitoring is a recent technology for these applications with many positive attributes. However, there are still limited camera-based studies on neonates in a clinical setting. In this study, the heart rate (HR) and respiratory rate (RR) of eight infants at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in Flinders Medical Centre were remotely monitored using a digital camera applying color and motion-based computational methods. The region-of-interest (ROI) was efficiently selected by incorporating an image decomposition method. Furthermore, spatial averaging, spectral analysis, band-pass filtering, and peak detection were also used to extract both HR and RR. The experimental results were validated with the ground truth data obtained from an ECG monitor and showed a strong correlation using the Pearson correlation coefficient (PCC) 0.9794 and 0.9412 for HR and RR, respectively. The RMSE between camera-based data and ECG data for HR and RR were 2.84 beats/min and 2.91 breaths/min, respectively. A Bland Altman analysis of the data also showed a close correlation between both data sets with a mean bias of 0.60 beats/min and 1 breath/min, and the lower and upper limit of agreement -4.9 to + 6.1 beats/min and -4.4 to +6.4 breaths/min for both HR and RR, respectively. Therefore, video camera imaging may replace conventional contact-based monitoring in NICU and has potential applications in other contexts such as home health monitoring.

Keywords: neonates, NICU, digital camera, heart rate, respiratory rate, image decomposition

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Authors: Xiang Zhang, Daohong Yang, Ziyuan Wu, Lei Li, Wanting Zhou

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Visual Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (VSLAM) uses cameras to collect information in unknown environments to realize simultaneous localization and environment map construction, which has a wide range of applications in autonomous driving, virtual reality and other related fields. At present, the related research achievements about VSLAM can maintain high accuracy in static environment. But in dynamic environment, due to the presence of moving objects in the scene, the movement of these objects will reduce the stability of VSLAM system, resulting in inaccurate localization and mapping, or even failure. In this paper, a robust VSLAM method was proposed to effectively deal with the problem in dynamic environment. We proposed a dynamic region removal scheme based on semantic segmentation neural networks and geometric constraints. Firstly, semantic extraction neural network is used to extract prior active motion region, prior static region and prior passive motion region in the environment. Then, the light weight frame tracking module initializes the transform pose between the previous frame and the current frame on the prior static region. A motion consistency detection module based on multi-view geometry and scene flow is used to divide the environment into static region and dynamic region. Thus, the dynamic object region was successfully eliminated. Finally, only the static region is used for tracking thread. Our research is based on the ORBSLAM3 system, which is one of the most effective VSLAM systems available. We evaluated our method on the TUM RGB-D benchmark and the results demonstrate that the proposed VSLAM method improves the accuracy of the original ORBSLAM3 by 70%˜98.5% under high dynamic environment.

Keywords: dynamic scene, dynamic visual SLAM, semantic segmentation, scene flow, VSLAM

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Authors: Jan Luxa, Vlastimil Mazanek, Petr Malinsky, Alexander Romanenko, Mariapompea Cutroneo, Vladimir Havranek, Josef Novak, Eva Stepanovska, Anna Mackova, Zdenek Sofer

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Using accelerated energetic ions is an interesting method for the introduction of structural changes in various carbon-based materials. This way, the properties can be altered in two ways: a) the ions lead to the formation of conductive pathways in graphene oxide structures due to the elimination of oxygen functionalities and b) doping with selected ions to form metal nanoclusters, thus increasing the conductivity. In this work, energetic beams were employed in two ways to prepare capacitor structures in graphene oxide (GO), reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and polyimide (PI) on a micro-scale. The first method revolved around using ion beam writing with a focused ion beam, and the method involved ion implantation via a polymeric mask. To prepare the polymeric mask, a direct spin-coating of PMMA on top of the foils was used. Subsequently, proton beam writing and development in isopropyl alcohol were employed. Finally, the mask was removed using acetone solvent. All three materials were exposed to ion beams with an energy of 2.5-5 MeV and an ion fluence of 3.75x10¹⁴ cm-² (1800 nC.mm-²). Thus, prepared microstructures were thoroughly characterized by various analytical methods, including Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with Energy-Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray Photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), micro-Raman spectroscopy, Rutherford Back-scattering Spectroscopy (RBS) and Elastic Recoil Detection Analysis (ERDA) spectroscopy. Finally, these materials were employed and tested as sensors for humidity using electrical conductivity measurements. The results clearly demonstrate that the type of ions, their energy and fluence all have a significant influence on the sensory properties of thus prepared sensors.

Keywords: graphene, graphene oxide, polyimide, ion implantation, sensors

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Authors: Harish Aryal

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The safe and reliable operation of nuclear reactors has always been one of the topmost priorities in the nuclear industry. Transient testing allows us to understand the time-dependent behavior of the neutron population in response to either a planned change in the reactor conditions or unplanned circumstances. These unforeseen conditions might occur due to sudden reactivity insertions, feedback, power excursions, instabilities, and accidents. To study such behavior, we need transient testing, which is like car crash testing, to estimate the durability and strength of a car design. In nuclear designs, such transient testing can simulate a wide range of accidents due to sudden reactivity insertions and helps to study the feasibility and integrity of the fuel to be used in certain reactor types. This testing involves a high neutron flux environment and real-time imaging technology with advanced instrumentation with appropriate accuracy and resolution to study the fuel slumping behavior. With the aid of transient testing and adequate imaging tools, it is possible to test the safety basis for reactor and fuel designs that serves as a gateway in licensing advanced reactors in the future. To that end, it is crucial to fully understand advanced imaging techniques both analytically and via simulations. This paper presents an innovative method of supporting real-time imaging of fuel pins and other structures during transient testing. The major fuel-motion detection device that is studied in this dissertation is the Hodoscope which requires collimators. This paper provides 1) an MCNP model and simulation of a Transient Reactor Test (TREAT) core with a central fuel element replaced by a slotted fuel element that provides an open path between test samples and a hodoscope detector and 2) a choice of good filter to improve image resolution.

Keywords: hodoscope, transient testing, collimators, MCNP, TREAT, hodogram, filters

Procedia PDF Downloads 81

Authors: Nicholas P. Fenlon, Aisling Lavelle, David Mclean, Margaret O'riordan

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Background: The case for continuing professional development has been well made, and was formalized in Ireland in recent years through the enactment of the Medical Practitioner’s Act, which requires registered medical practitioners to complete a minimum of 50 hours CPD each year. The ICGP, who have been providing CPD opportunities to its members for many years, have responded to this need by developing a series of evidence-based, high-quality, multimedia modules across a range of clinical and non-clinical areas. (More traditional education opportunities are still being provided by the college also). Overview of Programme: The first module was released in September 2011, since when the eLearning program has grown steadily, and there are currently almost 20 modules available, with a further 5 in production. Each module contains three to six 10-minute video lessons, which use a combination of graphics, images, text, voice-over and clinical clips. These are supported by supplementary videos of expert pieces-to-camera, Q&As with content experts, clinical scenarios, external links and relevant documentation and other resources. Successful completion of MCQs will result in a Certificate of Completion, which can be printed or stored in Professional Competence portfolio. The Medical Practitioner’s Act requires doctors to gather CPD credits across 8 domains of practice, and various eLearning modules have been developed to address each. For instance, modules with a strong clinical content would include Management of Hypertension, Management of COPD, and Management of Asthma. Other modules focus on health promotion such as Promoting Smoking Cessation, Promoting Physical Activity, and Addressing Childhood Obesity. Modules where communication skills are keys include modules on Suicide Prevention and Management of Depression. Other modules, currently in development include non-clinical topics around risk management, including Confidentiality, Consent etc. Each module is developed by a core group, which includes where possible, a GP with a special interest in the area, and a content expert(s). The college works closely with a medical education consultant and a production company in developing and producing the modules. Modules can be accessed (with password) through the ICGP website and are available free to all ICGP members. Summary of Evaluation: There are over 1700 registered users to date (over 55% of College membership). The program was evaluated using an online survey in 2013 (N = 144/950 – 12%) and results were very positive overall but provided material for the further improvement of the program also. Future Plans: While knowledge can be imparted well through eLearning, skills and attitudes are more difficult to influence through an online environment. The college is now developing a series of linked workshops, which will lead to ICGP Professional Competence Awards. The first pilot workshop is scheduled for February 2015 and is Cardiology-themed. Participants will be required to complete the following 4 modules in advance of attending – Management of Hypertension, Management of Heart Failure, Promoting Smoking Cessation, and Promoting Physical Activity. The workshop will be case-based and interactive, addressing ECG Interpretation in General Practice. Conclusions: The ICGP have responded to members needs for high-quality evidence-based education delivered in a way that suits GPs.

Keywords: CPD opportunities, evidence-based, high quality, multimedia modules across a range of clinical and non-clinical areas, medical practitioner’s act

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Authors: Basant Singh Sikarwar, Mukesh Roy, Ayush Goyal, Priya Ranjan

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This work combines two bodies of knowledge which includes biomedical basis of blood stain formation and fluid communities’ wisdom that such formation of blood stain depends heavily on physical properties. Moreover biomedical research tells that different patterns in stains of blood are robust indicator of blood donor’s health or lack thereof. Based on these valuable insights an innovative screening tool is proposed which can act as an aide in the diagnosis of diseases such Anemia, Hyperlipidaemia, Tuberculosis, Blood cancer, Leukemia, Malaria etc., with enhanced confidence in the proposed analysis. To realize this powerful technique, simple, robust and low-cost micro-fluidic devices, a micro-capillary viscometer and a pendant drop tensiometer are designed and proposed to be fabricated to measure the viscosity, surface tension and wettability of various blood samples. Once prognosis and diagnosis data has been generated, automated linear and nonlinear classifiers have been applied into the automated reasoning and presentation of results. A support vector machine (SVM) classifies data on a linear fashion. Discriminant analysis and nonlinear embedding’s are coupled with nonlinear manifold detection in data and detected decisions are made accordingly. In this way, physical properties can be used, using linear and non-linear classification techniques, for screening of various diseases in humans and cattle. Experiments are carried out to validate the physical properties measurement devices. This framework can be further developed towards a real life portable disease screening cum diagnostics tool. Small-scale production of screening cum diagnostic devices is proposed to carry out independent test.

Keywords: blood, physical properties, diagnostic, nonlinear, classifier, device, surface tension, viscosity, wettability

Procedia PDF Downloads 378

Authors: Abdorrasoul Malekpour, Mohammad Ghorbani Mojtaba Mortazavi, Mohammadreza Fattahi, Mohammad Hassan Meshkibaf, Ali Fakhrzad, Saeid Salehi, Saeideh Zahedi, Amir Ahmadimoghaddam, Parviz Farzadnia Dr., Mohammadreza Hajyani Asl Bs

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Hepatitis B as an infectious disease has eight main genotypes (A–H). The aim of this study is to Bioinformatically identify Rare Codon Clusters (RCC) in proteins structure of HBV. For detection of protein family accession numbers (Pfam) of HBV proteins; used of uni-prot database and Pfam search tool were used. Obtained Pfam IDs were analyzed in Sherlocc program and RCCs in HBV proteins were detected. In further, the structures of TrEMBL entries proteins studied in PDB database and 3D structures of the HBV proteins and locations of RCCs were visualized and studied using Swiss PDB Viewer software. Pfam search tool have found nine significant hits and 0 insignificant hits in 3 frames. Results of Pfams studied in the Sherlocc program show this program not identified RCCs in the external core antigen (PF08290) and truncated HBeAg protein (PF08290). By contrast the RCCs become identified in Hepatitis core antigen (PF00906) Large envelope protein S (PF00695), X protein (PF00739), DNA polymerase (viral) N-terminal domain (PF00242) and Protein P (Pf00336). In HBV genome, seven RCC identified that found in hepatitis core antigen, large envelope protein S and DNA polymerase proteins and proteins structures of TrEMBL entries sequences that reported in Sherlocc program outputs are not complete. Based on situation of RCC in structure of HBV proteins, it suggested those RCCs are important in HBV life cycle. We hoped that this study provide a new and deep perspective in protein research and drug design for treatment of HBV.

Keywords: rare codon clusters, hepatitis B virus, bioinformatic study, infectious disease

Procedia PDF Downloads 492

Authors: Durga Toshniwal, Lokesh Agrawal

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As the web continues to play an increasing role in information exchange, and conducting daily activities, computer users have become the target of miscreants which infects hosts with malware or adware for financial gains. Unfortunately, even a single visit to compromised web site enables the attacker to detect vulnerabilities in the user’s applications and force the downloading of multitude of malware binaries. We provide an approach to effectively scan the so-called drive-by downloads on the Internet. Drive-by downloads are result of URLs that attempt to exploit their visitors and cause malware to be installed and run automatically. To scan the web for malicious pages, the first step is to use a crawler to collect URLs that live on the Internet, and then to apply fast prefiltering techniques to reduce the amount of pages that are needed to be examined by precise, but slower, analysis tools (such as honey clients or antivirus programs). Although the technique is effective, it requires a substantial amount of resources. A main reason is that the crawler encounters many pages on the web that are legitimate and needs to be filtered. In this paper, to characterize the nature of this rising threat, we present implementation of a web crawler on Python, an approach to search the web more efficiently for pages that are likely to be malicious, filtering benign pages and passing remaining pages to antivirus program for detection of malwares. Our approaches starts from an initial seed of known, malicious web pages. Using these seeds, our system generates search engines queries to identify other malicious pages that are similar to the ones in the initial seed. By doing so, it leverages the crawling infrastructure of search engines to retrieve URLs that are much more likely to be malicious than a random page on the web. The results shows that this guided approach is able to identify malicious web pages more efficiently when compared to random crawling-based approaches.

Keywords: web crawler, malwares, seeds, drive-by-downloads, security

Procedia PDF Downloads 234

Authors: Graham Hancox, Saydia Razak, Sue Hignett, Jo Barnes, Jyri Silmari, Florian Kading

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In the event of a Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) incident rapidly gaining, situational awareness is of paramount importance and advanced technologies have an important role to play in improving detection, identification, monitoring (DIM) and patient tracking. Understanding how these advanced technologies can fit into current response systems is essential to ensure they are optimally designed, usable and meet end-users’ needs. For this reason, Human Factors (Ergonomics) methods have been used within an EU Horizon 2020 project (TOXI-Triage) to firstly describe (map) the hierarchical structure in a CBRN response with adapted Accident Map (AcciMap) methodology. Secondly, Hierarchical Task Analysis (HTA) has been used to describe and review the sequence of steps (sub-tasks) in a CBRN scenario response as a task system. HTA methodology was then used to map one advanced technology, ‘Tag and Trace’, which tags an element (people, sample and equipment) with a Near Field Communication (NFC) chip in the Hot Zone to allow tracing of (monitoring), for example casualty progress through the response. This HTA mapping of the Tag and Trace system showed how the provider envisaged the technology being used, allowing for review and fit with the current CBRN response systems. These methodologies have been found to be very effective in promoting and supporting a dialogue between end-users and technology providers. The Human Factors methods have given clear diagrammatic (visual) representations of how providers see their technology being used and how end users would actually use it in the field; allowing for a more user centered approach to the design process. For CBRN events usability is critical as sub-optimum design of technology could add to a responders’ workload in what is already a chaotic, ambiguous and safety critical environment.

Keywords: AcciMap, CBRN, ergonomics, hierarchical task analysis, human factors

Procedia PDF Downloads 225

Authors: Michelle Eichinger, Upali Nanda

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Behavior choices during college years can establish the pattern of lifelong healthy living. Nearly 1/3rd of American college students are either overweight (25 < BMI < 30) or obese (BMI > 30). In addition, overweight/obesity contributes to depression, which is a rising epidemic among college students, affecting academic performance and college drop-out rates. Overweight and obesity result in an imbalance of energy consumption (diet) and energy expenditure (physical activity). Overweight/obesity is a significant contributor to heart disease, diabetes, stroke, physical disabilities and some cancers, which are the leading causes of death and disease in the US. There has been a significant increase in obesity and obesity-related disorders such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia among people in their teens and 20s. Historically, the evidence-based interventions for obesity prevention focused on changing the health behavior at the individual level and aimed at increasing awareness and educating people about nutrition and physical activity. However, it became evident that the environmental context of where people live, work and learn was interdependent to healthy behavior change. As a result, a comprehensive approach was required to include altering the social and built environment to support healthy living. College campus provides opportunities to support lifestyle behavior and form a health-promoting culture based on some key point of decisions such as stairs/ elevator, walk/ bike/ car, high-caloric and fast foods/balanced and nutrient-rich foods etc. At each point of decision, design, can help/hinder the healthier choice. For example, stair well design and motivational signage support physical activity; grocery store/market proximity influence healthy eating etc. There is a need to collate the vast information that is in planning and public health domains on a range of successful point of decision prompts, and translate it into architectural guidelines that help define the edge condition for critical point of decision prompts. This research study aims to address healthy behaviors through the built environment with the questions, how can we make the healthy choice an easy choice through the design of critical point of decision prompts? Our hypothesis is that well-designed point of decision prompts in the built environment of college campuses can promote healthier choices by students, which can directly impact mental and physical health related to obesity. This presentation will introduce a combined health and architectural framework aimed to influence healthy behaviors through design applied for college campuses. The premise behind developing our concept, point-of-decision design (PODD), is healthy decision-making can be built into, or afforded by our physical environments. Using effective design intervention strategies at these 'points-of-decision' on college campuses to make the healthy decision the default decision can be instrumental in positively impacting health at the population level. With our model, we aim to advance health research by utilizing point-of-decision design to impact student health via core sectors of influences within college settings, such as campus facilities and transportation. We will demonstrate how these domains influence patterns/trends in healthy eating and active living behaviors among students. how these domains influence patterns/trends in healthy eating and active living behaviors among students.

Keywords: architecture and health promotion, college campus, design strategies, health in built environment

Procedia PDF Downloads 225

Authors: Mariana Stuparu-Cretu, Doina-Carina Voinescu, Rodica-Mihaela Dinica, Daniela Borda, Camelia Vizireanu, Gabriela Iordachescu, Camelia Busila

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Obesity is involved in the etiology or acceleration of progression of important non-communicable diseases, such as: metabolic, cardiovascular, rheumatological, oncological and depression. It is a need to prevent the obesity occurrence, like a key link in disease management. From this point of view, the best approach is to early educate youngsters upon the need for a healthy nutrition lifestyle associated with constant physical activities. The objective of the study was to assess correlations between weight condition, physical activities and food preferences of students from South East Romania. Questionnaires were applied on high school students in Galati: 1006 girls and 880 boys, aged between 14 and 19 years (being approved by Local School Inspectorate and the Ethics Committee of the 'Dunarea de Jos' University of Galati). The collected answers have been statistically processed by using the multivariate regression method (PLS2) by Unscramble X program (Camo, Norway). Multiple variables such as age group, body mass index, nutritional habits and physical activities were separately analysed, depending on gender and general mathematical models were proposed to explain the obesity trend at an early age. The study results show that overweight and obesity are present in less than a fifth of the adolescents who were surveyed. With a very small variation and a strong correlation of over 86% for 99% of the cases, a general preference for sweet foods, nocturnal eating associated with computer work and a reduced period of physical activity is noticed for girls. In addition, the overweight girls consume sweet juices and alcohol, although a percentage of them also practice the gym. There is also a percentage of the normoponderal girls that consume high caloric foods which predispose this group to turn into overweight cases in time. Within the studied group, statistics for the boys show a positive correlation of almost 87% for over 96% of cases. They prefer high calories foods, fast food, and sweet juices, and perform medium physical activities. Both overweight and underweight boys are more sedentary. Over 15% of girls and over a quarter of boys consume alcohol. All these bad eating habits seem to increase with age, for both sexes. To conclude, obesity and overweight assessed in adolescents in S-E Romania reveal nonsignificant percentage differences between boys and girls. However, young people in this area of the country are sedentary in general; a significant percentage prefers sweets / sweet juices / fast-food and practice computer nourishing. The authors consider that at this age, it is very useful to adapt nutritional education by new methods of food processing and market supply. This would require an early understanding of the difference among foods and nutrients and the benefits of physical activities integrated into the healthy current lifestyle, as a measure for preventing and managing non-communicable chronic diseases related to nutritional errors and sedentarism. Acknowledgment— This study has been partial founded by the Francophone University Agency, Project Réseau régional dans le domaine de la santé, la nutrition et la sécurité alimentaire (SaIN), no.21899/ 06.09.2017.

Keywords: adolescents, body mass index, nutritional habits, obesity, physical activity

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Authors: Tejaswi Agarwal, Amritansh Agarwal

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Forest ecosystem plays very important role in the global carbon cycle. It stores about 80% of all above ground and 40% of all below ground terrestrial organic carbon. There is much interest in the extent of tropical forests and their rates of deforestation for two reasons: greenhouse gas contributions and the impact of profoundly negative biodiversity. Deforestation has many ecological, social and economic consequences, one of which is the loss of biological diversity. The rapid deployment of remote sensing (RS) satellites and development of RS analysis techniques in the past three decades have provided a reliable, effective, and practical way to characterize terrestrial ecosystem properties. Global estimates of tropical deforestation vary widely and range from 50,000 to 170,000km2 /yr Recent FAO tropical deforestation estimates for 1990–1995 cite 116,756km2 / yr globally. Remote Sensing can prove to be a very useful tool in monitoring of forests and associated deforestation to a sufficient level of accuracy without the need of physically surveying the forest areas as many of them are physically inaccessible. The methodology for the assessment of forest cover using digital image processing (ERDAS) has been followed. The satellite data for the study was procured from Indian institute of remote Sensing (IIRS), Dehradoon in the digital format. While procuring the satellite data, care was taken to ensure that the data was cloud free and did not belong to dry and leafless season. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) has been used as a numerical indicator of the reduction in ground biomass. NDVI = (near I.R - Red)/ (near I.R + Red). After calculating the NDVI variations and associated mean, we have analysed the change in ground biomass. Through this paper, we have tried to indicate the rate of deforestation over a given period of time by comparing the forest cover at different time intervals. With the help of remote sensing and GIS techniques, it is clearly shown that the total forest cover is continuously degrading and transforming into various land use/land cover category.

Keywords: remote sensing, deforestation, supervised classification, NDVI, change detection

Procedia PDF Downloads 1213