Search results for: kidney functions and chronic renal failure

Authors: Maryam Tabrizi, Shahrzad Aarup

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Objectives- Understanding the close association between oral health and overall health for older adults at the right time and right place, a person, focus treatment through Project ECHO telementoring. Methodology- Data from monthly ECHO telementoring sessions were provided for three years. Sessions including case presentations, overall health conditions, considering medications, organ functions limitations, including the level of cognition. Contributions- Providing the specialist level of providing care to all elderly regardless of their location and other health conditions and decreasing oral health inequity by increasing workforce via Project ECHO telementoring program worldwide. By 2030, the number of adults in the USA over the age of 65 will increase more than 60% (approx.46 million) and over 22 million (30%) of 74 million older Americans will need specialized geriatrician care. In 2025, a national shortage of medical geriatricians will be close to 27,000. Most individuals 65 and older do not receive oral health care due to lack of access, availability, or affordability. One of the main reasons is a significant shortage of Oral Health (OH) education and resources for the elderly, particularly in rural areas. Poor OH is a social stigma, a thread to quality and safety of overall health of the elderly with physical and cognitive decline. Poor OH conditions may be costly and sometimes life-threatening. Non-traumatic dental-related emergency department use in Texas alone was over $250 M in 2016. Most elderly over the age of 65 present with at least one or multiple chronic diseases such as arthritis, diabetes, heart diseases, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are at higher risk to develop gum (periodontal) disease, yet they are less likely to get dental care. In addition, most older adults take both prescription and over-the-counter drugs; according to scientific studies, many of these medications cause dry mouth. Reduced saliva flow due to aging and medications may increase the risk of cavities and other oral conditions. Most dental schools have already increased geriatrics OH in their educational curriculums, but the aging population growth worldwide is faster than growing geriatrics dentists. However, without the use of advanced technology and creating a network between specialists and primary care providers, it is impossible to increase the workforce, provide equitable oral health to the elderly. Project ECHO is a guided practice model that revolutionizes health education and increases the workforce to provide best-practice specialty care and reduce health disparities. Training oral health providers for utilizing the Project ECHO model is a logical response to the shortage and increases oral health access to the elderly. Project ECHO trains general dentists & hygienists to provide specialty care services. This means more elderly can get the care they need, in the right place, at the right time, with better treatment outcomes and reduces costs.

Keywords: geriatric, oral health, project echo, chronic disease, oral health

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Authors: Sangbok Lee

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There has been much effort on process improvement for outpatient clinics to provide quality and acute care to patients. One of the efforts is no-show analysis or prediction. This work analyzes patient no-shows along with patient health conditions. The health conditions refer to clinical symptoms that each patient has, out of the followings; hyperlipidemia, diabetes, metastatic solid tumor, dementia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, hypertension, coronary artery disease, myocardial infraction, congestive heart failure, atrial fibrillation, stroke, drug dependence abuse, schizophrenia, major depression, and pain. A dataset from a regional hospital is used to find the relationship between the number of the symptoms and no-show probabilities. Additional analysis reveals how each symptom or combination of symptoms affects no-shows. In the above analyses, cross-classification of patients by age and gender is carried out. The findings from the analysis will be used to take extra care to patients with particular health conditions. They will be forced to visit clinics by being informed about their health conditions and possible consequences more clearly. Moreover, this work will be used in the preparation of making institutional guidelines for patient reminder systems.

Keywords: healthcare system, no show analysis, process improvment, statistical data analysis

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Authors: Abdoullah Namdar, Fadzil Mat Yahaya

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Many synthetic additives have been using for improve cement mortar and concrete characteristics, but natural additive is a friendly environment option. The quantity of (2% and 4%) seashell powder has been replaced in cement mortar, and compared with plain cement mortar in early age of 7 days. The strain gauges have been installed on beams and cube, for monitoring fluctuation of flexural and compressive strength. Main objective of this paper is to study effect of linear static force on flexural and compressive strength of modified cement mortar. The results have been indicated that the replacement of appropriate proportion of seashell powder enhances cement mortar mechanical properties. The replacement of 2% seashell causes improvement of deflection, time to failure and maximum load to failure on concrete beam and cube, the same occurs for compressive modulus elasticity. Increase replacement of seashell to 4% reduces all flexural strength, compressive strength and strain of cement mortar.

Keywords: compressive strength, flexural strength, compressive modulus elasticity, time to failure, deflection

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Authors: Majid Samiee Zonoozian

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For such important constructions as jacket type platforms, scrupulous attention in analysis, design and calculation processes is needed. The reliability assessment method has been established into an extensively used method to behavior safety calculation of jacket platforms. In the present study, a methodology for the reliability calculation of an offshore jacket platform in contradiction of the extreme wave loading state is available. Therefore, sensitivity analyses are applied to acquire the nonlinear response of jacket-type platforms against extreme waves. The jacket structure is modeled by applying a nonlinear finite-element model with regards to the tubular members' behave. The probability of a member’s failure under extreme wave loading is figured by a finite-element reliability code. The FORM and SORM approaches are applied for the calculation of safety directories and reliability indexes have been detected. A case study for a fixed jacket-type structure positioned in the Persian Gulf is studied by means of the planned method. Furthermore, to define the failure standards, equations suggested by the 21st version of the API RP 2A-WSD for The jacket-type structures’ tubular members designing by applying the mixed axial bending and axial pressure. Consequently, the effect of wave Loades in the reliability index was considered.

Keywords: Jacket-Type structure, reliability, failure probability, tubular members

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Authors: Chang Liu, Hanwen Zhang, Vikash Sharma, Don Eliseo Lucerno-Prisno III, Emmanuel Yujuico, Maulik Chokshi, Prashanthi Krishnakumar, Bach Xuan Tran, Giang Thu Vu, Kamilla Anna Pinter, Shenglan Tang

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Background and Aims: Globally, many health systems focus on hospital-based healthcare models targeting acute care and disease treatment, which are not effective in addressing the challenges of ageing populations, chronic conditions, multi-morbidities, and increasingly unhealthy lifestyles. Recently, integrated care programs on chronic diseases have been developed, piloted, and implemented to meet such challenges. However, integrated care programs in the Asia-Pacific region vary in the levels of integration from linkage to coordination to full integration. This study aims to identify and analyze existing cases of integrated care in the Asia-Pacific region and identify the facilitators and barriers in order to improve existing cases and inform future cases. Methods: The study is a comparative study, with a combination approach of desk-based research and key informant interviews. The selected countries included in this study represent a good mix of lower-middle income countries (the Philippines, India, Vietnam, and Fiji), upper-middle income country (China), and high-income country (Singapore) in the Asia-Pacific region. Existing integrated care programs were identified through the scoping review approach. Trigger, history, general design, beneficiaries, and objectors were summarized with barriers and facilitators of integrated care based on key informant interviews. Representative case(s) in each country were selected and comprehensively analyzed through deep-dive case studies. Results: A total of 87 existing integrated care programs on chronic diseases were found in all countries, with 44 in China, 21 in Singapore, 12 in India, 5 in Vietnam, 4 in the Philippines, and 1 in Fiji. 9 representative cases of integrated care were selected for in-depth description and analysis, with 2 in China, the Philippines, and Vietnam, and 1 in Singapore, India, and Fiji. Population aging and the rising chronic disease burden have been identified as key drivers for almost all the six countries. Among the six countries, Singapore has the longest history of integrated care, followed by Fiji, the Philippines, and China, while India and Vietnam have a shorter history of integrated care. Incentives, technologies, education, and performance evaluation would be crucial for developing strategies for implementing future programs and improve already existing programs. Conclusion: Integrated care is important for addressing challenges surrounding the delivery of long-term care. To date, there is an increasing trend of integrated care programs on chronic diseases in the Asia-Pacific region, and all six countries in our study set integrated care as a direction for their health systems transformation.

Keywords: integrated healthcare, integrated care delivery, chronic diseases, Asia-Pacific region

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Authors: Gousilin Leandra Rocha Da Silva, Stéfani T. A. Dantas, Bruna F. Rossi, Erika R. Bonsaglia, Ivana G. Castilho, Terue Sadatsune, Ary Fernandes Júnior, Vera l. M. Rall

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Kidney failure causes decreased diuresis and accumulation of nitrogenous substances in the body. To increase patient survival, hemodialysis is used as a partial substitute for renal function. However, contamination of the water used in this treatment, causing bacteremia in patients, is a worldwide concern. The Burkholderia cepacia complex (Bcc), a group of bacteria with more than 20 species, is frequently isolated from hemodialysis water samples and comprises opportunistic bacteria, affecting immunosuppressed patients, due to its wide variety of virulence factors, in addition to innate resistance to several antimicrobial agents, contributing to the permanence in the hospital environment and to the pathogenesis in the host. The objective of the present work was to characterize molecularly and phenotypically Bcc isolates collected from the water and dialysate of the Hemodialysis Unit and from the blood of patients at a Public Hospital in Botucatu, São Paulo, Brazil, between 2019 and 2021. We used 33 Bcc isolates, previously obtained from blood cultures from patients with bacteremia undergoing hemodialysis treatment (2019-2021) and 24 isolates obtained from water and dialysate samples in a Hemodialysis Unit (same period). The recA gene was sequenced to identify the specific species among the Bcc group. All isolates were tested for the presence of some genes that encode virulence factors such as cblA, esmR, zmpA and zmpB. Considering the epidemiology of the outbreak, the Bcc isolates were molecularly characterized by Multi Locus Sequence Type (MLST) and by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). The verification and quantification of biofilm in a polystyrene microplate were performed by submitting the isolates to different incubation temperatures (20°C, average water temperature and 35°C, optimal temperature for group growth). The antibiogram was performed with disc diffusion tests on agar, using discs impregnated with cefepime (30µg), ceftazidime (30µg), ciprofloxacin (5µg), gentamicin (10µg), imipenem (10µg), amikacin 30µg), sulfametazol/trimethoprim (23.75/1.25µg) and ampicillin/sulbactam (10/10µg). The presence of ZmpB was identified in all isolates, while ZmpA was observed in 96.5% of the isolates, while none of them presented the cblA and esmR genes. The antibiogram of the 33 human isolates indicated that all were resistant to gentamicin, colistin, ampicillin/sulbactam and imipenem. 16 (48.5%) isolates were resistant to amikacin and lower rates of resistance were observed for meropenem, ceftazidime, cefepime, ciprofloxacin and piperacycline/tazobactam (6.1%). All isolates were sensitive to sulfametazol/trimethoprim, levofloxacin and tigecycline. As for the water isolates, resistance was observed only to gentamicin (34.8%) and imipenem (17.4%). According to PFGE results, all isolates obtained from humans and water belonged to the same pulsotype (1), which was identified by recA sequencing as B. cepacia¸, belonging to sequence type ST-767. By observing a single pulse type over three years, one can observe the persistence of this isolate in the pipeline, contaminating patients undergoing hemodialysis, despite the routine disinfection of water with peracetic acid. This persistence is probably due to the production of biofilm, which protects bacteria from disinfectants and, making this scenario more critical, several isolates proved to be multidrug-resistant (resistance to at least three groups of antimicrobials), turning the patient care even more difficult.

Keywords: hemodialysis, burkholderia cepacia, PFGE, MLST, multi drug resistance

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Authors: Shangerganesh Lingeshwaran

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In this presentation, we have performed numerical simulations for a reaction-diffusion equation with various nonlinear density-dependent diffusion operators and proliferation functions. The mathematical model represented by parabolic partial differential equation is considered to study the invasion of gliomas (the most common type of brain tumors) and to describe the growth of cancer cells and response to their treatment. The unknown quantity of the given reaction-diffusion equation is the density of cancer cells and the mathematical model based on the proliferation and migration of glioma cells. A standard Galerkin finite element method is used to perform the numerical simulations of the given model. Finally, important observations on the each of nonlinear diffusion functions and proliferation functions are presented with the help of computational results.

Keywords: glioma invasion, nonlinear diffusion, reaction-diffusion, finite eleament method

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Authors: Fenni Sim

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Objectives: The purpose of the study is to examine the relationship between family functioning and level of self-efficacy: how family functioning can potentially affect self-efficacy which will eventually lead to better clinical outcomes. The hypothesis was ‘Patients on haemodialysis with perceived higher family functioning are more likely to have higher perceived level of self-efficacy’. Methods: The study was conducted with a mixed methodology of quantitative and qualitative data collection of survey and semi-structured interview respectively. The General Self-Efficacy scale and SCORE-15 were self-administered by participants. The data will be analysed with correlation analysis method using Microsoft Excel. 79 patients were recruited for the study through random sampling. 6 participants whose results did not reflect the hypothesis were then recruited for the qualitative study. Interpretive phemenological analysis was then used to analyse the qualitative data. Findings: The hypothesis was accepted that higher family functioning leads to higher perceived self-efficacy. The correlation coefficient of -0.21 suggested a mild correlation between the two variables. However, only 4.6% of the variation in perceived self-efficacy is accounted by the variation in family functioning. The qualitative study extrapolated three themes that might explain the variations in the outliers: (1) level of physical functioning affects perceived self-efficacy, (2) instrumental support from family influenced perceived level of family functioning, and self-efficacy, (3) acceptance of illness reflects higher level of self-efficacy. Conclusion: While family functioning does have an impact on perceived self-efficacy, there are many intrapersonal and physical factors that may affect self-efficacy. The concepts of family functioning and self-efficacy are more appropriately seen as complementing each other to help a patient in managing his illness. Healthcare social workers can look at how family functioning is supporting the individual needs of patients with different trajectory of ESRD and the support we can provide to improve one’s self-efficacy.

Keywords: chronic kidney disease, coping of illness, family functioning, self efficacy

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Authors: Hossein Kheirollahi, Yunhua Luo

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Studying stress and strain trends in the femur and recognizing femur failure mechanism is very important for preventing hip fracture in the elderly. The aim of this study was to identify high stress and strain regions in the femur during normal walking and falling to find the mechanical behavior and failure mechanism of the femur. We developed a finite element model of the femur from the subject’s quantitative computed tomography (QCT) image and used it to identify potentially high stress and strain regions during the single-leg stance and the sideways fall. It was found that fracture may initiate from the superior region of femoral neck and propagate to the inferior region during a high impact force such as sideways fall. The results of this study showed that the femur bone is more sensitive to strain than stress which indicates the effect of strain, in addition to effect of stress, should be considered for failure analysis.

Keywords: finite element analysis, hip fracture, strain, stress

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Authors: Saul A. Torres Z., Eduardo Liceaga C., Alfredo Arias M.

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Agriculture in the world falls within the main sources of economic and global needs, so care of crop is extremely important for owners and workers; one of the major causes of loss of product is the pest infection of different types of organisms. We seek to develop a UAV for agricultural spraying at a maximum altitude of 5000 meters above sea level, with a payload of 100 liters of fumigant. For the developing the aerodynamic design of the aircraft is using computational tools such as the "Vortex Lattice Athena" software, "MATLAB"," ANSYS FLUENT"," XFoil " package among others. Also methods are being used structured programming, exhaustive analysis of optimization methods and search. The results have a very low margin of error, and the multi- objective problems can be helpful for future developments. The program has 10 functions developed in MATLAB, these functions are related to each other to enable the development of design, and all these functions are controlled by the principal code "Master.m".

Keywords: aerodynamics design, optimization, algorithm genetic, multi-objective problem, stability, vortex

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Authors: Rady A., Elsheshai A., Eltawel M.

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Introduction and Aim of work: Literature suggest that antipsychotic medications may decrease cortisol level, an effect that seems to be more present with second generation antipsychotic. Our study aims at assessing effect of long term use of antipsychotics on cortisol level Subjects and Methods: 30 chronic schizophrenic patients on antipsychotics compared to 20 drug naive schizophrenic patients as regards serum cortisol level Results: Cortisol level was significantly lower in chronic schizophrenic patients receiving antipsychotics compared to drug naive patients (P=0.002 <0.05) Conclusion: Antipsychotic medications seem to have the potential to decrease cortisol level in blood. Among hypothesis proposed in literature is the good control of pseudo stress due to psychotic features.

Keywords: schizophrenia, antipsychotic, cortisol, HPA

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Authors: Shao-Cyuan Yewang, Yu-Wen Chen

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Background: Exercise training is well known to alleviate chronic pain syndromes improve of chronic pain. This study investigated the effect of swimming exercise training on thoracotomy and rib retraction-induced allodynia. Methods: Male Sprague Dawley rats that received animal model of persistent postthoracotomy pain. All rats were divided into three groups: sham operations group (Sham), thoracotomy and rib retraction group (TRR), and TRR with swimming exercise training for 90min/day, 7 days a week for 4 weeks (TRR-SEW). The sham group did not receive retraction of the ribs. Thus, they received a pleural incision. The levels of mechanical and cold allodynia were measured by von Frey and acetone test. Results: In von Frey test, the level of mechanical allodynia in the TRR group was significantly higher than the sham group. The level of mechanical allodynia in the TRR-SEW group was significantly lower than the TRR group. In acetone test, the level of cold allodynia in the TRR group was significantly higher than the sham group. The level of cold allodynia in the TRR-SEW group was significantly lower than the TRR group. Conclusions: These results suggest that swimming exercise training decreases persistent postthoracotomy pain caused by TRR surgery. It may provide one of the new therapeutic effects of swimming exercise training could alleviate persistent postthoracotomy pain.

Keywords: chronic pain, thoracotomy pain, swimming, von Frey test, acetone test

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Authors: Vipin Kumar Singhal, Rohit Kumar Mittal, Pavitra Ranjan Maiti

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Damage analysis is one of the preliminary activities to be done after an earthquake so as to enhance the seismic building design technologies and prevent similar type of failure in future during earthquakes. This research article investigates the damage pattern and most probable reason of failure by observing photographs of seven major buildings collapsed/damaged which were evenly spread over the region during Mw7.8, Nepal earthquake 2015 followed by more than 400 aftershocks of Mw4 with one aftershock reaching a magnitude of Mw7.3. Over 250,000 buildings got damaged, and more than 9000 people got injured in this earthquake. Photographs of these buildings were collected after the earthquake and the cause of failure was estimated along with the severity of damage and comment on the reparability of structure has been made. Based on observations, it was concluded that the damage in reinforced concrete buildings was less compared to masonry structures. The number of buildings damaged was high near Kathmandu region due to high building density in that region. This type of damage analysis can be used as a cost effective and quick method for damage assessment during earthquakes.

Keywords: Nepal earthquake, damage analysis, damage assessment, damage scales

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Authors: Kongrat Nokkaew

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This article assessed the surface erosion and stability of cut and fill slope in the excavation of the detention basin, Kalasin Province, Thailand. The large excavation project was built to enlarge detention basin for relieving repeated flooding and drought which usually happen in this area. However, at the end of the 1st rainstorm season, severely erosions slope failures were widespread observed. After investigation, the severity of erosions and slope failure were classified into five level from sheet erosion (Level 1), rill erosion (Level 2, 3), gully erosion (Level 4), and slope failure (Level 5) for proposing slope remediation. The preliminary investigation showed that lack of runoff control were the major factors of the surface erosions while insufficient compacted of the fill slope leaded to slopes failures. The slope stability of four selected slope failure was back calculated by using Simplified Bishop with Seep-W. The result show that factor of safety of slope located on non-plasticity sand was less than one, representing instability of the embankment slope. Such analysis agreed well with the failures observed in the field.

Keywords: surface erosion, slope stability, detention basin, cut and fill

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Authors: Maha E. Ibrahim, Mona Abdel Aziz

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Background: Chronic low back pain (CLBP) in urban communities represents a challenge to healthcare systems worldwide. The traditional biomedical approach to back pain has been particularly inadequate. Failure of the biomedical model to explain the poor correlation between pain and disability on the one hand, and biological and physical factors that explain those symptoms on the other has led to the adoption of the biopsychosocial model, to recognize the reciprocal influence of physical, social and psychological factors implicated in CLBP, a condition that shows higher prevalence among women residing in urban areas. Urban design of the built community has been shown to exert a significant influence on physical and psychological health. However, little research has investigated the relationship between elements of the built environment, and the level of pain and disability of women with CLBP. As Egypt embarks on building a new capital city, and new settlements proliferate, better understanding of this relationship could greatly reduce the economic and human costs of this widespread medical problem for women. Methods: This study was designed as an exploratory mixed qualitative and quantitative study. Twenty-Six women with CLBP living in two neighborhoods in Cairo, different in their urban structure, but adjacent in their locations (Old Maadi and New Maadi) were interviewed using semi-structured interviews (8 from Old Maadi and 18 from New Maadi). Located in the South of Cairo, New Maadi is a neighborhood with the characteristic modern urban style (narrow streets and tall, adjacent buildings), while Old Maadi is known for being greener, quieter and more relaxed than the usual urban districts of Cairo. The interviews examined their perceptions of the built environment, including building shapes and colors and street light, as well as their sense of safety and comfort, and how it affects their physical and psychological health in general, and their back condition in particular. In addition, they were asked to rate their level of pain and to fill the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) to rate their level of disability and psychological status, respectively. Results: Women in both districts had moderate to severe pain and moderate disability with no significant differences between the two districts. However, those living in New Maadi had significantly worse scores on the GHQ-12 than those living in Old Maadi. Most women did not feel that specific elements of the built environment affected their back pain, however, they expressed distress of the elements that were ugly, distorted or damaged, especially where there were no ways of avoiding or fixing them. Furthermore, most women affirmed that the unsightly and uncomfortable elements of their neighborhoods affected their mood states and were a constant source of stress. Conclusion: This exploratory study concludes that elements of the urban built environment do not exert a direct effect on CLBP. However, the perception of women regarding these elements does affect their mood states, and their levels of stress, making them a possible indirect cause of increased suffering in these women.

Keywords: built environment, chronic back pain, disability, urban Cairo

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Authors: Mahdad M’hamed, Belaidi Idir

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This paper develops a meshless approach, called Element Free Galerkin (EFG) method, which is based on the weak form Moving Least Squares (MLS) of the partial differential governing equations and employs the interpolation to construct the meshless shape functions. The variation weak form is used in the EFG where the trial and test functions are approximated bye the MLS approximation. Since the shape functions constructed by this discretization have the weight function property based on the randomly distributed points, the essential boundary conditions can be implemented easily. The local weak form of the partial differential governing equations is obtained by the weighted residual method within the simple local quadrature domain. The spline function with high continuity is used as the weight function. The presently developed EFG method is a truly meshless method, as it does not require the mesh, either for the construction of the shape functions, or for the integration of the local weak form. Several numerical examples of two-dimensional static structural analysis are presented to illustrate the performance of the present EFG method. They show that the EFG method is highly efficient for the implementation and highly accurate for the computation. The present method is used to analyze the static deflection of beams and plate hole

Keywords: numerical computation, element-free Galerkin (EFG), moving least squares (MLS), meshless methods

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Authors: Martina Santobuono, Wing Sze Chan, Elettra D'Amico, Henriette Selck

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Chemicals in modern society are fundamental in many different aspects of daily human life. We use a wide range of substances, including polychlorinated compounds, pesticides, plasticizers, and pharmaceuticals, to name a few. These compounds are excessively produced, and this has led to their introduction to the environment and food resources. Municipal and industrial effluents, landfills, and agricultural runoffs are a few examples of sources of chemical pollution. Many of these compounds, such as pharmaceuticals, have been proven to mimic or alter the performance of the hormone system, thus disrupting its normal function and altering the behavior and reproductive capability of non-target organisms. Antidepressants are pharmaceuticals commonly detected in the environment, usually in the range of ng L⁻¹ and µg L⁻¹. Since they are designed to have a biological effect at low concentrations, they might pose a risk to the native species, especially if exposure lasts for long periods. Hydrophobic antidepressants, like the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) Sertraline, can sorb to the particles in the water column and eventually accumulate in the sediment compartment. Thus, deposit-feeding organisms may be at particular risk of exposure. The polychaete Capitella teleta is widespread in estuarine organically enriched sediments, being a key deposit-feeder involved in geochemistry processes happening in sediments. Since antidepressants are neurotoxic chemicals and endocrine disruptors, the aim of this work was to test if sediment-associated Sertraline impacts burrowing- and feeding behavior as well as reproduction capability in Capitella teleta in a chronic exposure set-up, which could better mimic what happens in the environment. 7 days old juveniles were selected and exposed to different concentrations of Sertraline for an entire generation until the mature stage was reached. This work was able to show that some concentrations of Sertraline altered growth and the time of first reproduction in Capitella teleta juveniles, potentially disrupting the population’s capability of survival. Acknowledgments: This Ph.D. position is part of the CHRONIC project “Chronic exposure scenarios driving environmental risks of Chemicals”, which is an Innovative Training Network (ITN) funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA).

Keywords: antidepressants, Capitella teleta, chronic exposure, endocrine disruption, sublethal endpoints, neurotoxicity

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Authors: Neha Batra Bali, Monika Tomar, Vinay Gupta

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A reagentless biosensor for detection of urea based on ZnO-CuO composite thin film is presented in following work. Biosensors have immense potential for varied applications ranging from environmental to clinical testing, health care, and cell analysis. Immense growth in the field of biosensors is due to the huge requirement in today’s world to develop techniques which are both cost effective and accurate for prevention of disease manifestation. The human body comprises of numerous biomolecules which in their optimum levels are essential for functioning. However mismanaged levels of these biomolecules result in major health issues. Urea is one of the key biomolecules of interest. Its estimation is of paramount significance not only for healthcare sector but also from environmental perspectives. If level of urea in human blood/serum is abnormal, i.e., above or below physiological range (15-40mg/dl)), it may lead to diseases like renal failure, hepatic failure, nephritic syndrome, cachexia, urinary tract obstruction, dehydration, shock, burns and gastrointestinal, etc. Various metal nanoparticles, conducting polymer, metal oxide thin films, etc. have been exploited to act as matrix to immobilize urease to fabricate urea biosensor. Amongst them, Zinc Oxide (ZnO), a semiconductor metal oxide with a wide band gap is of immense interest as an efficient matrix in biosensors by virtue of its natural abundance, biocompatibility, good electron communication feature and high isoelectric point (9.5). In spite of being such an attractive candidate, ZnO does not possess a redox couple of its own which necessitates the use of electroactive mediators for electron transfer between the enzyme and the electrode, thereby causing hindrance in realization of integrated and implantable biosensor. In the present work, an effort has been made to fabricate a matrix based on ZnO-CuO composite prepared by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique in order to incorporate redox properties in ZnO matrix and to utilize the same for reagentless biosensing applications. The prepared bioelectrode Urs/(ZnO-CuO)/ITO/glass exhibits high sensitivity (70µAmM⁻¹cm⁻²) for detection of urea (5-200 mg/dl) with high stability (shelf life ˃ 10 weeks) and good selectivity (interference ˂ 4%). The enhanced sensing response obtained for composite matrix is attributed to the efficient electron exchange between ZnO-CuO matrix and immobilized enzymes, and subsequently fast transfer of generated electrons to the electrode via matrix. The response is encouraging for fabricating reagentless urea biosensor based on ZnO-CuO matrix.

Keywords: biosensor, reagentless, urea, ZnO-CuO composite

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Authors: Rashmi Shukla, Yamini Bhusan Tripathi

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Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is characterized as diabetic kidney disease which involves many pathways e.g. hyperactivated protein kinase c (PKC), polyol pathway, excess production of advanced glycation end product (AGEs) & free radical accumulation etc. All of them results to hypoxia followed by apoptosis of podocytes, glomerulosclerosis, extracellular matrix (ECM) accumulation and fibrosis resulting to irreversible changes in kidney. This is continuously rising worldwide and there are not enough specific drugs, to retard its progress. Due to increasing side effects of allopathic drugs, interest in herbal remedies is growing. Earlier, we have reported that PTY-2 (a phytomedicine, derived from Pueraria tuberosa Linn.) inhibits the accumulation of extracellular matrix (ECM) through activation of MMP-9. Present study exhibited the therapeutic potential of Pueraria tuberosa in the prevention of podocytes apoptosis and modulation of nephrin expression in streptozotocin (STZ) induced DN rats. DN rats were produced by maintaining persistent hyperglycemia for 8 weeks by intra-peritoneal injection of 55 mg/kg streptozotocin (STZ). These rats were randomly divided in 2 groups, i.e. DN control, and DN+ water extract of Pueraria tuberosa (PTW). One group of age-matched normal rats served as non-diabetic control (group-1), The STZ induced DN rats (group-2) and DN+PTW treated rats (group-3). The PTW was orally administered (0.3g/kg) daily to group-2 rats and drug vector (1 ml of 10% tween 20) in control rats. The treatments were continued for 20 days and blood and urine samples were collected. Rats were then sacrificed to investigate the expression Bcl2, Bax and nephroprotective protein i.e. nephrin in kidney glomerulus. The effect of PTW was evaluated, we have found that the PTW significantly(p < .001) reversed the raised serum urea, serum creatinine, urine protein and improved the creatinine clearance in STZ induce diabetic nephropathy in rats and also significantly(p < .001) prevented the rise in urine albumin excretion. The Western blot analysis of kidney tissue homogenate showed increased expression of Bcl2 in PTW treated rats. The RT-PCR showed the increased expression and accumulation of nephrin mRNA. The confocal photomicrographs also supported the reduction of Bax and a simultaneous increase in Bcl2 and nephrin in glomerular podocytes. Hence, our finding suggests that the nephroprotective role of PTW is mediated via restoration of nephrin thus prevents the podocytes apoptosis and ameliorates diabetic nephropathy. The clinical trial of PTW would prove to be a potential food supplement/ drug of alternative medicine for patients with diabetic nephropathy in early stage.

Keywords: Pueraria tuberosa, diabetic nephropathy, anti-apoptosis, nephrin

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Authors: Mark Darius Juszczak

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While epistemology, as a sub-field of philosophy, is generally concerned with theoretical questions about the nature of knowledge, the explosion in digital media technologies has resulted in an exponential increase in the storage and transmission of human information. That increase has resulted in a particular non-linear dynamic – digital epistemological functions are radically altering how and what we know. Neither the rate of that change nor the consequences of it have been well studied or taken into account in developing state-level strategies for epistemological functions. At the current time, US Federal policy, like that of virtually all other countries, maintains, at the national state level, clearly defined boundaries between various epistemological agencies - agencies that, in one way or another, mediate the functional use of knowledge. These agencies can take the form of patent and trademark offices, national library and archive systems, departments of education, departments such as the FTC, university systems and regulations, military research systems such as DARPA, federal scientific research agencies, medical and pharmaceutical accreditation agencies, federal funding for scientific research and legislative committees and subcommittees that attempt to alter the laws that govern epistemological functions. All of these agencies are in the constant process of creating, analyzing, and regulating knowledge. Those processes are, at the most general level, epistemological functions – they act upon and define what knowledge is. At the same time, however, there are no high-level strategic epistemological directives or frameworks that define those functions. The only time in US history where a proxy state-level epistemological strategy existed was between 1961 and 1969 when the Kennedy Administration committed the United States to the Apollo program. While that program had a singular technical objective as its outcome, that objective was so technologically advanced for its day and so complex so that it required a massive redirection of state-level epistemological functions – in essence, a broad and diverse set of state-level agencies suddenly found themselves working together towards a common epistemological goal. This paper does not call for a repeat of the Apollo program. Rather, its purpose is to investigate the minimum structural requirements for a national state-level epistemological strategy in the United States. In addition, this paper also seeks to analyze how the epistemological work of the multitude of national agencies within the United States would be affected by such a high-level framework. This paper is an exploratory study of this type of framework. The primary hypothesis of the author is that such a function is possible but would require extensive re-framing and reclassification of traditional epistemological functions at the respective agency level. In much the same way that, for example, DHS (Department of Homeland Security) evolved to respond to a new type of security threat in the world for the United States, it is theorized that a lack of coordination and alignment in epistemological functions will equally result in a strategic threat to the United States.

Keywords: strategic security, epistemological functions, epistemological agencies, Apollo program

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Authors: Nane Giloyan

Abstract:

The rapid development of social networks in the 21st century increases the interests towards the role and impact of social media on the success or failure of a revolution. Even though studies are investigating the role of social media on the outcome of a revolution, still, the conclusions on this matter are ambiguous so far. Hence, this research aims to investigate the role of social media in the success or failure of a revolution and make a contribution to the literature gap. The study aims to examine the research question whether the use of social media explains the success or failure of revolutions in 2008 and 2018 in Armenia. The research question is investigated through content analysis of two cases; failed revolution in 2008 and the successful revolution in 2018 in Armenia. The secondary data analysis was based on information devoted to two revolutions using local and major international news articles, journal and critical articles, in Armenian, Russian and English, also videos, posts and live streams of the revolutionary leaders. There can be many factors explaining the success or failure of a revolution. However, the investigation of the factors and their role to explain the outcome of a revolution other than the use of social media is beyond the scope of this research study. The study holds other variables constant and concludes that in the cases of 2008 and 2018 revolutions in Armenia the mobilization of society through social media explains the differences in the outcomes (failed or successful). The comparative case study of the revolutions in 2008 and 2018 in Armenia emphasizes the important role and impact of the use of social media on the success or failure of a revolution. The results highlight that the use of the Internet, particularly social media and live streams, by the opposition was the essential difference between two revolutions. Social media platforms, live streams, and communication apps that were absent in the revolutionary situation in 2008 were fundamental to the Armenian Velvet Revolution in 2018. The changes in the situation in favor of the opposition, so the outcome of the protests, were mainly based on the Internet-based mobilization of the society. It is also important to take into consideration that the country experienced a great increase in penetration rates over the decade. The percentage of access to the Internet drastically increased between 2008 and 2018. This fact may help to have a clearer understanding of the use of the Internet and social media by the opposition and the reliance on social media by society. According to the results of the continent analysis, the use of social media to direct the protests and to mobilize the society, have a vital role and positive impact on the outcome of a revolution. Thus the study concludes that it is the use of social media to initiate, organize, and direct the protests that explain the success or failure of two Armenian revolutions.

Keywords: social media, revolution, Armenia, success, failure

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Authors: Pooja Rani, G. S. Mahapatra, S. K. Pandey

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In this paper, we propose a novel approach of Neural Network and Particle Swarm Optimization methods for software reliability prediction. We first explain how to apply compound function in neural network so that we can derive a Flexible Logistic (S-shaped) Growth Curve (FLGC) model. This model mathematically represents software failure as a random process and can be used to evaluate software development status during testing. To avoid trapping in local minima, we have applied Particle Swarm Optimization method to train proposed model using failure test data sets. We drive our proposed model using computational based intelligence modeling. Thus, proposed model becomes Neuro-Particle Swarm Optimization (NPSO) model. We do test result with different inertia weight to update particle and update velocity. We obtain result based on best inertia weight compare along with Personal based oriented PSO (pPSO) help to choose local best in network neighborhood. The applicability of proposed model is demonstrated through real time test data failure set. The results obtained from experiments show that the proposed model has a fairly accurate prediction capability in software reliability.

Keywords: software reliability, flexible logistic growth curve model, software cumulative failure prediction, neural network, particle swarm optimization

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Authors: M. M. Wickramasinghe

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Cholesterol and triglycerides are lipids, mainly essential to maintain the cellular structure of the human body. Cholesterol is also important for hormone production, vitamin D production, proper digestion functions, and strengthening the immune system. Excess fats in the blood circulation, known as hyperlipidemia, become harmful leading to arterial clogging and causing atherosclerosis. Aim of this research is to develop a treatment protocol to efficiently break down and maintain circulatory lipids by improving blood circulation without strenuous physical exercises while immersed in a tub of water. To achieve the target of strong exercise effect, this method involves generating powerful ozone bubbles to spin, collide, and burst in the water. Powerful emission of air into water is capable of transferring locked energy of the water molecules and releasing energy. This method involves water and air-based impact generated by pumping ozone at the speed of 46 lts/sec with a concentration of 0.03-0.05 ppt according to safety standards of The Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices, BfArM, Germany. The direct impact of ozone bubbles on the muscular system and skin becomes the main target and is capable of increasing the heart rate while immersed in water. A total time duration of 20 minutes is adequate to exert a strong exercise effect, improve blood circulation, and stimulate the nervous and endocrine systems. Unstable ozone breakdown into oxygen release onto the surface of the water giving additional benefits and supplying high-quality air rich in oxygen required to maintain efficient metabolic functions. The breathing technique was introduced to improve the efficiency of lung functions and benefit the air exchange mechanism. The temperature of the water is maintained at 39c to 40c to support arterial dilation and enzyme functions and efficiently improve blood circulation to the vital organs. The buoyancy of water and natural hydrostatic pressure release the tension of the body weight and relax the mind and body. Sufficient hydration (3lts of water per day) is an essential requirement to transport nutrients and remove waste byproducts to process through the liver, kidney, and skin. Proper nutritional intake is an added advantage to optimize the efficiency of this method which aids in a fast recovery process. Within 20-30 days of daily treatment, triglycerides, low-density lipoproteins (LDL), and total cholesterol reduction were observed in patients with abnormal levels of lipid profile. Borderline patients were cleared within 10–15 days of treatment. This is a highly efficient system that provides many benefits and is able to achieve a successful reduction of triglycerides, LDL, and total cholesterol within a short period of time. Supported by proper hydration and nutritional balance, this system of natural treatment maintains healthy levels of lipids in the blood and avoids the risk of cerebral stroke, high blood pressure, and heart attacks.

Keywords: atherosclerosis, cholesterol, hydrotherapy, hyperlipidemia, lipid management, ozone therapy, triglycerides

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Authors: Monapat Sasingha, Suttisak Soralump

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This research presents the behavior of slope of the road along the canal stabilized by short piles. In this investigation, the centrifuge machine was used, modelling the condition of the water levels in the canal. The centrifuge tests were performed at 35 g. To observe the movement of the soil, visual analysis was performed to evaluate the failure behavior. Conclusively, the use of short piles to stabilize the canal slope proved to be an effective solution. However, the certain amount of settlement was found behind the short pile rows.

Keywords: centrifuge test, slope failure, embankment, stability of slope

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Authors: Fahad Raj Khan, Suleman Khan

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There is a lack of consensus about the predictive value of raised blood glucose levels in terms of major adverse cardiac events (MACEs) in non-diabetic patients admitted for acute decompensated heart failure. The purpose of this research was to examine the long-term prognosis of acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) in non-diabetic persons who had increased blood glucose levels, i.e., stress hyperglycemia, at the time of their ADHF hospitalization. The research involved 650 non-diabetic patients. Based on their admission stress hyperglycemia, they were divided into two groups.ie with and without (SHGL). The two groups' one-year outcomes for major adverse cardiac events (MACEs) were compared, and key predictors of MACEs were discovered. For statistical analysis, the two-tailed Mann-Whitney U test, Fisher's exact test, and binary logistic regression analysis were utilized. SHGL was found in 353 (54.3%) individuals. It was more frequent in men than in women. About 27% of patients with SHGL had previously been admitted for ADHF. Almost 62% were hypertensive, whereas 14 % had CKD. MACEs were significantly predicted by SHGL, HTN, prior hospitalization for ADHF, CKD, and cardiogenic shock upon admission. SHGL at the time of ADHF admission, independent of DM status, may be a predictive indication of MACEs.

Keywords: stress hyperglycemia, acute heart failure, major adverse cardiac events, MACEs

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Authors: Thomais Tsoulia, Arvind Y. M. Sundaram, Stine Braaen, Øyvind Haugland, Espen Rimstad, Øystein Wessel, Maria K. Dahle

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Fish red blood cells (RBC) are nucleated, and in addition to their function in gas exchange, they have been characterized as mediators of immune responses. Salmonid RBC are the major target cells of Piscineorthoreovirus (PRV), a virus associated with heart and skeletal muscle inflammation (HSMI) in farmed Atlantic salmon. The activation of antiviral response genesin RBChas previously been described in ex vivo and in vivo PRV-infection models, but not explored in the initial virus encounter phase. In the present study, mRNA transcriptome responses were explored in erythrocytes from individual fish, kept ex vivo, and exposed to purified PRV for 24 hours. The responses were compared to responses in macrophage-like salmon head kidney (SHK-1) and endothelial-like Atlantic salmon kidney (ASK) cells, none of which support PRV replication. The comparative analysis showed that the antiviral response to PRV was strongest in the SHK-1 cells, with a set of 80 significantly induced genes (≥ 2-fold upregulation). In RBC, 46 genes were significantly upregulated, while ASK cells were not significantly responsive. In particular, the transcriptome analysis of RBC revealed that PRV significantly induced interferon regulatory factor 1 (IRF1) and interferon-induced protein with tetratricopeptide repeats 5-like (IFIT9). However, several interferon-regulated antiviral genes which have previously been reported upregulated in PRV infected RBC in vivo (myxovirus resistance (Mx), interferon-stimulated gene 15 (ISG15), toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3)), were not significantly induced after 24h of virus stimulation. In contrast to RBC, these antiviral response genes were significantly upregulated in SHK-1. These results confirm that RBC are involved in the innate immune response to viruses, but with a delayed antiviral response compared to SHK-1. A notable difference is that interferon regulatory factor 1 (IRF-1) is the most strongly induced gene in RBC, but not among the significantly induced genes in SHK-1. Putative differences in the binding, recognition, and response to PRV, and any link to effects on the ability of PRV to replicate remains to be explored.

Keywords: antiviral responses, atlantic salmon, piscine orthoreovirus-1, red blood cells, RNA-seq

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Authors: Arielle Ferdinand

Abstract:

A plant-based diet focuses on foods from plant sources, limiting or altogether omitting animal products. Some of the most common chronic illnesses seen in primary care are hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes type II. These common chronic illnesses can often be debilitating, costly, time-consuming, and, when left untreated, can lead to an early death. Treatment and maintenance of care are also labor intensive for the patient. They are often required to have at least four blood pressure checks yearly and a hemoglobin A1C checked quarterly. Though preventative interventions and prevention education should be included in patient visits in the primary care setting, education about dietary interventions, such as a plant-based diet, also yields positive outcomes for patients who already have hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes mellitus type 2. Evidence will show that incorporating a plant-based diet results in decreased blood pressure, as well as decreased levels of LDL-C, improved post-prandial glucose levels, and a reduction in HbA1C. It is cost-effective for the patient by generally lower grocery costs, and it can either reduce or prevent the need to pay for more office visits and pharmacotherapy. Incorporating this method of dietary changes is an easy intervention during a primary care office visit that would greatly benefit the patient in many ways.

Keywords: plant-based, nutrition, diabetes, hyperlipidemia

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Authors: Jinyong Yao, Hongzhi Li, Chao Du, Jiao Li

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Reliability of long-term storage products is related to the availability of the whole system, and the evaluation of storage life is of great necessity. These products are usually highly reliable and little failure information can be collected. In this paper, an analytical method based on data from accelerated storage life test is proposed to evaluate the reliability index of the long-term storage products. Firstly, singularities are eliminated by data normalization and residual analysis. Secondly, with the pre-processed data, the degradation path model is built to obtain the pseudo life values. Then by life distribution hypothesis, we can get the estimator of parameters in high stress levels and verify failure mechanisms consistency. Finally, the life distribution under the normal stress level is extrapolated via the acceleration model and evaluation of the true average life available. An application example with the camera stabilization device is provided to illustrate the methodology we proposed.

Keywords: accelerated storage life test, failure mechanisms consistency, life distribution, reliability

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Authors: Tan Yong Sheng Edgar, Yeong Wai Yee

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Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is one of the leading cause of blindness. It can cause severe visual loss due to damaged retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). RPE is an important component of the retinal tissue. It functions as a transducing boundary for visual perception making it an essential factor for sight. The RPE also functions as a metabolically complex and functional cell layer that is responsible for the local homeostasis and maintenance of the extra photoreceptor environment. Thus one of the suggested method of treating such diseases would be regenerating these RPE cells. As such, we intend to grow these cells using a synthetic scaffold to provide a stable environment that reduces the batch effects found in natural scaffolds. Stiffness of the scaffold will also be investigated to determine the optimal Young’s modulus for cultivating these cells. The cells will be generated into a monolayer cell sheet and their functions such as formation of tight junctions and gene expression patterns will be assessed to evaluate the cell sheet quality compared to a native RPE tissue.

Keywords: RPE, scaffold, characterization, biomaterials, colloids and nanomedicine

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Authors: Prakash Singh

Abstract:

Schools throughout the world are facing increasing challenges in dealing with school violence and drug abuse by pupils. Therefore, the question of the fear of failure to meet the aims and objectives of education inevitably surfaces as it places increasing and challenging demands on educators and all other stakeholders to address this malaise. Multiple studies on the construct tobephobia (TBP) simply define TBP as the fear of failure in education. This study is a continuation of the exploratory studies on the manifestation of fear in education. The primary purpose of this study was to establish how TBP, caused by school violence and drug abuse affects teaching and learning in our schools. The qualitative research method was used for this study. Teachers admitted that they fear for their safety at school. Working in a fearful situation places a high rate of stress and anxiety on them. Tobephobic educators spend most of their time worrying about their fear of violence and drug abuse by pupils and are too frightened to carry out their normal duties. They prefer to stay in familiar surroundings for fear of being attacked by inebriated learners. This study, therefore, contributes to our understanding of the effects of TBP in our schools caused by school violence and drug abuse. Also, this study supplements the evidence accumulated over the past fifteen years that TBP is not a figment of someone’s imagination; it is a gruesome reality affecting the very foundation of our educational system globally to provide quality and equal education to all our learners in a harmonious, collegial school environment.

Keywords: tobephobia, tobephobic educators, fear of failure in education, school violence, drug abuse

Procedia PDF Downloads 468