Search results for: interval type-2 fuzzy rough set

Authors: Surabhi Gautam, Uma Kumar, Rima Dada

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A sustained acute-phase response in Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is associated with increased joint damage and inflammation leading to progressive disability. It is induced continuously by consecutive stimuli of proinflammatory cytokines, following a wide range of pathophysiological reactions, leading to increased synthesis of acute phase proteins like C - reactive protein (CRP) and dysregulation in levels of immunomodulatory soluble Human Leukocyte Antigen-G (HLA-G) molecule. This study was designed to explore the effect of yoga and meditation based lifestyle intervention (YMLI) on inflammatory markers in RA patients. Blood samples of 50 patients were collected at baseline (day 0) and after 30 days of YMLI. Patients underwent a pretested YMLI under the supervision of a certified yoga instructor for 30 days including different Asanas (physical postures), Pranayama (breathing exercises), and Dhayna (meditation). Levels of CRP, IL-6, IL-17A, soluble HLA-G and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) were measured at day 0 and 30 interval. Parameters of disease activity, disability quotient, pain acuity and quality of life were also assessed by disease activity score (DAS28), health assessment questionnaire (HAQ), visual analogue scale (VAS), and World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-BREF) respectively. There was reduction in mean levels of CRP (p < 0.05), IL-6 (interleukin-6) (p < 0.05), IL-17A (interleukin-17A) (p < 0.05) and ESR (p < 0.05) and elevation in soluble HLA-G (p < 0.05) at 30 days compared to baseline level (day 0). There was reduction seen in DAS28-ESR (p < 0.05), VAS (p < 0.05) and HAQ (p < 0.05) after 30 days with respect to the base line levels (day 0) and significant increase in WHOQOL-BREF scale (p < 0.05) in all 4 domains of physical health, psychological health, social relationships, and environmental health. The present study has demonstrated that yoga practices are associated with regression of inflammatory processes by reducing inflammatory parameters and regulating the levels of soluble HLA-G significantly in active RA patients. Short term YMLI has significantly improved pain perception, disability quotient, disease activity and quality of life. Thus this simple life style intervention can reduce disease severity and dose of drugs used in the treatment of RA.

Keywords: inflammation, quality of life, rheumatoid arthritis, yoga and meditation

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Authors: Vu Hoang Thu Huong

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Background and Purpose: The effects of Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy (ESWT) in the participants with knee osteoarthritis (KOA) were unclear on physical performance although its effects on pain had been investiagted. This study aims to explore the effects of ESWT on pain relief and physical performance on KOA. Methods: The studies with the randomized controlled design to investigate the effects of ESWT on KOA were systematically searched using inclusion and exclusion criteria through seven electronic databases including Pubmed etc. between 1990 and Dec 2022. To summarize those data, visual analog scale (VAS) or pain scores were determined for measure of pain intensity. Range of knee motion, or the scores of physical activities including Lequesne index (LI), Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS), and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) were determined for measure of physical performances. The first evaluate after treatment period was define as the effect of post-treatment period or immediately effect; and the last evaluate was defined as the effect of following period or the end effect in our study. Data analysis was performed using RevMan 5.4.1 software. A significant level was set at p<0.05. Results: Eight studies (number of participant= 499) reporting the ESWT effects on mild-to-moderate severity (Grades I to III Kellgren–Lawrence) of KOA were qualified for meta-analysis. Compared with sham or placebo group, the ESWT group had a significant decrease of VAS rest score (0.90[0.12~1.67] as mean difference [95% confidence interval]) and pain score WOMAC (2.49[1.22~3.76]), and a significant improvement of physical performance with a decrease of the scores of WOMAC activities (8.18[3.97~12.39]), LI (3.47[1.68~5.26]), and KOOS (5.87[1.73~ 10.00]) in the post-treatment period. There were also a significant decrease of WOMAC pain score (2.83[2.12~3.53]) and a significant decrease of the scores of WOMAC activities (9.47[7.65~11.28]) and LI (4.12[2.34 to 5.89]) in the following period. Besides, compared with other treatment groups, ESWT also displayed the improvement in pain and physical performance, but it is not significant. Conclusions: The ESWT was effective and valuable method in pain relief as well as in improving physical activities in the participants with mild-to-moderate KOA. Clinical Relevance: There are the effects of ESWT on pain relief and the improvement of physical performance in the with KOA.

Keywords: knee osteoarthritis, extracorporeal shockwave therapy, pain relief, physical performance, shockwave

Procedia PDF Downloads 51

Authors: A. Díaz-Roa, P. I. Silva Junior, F. J. Bello

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Sarconesiopsis magellanica (Diptera: Calliphoridae) is a medically important necrophagous fly which is used for establishing the post-mortem interval. Dipterous maggots release diverse proteins and peptides contained in larval excretion and secretion (ES) products playing a key role in digestion. The most important mechanism for combating infection using larval therapy depends on larval ES. These larvae are protected against infection by a diverse spectrum of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), one already known like lucifensin. Special interest in these peptides has also been aroused regarding understanding their role in wound healing since they degrade necrotic tissue and kill different bacteria during larval therapy. The action of larvae on wounds occurs through 3 mechanisms of action: removal of necrotic tissue, stimulation of granulation tissue, and antibacterial action of larval ES. Some components of the ES include calcium, urea, allantoin ammonium bicarbonate and reducing the viability of Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria. The Lucilia sericata fly larvae have been the most used, however, we need to evaluate new species that could potentially be similar or more effective than fly above. This study was thus aimed at identifying and characterizing S. magellanica AMPs contained in ES products for the first time and compared them with the common fly used L. sericata. These products were obtained from third-instar larvae taken from a previously established colony. For the first analysis, ES fractions were separate by Sep-Pak C18 disposable columns (first step). The material obtained was fractionated by RP-HPLC by using Júpiter C18 semi-preparative column. The products were then lyophilized and their antimicrobial activity was characterized by incubation with different bacterial strains. The first chromatographic analysis of ES from L. sericata gives 6 fractions with antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive bacteria Micrococus luteus, and 3 fractions with activity against Gram-negative bacteria Pseudomonae aeruginosa while the one from S. magellanica gaves 1 fraction against M. luteus and 4 against P. aeruginosa. Maybe one of these fractions could correspond to the peptide already known from L. sericata. These results show the first work for supporting further experiments aimed at validating S. magellanica use in larval therapy. We still need to search if we find some new molecules, by making mass spectrometry and ‘de novo sequencing’. Further studies are necessary to identify and characterize them to better understand their functioning.

Keywords: antimicrobial peptides, larval therapy, Lucilia sericata, Sarconesiopsis magellanica

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Authors: Md. Khayrul Bashar, Md. Saiful Islam, Kimiko Yamashita, Yano Midori

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Despite having some progress in human authentication, conventional biometrics (e.g., facial features, fingerprints, retinal scans, gait, voice patterns) are not robust against falsification because they are neither confidential nor secret to an individual. As a non-invasive tool, electrocardiogram (ECG) has recently shown a great potential in human recognition due to its unique rhythms characterizing the variability of human heart structures (chest geometry, sizes, and positions). Moreover, ECG has a real-time vitality characteristic that signifies the live signs, which ensure legitimate individual to be identified. However, the detection accuracy of the current ECG-based methods is not sufficient due to a high variability of the individual’s heartbeats at a different instance of time. These variations may occur due to muscle flexure, the change of mental or emotional states, and the change of sensor positions or long-term baseline shift during the recording of ECG signal. In this study, a new method is proposed for human identification, which is based on the extraction of the local roughness of ECG heartbeat signals. First ECG signal is preprocessed using a second order band-pass Butterworth filter having cut-off frequencies of 0.00025 and 0.04. A number of local binary patterns are then extracted by applying a moving neighborhood window along the ECG signal. At each instant of the ECG signal, the pattern is formed by comparing the ECG intensities at neighboring time points with the central intensity in the moving window. Then, binary weights are multiplied with the pattern to come up with the local roughness description of the signal. Finally, histograms are constructed that describe the heartbeat signals of individual subjects in the database. One advantage of the proposed feature is that it does not depend on the accuracy of detecting QRS complex, unlike the conventional methods. Supervised recognition methods are then designed using minimum distance to mean and Bayesian classifiers to identify authentic human subjects. An experiment with sixty (60) ECG signals from sixty adult subjects from National Metrology Institute of Germany (NMIG) - PTB database, showed that the proposed new method is promising compared to a conventional interval and amplitude feature-based method.

Keywords: human identification, ECG biometrics, local roughness patterns, supervised classification

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Authors: Samia A. El-Fiky, F. A. Abou-Zaid, Ibrahim M. Farag, Naira M. Efiky

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Clomipramine hydrochloride is one of the most used tricyclic antidepressant drug in Egypt. This drug contains in its chemical structure on two benzene rings. Benzene is considered to be toxic and clastogenic agent. So, the present study was designed to assess the genotoxic effect of Clomipramine hydrochloride on somatic and germ cells in mice. Three dose levels 0.195 (Low), 0.26 (Medium), and 0.65 (High) mg/kg.b.wt. were used. Seven groups of male mice were utilized in this work. The first group was employed as a control. In the remaining six groups, each of the above doses was orally administrated for two groups, one of them was treated for 5 days and the other group was given the same dose for 30 days. At the end of experiments, the animals were sacrificed for cytogenetic and sperm examination as well as histopathological investigations by using hematoxylin and eosin stains (H and E stains) and electron microscope. Concerning the sperm studies, these studies were confined to 5 days treatment with different dose levels. Moreover, the ultrastructural investigation by electron microscope was restricted to 30 days treatment with drug doses. The results of the dose dependent effect of Clomipramine showed that the treatment with three different doses induced increases of frequencies of chromosome aberrations in bone marrow and spermatocyte cells as compared to control. In addition, mitotic and meiotic activities of somatic and germ cells were declined. The treatments with medium or high doses were more effective for inducing significant increases of chromosome aberrations and significant decreases of cell divisions than treatment with low dose. The effect of high dose was more pronounced for causing such genetic deleterious in respect to effect of medium dose. Moreover, the results of the time dependent effect of Clomipramine observed that the treatment with different dose levels for 30 days led to significant increases of genetic aberrations than treatment for 5 days. Sperm examinations revealed that the treatment with Clomipramine at different dose levels caused significant increase of sperm shape abnormalities and significant decrease in sperm count as compared to control. The adverse effects on sperm shape and count were more obviousness by using the treatments with medium or high doses than those found in treatment with low dose. The group of mice treated with high dose had the highest rate of sperm shape abnormalities and the lowest proportion of sperm count as compared to mice received medium dose. In histopathological investigation, hematoxylin and eosin stains showed that, the using of low dose of Clomipramine for 5 or 30 days caused a little pathological changes in liver tissue. However, using medium and high doses for 5 or 30 days induced severe damages than that observed in mice treated with low dose. The treatment with high dose for 30 days gave the worst results of pathological changes in hepatic cells. Moreover, ultrastructure examination revealed, the mice treated with low dose of Clomipramine had little differences in liver histological architecture as compared to control group. These differences were confined to cytoplasmic inclusions. Whereas, prominent pathological changes in nuclei as well as dilated of rough Endoplasmic Reticulum (rER) were observed in mice treated with medium or high doses of Clomipramine drug. In conclusion, the present study adds evidence that treatments with medium or high doses of Clomipramine have genotoxic effects on somatic and germ cells of mice, as unwanted side effects. However, the using of low dose (especially for short time, 5 days) can be utilized as a therapeutic dose, where it caused relatively similar proportions of genetic, sperm, and histopathological changes as those found in normal control.

Keywords: clomipramine, mice, chromosome aberrations, sperm abnormalities, histopathology

Procedia PDF Downloads 396

Authors: Xiquan Weng, Chaoge Wang, Guoqin Xu, Wentao Lin

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Objective: Cold exposure and exercise serve as two powerful physiological stimuli to launch the conversion of fat-accumulating white adipose tissue (WAT) into energy-dissipating brown adipose tissue (BAT). So far, it remains to be elucidated whether exercise plus cold exposure can produce an addictive effect on promoting WAT browning. Methods: 64 SD rats were subjected to high-fat and high-sugar diets for 9-week and successfully established an obesity model. They were randomly divided into 8 groups: normal control group (NC), normal exercise group (NE), continuous cold control group (CC), continuous cold exercise group (CE), intermittent cold control group (IC) and intermittent cold exercise group (IE). For continuous cold exposure, the rats stayed in a cold environment all day; For intermittent cold exposure, the rats were exposed to cold for only 4h per day. The protocol for treadmill exercises were as follows: 25m/min (speed), 0°C (slope), 30mins each time, an interval for 10 mins between two exercises, twice/two days, lasting for 5 weeks. Sampling were conducted on the 5th weekend. The body length and weight of the rats were measured, and the Lee's index was calculated. The visceral fat rate (VFR), subcutaneous fat rate (SFR), brown fat rate (BrFR) and body fat rate (BoFR) were measured by Micro-CT LCT200, and the expression of UCP1 protein in inguinal fat was examined by Western-blot. SPSS 22.0 was used for statistical analysis of the experimental results, and the ANOVA analysis was performed between groups (P < 0.05 was significant). Results: (1) Compared with the NC group, the weight of obese rats was significantly declined in the NE, CE and IE groups (P < 0.05), the Lee's index of obese rats significantly declined in the CE group (P < 0.05). Compared with the NE group, the weight of obese rats was significantly declined in the CE and IE groups (P < 0.05). (2)Compared with the NC group, the VFR and BoFR of the rats significantly declined in the NE, CE and IE groups (P < 0.05), the SFR of the rats significantly declined in the CE and IE groups (P < 0.05), and the BFR of the rats was significantly higher in the CC and IC groups (P < 0.05), respectively. Compared with the NE group, the VFR and BoFR of the rats significantly declined in the CE group (P < 0.05), the SFR of the rats was significantly higher in the CC and IS groups (P < 0.05), and the BrFR of the rats was significantly higher in the IC group (P < 0.05). (3)Compared with the NC group, the up-regulation of UCP1 protein expression in the inguinal fat of the rats was significant in the NE, CC, CE, IC and IE groups (P < 0.05). Compared with the NE group, the up-regulation of UCP1 protein expression in the inguinal fat of the rats was significant in the CC, CE and IE groups (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Exercise in the continuous and intermittent cold, especially in the former, can effectively decline the weight and body fat rate of obese rats. This is related to the effect of cold and exercise on the browning of white fat in rats.

Keywords: cold, browning of white fat, exercise, obesity

Procedia PDF Downloads 111

Authors: Michael N. O'Sullivan, Con Sheahan

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Mass customization is the idea of offering custom products or services to satisfy the needs of each individual customer while maintaining the efficiency of mass production. Technologies like 3D printing and artificial intelligence have many start-ups hoping to capitalize on this dream of creating personalized products at an affordable price, and well established companies scrambling to innovate and maintain their market share. However, the majority of them are failing as they struggle to understand one key question – where does customization make sense? Customization and personalization only make sense where the value of the perceived benefit outweighs the cost to implement it. In other words, will people pay for it? Looking at the Kano Model makes it clear that it depends on the product. In products where customization is an inherent need, like prosthetics, mass customization technologies can be highly beneficial. However, for products that already sell as a standard, like headphones, offering customization is likely only an added bonus, and so the product development team must figure out if the customers’ perception of the added value of this feature will outweigh its premium price tag. This can be done through the use of a ‘serious game,’ whereby potential customers are given a limited budget to collaboratively buy and bid on potential features of the product before it is developed. If the group choose to buy customization over other features, then the product development team should implement it into their design. If not, the team should prioritize the features on which the customers have spent their budget. The level of customization purchased can also be translated to an appropriate production method, for example, the most expensive type of customization would likely be free-form design and could be achieved through digital fabrication, while a lower level could be achieved through short batch production. Twenty-five teams of final year students from design, engineering, construction and technology tested this methodology when bringing a product from concept through to production specification, and found that it allowed them to confidently decide what level of customization, if any, would be worth offering for their product, and what would be the best method of producing it. They also found that the discussion and negotiations between players during the game led to invaluable insights, and often decided to play a second game where they offered customers the option to buy the various customization ideas that had been discussed during the first game.

Keywords: Kano model, mass customization, new product development, serious game

Procedia PDF Downloads 107

Authors: Aaron Kim, Nydia Hernandez

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Despite the known deficits in sleep duration among adolescents and the increasing prevalence of substance use behaviors among this group, relatively little is known about how insufficient sleep is related to various substance use behaviors and the underlying mechanisms. Informed by the literature suggesting the predictive role of insufficient sleep for substance use and depressive symptoms, we hypothesized that adolescents who lack sufficient sleep during school nights would report a higher level of depressive symptoms and substance use than their counterparts with sufficient sleep. We also hypothesized that depressive symptoms would explain the association of insufficient sleep with substance use, suggesting that mental health plays an important role as a mechanism between insufficient sleep and substance use. This study used the data drawn from the 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System Data, which includes a nationally representative sample of U.S. high school students (N=13,677, 49.4% Female, 9th-12th graders). Self-report measures of insufficient sleep (sleeping<7 h on an average school night), depressive symptoms (yes/no), any past 30-day use of cigarette (yes/no), e-cigarette (yes/no), alcohol (yes/no), and marijuana (yes/no). Among the total sample, 47.9% of students reported that they did not have sufficient sleep on school nights, indicating sleeping less than 7 hours. Regarding depressive symptoms, 36.7% of students reported feeling sad or hopeless almost every day for two weeks or more in a row during the past 12 months. Also, the percentages of students who reported one or more times of cigarette use, e-cigarette use, alcohol use, and marijuana use in the past month were 5.32%, 30.11%, 26.83%, and 21.65%, respectively. For bivariate associations among these study variables, insufficient sleep was positively associated with other variables: depressive symptoms (r=.08, p<.001), cigarette use (r=.03, p<.001), e-cigarette use (r=.04, p<.001), alcohol use (r=.07, p<.001), and marijuana use (r=.08, p<.001). After controlling for students’ characteristics (i.e., age, gender, race/ethnicity, grades), sleeping less than 7 hours on school nights (vs. sleeping more than 7 hours) was significantly associated with the past 30-day use of alcohol and marijuana, whereas cigarette and e-cigarette uses were not. That is, the students who reported having an insufficient sleep on school nights had higher odds of alcohol (Odds Ratio [OR]=1.15, 95% Confidence Interval [CI]=1.014-1.301) and marijuana use (OR=1.36, 95% CI=1.132-1.543). In a subsequent analysis including depressive symptoms together with insufficient sleep, the association of insufficient sleep with alcohol use (OR=1.13, 95% CI=1.011-1.297) and marijuana use (OR=1.33, 95% CI=1.130-1.521) were attenuated and explained by depressive symptoms. Depressive symptoms significantly increased the odds of alcohol use by 32.2% (OR=1.32, 95% CI=1.131-1.557) and marijuana use by 202.1% (OR=2.02, 95% CI=1.672-2.502). These findings together suggest that insufficient sleep may contribute to increased risks of substance uses among adolescents. The current study also shows that psychological disorders of adolescents play important roles in understanding the association between insufficient sleep and substance use, suggesting insufficient sleep is related to substance use indirectly through depressive symptoms. This study indicates the importance of sleep deprivation among adolescents and screening for insufficient sleep in preventing/intervening in substance use.

Keywords: adolescents, depressive symptoms, sleep, substance use

Procedia PDF Downloads 79

Authors: Getenet Dessie, Jinhu Li, Son Nghiem, Tinh Doan

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Background: Concerns regarding malnutrition have evolved from focusing solely on single forms to addressing the simultaneous occurrence of multiple types, commonly referred to as the double or triple burden of malnutrition. Nevertheless, data concerning the concurrent occurrence of various types of malnutrition are scarce. Therefore, this systematic review and meta-analysis aims to assess the pooled prevalence of the double burden of malnutrition among children under five in Sub-Saharan Africa and other least-developed countries (LDCs). Methods: Electronic, web-based searches were conducted from January 15 to June 28, 2023, across several databases, including PubMed, Embase, Google Scholar, and the World Health Organization's Hinari portal, as well as other search engines, to identify primary studies published up to June 28, 2023. Laboratory-based cross-sectional studies on children under the age of five were included. Two independent authors assessed the risk of bias and the quality of the identified articles. The primary outcomes of this study were micronutrient deficiencies and the comorbidity of stunting and anemia, as well as wasting and anemia. The random-effects model was utilized for analysis. The association of identified variables with the various forms of malnutrition was also assessed using adjusted odds ratios (AOR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI). This review was registered in PROSPERO with the reference number CRD42023409483. Findings: The electronic search generated 6,087 articles, 93 of which matched the inclusion criteria for the final meta-analysis. Micronutrient deficiencies were prevalent among children under five in Sub-Saharan Africa and other LDCs, with rates ranging from 16.63% among 25,169 participants for vitamin A deficiency to 50.90% among 3,936 participants for iodine deficiency. Iron deficiency anemia affected 20.56% of the 63,121 participants. The combined prevalence of wasting anemia and stunting anemia was 5.41% among 64,709 participants and 19.98% among 66,016 participants, respectively. Both stunting and vitamin A supplementation were associated with vitamin A and iron deficiencies, with adjusted odds ratios (AOR) of 1.54 (95% CI: 1.01, 2.37) and 1.37 (95% CI: 1.21, 1.55), respectively. Interpretation: The prevalence of the double burden of malnutrition among children under the age of five was notably high in Sub-Saharan Africa and other LDCs. These findings indicate a need for increased attention and a focus on understanding the factors influencing this double burden of malnutrition.

Keywords: children, Sub-Saharan Africa, least developed countries, double burden of malnutrition, systematic review, meta-analysis

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Authors: Md. Abdul Karim, Syed Imran Ahmed, Pandora T. Hardtman

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Informed consent is one of the basic human and ethical rights for childbearing women. It plays a central role in promoting informed decision making between patients and service providers during the labor process. It gives mothers rights to accept or reject any examination and/or procedure, increases the respect and dignity of the mother during pregnancy, delivery and postpartum care. To assess the practices of this right during normal vaginal delivery and immediate postpartum care in tertiary level hospital setting in Bangladesh, a quantitative study with cross-sectional design was conducted in Dhaka Medical College & Hospital (DMCH) and Sir Salimullah Medical College & Mitford Hospital (SSMCH) in Dhaka in November 2015. A prevalence-based sample size of 190 was calculated where prevalence, confidence interval and level of significance were at 9.7%, 98% and 5% respectively. The respondents were the mothers who gave normal vaginal childbirth within past 24 hours and received postpartum care there. They were selected through systematic random sampling technique and their face-to-face interview of 190 mothers was done using a structured questionnaire. Data were entered into the spreadsheet (MS Excel 2013 version) and descriptive analysis of findings was done. The result shows the complete absence of informed consent practices and mostly absence of consented care such as right to information, respect for choices of preferences for examination and/or procedure of childbearing women. Although 95% of the mothers were informed that they were being proceeded with normal vaginal delivery, their choice of preference was absent during the process. Only consent (not informed consent) was taken from 50%-72% mothers for examination (except breast examination ‘0%’) and 8%-83% for any procedures during postpartum care. Only one-ninth (11%) of the mothers could ask service providers regarding the services they received. No consent was taken from 3% of the mothers- neither in the labor process nor in postpartum care. This current practice doesn’t comply with the Respectful Maternity Care (RMC) Charter 2011. The issue is not even clarified in the current Standard Clinical Management Protocols of the country. So, improvement of the existing protocol and increased awareness are essential to address this right of child-bearing women and to practice it during normal vaginal delivery and postpartum care.

Keywords: informed consent, normal vaginal delivery, respectful maternity care, tertiary level hospital

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Authors: İlhami Karahanoglu, Oguz Ceylan

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As its well-known definitions; systemic risk refers to whole economic system down-turn movement even collapse together in very severe cases. In fact, it points out the contagion effects of the defaults. Such a risk is can be depicted with the famous Chinese game of falling domino stones. During and after the Bear & Sterns and Lehman Brothers cases, it was well understood that there is a very strong effect of systemic risk in financial services sector. In this study, we concentrate on the existence of systemic risk in Turkish Banking Sector based upon the Halkbank Case during the end month of 2013; there was a political turmoil in Turkey in which the close relatives of the upper politicians were involved in illegal trading activities. In that operation, the CEO of Halkbank was also arrested and in investigation, Halkbank was considered as part of such illegal actions. That operation had an impact on Halkbanks stock value. The Halkbank stock value during that time interval decreased remarkably, the distributional profile of stock return changed and became more volatile as well as more skewed. In this study, the daily returns of 5 leading banks in Turkish banking sector were used to obtain 48 return distributions (for each month, 90-days-back stock value returns are used) of 5 banks for the period 12/2011-12/2013 (pre operation period) and 12/2013-12/2015 (post operation period). When those distributions are compared with timely manner, interestingly; the distribution of the 5 other leading banks in Turkey, public or private, had also distribution profiles which was different from the past 2011-2013 period just like Halkbank. Those 5 big banks, whose stock values are monitored with sub index in Istanbul stock exchange (BIST) as BN10, had more skewed distribution just following the Halkbank stock return movement during the post operation period, with lover mean value and as well higher volatility. In addition, the correlation between the stock value return distributions of the leading banks after Halkbank case, where the returns are more skewed to the left, increased (which is measured in monthly base before and after the operation). The dependence between those banks was stronger under the case where the stock values were falling compared with the normal market condition. Such distributional effect of stock returns between the leading banks in Turkey, which is valid for down sub-market (financial/banking sector) condition, can be evaluated as an evidence for the existence of contagious effect and systemic risk.

Keywords: financial risk, systemic risk, banking sector, return distribution, dependency structure

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Authors: M. Saleem, M. Shahnawaz, A. W. Gandahi, S. M. Bhatti

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The micronutrients boron and zinc deficiencies are extensive in the areas of rice-wheat cropping system. Optimum levels of these nutrients in soil are necessary for healthy crop growth. Since rice and wheat are major staple food of worlds’ populace, the higher yields and nutrition status of these crops has direct effect on the health of human being and economy of the country. A field study was conducted to observe the direct and residual effect of two selected micronutrients boron (B) and zinc (Zn)) on rice and wheat crop growth and its grain nutrient status. Each plot received either B or Zn at the rates of 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 kg B ha⁻¹, and 5, 10, 15 and 20 kg Zn ha⁻¹, combined B and Zn application at 1 kg B and 5 kg Zn ha⁻¹, 2 kg B and 10 kg Zn ha⁻¹. Colemanite ore were used as source of B and zinc sulfate for Zn. The second season wheat crop was planted in the same plots after the interval period of 30 days and during this time gap soil was fallow. Boron and Zn application significantly enhanced the plant height, number of tillers, Grains panicle⁻¹ seed index fewer empty grains panicle⁻¹ and yield of rice crop at all defined levels as compared to control. The highest yield (10.00 tons/ha) was recorded at 2 Kg B, 10 Kg Zn ha⁻¹ rates. Boron and Zn concentration in grain and straw significantly increased. The application of B also improved the nutrition status of rice as B, protein and total carbohydrates content of grain augmented. The analysis of soil samples collected after harvest of rice crop showed that the B and Zn content in post-harvest soil samples was high in colemanite and zinc sulfate applied plots. The residual B and Zn were also effectual for the second season wheat crop, as the growth parameters plant height, number of tillers, earhead length, weight 1000 grains, B and Zn content of grain significantly improved. The highest wheat grain yield (4.23 tons/ha) was recorded at the residual rates of 2 kg B and 10 kg Zn ha⁻¹ than the other treatments. This study showed that one application of B and Zn can increase crop yields for at least two consecutive seasons and the mineral colemanite can confidently be used as source of B for rice crop because very small quantities of these nutrients are consumed by first season crop and remaining amount was present in soil which were used by second season wheat crop for healthy growth. Consequently, there is no need to apply these micronutrients to the following crop when it is applied on the previous one.

Keywords: residual boron, zinc, rice, wheat

Procedia PDF Downloads 123

Authors: Samia A. El-Fiky, Fouad A. Abou-Zaid, Ibrahim M. Farag, Naira M. El-Fiky

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Clomipramine hydrochloride is one of the most used tricyclic antidepressant drug in Egypt. This drug contains in its chemical structure on two benzene rings. Benzene is considered to be toxic and clastogenic agent. So, the present study was designed to assess the genotoxic effect of Clomipramine hydrochloride on somatic and germ cells in mice. Three dose levels 0.195 (Low), 0.26 (Medium), and 0.65 (High) mg/kg.b.wt. were used. Seven groups of male mice were utilized in this work. The first group was employed as a control. In the remaining six groups, each of the above doses was orally administrated for two groups, one of them was treated for 5 days and the other group was given the same dose for 30 days. At the end of experiments, the animals were sacrificed for cytogenetic and sperm examination as well as histopathological investigations by using hematoxylin and eosin stains (H and E stains) and electron microscope. Concerning the sperm studies, these studies were confined to 5 days treatment with different dose levels. Moreover, the ultrastructural investigation by electron microscope was restricted to 30 days treatment with drug doses. The results of the dose dependent effect of Clomipramine showed that the treatment with three different doses induced increases of frequencies of chromosome aberrations in bone marrow and spermatocyte cells as compared to control. In addition, mitotic and meiotic activities of somatic and germ cells were declined. The treatments with medium or high doses were more effective for inducing significant increases of chromosome aberrations and significant decreases of cell divisions than treatment with low dose. The effect of high dose was more pronounced for causing such genetic deleterious in respect to effect of medium dose. Moreover, the results of the time dependent effect of Clomipramine observed that the treatment with different dose levels for 30 days led to significant increases of genetic aberrations than treatment for 5 days. Sperm examinations revealed that the treatment with Clomipramine at different dose levels caused significant increase of sperm shape abnormalities and significant decrease in sperm count as compared to control. The adverse effects on sperm shape and count were more obviousness by using the treatments with medium or high doses than those found in treatment with low dose. The group of mice treated with high dose had the highest rate of sperm shape abnormalities and the lowest proportion of sperm count as compared to mice received medium dose. In histopathological investigation, hematoxylin and eosin stains showed that, the using of low dose of Clomipramine for 5 or 30 days caused a little pathological changes in liver tissue. However, using medium and high doses for 5 or 30 days induced severe damages than that observed in mice treated with low dose. The treatment with high dose for 30 days gave the worst results of pathological changes in hepatic cells. Moreover, ultrastructure examination revealed, the mice treated with low dose of Clomipramine had little differences in liver histological architecture as compared to control group. These differences were confined to cytoplasmic inclusions. Whereas, prominent pathological changes in nuclei as well as dilated of rough Endoplasmic Reticulum (rER) were observed in mice treated with medium or high doses of Clomipramine drug. In conclusion, the present study adds evidence that treatments with medium or high doses of Clomipramine have genotoxic effects on somatic and germ cells of mice, as unwanted side effects. However, the using of low dose (especially for short time, 5 days) can be utilized as a therapeutic dose, where it caused relatively similar proportions of genetic, sperm, and histopathological changes as those found in normal control.

Keywords: chromosome aberrations, clomipramine, mice, histopathology, sperm abnormalities

Procedia PDF Downloads 497

Authors: Rui Fonseca-Pinto, Emanuel Silva, Rui Rijo, Ricardo Martinho, Bruno Carreira

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The sedentary lifestyle is associated to the development of chronic noncommunicable diseases (obesity, hypertension, Diabetes Mellitus Type 2) and the World Health Organization, given the evidence that physical activity is determinant for individual and collective health, defined the Physical Activity Level (PAL) as a vital signal. Strategies for increasing the practice of physical activity in all age groups have emerged from the various social organizations (municipalities, universities, health organizations, companies, social groups) by increasingly developing innovative strategies to promote motivation strategies and conditions to the practice of physical activity. The adaptation of cities to the new paradigms of sustainable mobility has provided the adaptation of urban training circles and mobilized citizens to combat sedentarism. This adaptation has accompanied the technological evolution and makes possible the use of mobile technology to monitor outdoor training programs and also, through the network connection (IoT), use the training data to make personalized recommendations. This work presents a physical activity counseling platform to be used in the physical maintenance circuits of urban centers, the MOVIDA.polis. The platform consists of a back office for the management of circuits and training stations, and for a mobile application for monitoring the user performance during workouts. Using a QRcode, each training station is recognized by the App and based on the individual performance records (effort perception, heart rate variation) artificial intelligence algorithms are used to make a new personalized recommendation. The results presented in this work were obtained during the proof of concept phase, which was carried out in the PolisLeiria training circuit in the city of Leiria (Portugal). It was possible to verify the increase in adherence to the practice of physical activity, as well as to decrease the interval between training days. Moreover, the AI-based recommendation acts as a partner in the training and an additional challenging factor. The platform is ready to be used by other municipalities in order to reduce the levels of sedentarism and approach the weekly goal of 150 minutes of moderate physical activity. Acknowledgments: This work was supported by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia FCT- Portugal and CENTRO2020 under the scope of MOVIDA project: 02/SAICT/2016 – 23878.

Keywords: physical activity, mHealth, urban training circuits, health promotion

Procedia PDF Downloads 141

Authors: Vipin Kumar Verma, Neeta Sehgal, Om Prakash

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Cyprinus carpio has a wide spread occurrence in the lakes and rivers of Europe and Asia. Heavy losses in natural environment due to anthropogenic activities, including pollution as well as pathogenic diseases have landed this fish in IUCN red list of vulnerable species. The significance of a suitable diet in preserving the health status of fish is widely recognized. In present study, artificial feed supplemented with leaves of two weed plants, Eichhornia crassipes and Ricinus communis were evaluated for their role on the fish immune system. To achieve this objective fish were acclimatized to laboratory conditions (25 ± 1 °C; 12 L: 12D) for 10 days prior to start of experiment and divided into 4 groups: non-challenged (negative control= A), challenged [positive control (B) and experimental (C & D)]. Group A, B were fed with non-supplemented feed while group C & D were fed with feed supplemented with 5% Eichhornia crassipes and 5% Ricinus communis respectively. Supplemented feeds were evaluated for their effect on growth, health, immune system and disease resistance in fish when challenged with Vibrio harveyi. Fingerlings of C. carpio (weight, 2.0±0.5 g) were exposed with fresh overnight culture of V. harveyi through bath immunization (concentration 2 Χ 105) for 2 hours on 10 days interval for 40 days. The growth was monitored through increase in their relative weight. The rate of mortality due to bacterial infection as well as due to effect of feed was recorded accordingly. Immune response of fish was analyzed through differential leucocyte count, percentage phagocytosis and phagocytic index. The effect of V. harveyi on fish organs were examined through histo-pathological examination of internal organs like spleen, liver and kidney. The change in the immune response was also observed through gene expression analysis. The antioxidant potential of plant extracts was measured through DPPH and FRAP assay and amount of total phenols and flavonoids were calculates through biochemical analysis. The chemical composition of plant’s methanol extracts was determined by GC-MS analysis, which showed presence of various secondary metabolites and other compounds. Investigation revealed immuno-modulatory effect of plants, when supplemented with the artificial feed of fish.

Keywords: immuno-modulation, gc-ms, Cyprinus carpio, Eichhornia crassipes, Ricinus communis

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Authors: Marissa Dallara, Amalia Ardeljan, Lexi Frankel, Nadia Obaed, Naureen Rashid, Omar Rashid

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Human Cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a ubiquitous virus that remains latent in approximately 60% of individuals in developed countries. Viral load is kept at a minimum due to a robust immune response that is produced in most individuals who remain asymptomatic. HCMV has been recently implicated in cancer research because it may impose oncomodulatory effects on tumor cells of which it infects, which could have an impact on the progression of cancer. HCMV has been implicated in increased pathogenicity of certain cancers such as gliomas, but in contrast, it can also exhibit anti-tumor activity. HCMV seropositivity has been recorded in tumor cells, but this may also have implications in decreased pathogenesis of certain forms of cancer such as leukemia as well as increased pathogenesis in others. This study aimed to investigate the correlation between cytomegalovirus and the incidence of breast cancer. Methods The data used in this project was extracted from a Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliant national database to analyze the patients infected versus patients not infection with cytomegalovirus using ICD-10, ICD-9 codes. Permission to utilize the database was given by Holy Cross Health, Fort Lauderdale, for the purpose of academic research. Data analysis was conducted using standard statistical methods. Results The query was analyzed for dates ranging from January 2010 to December 2019, which resulted in 14,309 patients in both the infected and control groups, respectively. The two groups were matched by age range and CCI score. The incidence of breast cancer was 1.642% and 235 patients in the cytomegalovirus group compared to 4.752% and 680 patients in the control group. The difference was statistically significant by a p-value of less than 2.2x 10^-16 with an odds ratio of 0.43 (0.4 to 0.48) with a 95% confidence interval. Investigation into the effects of HCMV treatment modalities, including Valganciclovir, Cidofovir, and Foscarnet, on breast cancer in both groups was conducted, but the numbers were insufficient to yield any statistically significant correlations. Conclusion This study demonstrates a statistically significant correlation between cytomegalovirus and a reduced incidence of breast cancer. If HCMV can exert anti-tumor effects on breast cancer and inhibit growth, it could potentially be used to formulate immunotherapy that targets various types of breast cancer. Further evaluation is warranted to assess the implications of cytomegalovirus in reducing the incidence of breast cancer.

Keywords: human cytomegalovirus, breast cancer, immunotherapy, anti-tumor

Procedia PDF Downloads 182

Authors: Gabriel Efomeh Omolaiye, Jimoh Ajadi, Olatunji Seminu, Yusuf Ayoola Jimoh, Ubulom Daniel

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Identification and characterization of petrophysical properties of reservoirs in the Bima Formation were undertaken to understand their spatial distribution and impacts on hydrocarbon saturation in the highly heterolithic siliciclastic sequence. The study was carried out using nine well logs from Maiduguri and Baga/Lake sub-basins within the Borno Basin. The different log curves were combined to decipher the lithological heterogeneity of the serrated sand facies and to aid the geologic correlation of sand bodies within the sub-basins. Evaluation of the formation reveals largely undifferentiated to highly serrated and lenticular sand bodies from which twelve reservoirs named Bima Sand-1 to Bima Sand-12 were identified. The reservoir sand bodies are bifurcated by shale beds, which reduced their thicknesses variably from 0.61 to 6.1 m. The shale content in the sand bodies ranged from 11.00% (relatively clean) to high shale content of 88.00%. The formation also has variable porosity values, with calculated total porosity ranged as low as 10.00% to as high as 35.00%. Similarly, effective porosity values spanned between 2.00 to 24.00%. The irregular porosity values also accounted for a wide range of field average permeability estimates computed for the formation, which measured between 0.03 to 319.49 mD. Hydrocarbon saturation (Sh) in the thin lenticular sand bodies also varied from 40.00 to 78.00%. Hydrocarbon was encountered in three intervals in Ga-1, four intervals in Da-1, two intervals in Ar-1, and one interval in Ye-1. Ga-1 well encountered 30.78 m thick of hydrocarbon column in 14 thin sand lobes in Bima Sand-1, with thicknesses from 0.60 m to 5.80 m and average saturation of 51.00%, while Bima Sand-2 intercepted 45.11 m thick of hydrocarbon column in 12 thin sand lobes with an average saturation of 61.00% and Bima Sand-9 has 6.30 m column in 4 thin sand lobes. Da-1 has hydrocarbon in Bima Sand-8 (5.30 m, Sh of 58.00% in 5 sand lobes), Bima Sand-10 (13.50 m, Sh of 52.00% in 6 sand lobes), Bima Sand-11 (6.20 m, Sh of 58.00% in 2 sand lobes) and Bima Sand-12 (16.50 m, Sh of 66% in 6 sand lobes). In the Ar-1 well, hydrocarbon occurs in Bima Sand-3 (2.40 m column, Sh of 48% in a sand lobe) and Bima Sand-9 (6.0 m, Sh of 58% in a sand lobe). Ye-1 well only intersected 0.5 m hydrocarbon in Bima Sand-1 with 78% saturation. Although Bima Formation has variable saturation of hydrocarbon, mainly gas in Maiduguri, and Baga/Lake sub-basins of the research area, its highly thin serrated sand beds, coupled with very low effective porosity and permeability in part, would pose a significant exploitation challenge. The sediments were deposited in a fluvio-lacustrine environment, resulting in a very thinly laminated or serrated alternation of sand and shale beds lithofacies.

Keywords: Bima, Chad Basin, fluvio-lacustrine, lithofacies, serrated sand

Procedia PDF Downloads 139

Authors: Alexandra C. Blaga, Dan Caşcaval, Alexandra Tucaliuc, Madalina Poştaru, Anca I. Galaction

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Amino acids are valuable chemical products used in in human foods, in animal feed additives and in the pharmaceutical field. Recently, there has been a noticeable rise of amino acids utilization throughout the world to include their use as raw materials in the production of various industrial chemicals: oil gelating agents (amino acid-based surfactants) to recover effluent oil in seas and rivers and poly(amino acids), which are attracting attention for biodegradable plastics manufacture. The amino acids can be obtained by biosynthesis or from protein hydrolysis, but their separation from the obtained mixtures can be challenging. In the last decades there has been a continuous interest in developing processes that will improve the selectivity and yield of downstream processing steps. The liquid-liquid extraction of amino acids (dissociated at any pH-value of the aqueous solutions) is possible only by using the reactive extraction technique, mainly with extractants of organophosphoric acid derivatives, high molecular weight amines and crown-ethers. The purpose of this study was to analyse the separation of nine amino acids of acidic character (l-aspartic acid, l-glutamic acid), basic character (l-histidine, l-lysine, l-arginine) and neutral character (l-glycine, l-tryptophan, l-cysteine, l-alanine) by reactive extraction with di-(2-ethylhexyl)phosphoric acid (D2EHPA) dissolved in butyl acetate. The results showed that the separation yield is controlled by the pH value of the aqueous phase: the reactive extraction of amino acids with D2EHPA is possible only if the amino acids exist in aqueous solution in their cationic forms (pH of aqueous phase below the isoeletric point). The studies for individual amino acids indicated the possibility of selectively separate different groups of amino acids with similar acidic properties as a function of aqueous solution pH-value: the maximum yields are reached for a pH domain of 2–3, then strongly decreasing with the pH increase. Thus, for acidic and neutral amino acids, the extraction becomes impossible at the isolelectric point (pHi) and for basic amino acids at a pH value lower than pHi, as a result of the carboxylic group dissociation. From the results obtained for the separation from the mixture of the nine amino acids, at different pH, it can be observed that all amino acids are extracted with different yields, for a pH domain of 1.5–3. Over this interval, the extract contains only the amino acids with neutral and basic character. For pH 5–6, only the neutral amino acids are extracted and for pH > 6 the extraction becomes impossible. Using this technique, the total separation of the following amino acids groups has been performed: neutral amino acids at pH 5–5.5, basic amino acids and l-cysteine at pH 4–4.5, l-histidine at pH 3–3.5 and acidic amino acids at pH 2–2.5.

Keywords: amino acids, di-(2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid, reactive extraction, selective extraction

Procedia PDF Downloads 398

Authors: Rudolf Hrach, Stanislav Novak, Vera Hrachova

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Composite and nanocomposite films represent the class of promising materials and are often objects of the study due to their mechanical, electrical and other properties. The most interesting ones are probably the composite metal/dielectric structures consisting of a metal component embedded in an oxide or polymer matrix. Behaviour of composite films varies with the amount of the metal component inside what is called filling factor. The structures contain individual metal particles or nanoparticles completely insulated by the dielectric matrix for small filling factors and the films have more or less dielectric properties. The conductivity of the films increases with increasing filling factor and finally a transition into metallic state occurs. The behaviour of composite films near a percolation threshold, where the change of charge transport mechanism from a thermally-activated tunnelling between individual metal objects to an ohmic conductivity is observed, is especially important. Physical properties of composite films are given not only by the concentration of metal component but also by the spatial and size distributions of metal objects which are influenced by a technology used. In our contribution, a study of composite structures with the help of methods of computational physics was performed. The study consists of two parts: -Generation of simulated composite and nanocomposite films. The techniques based on hard-sphere or soft-sphere models as well as on atomic modelling are used here. Characterizations of prepared composite structures by image analysis of their sections or projections follow then. However, the analysis of various morphological methods must be performed as the standard algorithms based on the theory of mathematical morphology lose their sensitivity when applied to composite films. -The charge transport in the composites was studied by the kinetic Monte Carlo method as there is a close connection between structural and electric properties of composite and nanocomposite films. It was found that near the percolation threshold the paths of tunnel current forms so-called fuzzy clusters. The main aim of the present study was to establish the correlation between morphological properties of composites/nanocomposites and structures of conducting paths in them in the dependence on the technology of composite films.

Keywords: composite films, computer modelling, image analysis, nanocomposite films

Procedia PDF Downloads 362

Authors: Mads Schultz, Galice Hoarau, Marvin Choquet

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Members of the genus Calanus are key species in the North Atlantic and Arctic marine ecosystems due to their vast abundance and their ability to accumulate high amounts of lipid. As a link between primary producers and higher trophic levels, the temporal presence of each Calanus species is important in a time of changing communities and northward distribution shifts. This study focused on the temporal niches of the sympatric species Calanus helgolandicus, Calanus finmarchicus, Calanus glacialis, and Calanus hyperboreus in Skjerstad fjord, a Norwegian fjord (67˚14’N, 14 ˚44’E). Three depth intervals were sampled monthly over a year, targeting copepodite stages of the genus Calanus. Species determination was carried out genetically using insertion/deletion markers. In addition, during the reproductive season (Jan-May), weekly samples of the upper 50 meters of the water column targeting nauplii and 5 depth intervals targeting copepodites were collected. Nauplii samples were sorted into two groups (NI-NIII and NIV-NVI), and species were genetically identified. Specimens from stage CIV to adults from each depth interval of copepodite sampling were photographed in order to generate a supporting timeline of visual traits, including gonad maturation stage, presence of stomach content, and total lipid content. The most abundant species were Calanus finmarchicus and Calanus glacialis, followed by Calanus hyperboreus. These species were present in the water column throughout the year, whereas Calanus helgolandicus, the least abundant species, was only present during the summer and autumn period. Each species showed distinct temporal niches, with Calanus finmarchicus occupying the upper 50 meters longer than any of the other species. Calanus hyperboreus dominates in abundance early in the spring but are outnumbered by Calanus glacialis and Calanus finmarchicus after spring bloom sets in. In Skjerstad fjord, Calanus hyperboreus is a clear capital breeder with a long period of nauplii presence before the spring bloom. Calanus glacialis and Calanus finmarchicus both utilize income breeding, with Calanus glacialis developing to the larger nauplii stages quicker than Calanus finmarchicus, but also having a shorter reproduction period. Indeed, the “traditional Arctic” species Calanus hyperboreus and Calanus glacialis appear to end their reproduction period earlier than the North Atlantic Calanus finmarchicus.

Keywords: calanus, depth distribution, reproduction, stage composition, temporal niches

Procedia PDF Downloads 122

Authors: Boris Barbolyas, Kristina Buckova, Tomas Volensky, Cyril Belavy, Ladislav Dedik

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Background: Based on statokinezigram, the human balance control is often studied. Approach to human postural reaction analysis is based on a combination of stabilometry output signal with retroreflective marker data signal processing, analysis, and understanding, in this study. The study shows another original application of Method of Developed Statokinesigram Trajectory (MDST), too. Methods: In this study, the participants maintained quiet bipedal standing for 10 s on stabilometry platform. Consequently, bilateral vibration stimuli to Achilles tendons in 20 s interval was applied. Vibration stimuli caused that human postural system took the new pseudo-steady state. Vibration frequencies were 20, 60 and 80 Hz. Participant's body segments - head, shoulders, hips, knees, ankles and little fingers were marked by 12 retroreflective markers. Markers positions were scanned by six cameras system BTS SMART DX. Registration of their postural reaction lasted 60 s. Sampling frequency was 100 Hz. For measured data processing were used Method of Developed Statokinesigram Trajectory. Regression analysis of developed statokinesigram trajectory (DST) data and retroreflective marker developed trajectory (DMT) data were used to find out which marker trajectories most correlate with stabilometry platform output signals. Scaling coefficients (λ) between DST and DMT by linear regression analysis were evaluated, too. Results: Scaling coefficients for marker trajectories were identified for all body segments. Head markers trajectories reached maximal value and ankle markers trajectories had a minimal value of scaling coefficient. Hips, knees and ankles markers were approximately symmetrical in the meaning of scaling coefficient. Notable differences of scaling coefficient were detected in head and shoulders markers trajectories which were not symmetrical. The model of postural system behavior was identified by MDST. Conclusion: Value of scaling factor identifies which body segment is predisposed to postural instability. Hypothetically, if statokinesigram represents overall human postural system response to vibration stimuli, then markers data represented particular postural responses. It can be assumed that cumulative sum of particular marker postural responses is equal to statokinesigram.

Keywords: center of pressure (CoP), method of developed statokinesigram trajectory (MDST), model of postural system behavior, retroreflective marker data

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Authors: Retno A. Vinarti, Lucy M. Hederman

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This research describes a knowledge model for a system which give personalized alert to users about infectious disease risks in the context of weather, location and time. The knowledge model is based on established epidemiological concepts augmented by information gleaned from infection-related data repositories. The existing disease risk prediction research has more focuses on utilizing raw historical data and yield seasonal patterns of infectious disease risk emergence. This research incorporates both data and epidemiological concepts gathered from Atlas of Human Infectious Disease (AHID) and Centre of Disease Control (CDC) as basic reasoning of infectious disease risk prediction. Using CommonKADS methodology, the disease risk prediction task is an assignment synthetic task, starting from knowledge identification through specification, refinement to implementation. First, knowledge is gathered from AHID primarily from the epidemiology and risk group chapters for each infectious disease. The result of this stage is five major elements (Person, Infectious Disease, Weather, Location and Time) and their properties. At the knowledge specification stage, the initial tree model of each element and detailed relationships are produced. This research also includes a validation step as part of knowledge refinement: on the basis that the best model is formed using the most common features, Frequency-based Selection (FBS) is applied. The portion of the Infectious Disease risk model relating to Person comes out strongest, with Location next, and Weather weaker. For Person attribute, Age is the strongest, Activity and Habits are moderate, and Blood type is weakest. At the Location attribute, General category (e.g. continents, region, country, and island) results much stronger than Specific category (i.e. terrain feature). For Weather attribute, Less Precise category (i.e. season) comes out stronger than Precise category (i.e. exact temperature or humidity interval). However, given that some infectious diseases are significantly more serious than others, a frequency based metric may not be appropriate. Future work will incorporate epidemiological measurements of disease seriousness (e.g. odds ratio, hazard ratio and fatality rate) into the validation metrics. This research is limited to modelling existing knowledge about epidemiology and chain of infection concepts. Further step, verification in knowledge refinement stage, might cause some minor changes on the shape of tree.

Keywords: epidemiology, knowledge modelling, infectious disease, prediction, risk

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Authors: T. Pradhan, P. Rijal, M. C. Regmi

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Background: Eclampsia is a multisystem disorder that involves vital organs and failure of these may lead to deterioration of maternal condition and hypoxia and acidosis of fetus resulting in high maternal and perinatal mortality and morbidity. Thus, evaluation of the contributing factors for this condition and its complications leading to maternal deaths should be the priority. Formulating the plan and protocol to decrease these losses should be our goal. Aims and Objectives: To evaluate the risk factors associated with adverse maternal and fetal outcome in patients with eclampsia and to correlate the risk factors associated with maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality. Methods: All patients with eclampsia admitted in Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, B. P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences were enrolled after informed consent from February 2013 to February 2014. Questions as per per-forma were asked to patients, and attendants like Antenatal clinic visits, parity, number of episodes of seizures, duration from onset of seizure to magnesium sulfate and the patients were followed as per the hospital protocol, the mode of delivery, outcome of baby, post partum maternal condition like maternal Intensive Care Unit admission, neurological impairment and mortality were noted before discharge. Statistical analysis was done using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS 11). Mean and percentage were calculated for demographic variables. Pearson’s correlation test and chi-square test were applied to find the relation between the risk factors and the outcomes. P value less than 0.05 was considered significant. Results: There were 10,000 antenatal deliveries during the study period. Fifty-two patients with eclampsia were admitted. All of the patients were unbooked for our institute. Thirty-nine patients were antepartum eclampsia. Thirty-one patients required mechanical ventilator support. Twenty-four patients were delivered by emergency c-section and 21 babies were Low Birth Weight and there were 9 stillbirths. There was one maternal mortality and 45 patients were discharged with improvement but 3 patients had neurological impairment. Mortality was significantly related with number of seizure episodes and time interval between seizure onset and administration of magnesium sulphate. Conclusion: Early detection and management of hypertensive complicating pregnancy during antenatal clinic check up. Early hospitalization and management with magnesium sulphate for eclampsia can help to minimize the maternal and fetal adverse outcomes.

Keywords: eclampsia, maternal mortality, perinatal mortality, risk factors

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Authors: Marijan KovačIć, Davor Pavelić, Darko Tibljaš, Ivo Galić, Frane Marković, Ivica PavičIć

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The North Croatian Basin (NCB) occupies the southwestern part of the Pannonian Basin System and belongs to the Central Paratethys realm. In a quarry near the village of Poljanska, on the southern slopes of Mt. Papuk in eastern Croatia, a 40-meter-thick section is exposed, consisting of well-bedded, mixed, carbonate-siliciclastic deposits with occurrences of pyroclastics. Sedimentological investigation indicates that a salina lake developed in the central NCB during the late early Miocene. Field studies and mineralogical and petrological analyses indicate that alternations of laminated crypto- characterize the lower part of the section to microcrystalline dolomite and analcimolite (sedimentary rocks composed essentially of authigenic analcime) associated with tuffites and marls. The pyroclastic material is a product of volcanic activity at the end of the early Miocene, while the formation of analcime, the zeolite group mineral, is a result of an alteration of pyroclastic material in an alkaline lacustrine environment. These sediments were deposited in a shallow, hydrologically closed lake that was controlled by an arid climate during the first phase of its development. The middle part of the section consists of dolomites interbedded with analcimolites and sandstones. The sandstone beds are a result of the increased supply of clastic material derived from the locally uplifted metamorphic and granitoid basement. The emplacement of sandstones and dolomites reflects a distinct alternation of hydrologically open and closed lacustrine environments controlled by the frequent alternation of humid and arid climates, representing the second phase of lake development. The siliciclastics of the third phase of lake development were deposited during the Middle Miocene in a hydrologically mostly open lake. All lacustrine deposition coincides with the Miocene Climatic Optimum, which was characterized by a hot and warm climate. The sedimentological data confirm the mostly wet conditions previously identified by paleobotanical studies in the region. The exception is the relatively long interval of arid climate in the late early Miocene that controlled the first phase of lake evolution, i.e., the salina-type lake.

Keywords: early Miocene, Pannonian basin System, pyroclastics, salina-type lake

Procedia PDF Downloads 187

Authors: Maria Korman, Carmit Gal, Ella Gabitov, Avi Karni

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The main question addressed in this study was whether the time-of-day wherein training is afforded is a significant factor for motor skill ('how-to', procedural knowledge) acquisition and consolidation into long term memory in the healthy elderly population. Twenty-nine older adults (60-75 years) practiced an explicitly instructed 5-element key-press sequence by repeatedly generating the sequence ‘as fast and accurately as possible’. Contribution of three parameters to acquisition, 24h post-training consolidation, and 1-week retention gains in motor sequence speed was assessed: (a) time of training (morning vs. evening group) (b) sleep quality (actigraphy) and (c) chronotype. All study participants were moderately morning type, according to the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire score. All participants had sleep patterns typical of age, with average sleep efficiency of ~ 82%, and approximately 6 hours of sleep. Speed of motor sequence performance in both groups improved to a similar extent during training session. Nevertheless, evening group expressed small but significant overnight consolidation phase gains, while morning group showed only maintenance of performance level attained at the end of training. By 1-week retention test, both groups showed similar performance levels with no significant gains or losses with respect to 24h test. Changes in the tapping patterns at 24h and 1-week post-training were assessed based on normalized Pearson correlation coefficients using the Fisher’s z-transformation in reference to the tapping pattern attained at the end of the training. Significant differences between the groups were found: the evening group showed larger changes in tapping patterns across the consolidation and retention windows. Our results show that morning-oriented older adults effectively acquired, consolidated, and maintained a new sequence of finger movements, following both morning and evening practice sessions. However, time-of-training affected the time-course of skill evolution in terms of performance speed, as well as the re-organization of tapping patterns during the consolidation period. These results are in line with the notion that motor training preceding a sleep interval may be beneficial for the long-term memory in the elderly. Evening training should be considered an appropriate time window for motor skill learning in older adults, even in individuals with morning chronotype.

Keywords: time-of-day, elderly, motor learning, memory consolidation, chronotype

Procedia PDF Downloads 110

Authors: J. Satya Eswari, J. Sekhar Babub, Meena Murmu, Govardhan Bhat

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Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM) is an unconventional manufacturing process based on removal of material from a part by means of a series of repeated electrical sparks created by electric pulse generators at short intervals between a electrode tool and the part to be machined emmersed in dielectric fluid. In this paper, a study will be performed on the influence of the factors of peak current, pulse on time, interval time and power supply voltage. The output responses measured were material removal rate (MRR) and surface roughness. Finally, the parameters were optimized for maximum MRR with the desired surface roughness. RSM involves establishing mathematical relations between the design variables and the resulting responses and optimizing the process conditions. RSM is not free from problems when it is applied to multi-factor and multi-response situations. Design of experiments (DOE) technique to select the optimum machining conditions for machining AISI 4140 using EDM. The purpose of this paper is to determine the optimal factors of the electro-discharge machining (EDM) process investigate feasibility of design of experiment techniques. The work pieces used were rectangular plates of AISI 4140 grade steel alloy. The study of optimized settings of key machining factors like pulse on time, gap voltage, flushing pressure, input current and duty cycle on the material removal, surface roughness is been carried out using central composite design. The objective is to maximize the Material removal rate (MRR). Central composite design data is used to develop second order polynomial models with interaction terms. The insignificant coefficients’ are eliminated with these models by using student t test and F test for the goodness of fit. CCD is first used to establish the determine the optimal factors of the electro-discharge machining (EDM) for maximizing the MRR. The responses are further treated through a objective function to establish the same set of key machining factors to satisfy the optimization problem of the electro-discharge machining (EDM) process. The results demonstrate the better performance of CCD data based RSM for optimizing the electro-discharge machining (EDM) process.

Keywords: electric discharge machining (EDM), modeling, optimization, CCRD

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Authors: Yoseph Halala Handiso, Zewdi Gebregziabher

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Background: Malnutrition in hospitalized patients remains a major public health problem in both developed and developing countries. Despite the fact that malnourished patients are more prone to stay longer in hospital, there is limited data regarding the magnitude of malnutrition and its effect on length of stay among surgical patients in Ethiopia, while nutritional assessment is also often a neglected component of the health service practice. Objective: This study aimed to assess the prevalence of malnutrition at admission and its effect on the length of hospital stay among adult surgical patients in Wolaita Sodo University Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, South Ethiopia, 2022. Methods: A facility-based prospective cohort study was conducted among 398 adult surgical patients admitted to the hospital. Participants in the study were chosen using a convenient sampling technique. Subjective global assessment was used to determine the nutritional status of patients with a minimum stay of 24 hours within 48 hours after admission (SGA). Data were collected using the open data kit (ODK) version 2022.3.3 software, while Stata version 14.1 software was employed for statistical analysis. The Cox regression model was used to determine the effect of malnutrition on the length of hospital stay (LOS) after adjusting for several potential confounders taken at admission. Adjusted hazard ratio (HR) with a 95% confidence interval was used to show the effect of malnutrition. Results: The prevalence of hospital malnutrition at admission was 64.32% (95% CI: 59%-69%) according to the SGA classification. Adult surgical patients who were malnourished at admission had higher median LOS (12 days: 95% CI: 11-13) as compared to well-nourished patients (8 days: 95% CI: 8-9), means adult surgical patients who were malnourished at admission were at higher risk of reduced chance of discharge with improvement (prolonged LOS) (AHR: 0.37, 95% CI: 0.29-0.47) as compared to well-nourished patients. Presence of comorbidity (AHR: 0.68, 95% CI: 0.50-90), poly medication (AHR: 0.69, 95% CI: 0.55-0.86), and history of admission (AHR: 0.70, 95% CI: 0.55-0.87) within the previous five years were found to be the significant covariates of the length of hospital stay (LOS). Conclusion: The magnitude of hospital malnutrition at admission was found to be high. Malnourished patients at admission had a higher risk of prolonged length of hospital stay as compared to well-nourished patients. The presence of comorbidity, polymedication, and history of admission were found to be the significant covariates of LOS. All stakeholders should give attention to reducing the magnitude of malnutrition and its covariates to improve the burden of LOS.

Keywords: effect of malnutrition, length of hospital stay, surgical patients, Ethiopia

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Authors: Henry Memczak, Marc Hovestaedt, Bernhard Ay, Sandra Saenger, Thorsten Wolff, Frank F. Bier

Abstract:

The influenza viruses cause flu epidemics every year and serious pandemics in larger time intervals. The only cost-effective protection against influenza is vaccination. Due to rapid mutation continuously new subtypes appear, what requires annual reimmunization. For a correct vaccination recommendation, the circulating influenza strains had to be detected promptly and exactly and characterized due to their antigenic properties. During the flu season 2016/17, a wrong vaccination recommendation has been given because of the great time interval between identification of the relevant influenza vaccine strains and outbreak of the flu epidemic during the following winter. Due to such recurring incidents of vaccine mismatches, there is a great need to speed up the process chain from identifying the right vaccine strains to their administration. The monitoring of subtypes as part of this process chain is carried out by national reference laboratories within the WHO Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (GISRS). To this end, thousands of viruses from patient samples (e.g., throat smears) are isolated and analyzed each year. Currently, this analysis involves complex and time-intensive (several weeks) animal experiments to produce specific hyperimmune sera in ferrets, which are necessary for the determination of the antigen profiles of circulating virus strains. These tests also bear difficulties in standardization and reproducibility, which restricts the significance of the results. To replace this test a peptide-based assay for influenza virus subtyping from corresponding virus samples was developed. The differentiation of the viruses takes place by a set of specifically designed peptidic recognition molecules which interact differently with the different influenza virus subtypes. The differentiation of influenza subtypes is performed by pattern recognition guided by machine learning algorithms, without any animal experiments. Synthetic peptides are immobilized in multiplex format on various platforms (e.g., 96-well microtiter plate, microarray). Afterwards, the viruses are incubated and analyzed comparing different signaling mechanisms and a variety of assay conditions. Differentiation of a range of influenza subtypes, including H1N1, H3N2, H5N1, as well as fine differentiation of single strains within these subtypes is possible using the peptide-based subtyping platform. Thereby, the platform could be capable of replacing the current antigenic characterization of influenza strains using ferret hyperimmune sera.

Keywords: antigenic characterization, influenza-binding peptides, influenza subtyping, influenza surveillance

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Authors: M. G. Talasbayen, N. N. Dyussenbayev, Y. D. Kali, R. A. Zholbarysov, Y. N. Duissenbayev, I. Z. Mammadinova, S. M. Nuradilov

Abstract:

Background. Hemorrhagic stroke is an acute cerebrovascular accident resulting from rupture of a cerebral vessel or increased permeability of the wall and imbibition of blood into the brain parenchyma. Arterial hypertension is a common cause of hemorrhagic stroke. Male gender and age over 55 years is a risk factor for intracerebral hemorrhage. Treatment of intracerebral hemorrhage is aimed at the primary pathophysiological link: the relief of coagulopathy and the control of arterial hypertension. Early surgical treatment can limit cerebral compression; prevent toxic effects of blood to the brain parenchyma. Despite progress in the development of neuroimaging data, the use of minimally invasive techniques, and navigation system, mortality from intracerebral hemorrhage remains high. Materials and methods. The study included 78 patients (62.82% male and 37.18% female) with a verified diagnosis of hemorrhagic stroke in the period from 2019 to 2021. The age of patients ranged from 25 to 80 years, the average age was 54.66±11.9 years. Demographic, brain CT data (localization, volume of hematomas), methods of treatment, and disease outcome were analyzed. Results. The retrospective analyze demonstrate that 78.2% of all patients underwent surgical treatment: decompressive craniectomy in 37.7%, craniotomy with hematoma evacuation in 29.5%, and hematoma draining in 24.59% cases. The study of the proportion of deaths, depending on the volume of intracerebral hemorrhage, shows that the number of deaths was higher in the group with a hematoma volume of more than 60 ml. Evaluation of the relationship between the time before surgery and mortality demonstrates that the most favorable outcome is observed during surgical treatment in the interval from 3 to 24 hours. Mortality depending on age did not reveal a significant difference between age groups. An analysis of the impact of the surgery type on mortality reveals that decompressive craniectomy with or without hematoma evacuation led to an unfavorable outcome in 73.9% of cases, while craniotomy with hematoma evacuation and drainage led to mortality only in 28.82% cases. Conclusion. Even though the multimodal approaches, the development of surgical techniques and equipment, and the selection of optimal conservative therapy, the question of determining the tactics of managing and treating hemorrhagic strokes is still controversial. Nevertheless, our experience shows that surgical intervention within 24 hours from the moment of admission and craniotomy with hematoma evacuation improves the prognosis of treatment outcomes.

Keywords: hemorragic stroke, Intracerebral hemorrhage, surgical treatment, stroke mortality

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Authors: M. A. Okezue, K. L. Clase, S. R. Byrn

Abstract:

The requirement for maintaining data integrity in laboratory operations is critical for regulatory compliance. Automation of procedures reduces incidence of human errors. Quality control laboratories located in low-income economies may face some barriers in attempts to automate their processes. Since data from quality control tests on pharmaceutical products are used in making regulatory decisions, it is important that laboratory reports are accurate and reliable. Zinc Sulphate (ZnSO₄) tablets is used in treatment of diarrhea in pediatric population, and as an adjunct therapy for COVID-19 regimen. Unfortunately, zinc content in these formulations is determined titrimetrically; a manual analytical procedure. The assay for ZnSO4 tablets involves time-consuming steps that contain mathematical formulae prone to calculation errors. To achieve consistency, save costs, and improve data integrity, validated spreadsheets were developed to simplify the two critical steps in the analysis of ZnSO4 tablets: standardization of 0.1M Sodium Edetate (EDTA) solution, and the complexometric titration assay procedure. The assay method in the United States Pharmacopoeia was used to create a process flow for ZnSO₄ tablets. For each step in the process, different formulae were input into two spreadsheets to automate calculations. Further checks were created within the automated system to ensure validity of replicate analysis in titrimetric procedures. Validations were conducted using five data sets of manually computed assay results. The acceptance criteria set for the protocol were met. Significant p-values (p < 0.05, α = 0.05, at 95% Confidence Interval) were obtained from students’ t-test evaluation of the mean values for manual-calculated and spreadsheet results at all levels of the analysis flow. Right-first-time analysis and principles of data integrity were enhanced by use of the validated spreadsheet calculators in titrimetric evaluations of ZnSO₄ tablets. Human errors were minimized in calculations when procedures were automated in quality control laboratories. The assay procedure for the formulation was achieved in a time-efficient manner with greater level of accuracy. This project is expected to promote cost savings for laboratory business models.

Keywords: data integrity, spreadsheets, titrimetry, validation, zinc sulphate tablets

Procedia PDF Downloads 147