81 research outputs found
Differentiation of Alzheimer's disease dementia, mild cognitive impairment and normal condition using PET-FDG and AV-45 imaging : a machine-learning approach
Nous avons utilisé l'imagerie TEP avec les traceurs F18-FDG et AV45 en conjonction avec les méthodes de classification du domaine du "Machine Learning". Les images ont été acquises en mode dynamique, une image toutes les 5 minutes. Les données ont été transformées par Analyse en Composantes Principales et Analyse en Composantes Indépendantes. Les images proviennent de trois sources différentes: la base de données ADNI (Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative) et deux protocoles réalisés au sein du centre TEP de l'hôpital Purpan. Pour évaluer la performance de la classification nous avons eu recours à la méthode de validation croisée LOOCV (Leave One Out Cross Validation). Nous donnons une comparaison entre les deux méthodes de classification les plus utilisées, SVM (Support Vector Machine) et les réseaux de neurones artificiels (ANN). La combinaison donnant le meilleur taux de classification semble être SVM et le traceur AV45. Cependant les confusions les plus importantes sont entre les patients MCI et les sujets normaux. Les patients Alzheimer se distinguent relativement mieux puisqu'ils sont retrouvés souvent à plus de 90%. Nous avons évalué la généralisation de telles méthodes de classification en réalisant l'apprentissage sur un ensemble de données et la classification sur un autre ensemble. Nous avons pu atteindre une spécificité de 100% et une sensibilité supérieure à 81%. La méthode SVM semble avoir une meilleure sensibilité que les réseaux de neurones. L'intérêt d'un tel travail est de pouvoir aider à terme au diagnostic de la maladie d'Alzheimer.We used PET imaging with tracers F18-FDG and AV45 in conjunction with the classification methods in the field of "Machine Learning". PET images were acquired in dynamic mode, an image every 5 minutes.The images used come from three different sources: the database ADNI (Alzheimer's Disease Neuro-Imaging Initiative, University of California Los Angeles) and two protocols performed in the PET center of the Purpan Hospital. The classification was applied after processing dynamic images by Principal Component Analysis and Independent Component Analysis. The data were separated into training set and test set. To evaluate the performance of the classification we used the method of cross-validation LOOCV (Leave One Out Cross Validation). We give a comparison between the two most widely used classification methods, SVM (Support Vector Machine) and artificial neural networks (ANN) for both tracers. The combination giving the best classification rate seems to be SVM and AV45 tracer. However the most important confusion is found between MCI patients and normal subjects. Alzheimer's patients differ somewhat better since they are often found in more than 90%. We evaluated the generalization of our methods by making learning from set of data and classification on another set . We reached the specifity score of 100% and sensitivity score of more than 81%. SVM method showed a bettrer sensitivity than Artificial Neural Network method. The value of such work is to help the clinicians in diagnosing Alzheimer's disease
A Survey of Telepractice in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology in India
Telepractice has emerged as a form of service delivery to assess and treat individuals with communication disorders. The present study surveyed speech-language pathologists and audiologists in India about the use of telepractice. Two hundred and five (N=205) speech-language pathologists and audiologists responded to a questionnaire, with 12.19% reporting their use of telepractice to deliver clinical services. Respondents also indicated an urgent shortage of professionals in India to deliver clinical services in speech-language pathology and audiology, and opined that these needs can be met via the use of telepractice. India is well known throughout the world for the advanced application of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), with 931.95 million telephone subscribers, over 900 million mobile phone users, and the second-largest mobile phone usage in the world. India has also experienced a tremendous rise in the number of internet users. Therefore, India is well poised to fully develop telepractice to overcome the barriers of distance and amplify the availability of speech-language pathology, audiology and other healthcare services. But first, the widespread use of telepractice throughout the nation will require an improved infrastructure (e.g., to uphold privacy and security); training for professionals; and telepractice policies. While very promising, the deployment of telepractice throughout India will require the attention of policy makers and government organizations. Keywords: Audiology, India, Speech Language Pathology, Telehealth, Telepractic
Hepatitis B vaccination status of health care workers and their antiHBs titres - A cross sectional study
Back ground: The risk from occupational exposure to HBV infection is 2-4 times higher in HCW’s. A protective vaccine with a reported efficacy of 95% is available. Yet many HCW’s in developing countries remain non vaccinated, incompletely vaccinated or if vaccinated unaware of their post vaccination anti HBs status. Estimation of protective immune response following vaccination is essential to clear the misconceptions regarding booster dose of vaccine and non responder state which prevails among the HCW’s. Objective: The present study is designed to assess the hepatitis B vaccination rates in HCW’s and their antiHBs titres. Material and methods: A cross sectional study on 87 subjects was carried out at a tertiary care hospital by testing their sera for HBsAg & anti HBs levels. Results: None of the HCW’s were found to be HBsAg positive. Vaccination rate observed was 79%. Most vaccinated were the doctors and least the paramedics. Among doctors variation within the occupational groups was noticed. More number of males and young subjects were vaccinated and protected. Only 49% of the vaccinated HCW’s were vaccine compliant and 35% of these were protected. Factors like age, sex and time since last dose of vaccine influenced the anti HBs titres. None were aware of their anti HBs titres post vaccination. Conclusion: The study group involves only a small number of HCW’s but the findings are significant. Keeping in mind the annual global hepatitis B infection rates in HCW’s in developing countries we recommend the health care authorities to strengthen the existing educational programmes on Hepattis B infection which improves the awareness levels and thereby increases the vaccine rates. Further to make essential post vaccination assessment of antiHBs titres and its documentation to clear misconceptions regarding booster dose of vaccine
Prevalence of Bombay phenotype among Bangladeshi ‘O’ blood group population
Background: The Bombay blood group, a rare type often confused with ‘O’, poses a critical transfusion risk, requiring specific compatibility with Bombay (Oh) blood. With a lack of data in Bangladesh, this study aimed to establish a comprehensive database for the rare Bombay phenotype, crucial for transfusion safety. Objective was to determine the frequency prevalence of Bombay phenotype among ‘O’ blood group individuals.
Methods: A cross-sectional study conducted at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University from January 2020 to June 2021 involved, aseptic collection of 3 ml venous blood sample, with forward and reverse blood grouping revealing a ‘O’ phenotype. Utilizing anti-H lectin resolved discrepancies and confirmed the absence of ‘H’ antigen in individuals with Bombay blood groups. Blood samples of Bombay phenotype individuals showed the following reactions: anti-A (-), anti-B (-), anti-AB (-), anti-H (-), A cells 4+, B cells 4+, O cells 4+.
Results: Among 10,000 individuals with apparent blood group ‘O’, 99.97% were identified as ‘O’ blood type, while only 0.03% exhibited the rare Bombay blood group. ABO and Rh-D blood group frequencies varied over the study period, with B +ve at the highest (28.31%) and AB -ve at the lowest (0.21% to 0.23%). Overall, O +ve had the highest frequency (97.29%), and Bombay blood group was rare, with ‘O’ dominating at 99.97%.
Conclusions: The study identified a 0.03% prevalence of the Bombay phenotype. Due to its potential confusion with ‘O’ blood group, transfusing ‘O’ blood to Bombay individuals carries a substantial risk of severe hemolytic reactions, including fatal consequences
Transvaginal Ultrasonographic Findings of Infertile Females in Population of Lahore
Failure of conception in women after frequent unprotected intercourse for one year is known as infertility. Ultrasound examination can detect certain pathologies that may result in primary or secondary infertility. Objective: To describe the various transvaginal ultrasonographic findings of infertile females in population of Lahore. Methods: The study was started after the consent of ethical committee of the University of Lahore. All the patients were registered in this study after signing the informed consent form. Toshiba Xario with transvaginal transducer frequency ranging from 9-12 MHz was used. Pathologies were evaluated through transvaginal scanning and sonographic data was kept in the ultrasound machine. A consecutive sampling technique was used and data was further evaluated with the help of Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 24. Results: Among 138 females, PCOS was seen in 40.6% of the subjects. The second most common pathology was ovarian cyst which was seen in 10.9% of subjects. And the incidence of multiple fibroids was 5.1% as third most common pathology in both primary and secondary infertility cases. Most ovarian pathologies were found to be bilateral. 12.3% subjects had no findings on ultrasound. Conclusion: PCOS was the utmost common pathology connected with primary and secondary infertility. The second and third most common pathologies were ovarian cyst and multiple fibroids respectively. Keywords: female infertility, PCOS, PID DOI: 10.7176/JBAH/10-12-05 Publication date:June 30th 202
Assessment of fish oil to check the stability and meat quality of some commercially available tin packed fish in Islamabad, Pakistan
Fish contains all the essential nutrients which is important for human health so it is important to analyse all the nutrients present in tin packed fish meat. Keeping in view its importance present study is conducted on the assessment of fish oil to check the stability and quality of fish meat by proximate analysis of commercially available tin packed fish. Four tin packed fish species i.e., Sardine (Sardinella longiceps), Red salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka), Pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) and Skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis) were collected from different supermarkets of Islamabad, Pakistan. Proximate analysis viz., crude protein, crude fat, moisture and ash contents of the fish meat has been done to evaluate the meat quality. The antioxidant activity in oil was also analysed by FRAP assay. The result indicated that maximum percentage of moisture i.e., 78.61% present in Skipjack Tuna meat, Pink Salmon contain highest percentage of crude protein i.e., 70.00%, Red Salmon contain highest percentage of crude fat i.e., 30.00% while Sardine and Skipjack Tuna contains highest percentage of ash contents i.e., 8.00% and the total antioxidant capacity (uM) is higher in oil of Red Salmon (24.35%) followed by Sardines (14.78%), Skipjack Tuna (9.86%) and Pink Salmon (9.48%). It was concluded that the fish meat after thermal processing contains suitable percentage of crude protein, crude fats, and moisture and ash contents
Mid-infrared variability of γ-ray emitting blazars
Using data from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, we studied the mid-infrared (mid-IR) 3.4 μm (W1-band) and 4.6 μm (W2-band) flux variability of γ-ray emitting blazars. Our sample consists of 460 flat spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) and 575 BL Lacertae (BL Lac) objects. On intraday time-scales, the median amplitude of variability (σm) for FSRQs is 0.04-0.02+0.03 and 0.05-0.02+0.03 mag in W1 and W2 bands. For BL Lacs, we found a median σm in W1(W2) bands of 0.04-0.02+0.01 (0.04-0.02+0.02 mag. On long time-scales, for FSRQs we found a median σm of 0.44-0.27+0.28 and 0.45-0.27+0.27 mag in W1 and W2 bands, while for BL Lacs, the median values are 0.21-0.12+0.18 and 0.22-0.11+0.18 mag in W1 and W2 bands. From statistical tests, we found FSRQs to show a larger σm than BL Lacs on both intraday and long time-scales. Among blazars, low synchrotron peaked sources showed larger σm compared to intermediate synchrotron peaked and high synchrotron peaked sources. The larger σm seen in FSRQs relative to BL Lacs on both intraday and long time-scales could be due to them having the most powerful relativistic jets and/or their mid-IR band coinciding with the peak of the electron energy distribution. BL Lacs have low power jets and the observational window to traces the emission from low-energy electrons, thereby leading to low σm. In both FSRQs and BL Lacs predominantly a bluer when brighter behaviour was observed. No correlation is found between σm and black hole mass.</p
Comparison Between Flipped Classroom and Traditional Classroom Strategies in Teaching Human Anatomy
Objective: To compare the effect of flipped classroom versus traditional classroom on students' academic performance in teaching human anatomy. To assess the perceptions of medical students about flipped classroom and traditional classroom strategies.
Study Design: The present study followed quasi-experimental design, including pretest, posttest, and a questionnaire.
Place and Duration of Study: The study was carried out in the Department of Anatomy, at Wah Medical College, Pakistan from April 10 , 2023, to June 9 , 2023.
Materials and Methods: A total of 143 second year MBBS students were randomly divided into two groups;Group I (n=72) and Group II (n=71). Group I (Experimental group) was exposed to the flipped classroom while Group II (Control group) was taught through the traditional classroom. A Pretest and a posttest were taken at the start and end of the experiment. Perceptions of students regarding flipped classroom and traditional classroom strategies were recorded through a 5-point Likert scale questionnaire. The data was analyzed by SPSS version 23. The p value 0.05 was significant.
Results: The mean pretest score was not statistically significant between groups I and II (p>0.05). By the end of the study, the mean posttest score of each group significantly raised as compared to its pretest score (p<0.001). However, Group I achieved a significantly higher posttest score than Group II (p<0.05). Students perceived flipped classroom as more beneficial than traditional classroom (p=0.001) as it enhanced their understanding,
memorization, integration, and application of subject knowledge. Moreover, flipped classrooms proved to be more valuable in engaging students and improving their ability to participate in problem-solving activities.
Conclusion: Flipped Classroom has proven to be a more effective strategy in teaching human anatomy to medical students compared to traditional classroom method
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