Formulating an Efficient Statistical Test Using the Goodness of Fit Approach with Applications to Real-life Data

Statistical tests are very important for researchers to make decisions. In particular, when the tests are non- parametric, they are of greater importance because they can be applied to a wide range of data sets regardless of knowing the distribution of these data. Researchers are therefore racing to obtain efficient tests for making good decisions based on the results of these tests. In this study, NBU (2)L was used based on the goodness of fit approach to present an efficient statistical test. The efficiency of the proposed test was computed, and the results were compared to those of other tests. Critical values were computed and tabulated, and the power of this test was estimated. Finally, this test was applicable to both real, complete data and censored data

Effect of Probiotics on Serum Biochemical and Blood Constituents in Chicken Challenged with Salmonella enterica Subsp Typhimurium

Purpose: To examine the effects of two commercial probiotics (Toyocerin and CloSTAT) on serum enzyme activities, and hematological and biochemical indices of broiler chickens challenged with Salmonella enterica serovars Typhimurium (ST).Methods: The chicks received one of the following treatments at 0 day of age: T1 = control group, unmedicated diet, unchallenged birds, (negative control); T2 = unmedicated diet + bacterial challenge (positive control); T3 = medicated diet with neoxyval (0.05 g/kg diet) + bacterial challenge (NEOX); T4 = toyocerin (1 g/kg diet) + bacterial challenge (Toyocerin); and T5 = CloSTAT (1 g/kg diet) + bacterial challenge (COLS). Blood samples were withdrawn from 7 selected chicks in each treatment at 7, 21, 28, 35 and 42 days of age, and analyzed for total protein, albumin and globulin concentration, and the albumin: globulin ratio computed. Glutamate-oxaloacetate transaminase (GOT) and glutatamate pyruvate transaminase (GPT) levels in serum were measured on days 7 and 42.Results: The results revealed that albumin (p < 0.001), globulin (p < 0.001) and albumin: globulin ratio (p < 0.001) were influenced by the time of blood collection. Globulin increased significantly after ST challenge while albumin decreased significantly. Glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (GOT) after ST challenge was affected by treatment (p < 0.05). Higher levels were obtained from birds which had received NEOX or positive control, compared to negative control group.Conclusion: Salmonella challenge affects serum albumin, globulin and GOT enzyme. The results obtained suggest that the probiotic, Toyocerin, mitigates the negative effects of Salmonella challenge.Keywords: Bacillus subtilis PB6, Bacillus Cereus var. toyoi, Probiotics, Liver enzymes, Hematology, Salmonella enteric

Improved Refractory Aluminosilicate Bricks Through Nano Zirconia Additions

The physico-mechanical and refractory properties of refractory bricks, prepared from 50 wt.% kaolin and 50 wt.% alumina, were improved through the addition of different contents (2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 wt. %) of nano zirconia powder. The densification parameters (bulk density and apparent porosity), mechanical properties (cold crushing strength) and refractory properties (thermal shock resistance) were tested for the prepared refractory bricks fired at 1500 oC. The mineralogical composition of the prepared zirconia and the refractory bricks were followed by X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) whereas while their microstructure and chemical constituents were depicted using scanning electron microscope attached with energy dispersive x-ray unit (SEM + EDAX). The refractory brick samples containing 8 wt. % of nano zirconia was considered as the optimum among the investigated samples as it shows the best sintering, mechanical and refractory properties, these were correlated with their recognized assemblage of minerals; mullite-cristobalite-zirconia

Patients' and nurses' perspectives on patients' experience for coronary care unit stressors using a mixed method approach

Background: Getting admitted to CCU is viewed as a stressful event by patients. However, numerous studies have indicated that nurses do not always accurately perceive the stressors of their clients. Therefore, it is important for nurses to know what seems most stressful from the patients‘ perspective so that appropriate nursing measures can be directed towards minimizing such stressors. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to explore the perception of CCU stressors experienced by patients from both patients and nurses perspective and to compare between them, identify the effect of socio-demographic characteristics of participant's on the level of stress perception and to what extent clinical guidelines fulfil CCU needs. Methodology: A mixed method approach (qualitative and quantitative) was applied. Purposive random sampling was used to recruit data. Ethical approval was obtained prior to data collection. Data was collected from three CCUs within the West and Northwest NHS Trusts. Participants who met the inclusion criteria were interviewed and asked to rank the Environmental Stressor Questionnaire (ESQ). Qualitative data was analyzed using Gorgi's method of analysis. A quantitative data was analyzed using the SPSS software version 15. Results: There was some consistency in the data where patients and nurses provided same ranking for CCU stressors. Consistently nurses ranked physiological stressors higher than psychological stressors. Patients showed consistency in the findings between what they ranked in the ESQ and their narratives more than their counterparts. Perception of stress was affected by participant's socio-demographic characteristics. A key finding is that the current guidelines do not serve patients and nurses needs. Conclusions: Nurses should be well equipped with knowledge and experience to overcome stressful situations. Educational programs should be made available for nurses to improve stress management. Nurses should assess patient's needs by applying effectively communication skills.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Spinal Surgery Patients’ Preoperative Education Effects

Preoperative patient education (PE) has been used by many institutions to deal with patient anxiety, pain control, and overall satisfaction. Although the literature suggests PE’s effectiveness in joint reconstruction, data are missing in spinal surgery. This research  retrospectively analyzed patients having elective spinal surgery who underwent PE (spine pre-care class) from January 2016 to June 2016. Of the 160 patients surveyed, (36.5%) attended the class whereas (63.5%) did not. Results of the participants in the pre-care class, 86% were satisfied with their pain management versus 73% in the control group. There was also a trend for better overall satisfaction in the pre-care class group (88.1% vs 85, multiple regression analysis). Elderly women tend to be less satisfied with pain management and overall treatment. The study concluded that the implementation of PE has had a positive impact on patient satisfaction, especially in terms of pain management.

ИССЛЕДОВАНИЕ ВЛИЯНИЯ ДЛИНЫ СИГНАЛА ЭЭГ НА ТОЧНОСТЬ КЛАССИФИКАЦИИ УРОВНЕЙ АНЕСТЕЗИИ

This paper considers one of the challenging tasks during surgical procedure, i.e. depth of anasthesia estimate. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of the analyzed EEG signal fragment duration on the accuracy of anesthesia level estimate using the linear discriminant analysis algorithm and determining the EEG signal length, which yields acceptable accuracy of anesthesia level separation using these parameters.A new method for classifying EEG anesthesia levels is proposed. The possibility of classifying levels of anesthesia is demonstrated by means of sharing the EEG parameters under consideration (SE, BSR, SEF95, RBR). The method can be used in anesthesia monitors that are used to monitor the depth of anesthesia in order to select the appropriate dose of anesthetic drugs during operations, thus avoiding both cases of intraoperative arousal and excessively deep anesthesia.Одной из важнейших задач при проведении хирургических операций является оценка глубины анестезии пациента. Глубина общей анестезии традиционно оценивалась с помощью гемодинамических признаков, которые плохо коррелируют с уровнем сознания пациента. Сигналы электроэнцефалограммы (ЭЭГ) содержат ценную информацию о процессах в мозге пациента, поэтому анализ ЭЭГ рассматривается как один из наиболее полезных методов в исследовании и оценке глубины анестезии в клинических применениях. Нелинейный анализ для оценки глубины анестезии позволяет получить информацию, которая не может быть получена с использованием методов спектрального анализа ЭЭГ. Формирование комплекса диагностически значимых показателей ЭЭГ во время анестезии дает возможность адекватно описать эти сложные процессы и изменения с помощью совместного использования четырех параметров ЭЭГ: SE, BSR, SEF95, RBR. Целью работы является исследование влияния длительности анализируемого фрагмента сигнала ЭЭГ на точность оценки уровней анестезии с помощью алгоритма линейного дискриминантного анализа и определение длины сигнала ЭЭГ, при которой получается приемлемая точность разделения уровней наркоза с помощью этих параметров. Предложен новый метод классификации уровней анестезии по ЭЭГ. Показана возможность классификации уровней анестезии с помощью совместного использования рассматриваемых параметров ЭЭГ (SE, BSR, SEF95, RBR). Метод может быть использован в мониторах анестезии, служащих для контроля глубины наркоза в целях выбора подходящей дозы анестезирующих препаратов во время операций, что позволит избежать как случаев интраоперационного пробуждения, так и излишне глубокого наркоза

The Malaysia DREEM: perceptions of medical students about the learning environment in a medical school in Malaysia

BACKGROUND: Students’ perceptions of their learning environment, by defining its strengths and weaknesses, are important for continuous improvement of the educational environments and curriculum. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore students’ perceptions of their learning environment, among medical students in Malaysia. Various aspects of the education environment were compared between year levels and sex. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted at the Management and Science University, Shah Alam, Malaysia in 2012. A total number of 438 medical students participated in this study, and the response rate was 87.6%. Data were analyzed using SPSS. Comparisons of the mean scores of Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM) subscales were calculated. The t-test was used to determine statistically significant differences. RESULTS: The majority of the study participants were female, Malay, and from year 3 (68.7%, 65.3%, and 55.7%; respectively). Analysis of each of the 50 items of the DREEM inventory showed that 47 items scored ranged between 2.00 and 3.00, and three items scored below 2.00. These were identified as problem areas in this medical school that are required to be critically addressed. The overall score showed that the medical students’ perceptions were positive. The students’ perception toward educational environment was positive for all five DREEM subscales. CONCLUSION: The study found that, in general, the perceptions of the participants about the learning environment were positive. Nevertheless, the study also found there is a need for curriculum improvement in this school and identified priority areas for such improvement

Betaine and nano-emulsified vegetable oil supplementation for improving carcass and meat quality characteristics of broiler chickens under heat stress conditions

IntroductionThis research aimed to examine the effects of water-added betaine (BET) and/or nano-emulsified vegetable oil (MAGO) on carcass and meat quality characteristics of broilers raised under thermoneutral (TN) and heat stress (HS) conditions.MethodsOn day 21, 640 birds (Ross 308) were randomly assigned to one of two thermal conditions (thermoneutral 22 ± 1°C and heat stress 32 ± 1°C) each containing four treatment groups: Control, BET, MAGO, and a mixture of both (BETMAGO) in a 2 × 4 factorial arrangement (eight groups). Each group has eight replicates, with ten birds each. The birds' carcass and meat quality characteristics were evaluated at 35 days.Results and discussionThe dressing percentage, breast, leg, wing, heart, initial pH, color change, cooking loss (CL), water-holding capacity (WHC), shear force (SF), and texture profile with exception of springiness significantly affected by the treatments. The results showed that HS had negative effects on carcass weight and relative weights of the breast, spleen, and heart. Moreover, HS increased dressing percentage, wing, initial pH, final core temperature, initial lightness, WHC, and hardness. Significant differences in interactions between treatments and temperature were observed in the spleen, WHC, and SF.ConclusionWater supplemented with BET effectively improved carcass dressing percentage, breast weight, and meat quality in terms of water-holding capacity and tenderness under HS conditions. More studies on the use of BET and/or MAGO at different levels were recommended

STABILIZATION OF AN A.C. LINK BY A PARALLEL C.C. LINK

Because of the numerous advantages of H.V.D.C. transmission over H.V.A.C. transmission tremendous amount of work has been done in developing H.V.D.C. within existing H.V.A.C. systems in different part of the world. One of the advantages of the A.C.-D.C. parallel operated system is to be able to increase the transient stability limit by exercising control of the D.C. system. Basic equation of transient stability phenomena on A.C.-D.C. parallel operated systems are investigated.A D.C. parallel link offers the possibility of a quick acting extra power control which helps to improve the transient stability of A.C. system in critical situation. In this paper an attempt has been made to show in general terms the application of equal area criterion for the determination of transient stability and that how the stability can be improve by having a D.C. link in parallel with existing A.C. line