Big Data Analytics in Healthcare: Opportunities and Challenges

Healthcare is a vast and data rich industry. The administrative details stored into database hold a large number of transactions for each treated patient. The expansion and the adoption of the electronic health have been increasing the overall amount of the data that is available rather exponentially. In spite of all the efforts that have been made in the healthcare industry it has still been unable to rather leverage the vast data that can help in improving the care and the healthcare operations simultaneously. Along with this, the rapidly growing field of the big data analytics in the healthcare has started playing a major or the integral role in evolution and the development of the healthcare practice and research. Big data analytics have also provided the tool that shall help in accumulating, managing, assimilating, analyzing, the structured and the unstructured data. The concept of dig data analytics has been applied with the aim of increasing the efforts of the care delivery and the disease exploration simultaneously. In spite of all the efforts the adaptation rate and the research development has been hindered with the major problems that inherent within the big data analytics model. The paper basically discusses the concept of big data analytics in healthcare. Moreover, the paper also looks to explore the advantages of the concept. Similarly, the paper has also explored the opportunities and challenges that are associated with the idea of big data analytics in healthcare. At last the paper is closing with the general examination of the idea and the exploration

The impact of Total Quality Management on organizational performance

This study came to investigate the impact of Total Quality management (TQM) practices and strategies on organisational performance. TQM is defined as a strategy that essentially aimed to establish and deliver high quality products and services that cover all customers' demands and achieve a high level of customer satisfaction. This paper discusses the implementation of total quality management in Pakistan and explores the relationship between the effective implementation and organisational performance. TQM in Pakistan was implemented in three categories of implementation methods which are; quality control, quality assurance and continuous improvement. The findings indicate that TQM has two organisational performances, either is TQM practices effect the organisational performance, or it hinders organisations to achieve their goals in which this will negatively affect the organizational performance. Keywords: Total Quality management, organisational performance, high quality products and services, customer satisfaction

Botulinum toxin: Non cosmetic and off-label dermatological uses

AbstractBotulinum toxin (BT-A) is a neurotoxin which is produced by the Gram-positive anaerobic bacterium Clostridium botulinum. The efficacy of Botulinum toxin in treating hyperhidrosis and the glabellar lines is well known and FDA approved.Because BT-A inhibits the release of acetylcholine and many other neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine and substance P at the level of nerve ending, this toxin has been used to treat a lot of dermatological disorders which are thought to be triggered by these neurotransmitters.In this article we are discussing the medical off-label uses of BT-A in dermatology

The Tooth and Skin Colour Interrelationship across the Different Ethnic Groups

Objectives. The purpose of the study was to investigate the relation between skin and tooth colour parameters in various ethnic groups. Materials and Methods. Saudi Arabian, Indian, African, and East Asian ethnic groups of 75 each were included in the study. The tooth colour was determined by spectrophotometer in CIELAB parameters. The skin colour was measured at earlobe, forehead, and malar locations by clinical skin photography. The data was statistically analysed by one-way ANOVA and correlation tests. Results. The “L” vale for the Saudi Arabian group had a strong correlation at earlobe location (r=0.275), while correlation was found at forehead (r=0.271) and malar region (r=0.261) with Indian ethnic group. A strong negative correlation was observed in African ethnic group at all three locations for “L” parameter. The redness value “a” is found to have strong negative linear correlation between the earlobe and tooth for Saudi Arabian (r=-0.240) and Indian ethnic groups (r=-0.268). The “b” showed no correlation with skin location in all groups except positive correlation in African ethnic groups. Conclusions. The strong correlation was found between the skin and tooth colour parameters; hence the skin colour can be used as a guide for artificial tooth selection in edentulous patients

Health practitioners' personality patterns as determinants of psychological immunity against the COVID-19 pandemic

The study aimed to investigate whether or not health practitioners' personality patterns act as determinants of immunity against the COVID-19 pandemic. The study drew on Ashton and Lee's (2009) Personality Patterns Scale and Natour's (2020) Psychological Immunity Scale. A sample of 240 respondents completed the two scales. The results of the study indicated that there were no differences in some dimensions of psychological immunity of the pandemic health practitioners during the COVID-19 among the community members depending on the gender, job position, and academic degree variable. Meanwhile, the study found that the job position, academic degree, age, and workplace variables were relate to differences in some personality patterns. The differences related to all dimensions were in favor of the health practitioners with the highest years of experience. Finally, a high correlation coefficient of 0.776 was also found between psychological immunity with its dimensions (hardness, sources, and optimism) and health practitioners' personality patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic. The value of the coefficient of determination (0.603 = R2) indicates that psychological immunity accounts for 60.3% of the variation in personality patterns, and the existence of an effect of psychological immunity on health practitioners' personality patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic