The Computational Techniques Developed to Analyze DNA Gel Images

The analysis of gel electrophoresis images is very crucial for molecular biologists to comprehend and interpret their experimental results. Thus, enhancing current mathematical methods and developing new accurate ones is very important and challenging task for bioinformaticians. For example, enhancing the commonly used mathematical method in gel analysis known as "Fitting method estimation" and proposing a new efficient method entitled "Ruler estimation" for preprocessing a given image and detecting lanes and bands automatically. Both mathematical methods implemented in our newly developed software. Three mathematical models namely, linear, quadratic and cubic fitting are tested for the accuracy of detecting the bands and lanes in the gel image to determine the best fitting model. A friendly user interface is developed for this new program using MATLB GUI to extract useful bimolecular information accurately and automatically. The new software has the ability to manually add or delete any band(s) and estimate the size of any unknown band(s) on the gel. Moreover, the similarity and (dis)similarity between lanes "samples" are estimated based on comparing the numbers and sizes of bands to generate a phylogram tree

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries