Exploring Portable Multi-Modal Telehealth Solutions: A Development Approach

In the realm of medical healthcare, standard modules are typically utilized in the design of both healthcare units and diagnostic devices. Despite the similarity in operational modes across sensory devices, variations exist in data retrieval methods. Consequently, researchers often develop distinct devices tailored for specific diagnostics. Given that sensors commonly operate in either digital or analog modes, the development of a versatile device capable of supporting multiple sensor types is both feasible and desirable, particularly in resource-constrained settings. The key challenge in such device development lies in software implementation and sensor calibration, ensuring accurate calculation of sensor values. Body statistics encompass various parameters, some directly detected by sensors in real-time, while others require calculation based on standardized procedures such as time-based averaging or differential value analysis. To address these challenges, we propose a system designed to facilitate the execution of multiple functional algorithms on a single device, triggered as needed and based on demand. This research study elucidates the methodology for handling diverse processes on demand and delineates multiple operational procedures pertinent to healthcare devices.

Quantum size effects and tunable visible photoluminescence in a-Si:H/nc-Si:H superlattices

Quantum size effects are commonly observed in semiconductor nanocrystals and quantum dots. Here, we demonstrate unexpected quantum size effects in an unusual bulk system with multiple interfaces, consisting of alternating layers of nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si:H) and amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) material thin films. The nc-Si:H layers consist of silicon nanocrystals embedded in an amorphous matrix, with an amorphous-crystalline interface separating the two structures. Plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition was utilized to grow nanocrystalline-amorphous silicon superlattices with a varying thickness of the nanocrystalline layer. Strong visible photoluminescence at room temperature was deconvoluted into individual peaks. As the nanocrystalline silicon layer thickness was increased from 5 to 20 nm, the photoluminescence spectra red-shifted with the emission wavelength varying as d2 (d is the size of the nanocrystallites), the characteristic signature underlying quantum size effects. The size d of the nanocrystals was estimated by the measured shift of the Raman peak, and could be tuned by varying the thickness of the nc-Si:H layers. High resolution transmission electron microscopy show nanocrystals with a narrow size distribution, in an amorphous matrix. We also observe long wavelength photoluminescence from interfacial states that leads to persistent photconductivity. Nanocrystalline-amorphous superlattices offer a unique pathway for synthesizing embedded nanocrystals with controlled sizes and photonic signatures

Action-based Early Autism Diagnosis Using Contrastive Feature Learning

Autism, also known as Autism Spectrum Disorder (or ASD), is a neurological disorder. Its main symptoms include difficulty in (verbal and/or non-verbal) communication, and rigid/repetitive behavior. These symptoms are often indistinguishable from a normal (control) individual, due to which this disorder remains undiagnosed in early childhood leading to delayed treatment. Since the learning curve is steep during the initial age, an early diagnosis of autism could allow to take adequate interventions at the right time, which might positively affect the growth of an autistic child. Further, the traditional methods of autism diagnosis require multiple visits to a specialized psychiatrist, however this process can be time-consuming. In this paper, we present a learning based approach to automate autism diagnosis using simple and small action video clips of subjects. This task is particularly challenging because the amount of annotated data available is small, and the variations among samples from the two categories (ASD and control) are generally indistinguishable. This is also evident from poor performance of a binary classifier learned using the cross-entropy loss on top of a baseline encoder. To address this, we adopt contrastive feature learning in both self supervised and supervised learning frameworks, and show that these can lead to a significant increase in the prediction accuracy of a binary classifier on this task. We further validate this by conducting thorough experimental analyses under different set-ups on two publicly available datasets.Comment: This preprint has not undergone peer review (when applicable) or any postsubmission improvements or corrections. The Version of Record of this article is published in Multimedia Systems (2023), and is available online at https://doi.org/10.1007/s00530-023-01132-

A review on regulatory control of chromium stress in plants

Chromium (Cr) is a non-biodegradable heavy metal that persists long in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems and enters the food chain. It is cytotoxic even at low concentrations and reduces the yield of plants. Plants also have cellular mechanisms to manage the accumulation of metal ions inside the cell to diminish the possible injury from non-essential metal ions. This paper reviews current information on plant response to Cr, a key environmental pollutant. The harmful effects together with absorption, transfer, and aggregation of Cr are discussed. The roles of the cell wall, plasma membrane, and plant microbes as the primary hindrances for Cr ingression into the cell, along with sequestration and compartmentalization process, have also been discussed. Cr-generated oxidative injury is also regarded as the main deliberated effect of Cr toxicity.  It interferes with NADPH oxidases (plasma membrane) and the electron transport chains, which develop electron leakage. Some genes related to Cr stress in plants get expressed, and suppression produces protective effects by activating the signal transduction pathways. The expression of genes like BnaCnng69940D and BnaC08g49360D is increased, which is involved in protein kinase activity, signal transduction, and oxidoreductase activity. The increased mRNA levels of Cr stress response proteins, including HSP90-1 and MT-1, have been reported in the Brassica napus plant. The stressed environment around the plants may stimulate the biosynthesis of phytochelatins and metal-binding proteins, which have a protective role in plant’s growth and development.

Perspective on first-principles studies of 2D materials

The successful exfoliation of graphene from graphite has brought significant attention to predicting new two-dimensional (2D) materials that can be realized experimentally. As a consequence, first-principles studies of novel 2D materials become a routine, with thousands of papers published every year. What makes these studies interesting is that they predict new materials which have not been realized yet but should be a panacea for topological insulators, next-generation battery materials, novel solar cell materials, etc. There is no doubt that some of the proposed materials can provide a specific solution and their properties/performance can be confirmed experimentally, at the same time there are many false predictions because of the computational errors or the Lego-land approach to study 2D materials. To reduce the gap between theoretical and experimental works, we perform a systematic review of computational and Lego-land factors that should be minimized in future theoretical works

A study to evaluate pattern and purpose of smartphone usage and its dependence among medical students of government medical college in northern India

Background: Smartphone usage has become increasingly popular in recent decade. Though it’s of great utility in many aspects, excessive usage among youth has shown increased restlessness, careless lifestyles and greater susceptibility to stress. Aim & Objective: To assess the pattern and purpose of smartphone usage and its dependence among medical students. Methods & Material: A cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted among 363 MBBS students of 1st, IInd and IIIrd professional year between October 2018 to December 2018 at a government medical college. A 20-item self-administrated questionnaire, focusing on purpose and pattern of use of smart phone and its dependence was filled by all the students. Data was collected, entered and analysed using SPSS Software. Result: Among 363 students, 53% participants were males and rest were females. 80% students were using smartphone for more than 2 years, while 60% were having daily usage of more than 3 hours. Significant association between severity of smartphone dependence and variables like MBBS professional year, daily phone call made and received, daily SMS received, daily WhatsApp message sent and received were observed. Dependence was mild in 8.8% of the students; Moderate in 72.2% while 19% were suffering from severe smartphone dependence. Conclusion: Smart phone dependence is an established and emerging psychological issue which needs attention and intervention. It is of serious concern that all medical students were suffering from smartphone dependence with varying grades of severity. Increased awareness regarding the harmful effects of smartphone addiction is the need of hour

A Study to Assess the Knowledge and Practice Regarding Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Among Nursing Students of Agra, Uttarpradesh

Background: Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is a life-saving operation performed in an emergency when the heart stops beating. Immediate CPR following a cardiac arrest can double or triple the odds of survival. The American Heart Association welcomes you to join us in our vision of a future without cardiac arrest. In the United States, 350,000 individuals die from cardiac arrest each year. CPR keeps the blood pumping and the body supplied with oxygen until specialized treatment is available. There is normally enough oxygen left in the blood to support the brain and other organs for a few minutes. Objective: To assess the knowledge and practice regarding cardiopulmonary resuscitation among diploma nursing students. Methods: Descriptive research design was used. This study included 60 students. Knowledge and practice checklist was used to assess the knowledge and practice and chi-square test used to see the association between dependent and independent variables. Result: In this study, level of knowledge regarding cardiopulmonary resuscitation pretest level poor knowledge 23(38.3%), poor knowledge 19(31.7%) and good knowledge 18(30%) . level of skills regarding cardiopulmonary resuscitation pretest level skills 60(100%) poor skills 0(0.0%) good skills. Age, Gender, religion, Course of study, Family history of cardiac disease, Aware about cardio pulmonary resuscitation, source of information regarding cardio pulmonary resuscitation, Classes on cardio pulmonary resuscitation within the last 6 months had shown no statistically significant association with the pretest levels of skills regarding cardio pulmonary resuscitation among students. Conclusion: Despite the fact that more than half of students had good knowledge, so students required proper skill development about cardio pulmonary resuscitation

Barriers to Reproductive Health Services Among Female Youths of Suklagandaki Municipality in Western Part of Nepal

Background: Youths have specific sexual health needs, which vary according to their age, sex, marital and socioeconomic status. The study aimed to explore the barriers to reproductive health services among female youths of Suklagandaki Municipality, Nepal. Methods: A qualitative study was conducted through in-depth interviews among female youths aged 14 to 25 and two focus group discussions among FCHVs and health workers in health post. Snowball sampling technique was used for sample selection carried out by a same-sex researcher. Results: The barriers identified were poor sexual health knowledge, fear and embarrassment, poor youth friendly health services, misconceptions regarding contraceptives and negligence about the problems. Conclusions: Prejudice regarding utilization of reproductive health services by youths has been identified a major contributing factor or barrier, which requires integrated effort   from all sector to tackle this barrier