Measuring Blood Glucose Concentrations in Photometric Glucometers Requiring Very Small Sample Volumes

Glucometers present an important self-monitoring tool for diabetes patients and therefore must exhibit high accu- racy as well as good usability features. Based on an invasive, photometric measurement principle that drastically reduces the volume of the blood sample needed from the patient, we present a framework that is capable of dealing with small blood samples, while maintaining the required accuracy. The framework consists of two major parts: 1) image segmentation; and 2) convergence detection. Step 1) is based on iterative mode-seeking methods to estimate the intensity value of the region of interest. We present several variations of these methods and give theoretical proofs of their convergence. Our approach is able to deal with changes in the number and position of clusters without any prior knowledge. Furthermore, we propose a method based on sparse approximation to decrease the computational load, while maintaining accuracy. Step 2) is achieved by employing temporal tracking and prediction, herewith decreasing the measurement time, and, thus, improving usability. Our framework is validated on several real data sets with different characteristics. We show that we are able to estimate the underlying glucose concentration from much smaller blood samples than is currently state-of-the- art with sufficient accuracy according to the most recent ISO standards and reduce measurement time significantly compared to state-of-the-art methods

Profiles of illness and injury among South African elite athletes with disability at the 2012 Summer Paralympic Games

Epidemiological data is important to better understand injury and illness patterns in para athletes. Medical teams used a web-based injury and illness surveillance system (WEB-IISS system) to all the para-athlete injuries and illnesses during the 2012 London Paralympic games. All team physicians could access the system at any time to log data, providing a vast database for potential research. The relative ease of data collection permits large amounts of data to be analysed, providing important surveillance data on injury and illness. Data on the South African para-athletes, provided by the team's Chief Medical Officer, were assessed and compared to all countries. This study aimed to describe the illness and injury profiles in South African elite paraathletes who participated in the 2012 Summer Paralympic Games; and compare these profiles to data from the other countries that participated. A retrospective sub-analysis of the data-set collected from a large prospective study of injury and illness at the London Summer Paralympic Games in 2012 was compared to data collected on all para-athletes from input by team physicians into the WEB-ISS system. In total, 62 South African para-athletes presented with 19 injuries, with an injury rate of 21.9 per 1000 athlete days. Twenty-five para-athletes presented illness, with an illness rate of 28.8 per 1000 athlete days. The overall injury and illness rate in the South African para-athletes was higher than the injury and illness rate in all para-athlete participants at the London Paralympic Games. The anatomical distribution of injuries (lower limbs, axial and upper limbs) and the nature of illness (respiratory, skin & subcutaneous and digestive systems) were however similar. Causative factors are not evident and need to be further studied. Increased efforts in injury and illness surveillance and preventative programmes should be employed to reduce the incidence of injury and illness, and their severity . Such efforts in para-athlete care should be ongoing with surveillance to monitor and manage trends to ensure the culmination of Paralympic competition does not result in high rates of injury and illness. Education of healthcare providers, para-athletes, coaches and others in the management of para-athletes, is key

Exploring rape myth acceptance among general medical practitioners in South Africa

Rape myths have several negative effects on society, and can affect those who come into contact with victims of sexual assault on a professional level. One group of professionals that assist victims are general medical practitioners and in a country like South Africa, that has a high rate of rape, it is not uncommon for general medical practitioners to find themselves assisting victims. Previous research has suggested that professionals who assist victims such as police officers and lawyers are susceptible to rape myth acceptance. In South Africa, research suggests that medical health professionals can have negative views of victims, depending on a number of factors such as the victim's behaviour and alcohol consumption. Presenting data collected using the Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale (IRMAS) from a sample of 44 general medical practitioners in South Africa, it was found that the participants had low levels of rape myth acceptance. The findings indicated that not only were rape myths not strong influences within the sample, myths that related to the concept of ‘real rape' were the least likely to be supported. Furthermore, additional questions in the survey revealed that general medical practitioners are not well-equipped to provide care to victims of sexual assault and more effort is needed with regards to service provision