Enhancing Confidentiality and Privacy Preservation in e-Health to Enhanced Security

Electronic health (e-health) system use is growing, which has improved healthcare services significantly but has created questions about the privacy and security of sensitive medical data. This research suggests a novel strategy to overcome these difficulties and strengthen the security of e-health systems while maintaining the privacy and confidentiality of patient data by utilising machine learning techniques. The security layers of e-health systems are strengthened by the comprehensive framework we propose in this paper, which incorporates cutting-edge machine learning algorithms. The suggested framework includes data encryption, access control, and anomaly detection as its three main elements. First, to prevent unauthorised access during transmission and storage, patient data is secured using cutting-edge encryption technologies. Second, to make sure that only authorised staff can access sensitive medical records, access control mechanisms are strengthened using machine learning models that examine user behaviour patterns. This research's inclusion of machine learning-based anomaly detection is its most inventive feature. The technology may identify variations from typical data access and usage patterns, thereby quickly spotting potential security breaches or unauthorised activity, by training models on past e-health data. This proactive strategy improves the system's capacity to successfully address new threats. Extensive experiments were carried out employing a broad dataset made up of real-world e-health scenarios to verify the efficacy of the suggested approach. The findings showed a marked improvement in the protection of confidentiality and privacy, along with a considerable decline in security breaches and unauthorised access events

Farmers’ suicides in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, India: a qualitative exploration of their causes

Background: To explore the various perceived reasons for farmers’ suicides in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, their common factors, and to suggest solutions. METHODS: The present formative research was undertaken in the 23 villages surrounding the Anji Primary Health Centre, located in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, India. A triangulation of free list and pile sort exercises was used. The data was analyzed by Anthropac 4.98.1/X software. This was followed by a semi-structured focus group discussion. To increase the validity of the results, these findings were presented to the participants and later they were circulated to the 26 farmers’ clubs in the villages for comment and discussion during their monthly, village-based meetings. RESULTS: Farmers perceived debt, addiction, environmental problems, poor prices for farm produce, stress and family responsibilities, government apathy, poor irrigation, increased cost of cultivation, private money lenders, use of chemical fertilizers and crop failure as the reasons for farmers’ suicides. Participants suggested solutions such as self-reliance and capacity building among farmers, a monitoring and support system for vulnerable farmers, support and counseling services, a village-level, transparent system for the disbursement of relief packages. CONCLUSIONS: Farmers’ suicides in Vidarbha are caused by the complex interplay of social, political and environmental constraints. Hence, a comprehensive intervention to ensure self-reliance and capacity building among farmers in modern farming techniques , monitoring and support system for vulnerable farmers, a village-level, transparent system for disbursement of relief packages is required to prevent farmer suicides in the near future. Apart from this, there is a need to strengthen the National Mental Health Program at primary health care level to offer support and counseling to vulnerable farmers in rural area

Comparative study of oxytetracycline and doxycycline on calcium chelation: in-vitro assay

Background: Tetracycline class of antibiotics differ in their pharmacokinetic profile and chelating property. Objective of present study is to assess the effect of oxytetracycline and doxycycline on calcium chelationMethods: For estimation of calcium chelation of Oxytetracycline and Doxycycline, EDTA method (P. Trinder) and calcium binding assay was followed. Different doses of Oxytetracycline (25 mg, 50 mg and 100 mg) and Doxycycline (25 mg, 50 mg and 100 mg) were used in EDTA method and different concentrations of calcium were used in calcium binding assay. The procedure was done according to the standard methodology.Results: The intensity of colour appear to be increased with increase in dose of the Oxytetracycline (25 mg, 50 mg, 100 mg) as the concentration of calcium binding increases. But in Doxycycline intensity of colour is more with 100 mg as compared with 25 mg and 50 mg The UV absorption spectrum of solution of Oxytetracycline (1mM) was changed after the addition of CaCl2 to provide different concentration of Ca2+ (0.1, 0.5 and 1.0 mM).  With minor shift in the absorption coefficient and no shift in wavelength were observed for Doxycycline.Conclusions: The study concludes that oxytetracycline has more calcium chelating property than doxycycline

Assessment of medication adherence among hypertensive patients: a cross-sectional study

Background: Hypertension affects around one billion individuals worldwide and is expected to increase by 29% to reach 1.56 billion by 2025. It is usually asymptomatic, chronic disorder needing lifelong treatment. The objective of this study was to study the medication adherence among hypertensive patients using hill-bone compliance to high blood pressure therapy scale (HILL-BONE CHBPTS) and to compare medication adherence in hypertensive patients with controlled and uncontrolled blood pressure.Methods: A cross-sectional, observational study was conducted for a period of one year in the Outpatient department of Medicine in a tertiary care hospital, Navi Mumbai. A total of 129 hypertensive patients who were on at least six months on antihypertensive medications were enrolled. Blood pressure was measured and details of drug therapy were noted. Medication adherence was assessed using HILL-BONE CHBPTS and respective scores were calculated.Results: HILL-BONE CHBPTS scores were on the higher side signifying poor medication adherence among hypertensive patients. HILL-BONE CHBPTS score correlated significantly in a positive direction with diastolic blood pressure, duration of treatment and the number of medications, As per JNC 8 recommendations, 58.9% (76) hypertensive patients were having blood pressure under control, whereas 41.1% (53) were having uncontrolled blood pressure. HILL-BONE CHBPTS scores were significantly higher (reflecting lower adherence) in hypertensive patients with uncontrolled blood pressure than those having optimally controlled blood pressure.Conclusions: Overall the medication adherence was poor in hypertensive patients. Adherence to therapeutic regimens is an important factor in blood pressure control among hypertensive patients and needs priority. Health education related to medication adherence needs be improved in hypertensive patients

Effectiveness of crossword puzzle as an adjunct tool for active learning and critical thinking in Pharmacology

Background: Modern pedagogic methodologies are being introduced in Medical education and there is a growing evidence of crossword puzzle as an educational tool for active learning, problem solving and critical thinking. The aim of the study was to study the effectiveness of crossword puzzle as an adjunct to the conventional lecture for active learning and critical thinking in Pharmacology. This was a parallel group; pre and post assessment, educational intervention study conducted among second year undergraduate medical students.Methods: Second year medical students were randomly selected and assigned to two groups A (Cross word puzzle) and B (control), after an hour conventional lecture on “Drugs for Hypertension” In both the groups, pre- and post-intervention knowledge was assessed using the MCQ test. A self-designed crossword puzzle on the lecture topic was used as an intervention and students were allowed to read textbooks with a crossword puzzle in intervention group A, whereas control group B were allowed to read textbook only. After 45 minutes, the post-intervention assessment was done in both groups with the same set of MCQ and students’ feedback on crossword usefulness was obtained.Results: The average MCQ test score in Group A improved significantly from 6.65±3.4 pre-intervention to 11.26±2.5 post-intervention (p <0.05) with absolute learning gain 30.73 % and relative learning gain 69.32 %. The average test score in Group B also improved significantly from 5.7±2.9 pre-intervention to 9.59±2.5 post-intervention (p <0.05) with absolute learning gain 25.93 % and relative learning gain 68.23%. There was a significant improvement in the MCQ scores in both the groups after intervention. But the post-intervention MCQ scores in group A (crossword puzzle) was higher and statistically significant (P <0.05) in comparison to group B.Conclusions: Cross-word puzzle promotes active self-learning and develops critical thinking among medical students. It could be used as supplementary educational tool in pharmacology to enhance problem-solving skills along with the information provided through traditional teaching lectures or could be used as a micro task

Expanding horizons of anticoagulant therapy: Dabigatran etexilate a novel oral anticoagulant

Thrombo-embolic disease is a major challenging clinical problem associated with significant mortality and morbidity. Anticoagulation with the existing heparin products and vitamin K antagonist (VKA) anticoagulants are still the mainstay of management. However, due to the risk of bleeding and well-documented drawbacks, the quest for a novel oral anticoagulant has led to the clinical development of dabigatran etexilate. Dabigatran etexilate is a direct thrombin (IIa) inhibitor which has recently been approved in India for prevention of venous thromboembolic events (VTE) in patients who have undergone major orthopaedic (total knee or hip replacement) surgery and for prevention of stroke, systemic embolism and reduction of vascular mortality in adult patients with atrial fibrillation. Thus dabigatran etexilate is a promising alternative to the current heparin products and VKAs in patients who require long-term oral anticoagulation

SPEECH CONTROLLED ROBOCAR

The main goal of this paper is to introduce “hearing” sensor and also the speech synthesis to the robotic car such that it is capable to interact with human through Spoken Natural Language (NL). Speech recognition (SR) is a prominent technology, which helps us to introduce “hearing” as well as Natural Language (NL) interface through Speech for the interaction. The most challenging part of the entire system is designing and interfacing various stages together. Our approach was to get the analog voice signal being digitized. The frequency and pitch of words be stored in a memory. These stored words will be used for matching with the words spoken. When the match is found, the system outputs the address of stored words. Hence we have to decode the address and according to the address sensed, the car will perform the required task. Since we wanted the car to be wireless, we used RF module. The address was decoded using microcontroller (DSPIC30F) and then applied to RF module. This together with driver circuit at receivers end made complete intelligent systems

A Distributed Control Law for Load Balancing in Content Delivery Networks

Large Internet-scale distributed systems deploy hundreds of thousands of servers in thousands of data centers around the world. Internet-scale distributed system to have emerged in the past decade is the content delivery network (CDN, for short) that delivers web content, web and IP-based applications, downloads, and streaming media to end-users (i.e., clients) around the world. This paper focuses on the main research areas in the field of CDN, pointing out the motivations, and analyzing the existing strategies for replica placement and management, server measurement, best fit replica selection and request redirection. In this paper, I face the challenging issue of defining and implementing an effective law for load balancing in Content Delivery Networks. A formal study of a CDN system, carried out through the exploitation of a fluid flow model characterization of the network of servers. This result is then leveraged in order to devise a novel distributed and time-continuous algorithm for load balancing

Drug utilization pattern in dermatology outpatient department at a tertiary care hospital in Navi Mumbai

Background: Skin diseases are common and cause a huge disease burden globally. Different class of drugs and combinational products are available in dermatology for treatment. Periodic prescription analysis in the form of drug utilization study can improve the quality of prescription and curb the menace of irrational prescribing. Aim and objective of the study were to study the prescribing pattern and drug utilization trends in Dermatology outpatient department at a tertiary care hospital in Navi Mumbai.Methods: A cross-sectional, observational study was conducted over a period of three months in dermatology department of a tertiary care teaching hospital, Navi-Mumbai. A total of 102 adult patients visiting dermatology OPD were included and their prescriptions were analyzed with WHO prescribing indicators and additional indices.Results: Analysis showed that the average number of drugs per prescription was 3.27. Percentage of drugs prescribed by generic name was 31.1%. Percentage of drugs prescribed from National Essential drug list (NEDL) was 44.2%. The commonest prescribed drugs were antihistaminics followed by antifungals. Oral tablets were the commonest prescribed dosage form.Conclusions: Antihistaminics and antifungals dominated the prescribing pattern in this study with restraint on polypharmacy, but showed ample scope for improvement to prescribe generic and selection of essential drugs

Ensuring the Data Integrity and Confidentiality in Cloud Storage Using Hash Function and TPA

Main call for Cloud computing is that users only utilize what they required and only pay for whatever they are using. Mobile Cloud Computing refers to an infrastructure where data processing and storage can happen away from mobile device. Research estimates that mobile subscribers worldwide will reach 15 billion by the end of 2014 and 18 billion by at the ending of 2016. Due to increasing use of mobile devices the requirement of cloud computing in mobile devices arise, which evolves Mobile Cloud Computing. Mobile devices require large storage capacity and maximum CPU speed. As we are storing data on cloud there is an issue of data security. As there is risk associated with data storage many IT professionals are not showing their interest towards Mobile Cloud Computing. To ensure the users' data correctness in the cloud, here we are proposing an effective mechanism with salient feature of data integrity and confidentiality. This paper proposed a solution which uses the RSA algorithm and mechanism of hash function along with various cryptography tools to provide better security to the data stored on the cloud. This model can not only solve the problem of storage of massive data, but also make sure that it will give data access control mechanisms and ensure sharing data files with confidentiality and integrity. DOI: 10.17762/ijritcc2321-8169.15055