thermogram Breast Cancer Detection : a comparative study of two machine learning techniques

Breast cancer is considered one of the major threats for women’s health all over the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that 1 in every 12 women could be subject to a breast abnormality during her lifetime. To increase survival rates, it is found that it is very effective to early detect breast cancer. Mammography-based breast cancer screening is the leading technology to achieve this aim. However, it still can not deal with patients with dense breast nor with tumor size less than 2 mm. Thermography-based breast cancer approach can address these problems. In this paper, a thermogram-based breast cancer detection approach is proposed. This approach consists of four phases: (1) Image Pre-processing using homomorphic filtering, top-hat transform and adaptive histogram equalization, (2) ROI Segmentation using binary masking and K-mean clustering, (3) feature extraction using signature boundary, and (4) classification in which two classifiers, Extreme Learning Machine (ELM) and Multilayer Perceptron (MLP), were used and compared. The proposed approach is evaluated using the public dataset, DMR-IR. Various experiment scenarios (e.g., integration between geometrical feature extraction, and textural features extraction) were designed and evaluated using different measurements (i.e., accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity). The results showed that ELM-based results were better than MLP-based ones with more than 19%

Effective teaching of science in an undergraduate course; knowledge, discipline and dedication yield scientists

AbstractEffective undergraduate teaching has always been a challenge. In 1987 Chickering & Gamson published the seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education, which was highly used and recommended by most practitioners, yet teaching basic science was still difficult. It is not easy to convey that in science negative results are as important as positive results. In fact, sometimes interpretation and troubleshooting are more important than the experiment itself. In order to make the students feel the importance of science and the importance of every experiment they are doing, the laboratory component of the course was designed as a small project through which they were taught important lessons. Every time an experiment failed, we (instructors) pointed out how it could serve the purpose of the project and how each result, whether positive or negative, leads us to another step and a better understanding of the project's goal. Other than the technical aspects of designing the course, we made sure that there's a strong bond between every student and us without compromising discipline, as it is the way to success and great achievements. Everyone had a talent and a skill that needed to be sculptured to unleash the great scientist –we believe- was in him or her. Our goal was to create an image and to set an example of how a scientist should be; manners, attitude, discipline and perseverance. By the end of the semester, the students were able to interpret, troubleshoot and report the results they collected throughout the whole semester in consolidated reports that mimicked published research papers. More importantly, they learned how to be scientists and they enjoyed learning science

Application of Transtheoretical Model of Change on Foot Care Management among Diabetic Patients: Prevention Better than Cure

Diabetic foot ulcer is one of the most common consequences of uncontrolled blood glucose level which takes place in 15% of people with diabetes, and precedes 84% of all diabetes-related lower-leg amputations that have the adverse effect on the diabetic patients causing physical, psychosocial, and financial burden as well as an economic burden on health care system. The aim of the study is to improve foot care management among diabetic patients by applying the Transtheoretical Model of Change. Design: A quasi-experimental design was conducted with a systematic random sample. Study sample: 154 patients who were selected from the registration system were divided equally into (77 study group) and (77 control group). Setting: the study was conducted at the outpatient diabetic clinic affiliated to Tanta University Hospital and Segar primary health care center affiliated to ministry of health, Tanat Governorate, Egypt. Tools: three tools were used for the purpose of data collection (I) Bio-socio-demographic characteristics questionnaire;(II)Trans-theoretical Model scale and (III) Diabetes Management Self-Efficacy Scale (DMSES). A survey was conducted by using Arabic version of self-reporting questionnaire to assess the stages of change and self efficacy among the studied groups as a baseline and during the implementation of foot care intervention program. Results revealed that, there was a statistical significant difference in the stages of change of the Transtheoretical Model for diabetic foot care management of the study group compared to the control group at 2, 4, and 6 months after implementation of intervention program. In addition, there was a statistical significant difference in Diabetes Management Self-Efficacy Levels between study group who received program intervention compared to control group 6 months after intervention. Recommendation: encouraging nurses who are dealing with diabetic patients to use the Transtheoretical Model of change or other health promotion models to enhance diabetic patient for foot care management, and adoption of healthy behavior.Keywords: Transtheoretical model of change, diabetic foot care management

Minimally invasive, no hardware subtalar arthrodesis with autogenous posterior iliac bone graft

Sixteen patients underwent minimally invasive subtalar arthrodesis through a mini-invasive approach with posterior iliac graft between 2004 and 2006. No hardware was used to transfix the arthrodesis and partial weight bearing was allowed immediately. The primary indication for surgery was the squeal of fracture os calcis in terms of subtalar joint arthritis, loss of heel height, malalignment of the hindfoot, and pain with weight bearing. There were 12 male and 4 female patients with a mean age of 30 (range 17–52). Patients were followed up for a period of 40.8 months (range 36–48 months). The mean interval from injury to fusion was 2 (+0.6) years ranging from 6 months to 6 years post fracture. The average clinical rating scale based on the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) improved from 36 preoperatively to 78 at the latest follow-up (P < 0.05). Union rate was 94%. Radiographic evaluation revealed a mean increase in calcaneal inclination of 6.25 + 8.3° (P < 0.07) and a mean increase in the lateral talocalcaneal angle of 7.42 + 10.2° (P < 0.08). Complications were graft nonunion in 1 patient and transient tendoachilles tendinitis in another. This technique can be used to decrease the morbidity associated with the late complications of os calcis fractures by aligning the hindfoot, restoring the heel height and correcting calcaneal and talar inclination. It offers the advantage of early weight bearing while avoiding hardware complications

Factors Affecting Quality of Life in Patients with End Stage of Renal Disease on Hemodialysis , Ras Al Khaimah-United Arab Emirates

Background: Nowadays, a dramatically increase on the incidence and prevalence of End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) were more than one million ESRD suffer worldwide, thus, ESRD is an important public health concern for it has considerable repercussion on the quality of life (QoL) of patients and the community’s increased social and health care needs. Purposes: Were to describe the quality of life in patients with end stage of renal disease on hemodialysis and to examine the contributing factors that may affect quality of life. Methodology: A cross sectional design was used to describe the QoL in patients with ESRD on hemodialysis and to determine the contributing factors that may affect quality of life; and a correlational design was utilized to examine associations among the independent variables (demographic characteristics and biological factors) that may influence the dependent variable (QoL). Setting of the study: It was at dialysis unit located in Ibrahim Bin Hamad Obaidulla Hospital (IBHOH), affiliated to the Ministry of Health , Medical District in Ras Al-Khaimah Emirate - UAE which provided the medical services to all patients regularly attending the in-patient hemodialysis (Emirates citizens and Non- Emirates citizens) and were managed by medical and paramedical staff working within the same hospital. Sampling: A purposive sampling was conducted and the accessible population was comprised of 129 regular patients. Out of 129 patients, 74 patients were qualified in the inclusion criteria to participate in the research. Participants were interviewed individually to measure Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) using Kidney Disease Quality of Life-36TM (KDQoL 36TM) scale and compared KDQoL scores by demographic factors, and biological factors. Results: the overall quality of life of patients with ESRD on hemodialysis was low, with M+SD(39.57+16.13). Increase poor quality was independently associated with female gender, aged &gt;60 years, low educational level, unemployment status have poor QoL. The Physical Component Summary (PCS) domain came in the first rank with the lowest rated and scored with M+SD (32.66+17.30), whereas the mean of the Burden of Kidney Disease domain came in second rank with M+SD (34.61+12.26). Meanwhile, the Symptoms and Problems domain came in third rank with M+SD (38.56+22.8), followed by the Effects of Kidney Disease on Daily Life domain that came in fourth rank with M+SD (42.22+10.56), and then lastly, Mental Component Summary (MCS) domain came in fifth rank with M+SD (49.84+17.73). In this study, the results revealed that the level of serum albumin and gender were the most significant predictors that influence QoL in patients with (ESRD) undergoing hemodialysis at (P&gt;0.05). Conclusion and Recommendation: The results of the present study shown the evidence that patients with ESRD have poor QoL. Lowest score of KDQoL 36TM scale was found in the "PCS , while highest score was MCS. Furthermore , the study revealed that level of the serum albumin was the most significant predictor influence QoL in patients with ESRD and the most modifiable factor which has a strong association with poorer HRQoL was education, whereas non-modifiable factor was female gender. Because of those factors attention should be given to the nurses and other health care providers as formal caregivers for early interventions that prevent further morbidity and minimize the mortality as well as provide the evidence-based for clinical practice that assist the nurses to have a comprehensive assessment of their patients’ lives and integrated all these crucial aspects in inclusive plan for appropriate nursing intervention and improve quality of patient’s life and HRQoL. Keywords : End stage renal disease, hemodialysis, Quality of lif

Ancestors protocol for scalable key management

AbstractGroup key management is an important functional building block for secure multicast architecture. Thereby, it has been extensively studied in the literature. The main proposed protocol is Adaptive Clustering for Scalable Group Key Management (ASGK). According to ASGK protocol, the multicast group is divided into clusters, where each cluster consists of areas of members. Each cluster uses its own Traffic Encryption Key (TEK). These clusters are updated periodically depending on the dynamism of the members during the secure session. The modified protocol has been proposed based on ASGK with some modifications to balance the number of affected members and the encryption/decryption overhead with any number of the areas when a member joins or leaves the group. This modified protocol is called Ancestors protocol. According to Ancestors protocol, every area receives the dynamism of the members from its parents. The main objective of the modified protocol is to reduce the number of affected members during the leaving and joining members, then 1 affects n overhead would be reduced. A comparative study has been done between ASGK protocol and the modified protocol. According to the comparative results, it found that the modified protocol is always outperforming the ASGK protocol

Neke značajke fizičkih svojstava praha nikal oksida

Nickel oxide powder was prepared by firing spec pure NiCO3 in air for 6 hours at different firing temperatures ranged from 800◦C to 1200◦C. The crystal structure of all samples is a cubic structural as obtained from XRD study. The diffuse reflectance of different samples of NiO was measured at room temperature in the wavelength range from 200 to 2000 nm. The energy gap of NiO samples was then deduced as well as the position and number of different transitions which were found to be dependent on the firing temperature. The electrical conductivity σm was measured over temperature range from 50◦C to 320◦C and frequency range from 42 Hz to 5 MHz. The conductivity decreases with increasing firing temperature and increases with frequency. The activation energy was calculated and was found to increase with increasing firing temperature. Electron spin resonance (ESR) spectra were recorded at room temperature as first derivatives using an X-band spectrometer with a magnetic field modulation of 100 kHz. The intensity of the ESR-spectra of NiO samples decreases with increasing firing temperature.Prah nikal oksida smo pripremali 6-satnim prženjem NiCO3 u zraku na nizu temperatura između 800◦C i 1200◦C. Kristalna struktura svih uzoraka je kubna kako smo utvrdili rentgenskom difrakcijom. Difuznu reflektivnost uzoraka NiO mjerili smo na sobnoj temperaturi u području valnih duljina 200 do 2000 nm. Utvrdili smo energijski procjep kao i položaj i broj niza prijelaza i ustanovili da ovise o temperaturi prženja. Mjerili smo električnu vodljivost σm na temperaturama 50◦C do 320◦C i u području frekvencija 42 Hz do 5 MHz. Vodljivost se smanjuje za veće temperature prženja a raste s frekvencijom. Izračunali smo aktivacijsku energiju i našli da raste s povećanjem temperature prženja. Mjerili smo spektre elektronske spinske rezonancije (ESR) na sobnoj temperaturi kao prve derivacije pomoću spektrometra u pojasu X, modulirajući magnetsko polje sa 100 kHz. Intenzitet spektara ESR uzoraka NiO smanjuje se s povećanjem temperature prženja

Neke značajke fizičkih svojstava praha nikal oksida

Nickel oxide powder was prepared by firing spec pure NiCO3 in air for 6 hours at different firing temperatures ranged from 800◦C to 1200◦C. The crystal structure of all samples is a cubic structural as obtained from XRD study. The diffuse reflectance of different samples of NiO was measured at room temperature in the wavelength range from 200 to 2000 nm. The energy gap of NiO samples was then deduced as well as the position and number of different transitions which were found to be dependent on the firing temperature. The electrical conductivity σm was measured over temperature range from 50◦C to 320◦C and frequency range from 42 Hz to 5 MHz. The conductivity decreases with increasing firing temperature and increases with frequency. The activation energy was calculated and was found to increase with increasing firing temperature. Electron spin resonance (ESR) spectra were recorded at room temperature as first derivatives using an X-band spectrometer with a magnetic field modulation of 100 kHz. The intensity of the ESR-spectra of NiO samples decreases with increasing firing temperature.Prah nikal oksida smo pripremali 6-satnim prženjem NiCO3 u zraku na nizu temperatura između 800◦C i 1200◦C. Kristalna struktura svih uzoraka je kubna kako smo utvrdili rentgenskom difrakcijom. Difuznu reflektivnost uzoraka NiO mjerili smo na sobnoj temperaturi u području valnih duljina 200 do 2000 nm. Utvrdili smo energijski procjep kao i položaj i broj niza prijelaza i ustanovili da ovise o temperaturi prženja. Mjerili smo električnu vodljivost σm na temperaturama 50◦C do 320◦C i u području frekvencija 42 Hz do 5 MHz. Vodljivost se smanjuje za veće temperature prženja a raste s frekvencijom. Izračunali smo aktivacijsku energiju i našli da raste s povećanjem temperature prženja. Mjerili smo spektre elektronske spinske rezonancije (ESR) na sobnoj temperaturi kao prve derivacije pomoću spektrometra u pojasu X, modulirajući magnetsko polje sa 100 kHz. Intenzitet spektara ESR uzoraka NiO smanjuje se s povećanjem temperature prženja

Social consequences of advanced cancer in patients and their informal caregivers:A qualitative study

Purpose Cancer threatens the social well-being of patients and their informal caregivers. Social life is even more profoundly affected in advanced diseases, but research on social consequences of advanced cancer is scarce. This study aims to explore social consequences of advanced cancer as experienced by patients and their informal caregivers. Methods Seven focus groups and seven in-depth semi-structured interviews with patients (n = 18) suffering from advanced cancer and their informal caregivers (n = 15) were conducted. Audiotapes were transcribed verbatim and open coded using a thematic analysis approach. Results Social consequences were categorized in three themes: "social engagement," "social identity," and "social network." Regarding social engagement, patients and informal caregivers said that they strive for normality by continuing their life as prior to the diagnosis, but experienced barriers in doing so. Regarding social identity, patients and informal caregivers reported feelings of social isolation. The social network became more transparent, and the value of social relations had increased since the diagnosis. Many experienced positive and negative shifts in the quantity and quality of their social relations. Conclusion Social consequences of advanced cancer are substantial. There appears to be a great risk of social isolation in which responses from social relations play an important role. Empowering patients and informal caregivers to discuss their experienced social consequences is beneficial. Creating awareness among healthcare professionals is essential as they provide social support and anticipate on social problems. Finally, educating social relations regarding the impact of advanced cancer and effective support methods may empower social support systems and reduce feelings of isolation

Reflections of Nursing Students’ Perceptions Toward Factors Influencing Their Academic Performance

The students' academic performance is one of the most imperative component in all universities to make sure in delivering the best quality graduates who will set out to be extraordinary pioneer and employees who have a positive reflection on the nation's financial growth and social advancement of the national and international area. Thus, the current study aimed to describe nursing students' perceptions toward factors influencing academic performance. A quantitative descriptive-design was conducted with a convenience sample of 150 female nursing students in the third and fourth academic year, college of nursing, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh-Kingdom Saudi Arabia. A self-reporting questionnaire was used to collect the data from the respondents. The results of the study showed that the "learner – related" subscale on the success factor scale was rated as 1st rank. “Regular attendance at lecture” item was attained the highest M+SD score (3.95 + 0.22), with high influence (UI) on the academic performance of the respondents. Meanwhile, “Reading beyond prescribed material” item was obtained the lowest M+SD score (2.84 + 1.44) with low influence (LI). Similarly, on the failure factor scale, the "learner– related" subscale was taken 1st ranked. Moreover, "lack of attendance at lecture" item was occupied the highest M+SD score (3.73 + 0.443) as well as" lack of interest in the course" item was stated the lowest M+SD score (1.88 + 2.40). As a result of this study, " learner-related factor" was employed the first rank in both success and failure scales and most of the learner-related items have a greater impact on the students' academic performance. So, this study recommended to administrators, lecturers, academic advisors to carry out more studies on students' academic performance factors, with specific focus on the ways which provide the students with the important skills which help them to overcome and manage these factors which contributed to their academic performance negatively. Keywords: Reflections, Nursing Students' Perceptions, Academic Performance, Success, Failure, Influencing Factors