Smart Glasses for the Visually Impaired People

Engineering solutions have involved in everyone’s life, most importantly are those aiming to help people with disabilities, however, the modern assistance devices with their current prices are not meeting the requirements of the market. This project is mainly focusing on people with visual impairments and more specifically their education life. It is presenting a concept of smart glasses to provide assistance in multiple tasks represented as modes to be chosen by the user. To prove the concept, this project implements only one mode which is reading using text detection techniques. Taking into consideration the cost, this project is using the single board computer raspberry pi 2 as the heart of the processing and the raspberry pi camera for image capturing and video recording. The video taken is processed using MATLAB, and the description of the live scenes for the text recognition mode or any other future implemented modes will be provided to the user in an audio format. Finally the results of this project show the design of the smart glasses prototype

Smart Glasses for the Visually Impaired People

Engineering solutions have involved in everyone’s life, most importantly are those aiming to help people with disabilities, however, the modern assistance devices with their current prices are not meeting the requirements of the market. This project is mainly focusing on people with visual impairments and more specifically their education life. It is presenting a concept of smart glasses to provide assistance in multiple tasks represented as modes to be chosen by the user. To prove the concept, this project implements only one mode which is reading using text detection techniques. Taking into consideration the cost, this project is using the single board computer raspberry pi 2 as the heart of the processing and the raspberry pi camera for image capturing and video recording. The video taken is processed using MATLAB, and the description of the live scenes for the text recognition mode or any other future implemented modes will be provided to the user in an audio format. Finally the results of this project show the design of the smart glasses prototype

Empirical analysis of the impact of Turkish bilateral official development assistance on export

Purpose ― The main objective of this study is to explore the relationship between bilateral official development assistance and the export of Turkey to 18 Turkish aid recipient countries between 1998 and 2019. Methods ― The study employs the gravity model of international trade to capture the effect of official development assistance on Turkish export to its aid recipient countries and utilizes Panel data econometric analysis. Findings ― The official development assistance (ODA) remains statistically significant across the models, indicating that ODA is one of the significant drivers of Turkish bilateral trade with the aid recipient countries. Implications ― The study argues that Turkey applied ODA as a foreign policy tool to access new markets in the Middle East, Balkans, Africa, and Asia. Turkish exports to developing countries increased due to the upsurged country's foreign aid donation to its recipients. Originality ― This study deviates from other studies in the literature by empirically examining the relationship between bilateral Official development assistance and the export of Turkey

Pyrene containing liquid crystalline asymmetric phthalocyanines and their composite materials with single-walled carbon nanotubes

In the present work we have studied the dispersion of single-walled carbon nanotubes in liquid crystalline asymmetrically substituted phthalocyanines (MPc, where M = = Cu, Co, and 2H) bearing one pyrene and six polyoxy groups as side chains. The influence of single-walled carbon nanotubes on the phase behavior of MPcs was investigated using X-ray diffraction, polarized optical microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. It was demonstrated that the incorporation of small amounts of single-walled carbon nanotubes (≤ ≤ 1 wt.%) does not alter the MPc mesophases. The structural features and the sensor response of composite thin films of MPc with single-walled carbon nanotubes to ammonia vapor (10–50 ppm) was studied and compared with those of the films of pure MPc derivatives

Synthesis and organic solar cell performance of BODIPY and coumarin functionalized SWCNT or graphene oxide nanomaterials

The synthesis and characterization of new hybrid materials based on reduced graphene oxide (rGO) or single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) covalently functionalized by 4,4-difluoro-8-(4-propynyloxy)-phenyl-1,3,5,7-tetramethyl-4-bora-3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene (BODIPY) (2) or 7-(prop-2-yn-1-yloxy)-3-(3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl)-coumarin (4) as light harvesting groups were described. The organic solar cell performances of these novel nanomaterials in P3HT:PCBM blend were investigated. These covalently bonded hybrid materials (Reduced graphene oxide:BODIPY (GB), reduced graphene oxide:Coumarin (GC), SWCNTs:BODIPY (CB) and SWCNTs:Coumarin (CC)) were prepared by azide-alkyne Huisgen cycloaddition (Click) reaction between azide bearing SWCNTs or rGO and terminal ethynyl functionalized BODIPY (2) or coumarin (4) derivatives. The formation of novel nanomaterials was confirmed by the FT-IR, UV-Vis and Raman spectroscopies and thermogravimetric analysis. The best performance on P3HT:PCBM organic solar cell was produced by SWCNTs:Coumarin (CC) hybrids which was coated on a indium tin oxide coated polyethylene terephthalate film (ITO-PET)). The reference device based on P3HT:PCBM blend without CC showed power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 1.16%, FF of 35% and short-circuit current density (Jsc) of 5.51 mA.cm-2. The reference device with CC hybrids within P3HT:PCBM blend increased the values significantly to 1.62% for PCE, 40% for FF and 6.8 mA.cm-2 for Jsc

Awareness, attitudes, and beliefs of dementia in Indonesia

INTRODUCTION: Tackling dementia stigma is a policy priority. In Indonesia, we have little insight into the general public's knowledge and attitudes about dementia. METHODS: Cross-sectional study of 4430 Indonesian adults recruited from Jakarta and North Sumatra, Indonesia. Measures included dementia knowledge and attitudes. RESULTS: A total of 86.3% (n = 3,803) of adults had not heard of the terms dementia or Alzheimer's disease, and commonly viewed dementia as a normal part of aging. Being older, incorrect knowledge about etiology, not having heard of the terms dementia and/or Alzheimer's disease, having less than primary education, and being from North Sumatra were associated with more negative attitudes (p-values < 0.05). DISCUSSION: Misconceptions and lack of awareness about dementia are common in Indonesia. Attitudes tended not to be negative, but our research highlights factors associated with dementia attitudes. Future research should use this information to better tailor and target potential anti-stigma strategies. Highlights: Most Indonesians had not heard of the terms dementia and/or Alzheimer's disease and thought it was caused by normal aging. The majority of participants held mixed or positive attitudes towards dementia. A series of demographic factors alongside poor awareness were associated with negative attitudes towards dementia

Neck muscle mass index as a predictor of post laryngectomy wound complications

Objective: We investigated the relationship between paravertebral muscle cross-sectional area (PVM CSA) at the third vertebra (C3) level using computerized tomography (CT) neck images and its relationship with complications after total laryngectomy. Design: Retrospective analysis of 60 advanced laryngeal cancer patients who underwent total laryngectomy was performed. The cross-sectional areas of paravertebral neck muscles using neck CT at C3 level images obtained preoperatively were analyzed. Results: A significant difference in PVM CSA between complication and no complication groups, F(1, 53 = 4.319, P = .043), was identified by ANCOVA. There were no significant differences in between-subject effects: T-stage (F = 1.652, P = .204), body mass index (F = 0.889, P = .35), albumin (F = .359, P = .552), age (F = 1.623 P = .208), and smoking (F = 4.319, P = .41). Conclusion: The PVM CSA measured at C3 level on pretreatment CT may help identify patients at higher risk of postoperative wound complications after total laryngectomy and who may particularly benefit from preoperative optimization of nutritional status

Impaired IL-23-dependent induction of IFN-gamma underlies mycobacterial disease in patients with inherited TYK2 deficiency

Human cells homozygous for rare loss-of-expression (LOE) TYK2 alleles have impaired, but not abolished, cellular responses to IFN-alpha/beta (underlying viral diseases in the patients) and to IL-12 and IL-23 (underlying mycobacterial diseases). Cells homozygous for the common P1104A TYK2 allele have selectively impaired responses to IL-23 (underlying isolated mycobacterial disease). We report three new forms of TYK2 deficiency in six patients from five families homozygous for rare TYK2 alleles (R864C, G996R, G634E, or G1010D) or compound heterozygous for P1104A and a rare allele (A928V). All these missense alleles encode detectable proteins. The R864C and G1010D alleles are hypomorphic and loss-of-function (LOF), respectively, across signaling pathways. By contrast, hypomorphic G996R, G634E, and A928V mutations selectively impair responses to IL-23, like P1104A. Impairment of the IL-23-dependent induction of IFN-gamma is the only mechanism of mycobacterial disease common to patients with complete TYK2 deficiency with or without TYK2 expression, partial TYK2 deficiency across signaling pathways, or rare or common partial TYK2 deficiency specific for IL-23 signaling.ANRS Nord-Sud ; CIBSS ; CODI ; Comité para el Desarrollo de la Investigación ; Fulbright Future Scholarshi

Higher COVID-19 pneumonia risk associated with anti-IFN-α than with anti-IFN-ω auto-Abs in children

We found that 19 (10.4%) of 183 unvaccinated children hospitalized for COVID-19 pneumonia had autoantibodies (auto-Abs) neutralizing type I IFNs (IFN-alpha 2 in 10 patients: IFN-alpha 2 only in three, IFN-alpha 2 plus IFN-omega in five, and IFN-alpha 2, IFN-omega plus IFN-beta in two; IFN-omega only in nine patients). Seven children (3.8%) had Abs neutralizing at least 10 ng/ml of one IFN, whereas the other 12 (6.6%) had Abs neutralizing only 100 pg/ml. The auto-Abs neutralized both unglycosylated and glycosylated IFNs. We also detected auto-Abs neutralizing 100 pg/ml IFN-alpha 2 in 4 of 2,267 uninfected children (0.2%) and auto-Abs neutralizing IFN-omega in 45 children (2%). The odds ratios (ORs) for life-threatening COVID-19 pneumonia were, therefore, higher for auto-Abs neutralizing IFN-alpha 2 only (OR [95% CI] = 67.6 [5.7-9,196.6]) than for auto-Abs neutralizing IFN-. only (OR [95% CI] = 2.6 [1.2-5.3]). ORs were also higher for auto-Abs neutralizing high concentrations (OR [95% CI] = 12.9 [4.6-35.9]) than for those neutralizing low concentrations (OR [95% CI] = 5.5 [3.1-9.6]) of IFN-omega and/or IFN-alpha 2

Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P &lt; 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely