Photoelectrochemical Detection of Dengue-Related Oligonucleotide Sequence Using Anthocyanin as an Intercalating Agent and Electrochromic Material

World Health Organization (WHO) presupposes a confirmation of dengue virus infection diagnosis with two criteria, i.e. clinical and laboratory criteria. One of the basic methods used by most laboratories to diagnose dengue virus is to detect oligonucleotide sequence using a DNA amplification technique. In this research, the measurement of denguerelated oligonucleotide was conducted by photoelectrochemical method. The presence of oligonucleotide sequence in target DNA can be detected by DNA probe that is immobilized on TiO2 electrode. The DNA hybrid is then bound to electrochromic substance like anthocyanin that generates current when it is subjected to light. The photocurrent is directly proportional to the number of target DNA. The aim of this research is to obtain photoelectrochemical system that has sensitivity and high responsiveness toward the change in oligonucleotide concentration, especially the applicability of anthocyanin as a electrochromic substance and intercalating agent. Linearity (R2) generated from the change of current in response to concentration changes of target DNA (in the concentration range of 0.75–3.00 nM) is 0.9611. Thus, this method has the potential to be developed to detect the presence of dengue virus in biological sample

Examination of Acid-Fast Bacilli in Sputum Using Modified Light Microscope with Homemade Light Emitting Diode Additional Attachment

Typical clinical symptoms and chest X-ray is a marker of Tuberculosis (TB) sufferers. However, the diagnosis of TB in adults should be supported by microscopic examination. Currently, Bacilli microscopic examination of acid-fast bacilli (AFB) in sputum by Ziehl-Neelsen (ZN) coloring is the most widely used. However, for reasons of convenience, especially for laboratories with a considerable amount of smear samples, and due to higher sensitivity compared with ZN staining, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended the use of auramine-O-staining (fluorochrome  staining), which is visualized by light emitting diode (LED) fluorescence microscopy. The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of modified light microscope with homemade LED additional attachment for examination of AFB in sputum using auramine-O-staining method. We compared the sensitivity and specificity of 2 kinds of AFB in sputum methods: ZN and fluorochrome, using culture on Lowenstein-Jensen media as the gold standard. The results showed auramine-O-staining gives more proportion of positive findings (81%) compared to the ZN method (70%). These results demonstrated that the sensitivity of auramine-O-staining was higher than ZN, however it gives more potential false positive results than ZN. The sensitivity of auramine-O-staining in detecting AFB in sputum was 100% while the specificity was 88%

Classification of Several Skin Cancer Types Based on Autofluorescence Intensity of Visible Light to Near Infrared Ratio

Skin cancer is a Malignant growth on the skin caused by many factors. The most common skin cancers are Basal Cell Cancer (BCC) and Squamous Cell Cancer (SCC). This research uses a discriminant analysis to classify some tissues of skin cancer based on criterion number of independent variables. An independent variable is variation of excitation light sources (LED lamp), filters, and sensors to measure autofluorescence intensity (IAF) of visible light to near infrared (VIS/NIR) ratio of paraffin embedded tissue biopsy from BCC, SCC, and Lipoma. From the result of discriminant analysis, it is known that the discriminant function is determined by 4 (four) independent variables i.e., blue LED-red filter, blue LED-yellow filter, UV LED-blue filter, and UV LED-yellow filter. The accuracy of discriminant in classifying the analysis of three skin cancer tissues is 100%

A Simple Photometer as a Helping Device in Measuring Blood Glucose

Measurement of non-invasive blood glucose is one way to increase the frequency of self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG). For NIR reflectance spectroscopy, its application in non-invasive constrained by high value of standard error of prediction. The mean standard error of prediction was 25 mg/dL. Theoretically, NIR reflectance spectroscopy still can be used to predict blood glucose levels in certain conditions such as hypoglycemia (<55 mg/dL), controlled fasting blood glucose (FBG) (70-115 mg/dL), and hyperglycemia (>225 mg/dL), which the difference between the three conditions is more than 25 mg/dL. The results showed that there are significant differences in standards values of photometer measurement between controlled FBG and hyperglycemic conditions (P = 0.002). The results also showed that the photometer can be used to assist the monitoring of blood glucose in FBG under control and hyperglycemic conditions. It can be seen from the average percentage of the daily controlled FBG conditions in patients conducting SMBG in photometer-assisted compared to in patients only use SMBG once a day (28% versus 18%, P = 0.344)

Consolidating Literature for Images Compression and Its Techniques

With the proliferation of readily available image content, image compression has become a topic of considerable importance. As, rapidly increase of digital imaging demand, storage capability aspect should be considered. Therefore, image compression refers to reducing the size of image for minimizing storage without harming the image quality. Thus, an appropriate technique is needed for image compression for saving capacity as well as not losing valuable information. This paper consolidates literature whose characteristics have focused on image compression, thresholding algorithms, quantization algorithms. Later, related research on these areas are presented

The Effect on Compressed Image Quality using Standard Deviation-Based Thresholding Algorithm

In recent decades, digital images have become increasingly important. With many modern applications use image graphics extensively, it tends to burden both the storage and transmission process. Despite the technological advances in storage and transmission, the demands placed on storage and bandwidth capacities still exceeded its availability. Compression is one of the solutions to this problem but elimination some of the data degrades the image quality. Therefore, the Standard Deviation-Based Thresholding Algorithm is proposed to estimate an accurate threshold value for a better-compressed image quality. The threshold value is obtained by examining the wavelet coefficients dispersion on each wavelet subband using Standard Deviation concept. The resulting compressed image shows a better image quality with PSNR value above 40dB

Analysis Of Spinal Electromyography Signal When Lifting An Object

Lifting and swinging are daily activities that human do using the spine.Furthermore,spine provides support during standing and walking.Therefore,it is very important in everyday activities and it will be inconvenient when it is injured.Technology has provided ways to machine and human integration in helping or supporting people in their daily tasks.To make this integration successful, machines or robots need to understand the human muscle activity.To do so,electromyography (EMG) a bio signal record the electricity generated by muscle was implemented.However,the signal often influenced by the unwanted noise.In this paper,the MVC normalization method is applied to determine the spinal EMG signal on lumbar multifidus muscle when lifting an object.In order to analyze the identity of spinal EMG signal,two statistical analyses are done;1) ANOVA analysis and 2)Boxplot analysis.The signal will go through 8th order Gaussian function or Exponential Weight Moving Average Filter before being analysed.Results show that Exponential Weight Moving Average Filter gives more consistent value compared to 8th order Gaussian function which is 0.0428V RMSE based on linear fitting done from the maximum amplitude gather from the boxplot analysis done

Global economic burden of unmet surgical need for appendicitis

Background: There is a substantial gap in provision of adequate surgical care in many low-and middle-income countries. This study aimed to identify the economic burden of unmet surgical need for the common condition of appendicitis. Methods: Data on the incidence of appendicitis from 170 countries and two different approaches were used to estimate numbers of patients who do not receive surgery: as a fixed proportion of the total unmet surgical need per country (approach 1); and based on country income status (approach 2). Indirect costs with current levels of access and local quality, and those if quality were at the standards of high-income countries, were estimated. A human capital approach was applied, focusing on the economic burden resulting from premature death and absenteeism. Results: Excess mortality was 4185 per 100 000 cases of appendicitis using approach 1 and 3448 per 100 000 using approach 2. The economic burden of continuing current levels of access and local quality was US $92 492 million using approach 1 and$73 141 million using approach 2. The economic burden of not providing surgical care to the standards of high-income countries was $95 004 million using approach 1 and$75 666 million using approach 2. The largest share of these costs resulted from premature death (97.7 per cent) and lack of access (97.0 per cent) in contrast to lack of quality. Conclusion: For a comparatively non-complex emergency condition such as appendicitis, increasing access to care should be prioritized. Although improving quality of care should not be neglected, increasing provision of care at current standards could reduce societal costs substantially

Humoral Immunogenicity and Efficacy of a Single Dose of ChAdOx1 MERS Vaccine Candidate in Dromedary Camels

MERS-CoV seronegative and seropositive camels received a single intramuscular dose of ChAdOx1 MERS, a replication-deficient adenoviral vectored vaccine expressing MERS-CoV spike protein, with further groups receiving control vaccinations. Infectious camels with active naturally acquired MERS-CoV infection, were co-housed with the vaccinated camels at a ratio of 1:2 (infected:vaccinated); nasal discharge and virus titres were monitored for 14 days. Overall, the vaccination reduced virus shedding and nasal discharge (p = 0.0059 and p = 0.0274, respectively). Antibody responses in seropositive camels were enhancedby the vaccine; these camels had a higher average age than seronegative. Older seronegative camels responded more strongly to vaccination than younger animals; and neutralising antibodies were detected in nasal swabs. Further work is required to optimise vaccine regimens for younger seronegative camels

Selection of the appropriate method for the assessment of insulin resistance

Insulin resistance is one of the major aggravating factors for metabolic syndrome. There are many methods available for estimation of insulin resistance which range from complex techniques down to simple indices. For all methods of assessing insulin resistance it is essential that their validity and reliability is established before using them as investigations. The reference techniques of hyperinsulinaemic euglycaemic clamp and its alternative the frequently sampled intravenous glucose tolerance test are the most reliable methods available for estimating insulin resistance. However, many simple methods, from which indices can be derived, have been assessed and validated e.g. homeostasis model assessment (HOMA), quantitative insulin sensitivity check index (QUICKI). Given the increasing number of simple indices of IR it may be difficult for clinicians and researchers to select the most appropriate index for their studies. This review therefore provides guidelines and advices which must be considered before proceeding with a study