Review: Recent Directions in ECG-FPGA Researches

لقد شهدت السنوات القليلة الماضية اهتماماً متزايداً نحو استخدام مصفوفة البوابات المنطقية القابلة للبرمجة FPGA في التطبيقات المختلفة. لقد أدى التقدم الحاصل في مرونة التعامل مع الموارد بالاضافة الى الزيادة في سرعة الاداء وانخفاض الثمن للـ FPGA وكذلك الاستهلاك القليل للطاقة الى هذا الاهتمام المتزايد بالـ FPGA. ان استخدام الـ FPGA في مجالات الطب والصحة يهدف بشكل عام الى استبدال اجهزة المراقبة الطبية كبيرة الحجم وغالية الثمن باخرى أصغر حجماً مع امكانية تصميمها لكي تكون اجهزة محمولة اعتماداً على مرونة التصميم التي يوفرها الـ FPGA. إنصب الاهتمام في العديد من البحوث الحالية على استخدام نظام FPGA لمعالجة الجوانب المتعلقة بإشارة تخطيط القلب وذلك لتوفير التحسينات في الاداء وزيادة السرعة بالاضافة الى أيجاد وإقتراح افكار جديدة لمثل هذه التطبيقات. ان هذا البحث يوفر نظرة عامة عن الاتجاهات الحالية في انظمة ECG-FPGA.The last few years witnessed an increased interest in utilizing field programmable gate array (FPGA) for a variety of applications. This utilizing derived mostly by the advances in the FPGA flexible resource configuration, increased speed, relatively low cost and low energy consumption. The introduction of FPGA in medicine and health care field aim generally to replace costly and usually bigger medical monitoring and diagnostic equipment with much smaller and possibly portable systems based on FPGA that make use of the design flexibility of FPGA. Many recent researches focus on FPGA systems to deal with the well-known yet very important electrocardiogram (ECG) signal aspects to provide acceleration and improvement in the performance as well as finding and proposing new ideas for such implementations. The recent directions in ECG-FPGA are introduced in this paper

Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs and Antibiotics Prescription Trends at a Central West Bank Hospital

Objectives: We aimed to reliably describe the pattern of outpatient prescription of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and antibiotics (ATBs) at a central hospital in the West Bank, Palestine.Methods: This was a retrospective, cross-sectional study investigating a cohort of 2,208 prescriptions ordered by outpatient clinics and the emergency room over one year in Beit Jala Hospital in Bethlehem, West Bank. The orders were analysed for the rate and types of NSAIDs and ATBs utilised, and the appropriateness of these drugs to the diagnosis. Results: Of the total prescriptions, 410 contained NSAIDs (18.6%), including diclofenac (40.2%), low dose aspirin (23.9%), ibuprofen (17.8%) and indomethacin (15.1%). A minority of these prescriptions contained a combination of these agents (2.5%). Only one prescription contained cyclooxyeganse-2 inhibitors (0.2%). The appropriateness of NSAID use to the diagnosis was as follows: appropriate (58.3%), inappropriate (14.4%) and difficult to tell (27.3%). The rate of ATB use was 30.3% (669 prescriptions). The ATBs prescribed were amoxicillin (23.3%), augmentin (14.3%), quinolones (12.7%), first and second generation cephalosporins (9.4% and 12.7%, respectively) and macrolides (7.2%). ATB combinations were identified in 9.4%, with the most common being second-generation cephalopsorins and metronidazole (4.3%). Regarding the appropriateness of prescribing ATBs according to the diagnosis, it was appropriate in 44.8%, inappropriate in 20.6% and difficult to tell in 34.6% of the prescriptions. Conclusion: These findings revealed a relatively large number and inappropriate utilisation of ATBs and NSAIDs. An interventional programme needs to be adopted to reinforce physicians’ knowledge of the rational prescription of these agents

Voting behavior during FDA Medical Device Advisory Committee panel meetings

Objectives During premarket review, the US Food and Drug Administration may ask its Medical Device Advisory Committee (MDAC) Panels to assess the safety and effectiveness of medical devices being considered for approval. The objective of this study is to assess the relationship, if any, between individual votes and Panel recommendations and: (1) the composition of Panels, specifically the expertise and demographic features of individual members; or (2) Panel members’ propensity to speak during Panel deliberations. Methods This was a retrospective cohort study of routinely collected data from voting members of MDAC panels convened between January 2011 to June 2016 to consider premarket approval. Data sources were verbatim transcripts available publicly from the FDA. Number of words spoken, directionality of votes on device approval, profession, and demographics were collected. Results 658,954 words spoken by 536 members during 49 meetings of 11 Panels were analyzed. Based on multivariate analysis, biostatisticians spoke more (+373 words; P = 0.0002), and women (-187 words; P = 0.0184) and other non-physician voting members less (-213 words; P = 0.0306), than physicians. Speaking more was associated with abstaining (P = 0.0179), and with voting against the majority (P = 0.0153). Non-physician, non-biostatistician members (P = 0.0109), and those having attended more meetings as a voting member (P = 0.0249) were more likely to vote against approval. In bivariable analysis, unanimous Panels had a greater proportion of biostatisticians (mean 0.1580; 95% CI 0.1237–0.1923) than non-unanimous Panels (0.1107; 95% CI 0.0912–0.1301; p = 0.0201). Conclusions Panelists likely to vote against the majority include non-physician, non-biostatisticians; experienced Panelists; and more talkative members. The increased presence of biostatisticians on Panels leads to greater voting consensus. Having a diversity of opinions on Panels, including in sufficient numbers those members likely to dissent from majority views, may help ensure that a diversity of opinions are aired before decision-making

Voting behavior during FDA Medical Device Advisory Committee panel meetings

OBJECTIVES: During premarket review, the US Food and Drug Administration may ask its Medical Device Advisory Committee (MDAC) Panels to assess the safety and effectiveness of medical devices being considered for approval. The objective of this study is to assess the relationship, if any, between individual votes and Panel recommendations and: (1) the composition of Panels, specifically the expertise and demographic features of individual members; or (2) Panel members\u27 propensity to speak during Panel deliberations. METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study of routinely collected data from voting members of MDAC panels convened between January 2011 to June 2016 to consider premarket approval. Data sources were verbatim transcripts available publicly from the FDA. Number of words spoken, directionality of votes on device approval, profession, and demographics were collected. RESULTS: 658,954 words spoken by 536 members during 49 meetings of 11 Panels were analyzed. Based on multivariate analysis, biostatisticians spoke more (+373 words; P = 0.0002), and women (-187 words; P = 0.0184) and other non-physician voting members less (-213 words; P = 0.0306), than physicians. Speaking more was associated with abstaining (P = 0.0179), and with voting against the majority (P = 0.0153). Non-physician, non-biostatistician members (P = 0.0109), and those having attended more meetings as a voting member (P = 0.0249) were more likely to vote against approval. In bivariable analysis, unanimous Panels had a greater proportion of biostatisticians (mean 0.1580; 95% CI 0.1237-0.1923) than non-unanimous Panels (0.1107; 95% CI 0.0912-0.1301; p = 0.0201). CONCLUSIONS: Panelists likely to vote against the majority include non-physician, non-biostatisticians; experienced Panelists; and more talkative members. The increased presence of biostatisticians on Panels leads to greater voting consensus. Having a diversity of opinions on Panels, including in sufficient numbers those members likely to dissent from majority views, may help ensure that a diversity of opinions are aired before decision-making

Evaluation of the antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of fucoxanthin from Dilophys fasciola and as a food additive in stirred yoghurt

We investigated the effects of fucoxanthin isolated from the edible macroalga Dilophys fasciola on pathogenic microbes and probiotics in vitro and the antioxidant activity of fucoxanthin. The yield concentration of the obtained crude was 50.5% fucoxanthin. We found strong inhibition against Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus and Listeria monocytogenes, and lower inhibition against Gram-negative bacteria and fungi. The probiotic strains progressed between 1.2 and 1.67 log cycles at a concentration of 30 μg/mL. The antioxidant activity ranged between 54.76% and 88.36% at a concentration of 40 μg/mL. The 50% lethal dose of algal fucoxanthin was shown to be more than 2511.88 mg/kg. The production of stirred yoghurt incorporated with 20 mg and 30 mg of fucoxanthin per kilogram of milk was evaluated through chemical, microbiological, and sensory analyses during storage for 21 days and compared with control samples. The maximum growth for probiotics (Bifidobacterium bifidum and Lacticaseibacillus casei) was found on day 14, but more viability counts were detected in the treatment with 30 mg/kg. All treatments were free from mould and yeast counts up to 7 days, and the small numbers of mould, yeast, and psychrotrophic counts appeared first in control samples. Also, the highest dry matter content was observed for treatments with 30 mg/kg. Moreover, the protein, fat, and ash content of all treatments increased with a progressive cold storage period. Greater reductions in the pH were found in treatments than in the control, and were consistent with the development of acidity. During storage, the amount of crude fucoxanthin had no significant impact on the flavour, colour, or appearance scores. Significance: • Fucoxanthin is a type of carotenoid that offers many benefits to human health. • The fucoxanthin of edible Dilophys fasciola had a strong antimicrobial effect against Gram-positive bacteria, Gram-negative bacteria, and fungi. • Stirred yoghurt fortified with crude fucoxanthin had good overall acceptability and the percentage of crude fucoxanthin had no noticeable effects on the flavour, colour, or appearance. Fucoxanthin, therefore, has potential benefit as a food additive

Factors affecting the immobilization of fungal biomass on CNT as a biosorbent for textile dyes removal

Effluents from dye and textile industries are highly contaminated and toxic to the environment. High concentration of non-biodegradable compounds contributes to increased biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) of the wastewater bodies. Dyes found in wastewater from textile industries are carcinogenic, mutagenic or teratogenic. Biological processes involving certain bacteria, fungi and activated carbon have been employed in treating wastewater. These methods are either inefficient or ineffective. These complexities necessitates search for new approaches that will offset all the shortcomings of the present solutions to the challenges faced with textile wastewater management. This study produced a new biosorbent by the immobilization of fungal biomass on carbon nanotubes. The new biosorbent is called “carbon nanotubes immobilized biomass (CNTIB)” which was produced by immobilization technique. A potential fungal strain, Aspergillus niger was selected on the basis of biomass production. It was found out in this studies that fungal biomass were better produced in acidic medium. Aspergillus niger was immobilized on carbon nanotubes. One-factor-at-a time (OFAT) was employed to determine the effect of different factors on the immobilization of fungal biomass on carbon nanotubes and optimum levels at which the three selected parameters (pH, culture time and agitation rate) would perform. Findings from OFAT showed that the optimum conditions for immobilization are a pH of 5, agitation rate of 150rpm and a culture time of 5 days

Analysis of fatalities involving amphetamine in Jazan, Saudi Arabia

Amphetamine use is associated with high tendence of homicidal or suicidal deaths and fatalities making amphetamine a persistent area of concern. This study analyzed fatalities associated with amphetamine use in Jazan city, Saudi Aarabia from 2018 to 2020 and investigated the postmortem tissue distribution of amphetamine. The fatalities associated with the use of amphetamine and other drugs were increased from 18% in 2018to 52% in 2019 and to 80% in 2020 compared to all fatalities associated with amphetamine alone. Suicidal people had the highest average amphetamine blood concentrations with a 90th percentile concentration of 7.6 mg/L. In those who use amphetamine in combination with other drugs, suicidal and homicidal deaths are more common than those who use amphetamine alone. The results demonstrate the need to raise the awareness of the increasing number of deaths associated with amphetamine use in combination with other drugs in health care providers

Sterilizing Activity of Second-Line Regimens Containing TMC207 in a Murine Model of Tuberculosis

The sterilizing activity of the regimen used to treat multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDR TB) has not been studied in a mouse model. (TB) strain H37Rv, treated with second-line drug combinations with or without the diarylquinoline TMC207, and then followed without treatment for 3 more months to determine relapse rates (modified Cornell model).Bactericidal efficacy was assessed by quantitative lung colony-forming unit (CFU) counts. Sterilizing efficacy was assessed by measuring bacteriological relapse rates 3 months after the end of treatment.The relapse rate observed after 12 months treatment with the WHO recommended MDR TB regimen (amikacin, ethionamide, pyrazinamide and moxifloxacin) was equivalent to the relapse rate observed after 6 months treatment with the recommended drug susceptible TB regimen (rifampin, isoniazid and pyrazinamide). When TMC207 was added to this MDR TB regimen, the treatment duration needed to reach the same relapse rate dropped to 6 months. A similar relapse rate was also obtained with a 6-month completely oral regimen including TMC207, moxifloxacin and pyrazinamide but excluding both amikacin and ethionamide.In this murine model the duration of the WHO MDR TB treatment could be reduced to 12 months instead of the recommended 18–24 months. The inclusion of TMC207 in the WHO MDR TB treatment regimen has the potential to further shorten the treatment duration and at the same time to simplify treatment by eliminating the need to include an injectable aminoglycoside

Protocol for development of a core outcome set for clinical trials in melasma

INTRODUCTION: Melasma is a pigmentation disorder of the skin. Characterised by brown to gray-brown patches on the face and neck, the condition predominantly affects women and has been associated with pregnancy, hormonal variation and sun exposure. Melasma can be disfiguring and anxiety-provoking, and quality of life is often adversely impacted. Management includes sun protection, laser and energy device therapy, topical and oral skin-bleaching agents and chemical peels. While clinical trials of melasma exist, there is a lack of consistency in reported outcomes, which has been a barrier to the aggregation of data in systematic reviews and meta-analyses. This protocol describes a planned process for development of a minimum set of outcomes (ie, ‘core outcome set’) that should be measured in all clinical trials of melasma. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: An exhaustive list of potential outcomes will be extracted from four sources: (1) systematic literature review of outcomes in clinical trials; (2) semistructured patient interviews; (3) brochures, pamphlets, clinical trial registries, and other published and unpublished sources and documentation; and (4) interviews with non-patient, non-physician stakeholders, including federal regulators, industry scientists and non-physician providers. An international two-round Delphi process will then be performed to identify the outcomes deemed most important to patients and physicians. Subsequently, a consensus meeting will be convened to review and process the results, and to vote on a final set of core outcomes. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethics approval was provided by the Northwestern University Institutional Review Board (protocol ID: STU00201637). This study is registered with both the Core Outcome Measures in Effectiveness Trials and Cochrane Skin-Core Outcome Set Initiative initiatives, and this protocol is in accordance with the guidelines for protocol development of both groups. All findings from the study described in this protocol will be disseminated to all stakeholders involved in the development process and will be submitted for publication in peer-reviewed journals. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42020214189