The effectiveness of educational intervention program on knowledge of BSE among secondary school girls in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan

Breast Self-Examination (BSE) is important to be introduced to secondary school girls in order to develop a positive health behavior. Limited attention has been given on knowledge among school girls. Hence, this study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of educational intervention program on knowledge of BSE among secondary school girls in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 502 volunteered secondary school girls using pre and post self-administered validated questionnaire. The mean (SD) age of the participants was 14.9 (± 0.1) years. Majority of the participants were Malays (87.1%). Pre-intervention educational program revealed that 91% of the participants had poor knowledge whereas 9% had good knowledge on BSE. Post-educational intervention program showed that knowledge has increased by 33.4% and percentage for ‘poor’ knowledge reduced by 33.4% from pre-intervention scored (p < 0.001). There was no significant difference on knowledge of BSE among participants with and without family history of breast cancer (p = 0.204). Health campaign was the top source of information to gain knowledge related to BSE prior (56.6%) and after (90.2%) the intervention program (p < 0.001). Thus, the educational intervention program was found to be effective method to improve the knowledge on BSE among secondary school girls

Evaluation of healthcare science student learning styles based VARK analysis technique

This study aimed to evaluate the learning styles among healthcare students and to study the relationship with their academic achievement. This cross-sectional study was conducted among 137 healthcare students from six different courses. Data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire and developed based on the original visual, aural/auditory, read/write, and kinesthetic (VARK) assessment. The questionnaire was divided into two sections: the demographic status and the learning style perspective. A total of 119 respondents (86.8%) has chosen unimodal as their learning styles, while the rest of the 18 respondents (13.2%) choose multimodal as their preferred learning method. Among the unimodal learning styles, visual (32%) and reading (26%) were most preferred among respondents. The auditory and kinesthetic methods of learning were less and accounted for 10% to 20%. Notably, in multimodal learning styles preferences, 4% of students prefer a combination learning style of visual and kinesthetic methods. There was no significant relationship between learning styles and academic achievement using Pearson’s Chi-square test (p>0.05). Hence, both were independent of one another. Hence, some of the dominant learning styles needed to be considered based on their future profession

Structural, mechanical, and dielectric properties of polydimethylsiloxane and silicone elastomer for the fabrication of clinical-grade kidney phantom

This study aimed to introduce an alternative, inexpensive, and straightforward polymer with specific mechanical and dielectric properties suitable for the fabrication of a clinical-grade kidney phantom. Two polymer-based phantom materials, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and silicone elastomer (SE), were investigated for their capability to meet the requirements. The concentration ratios of base to curing agent (B/C) were 9.5/1.5, 19/3, 10/1, 20/2, 10.5/0.5, and 21/1 for PDMS and 4.5/5.5, 10/12, 5/5, 11/11, 5.5/4.5, and 12/10 for SE. All samples were mixed, degassed, and poured into Petri dishes and small beakers. The polymer was cured under room temperature for 2 h and then demolded from the hard mold. The air bubbles produced were removed using a vacuum desiccator for 30 min. All samples underwent mechanical testing (tensile strength and elastic modulus), and their dielectric properties were measured using a dielectric probe kit equipped with 85071E materials measurement software. The radiation attenuation properties were also measured using PhyX-Zetra for PDMS phantoms with the chemical formula C2H6OSi. Small changes in base and cross-linker play an essential role in modifying the elastic modulus and tensile strength. The effective atomic number of PDMS showed a similar pattern with human kidney tissue at the intermediate energy level of 1.50 × 10−1 to 1 MeV. Therefore, PDMS can potentially be used to mimic the human kidney in terms of tensile strength, flexibility, the acceptable real part of the complex dielectric constant ε′r, and conductivity, which allows it to be used as a stable kidney phantom for medical imaging purposes

Evaluation of radiation attenuation properties on a various composition of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) for fabrication of kidney phantom

Chemical compounds such as polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and hydrogen silicone (HS) have been extensively used for fabricating medical phantoms due to its human tissue equivalency. This study aimed to evaluate the mass attenuation coefficient, effective atomic number, and other radiation attenuation properties of various polydimethylsiloxane samples and to verify the best material that can be used to simulate the kidney tissue. There are six samples of polymers in total, which are denoted as S0, S1, S2, S3, S4 and S5; these were 20/0/0, 16/4/0, 16/0/4, 12/4/4, 10/4/6 and 8/4/8, respectively with the composition of PDMS, HS and water. The Photon Shielding and Dosimetry (Phy-X/PSD) software (Phy-x.net) were used to estimate the attenuation properties, and the results were compared with the theoretical values obtained from the XCOM platform. The values of effective atomic number, mass attenuation coefficient, and linear attenuation coefficient, for PDMS S0 are reported to be the highest compared to all other samples, as S0 is based on 100% PDMS without any water and HS. The S1 sample, which only contained 20% of HS, was found to be higher than S2 sample, which had 20% water but without any HS. Hence, the water in samples significantly influences the radiation attenuation properties for photon energy. The Zeff for soft tissue and PDMS are different; their respective atomic numbers differ due to a presence of higher elements such as Si. This study reveals that the modified material, S1 samples constructed from 80% PDMS and 20% hydrophilic can be used to simulate the kidney in terms of the total mass attenuation coefficient, CT number and effective atomic number

Mechanical, medical imaging and radiation properties of computed tomography-based kidney phantom exploiting textural analysis

Medical imaging phantom has important role in mimicking the properties of human tissue for calibration, training, surgical planning, and simulation purposes. Through standardized quantitative imaging features, the phantom should be able to ascertain information that cannot be visually assessed via radiomic features. Thus, the stability and accuracy of the phantom play significant role in diagnostic imaging especially for the diagnostic performance. This work aimed to introduce an alternative and straightforward polymer-based phantoms with specific mechanical and dielectric properties at the utmost suitable for fabrication of computed tomography-based kidney phantom. To evaluate the influence of Hydrogen Silicone (HS) and water (H2O) on the compression strength, radiation attenuation properties, and Computed Tomography (CT) number of the blend Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) samples as to improve the pure PDMS properties. A polymer blend is a mixture of two and more polymers that have been blended to create a new material with different physical properties. Two phantom based materials; PDMS and silicone elastomer (SE), were investigated for their capabilities to address the requirements. Four samples were prepared with different compositions were studied, and denote as samples S1, S2, S3, and S4, which consisted of PDMS 100%, HS/PDMS 20:80, H2O/PDMS 20:80, and HS/H2O/PDMS 20:40:40, respectively. Radiation attenuation properties were evaluated using Phy-X/PSD (Turkey) and XCOM (NIST, USA). The elasticity and dielectric properties of phantom were superior for the blend HS/PDMS 20:80, besides the effective atomic number and linear attenuation coefficient has shown a similar pattern with human kidney tissue at intermediate energy level of 1.50 ⅹ 10-2 MeV to 1.5 MeV. PDMS is superior to SE in terms of tensile strength, flexibility, acceptable real part of the complex dielectric constant; Ɛr and conductivity which allows it to become a stable kidney phantom for CT scan purposes. Overall, HS/PDMS 20:80 with the use of a 120 kVp X-ray beam, the CT number quantified for sample measured 40 HU and had the highest Contrast-to-Noise Ratio (CNR) value better than pure PDMS. Therefore, the HS/PDMS 20:80 sample formulation exhibited the potential to mimic the human kidney as it has a similar dynamic and is higher in terms of stability as a medical phantom. In conclusion the blend PDMS as the material of choice to be used as a CT-based kidney phantom in terms of good agreement with compressive strength and radiation attenuation. Notably, the blend PDMS imitates human tissue more precisely and permits a wide range of possibilities for exploiting textural analysis and radiation dosimetry. Hence, it promises to be of value for use in both research and clinical settings for the CT modality as it is physically stable

Estimates of Average Glandular Dose with Auto-modes of X-ray Exposures in Digital Breast Tomosynthesis

Objectives: The aim of this research was to examine the average glandular dose (AGD) of radiation among different breast compositions of glandular and adipose tissue with auto-modes of exposure factor selection in digital breast tomosynthesis. Methods: This experimental study was carried out in the National Cancer Society, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, between February 2012 and February 2013 using a tomosynthesis digital mammography X-ray machine. The entrance surface air kerma and the half-value layer were determined using a 100H thermoluminescent dosimeter on 50% glandular and 50% adipose tissue (50/50) and 20% glandular and 80% adipose tissue (20/80) commercially available breast phantoms (Computerized Imaging Reference Systems, Inc., Norfolk, Virginia, USA) with auto-time, auto-filter and auto-kilovolt modes. Results: The lowest AGD for the 20/80 phantom with auto-time was 2.28 milliGray (mGy) for two dimension (2D) and 2.48 mGy for three dimensional (3D) images. The lowest AGD for the 50/50 phantom with auto-time was 0.97 mGy for 2D and 1.0 mGy for 3D. Conclusion: The AGD values for both phantoms were lower against a high kilovolt peak and the use of auto-filter mode was more practical for quick acquisition while limiting the probability of operator error

Mechanical and Imaging Properties of a Clinical-Grade Kidney Phantom Based on Polydimethylsiloxane and Elastomer

Medical imaging phantoms are considered critical in mimicking the properties of human tissue for calibration, training, surgical planning, and simulation purposes. Hence, the stability and accuracy of the imaging phantom play a significant role in diagnostic imaging. This study aimed to evaluate the influence of hydrogen silicone (HS) and water (H2O) on the compression strength, radiation attenuation properties, and computed tomography (CT) number of the blended Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) samples, and to verify the best material to simulate kidney tissue. Four samples with different compositions were studied, including samples S1, S2, S3, and S4, which consisted of PDMS 100%, HS/PDMS 20:80, H2O/PDMS 20:80, and HS/H2O/PDMS 20:40:40, respectively. The stability of the samples was assessed using compression testing, and the attenuation properties of sample S2 were evaluated. The effective atomic number of S2 showed a similar pattern to the human kidney tissue at 1.50 &times; 10&minus;1 to 1 MeV. With the use of a 120 kVp X-ray beam, the CT number quantified for S2, as well measured 40 HU, and had the highest contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) value. Therefore, the S2 sample formulation exhibited the potential to mimic the human kidney, as it has a similar dynamic and is higher in terms of stability as a medical phantom

A multi-country phase 2 study to evaluate the suitcase lab for rapid detection of SARS-CoV-2 in seven Sub-Saharan African countries: Lessons from the field

From Elsevier via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: issued 2023-03-03Article version: AMPaul Kadetz - ORCID: 0000-0002-2824-1856 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2824-1856Background : The COVID-19 pandemic led to severe health systems collapse, as well as logistics and supply delivery shortages across sectors. Delivery of PCR related healthcare supplies continue to be hindered. There is the need for a rapid and accessible SARS-CoV-2 molecular detection method in low resource settings. Objectives : To validate a novel isothermal amplification method for rapid detection of SARS-CoV-2 across seven sub-Sharan African countries. Study design : In this multi-country phase 2 diagnostic study, 3,231 clinical samples in seven African sites were tested with two reverse transcription Recombinase-Aided Amplification (RT-RAA) assays (based on SARS-CoV-2 Nucleocapsid (N) gene and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRP) gene). The test was performed in a mobile suitcase laboratory within 15 minutes. All results were compared to a real-time RT-PCR assay. Extraction kits based on silica gel or magnetic beads were applied. Results : Four sites demonstrated good to excellent agreement, while three sites showed fair to moderate results. The RdRP gene assay exhibited an overall PPV of 0.92 and a NPV of 0.88. The N gene assay exhibited an overall PPV of 0.93 and a NPV 0.88. The sensitivity of both RT-RAA assays varied depending on the sample Ct values. When comparing sensitivity between sites, values differed considerably. For high viral load samples, the RT-RAA assay sensitivity ranges were between 60.5 and 100% (RdRP assay) and 25 and 98.6 (N assay). Conclusion : Overall, the RdRP based RT-RAA test showed the best assay accuracy. This study highlights the challenges of implementing rapid molecular assays in field conditions. Factors that are important for successful deployment across countries include the implementation of standardized operation procedures, in-person continuous training for staff, and enhanced quality control measures.inpressinpres