HL7-SAIF in motion A pragmatic perspective

Health Level 7 (HL7) is the most popular global health care standard in operation today. It provides an Enterprise Architecture (EA) for the exchange, integration, sharing, and retrieval of electronic health information. Closely allied is the Services–Aware Interoperability Framework (SAIF) which is the Interoperability Framework that operates on HL7. Using the Messaging, Document Exchange, and Services paradigms, SAIF represents the careful blend of the best practices and concepts of many architectural frameworks. Utilizing SAIF to churn out HL7-based EA specifications, ensure inter-enterprise and intraenterprise, component-wise, cross-referenced, consistency, conformity, and compliance. This is true irrespective of the interoperability paradigm used ,ie., Messages, Documents, or Services. However, these technologies are not without their problems, and cynics. They have documented design and implementation issues, both empirical and practical. The thrust of this paper is to present the “case technology” of HL7- SAIF, both conceptual and engineered, highlighting the shortcomings, design issues, and practical difficulties encountered during specifications design and development. Further, pertinent solutions devised inthis research to overcome these pressing issues are also articulated.KEYWORDS: Enterprise Architecture, Semantic Interoperability, HE

Synthesis, Characterization and Antimicrobial Activity of Garcinol Coated Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles

Background: Garcinol is a secondary metabolite derived from the plants of Clusiaceae Family. It has shown a broad range of bioactivities such as antimicrobial, antioxidant, anticancer and anti-inflammatory. Titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2NPs) are known to have a significant photocatalytic activity and are widely used in medicine. In this study, garcinol was used to modify the surface of TiO2NPs to enhance the antibacterial activity.Objectives: To synthesize, characterize and determine antimicrobial activity of garcinol coated titanium dioxide nanoparticles G-TiO2NPs.Methods: Garcinol was isolated from the dried fruit rinds of Garcinia quaesita. TiO2NPs were coated by garcinol and characterized by using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Powder X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), and Diffused Reflectance Spectroscopy. Minimum Inhibition Concentration (MIC) was tested against five microbial species including Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25623), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 27853),Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922), Candida albicans (ATCC 10231) and clinical isolates of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), using broth micro-dilution assay. Time-kill kinetic study was performed to determine the inhibition percentage of Staphylococcus aureus over time.Results: SEM images confirmed the spherical shape of G-TiO2NPs, diameter ranging from 20 - 200 nm. XRD data revealed the anatase phase and rutile phase of TiO2NPs. Formation of G-TiO2NPs caused a red shift of the absorption wavelength. G-TiO2NPs and TiO2NPs showed a MIC range of 250-500 μg/ml and 500-1000 μg/ml against the tested microbial species, respectively. In the time-kill kinetic studies, inhibition percentage (IP) of microbial growth was determined at 60 minute time intervals. TiO2NPs and G-TiO2NPs demonstrated inhibition over 50% at 3 hours.Conclusions: G-TiO2NPs presented a significant enhancement in antimicrobial activity against S. aureus compared to TiO2NPs. Surface modification of TiO2NPs with garcinol has created a synergistic antimicrobial effect against S. aureus.Acknowledgement: University Grant ASP/01/RE/SCI/2017/1

Health care and migration : what data can tell us of the hard-to-measure impact of migrants on the European health systems

Nowadays migration is one of the key issues in the international as well as in the European political and public debate. It represents a key challenge for modern societies and, together with the adaptation of welfare, has been extensively investigated in social sciences. One of the most compelling challenges consists in the adaptation of health systems to migration’s new needs. The European Union (EU) presents among its member states (MS) highly differentiated situations in terms of healthcare provision models, contribution systems, and integration policies adopted towards foreigners. Compared to other countries with a longer migratory tradition, the differences in access and use of health systems by intra-EU migrants and migrants from third countries are still considerable within EU MS, and further diversified based on migrants’ legal status. Starting from the traditional types of healthcare systems, a more specific purpose will be to establish and measure a systematic relationship between the costs and performance of health systems, migratory care demand, and the migrants’ contribution to the European systems