Advancing gaming technology in neurological Rehabilitation

The consumption of gaming technology has recently gain unexpected significance in medical health care for neurological rehabilitation. With increasing interest in exergames study, numerous definitions and terminology have been introduced to describe this term. Researchers from health-related background acknowledged the fact that engaging in video gaming was not always sedentary and might act as a means to ensure more physical work. Simplifying the terminology exergames are those types of gaming technology or multimedia communications that necessitate the player to perform physical activity during play

Role of manual activities among cerebral Palsy children

Objective: Determine the role of manual activities in children presenting with spastic type of Cerebral Palsy. Methods: AQuasi experimental study was conducted in Children Hospital and Compass. A sample of 30 children with cerebral palsy aged between 6 to 12 years was studied and assessment was made before and after the implementation of treatment through ABILHAND kids Questionnaire. The duration of this study was 6 months from December 2014 to May 2015. The recruiting strategy used was convenience sampling. Intervention was given for a period of 90 hours for 9 weeks. Qualitative variables were expressed as proportions (percentages). Before and after comparisons were made using non.parametric Wilcoxon signed rank test since the data was obtained as scores. A p-value less than 0.05 were taken as significant. Results: Bimanual Therapy had significant effect on manual abilities of a child presenting with spastic type of cerebral palsy. The P value was calculated as 0.000 which was less than 0.05. Conclusion: HABIT appears to be effective in improving the manual ability of spastic cerebral palsy children

Interview with Sadiq Khan: “London must have a seat at the table during the negotiations to leave the EU”

What will Brexit mean for the city of London? In an interview with EUROPP’s editor Stuart Brown, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, discusses his new ‘London is Open’ campaign, the effect of Brexit on Londoners, and whether there is a case for London having more say over how the money it generates in tax revenue is spent

Compliance Centric Data Quality Management – The Banking and Financial Industry Perspective

The banking and financial industry is subject to a large number of regulations, including several recent data quality regulations, which makes it difficult for organisations to judge the effort and cost involved in compliance to multiple, often overlapping, regulatory obligations. The aim of this paper is to identify and analyse data quality related regulations, and map them against a common set of data quality dimensions to expose overlaps and inconsistencies to inform compliance efforts. In our study we identify seven global data quality regulations/frameworks applicable to the banking and financial industry and conduct a systematic analysis of data quality stipulations within. Our study explores the breadth and depth of coverage of data quality dimensions in the regulations, and identifies inherent overlaps and inconsistencies. We argue that understanding of data quality requirements within and across the regulations is an essential first step towards the design of new approaches for compliance centric data quality management

SATELLITE REMOTE SENSING AND HYDROLOGIC MODELING FOR FLOOD MONITORING IN DATA POOR ENVIRONMENTS

Study of hydroclimatology at a range of temporal scales is important in understanding and ultimately mitigating the potential severe impacts of hydrological extreme events such as floods and droughts. Using daily in-situ data combined with the recently available satellite remote sensing data, the hydroclimatology of Nzoia basin, one of the contributing sub-catchments of Lake Victoria in the East African highlands is analyzed. The basin, with a semi-arid climate, has no sustained base flow contribution to Lake Victoria. The short spell of high discharge showed that rain is the primary cause of floods in the basin. There is only a marginal increase in annual mean discharge over the last 21 years. The 2-, 5- and 10- year peak discharges, for the entire study period showed that more years since the mid 1990s have had high peak discharges despite having relatively less annual rain.The study also presents the hydrologic model calibration and validation results over the Nzoia basin. The spatiotemporal variability of the water cycle components were quantified using a hydrologic model, with in-situ and multi-satellite remote sensing datasets. The model is calibrated using daily observed discharge data for the period between 1985 and 1999, for which model performance is estimated with a Nash Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSCE) of 0.87 and 0.23% bias. The model validation showed an error metrics with NSCE of 0.65 and 1.04% bias. Moreover, the hydrologic capability of satellite precipitation (TRMM-3B42 V6) is evaluated. In terms of reconstruction of the water cycle components the spatial distribution and time series of modeling results for precipitation and runoff showed considerable agreement with the monthly model runoff estimates and gauge observations. Runoff values responded to precipitation events that occurred across the catchment during the wet season from March to early June.The spatially distributed model inputs, states, and outputs, were found to be useful for understanding the hydrologic behavior at the catchment scale. The monthly peak runoff is observed in the months of April, May and November. The analysis revealed a linear relationship between rainfall and runoff for both wet and dry seasons. Satellite precipitation forcing data showed the potential to be used not only for the investigation of water balance but also for addressing issues pertaining to sustainability of the resources at the catchment scale.Implementation of a flood prediction system can potentially help mitigate flood induced hazards. Such a system typically requires implementation and calibration of a hydrologic model using in-situ observations (e.g. rain gauges and stream gauges). Recently, satellite remote sensing data has emerged as a viable alternative or supplement to the in-situ observations due to its availability over vast ungauged regions. The focus of this study is to integrate the best available satellite products within a semi-distributed hydrologic model to characterize the spatial extent of flooding over sparsely-gauged or ungauged basins. A satellite remote sensing based approach is proposed to calibrate a hydrologic model, simulate the spatial extent of flooding, and evaluate the probability of detecting inundated areas. A raster-based semi-distributed hydrologic model, CREST, is implemented for the Nzoia basin, a sub-basin of Lake Victoria in Africa. MODIS Terra and ASTER-based raster flood inundation maps were produced over the region and used to benchmark the hydrologic model simulations of inundated areas. The analysis showed the value of integrating satellite data such as precipitation, land cover type, topography and other data products along with space based flood inundation extents as inputs for the hydrologic model. It is concluded that the quantification of flooding spatial extent through optical sensors can help to evaluate hydrologic models and hence potentially improve hydrologic prediction and flood management strategies in ungauged catchments

The Contagious Nature of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Variant and Vaccine Efficacy

Background: Since the first COVID-19 outbreak, variants of SARS-CoV-2 have continued to dominate the global population. The repeated waves of emerging variants, each replacing the previous one with a greater rate of transmissibility and mutations, are the primary cause of the global pandemic. Public health concerns dramatically rose when a highly mutated variant (VOC) omicron (B.1.1.529) emerged in late 2021. omicron has more than 50 mutations, and over 30 mutations are in their spike protein that contributes to the virologic characteristics of the variant. Omicron is more contagious than previously reported SARS-CoV-2 strains and can re-infect people who have already contracted other SARS-CoV-2 infections. The variant has acquired a unique immune escape mechanism against monoclonal antibodies and vaccines. Currently, no therapeutic drug or vaccine is specifically available to prevent omicron infection and sublineage emergence. Method: The review was designed to search the recent research and literature and compile the most pertinent data on the virologic characteristics of the variant of concern. Result: The study reviewed and discussed the present prevalence, infectivity, dominance, immune evasion, therapeutic options, vaccine efficacy, and the future prospect of the omicron variant. Conclusion: Omicron variant has become a global public health concern due to the emergence of highly mutated sublineages. Developing variant-specific therapeutic drugs or vaccines is desirable to prevent the spread of these contagious variants globally.Keywords: COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Omicron variant, Vaccine efficacy, Immune evasion

Smart handoff technique for internet of vehicles communication using dynamic edge-backup node

© 2020 The Authors. Published by MDPI. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence. The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics9030524A vehicular adhoc network (VANET) recently emerged in the the Internet of Vehicles (IoV); it involves the computational processing of moving vehicles. Nowadays, IoV has turned into an interesting field of research as vehicles can be equipped with processors, sensors, and communication devices. IoV gives rise to handoff, which involves changing the connection points during the online communication session. This presents a major challenge for which many standardized solutions are recommended. Although there are various proposed techniques and methods to support seamless handover procedure in IoV, there are still some open research issues, such as unavoidable packet loss rate and latency. On the other hand, the emerged concept of edge mobile computing has gained crucial attention by researchers that could help in reducing computational complexities and decreasing communication delay. Hence, this paper specifically studies the handoff challenges in cluster based handoff using new concept of dynamic edge-backup node. The outcomes are evaluated and contrasted with the network mobility method, our proposed technique, and other cluster-based technologies. The results show that coherence in communication during the handoff method can be upgraded, enhanced, and improved utilizing the proposed technique.Published onlin

Investigation of waste banana peels and radish leaves for their biofuels potential

This article is mainly based on the production of biodiesel and bioethanol from waste banana peels and radish leaves. The oily content from both the samples were converted to biodiesel by acid catalyzed and base catalyzed transesterification using methanol and ethanol. The biodiesel so obtained was subjected to analysis in accordance with the American Standard for Testing Materials (ASTM). The carbohydrates were extracted by distilled water and characterized by physical, chemical and biochemical methods. The carbohydrates were subjected to anaerobic fermentation using Saccharomyces cerevisiae to produce bioethanol which was confirmed by the preparation of UV active derivatives namely ethyl benzoate and ethyl salicylate. The highest % yield of fatty acid methyl ester and fatty acid ethyl ester was found to be 75% and 38%, respectively. The yield of bioethanol from banana peels and radish leaves was found to be 1.37% and 1.23%, respectively. KEY WORDS: Oil, Transesterification, Biodiesel, Carbohydrates, Fermentation, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Bioethanol Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2015, 29(2), 239-245DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v29i2.