Autonomous Droid for Terrestrial Research and Intelligence (ATRi)

ATRi (Autonomous droid for Terrestrial Research and Intelligence) is an autonomous and sentient droid designed to assist space crews with various activities and experiments. The artificially intelligent droid autonomously navigates inside crewed space capsules and utilizes voice and visual recognition algorithms to receive commands, record basic readings, and assist the crew in performing various experiments. ATRi's machine learning algorithms can be tailored to the specific astronaut(s) it will accompany in the space capsule. This personalized approach not only assists astronauts but also fosters a sense of companionship. This paper provides details about the physical and algorithmic characteristics of the droid and outlines how it can be trained and deployed in any crewed space capsule. The droid will be powered by a sentient program that incorporates visual recognition (including facial recognition and video recording capabilities), natural language processing, voice recognition, and speech synthesis. Six microphones and two cameras are embedded to capture audio/voice commands and visuals. While the current version of the droid is fixed to the space capsule, future iterations are envisioned to be highly mobile in zero-gravity environments within any crewed space capsule. This mobility is facilitated by a sophisticated motion control system that enables the droid to align in any direction, rotate, and navigate inside the crewed space module. In addition to assisting the crew, ATRi will document all activities inside the capsule through photos and videos. It can process images and videos, automatically categorize them, and periodically communicate the information to ground control

Predictors of the length of stay of inpatients in Rehabilitation setting after Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury

INTRODUCTION: Spinal cord injury (SCI) caused by either traumatic or non traumatic ( T SCI or NT SCI) is a major clinical and social problem and lead to permanent disability. SCI is a devastating condition that requires intensive and specialized clinical rehabilitation. Traumatic SCI occurs often at a young age, and life expectancy of persons with SCI has increased in recent decades, although it is still lower than the life expectancy of the general population. Evidence of the benefits of medical rehabilitation is documented typically by the reduction in disability of persons receiving inpatient rehabilitation and by length of stay (LOS). Functional outcome, or gain in functional ability during rehabilitation, reflects the effectiveness of clinical rehabilitation, and LOS is often used as a measure of its efficiency. Patients with low motor Functional Independence Measure (FIMTM) scores on discharge are more dependent and are therefore more likely to be discharged to a long-term care facility. Those with high motor FIM scores on discharge are likely to return to community living on discharge, even though there may be a need for modification to the living environment to support independent living. Traumatic spinal cord lesion occurs primarily in young adults with more than half being between 16 to 30 years of age. Men account for about 80% of cases. Managed care and improvements in medical and rehabilitative expertise are believed to account for declines in rehabilitation LOS. The Walking Index for Spinal Cord Injury (WISCI) scale will show more incremental change than current scales, and therefore demonstrate criterion validation for use in future clinical trials. The Functional Independence Measure (FIM) is the most widely used valid and reliable measure of the severity of disability and rehabilitation outcome, including SCI. Keeping in view of all the above cited variables for LOS and importance of the topic, this study of LOS in inpatient rehabilitation after SCI in Qatar is conducted, where there was no pioneer study. My study supports the hypothesis of an association between length of stay in rehabilitation, functional independence measure motor, and length of stay in acute care, American spinal cord injury association impairment scale and walking index for spinal cord injury. METHODS: A total of 54 patients with traumatic spinal cord injury, discharged from the inpatient rehabilitation unit (IPRU), Rumaillah Hospital of Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar, during the period from January 2008 to July 2010, were included in this prospective study. All descriptive data were collected from demographic data files maintained by Medical Records Department, Rumaillah Hospital of the Hamad Medical Corporation. The demographic information on age, sex, marital status, nationality, and type of SCI has been included in the study. The functional independence measure (FIM) was used for measuring the functional status on admission and discharge. It analyzed 18 items and seven levels of performance in eating, grooming, bathing, upper and lower body dressing, toileting, bladder and bowel management, bed transfer, toilet transfer, shower transfer, locomotion, stairs, comprehension, expression, social interaction, problem solving, and memory. By summing the points for each item, the possible total score ranges from 18 (lowest) to 126 (highest level of independence). RESULTS: The study included 54 SCI patients with an age range of 20-60 years. The distribution of qualitative characteristics is shown in Table 3. Most of the patients (98%) were expatriates, and the type of lesion was paraplegia in 59% and tetraplgia in 41%. The majority of SCI patients on discharge were in the disability range of disabled but independence in self-care (32%), followed by minor symptoms not affecting life style (24%) and moderate assistance for daily living (22%). The rest were in two other groups of disability (14%), with up to maximal assistance, total assistance (4%) and well (4%) in daily living. Regarding the mobility category, most of the patients were in wheelchair propelled by themselves (37%), group of walks with aid (22%), and in the group of slow gait speed (19%). The others were in wheelchair propelled by others (9%) and walks with another person to help (2%). No walking deficit was in only 11% of the SCI patients. This study showed SCI patients admitted in IPRU were in complete paraplegia (ASIA A) group as 56% (10) and complete tetraplegia 44% (8). CONCLUSION: In relation to other findings, overall, our study showed that FIM admission was the best predictor of functional outcome in SCI inpatients, and also SCI patients of lower admission and discharge FIMs were related to extended LOS in both acute and IPRU However, we found that some higher FIMd and ASIA impairment group C were also with extended LOSr (Fig. 6, 7), but only 14% of the total SCI patients. The reason for this extended LOSr might be dependent upon socioeconomic factors. Our study identified the need for further prospective studies in large SCI populations in order to evaluate other predictors influencing LOS in rehabilitation units

Intracellular Ca2+ regulating proteins in vascular smooth muscle cells are altered with type 1 diabetes due to the direct effects of hyperglycemia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Diminished calcium (Ca²⁺) transients in response to physiological agonists have been reported in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) from diabetic animals. However, the mechanism responsible was unclear.</p> <p>Methodology/Principal Findings</p> <p>VSMCs from autoimmune type 1 Diabetes Resistant Bio-Breeding (DR-BB) rats and streptozotocin-induced rats were examined for levels and distribution of inositol trisphosphate receptors (IP₃R) and the SR Ca²⁺pumps (SERCA 2 and 3). Generally, a decrease in IP₃R levels and dramatic increase in ryanodine receptor (RyR) levels were noted in the aortic samples from diabetic animals. Redistribution of the specific IP₃R subtypes was dependent on the rat model. SERCA 2 was redistributed to a peri-nuclear pattern that was more prominent in the DR-BB diabetic rat aorta than the STZ diabetic rat. The free intracellular Ca²⁺in freshly dispersed VSMCs from control and diabetic animals was monitored using ratiometric Ca²⁺sensitive fluorophores viewed by confocal microscopy. In control VSMCs, basal fluorescence levels were significantly higher in the nucleus relative to the cytoplasm, while in diabetic VSMCs they were essentially the same. Vasopressin induced a predictable increase in free intracellular Ca²⁺in the VSMCs from control rats with a prolonged and significantly blunted response in the diabetic VSMCs. A slow rise in free intracellular Ca²⁺in response to thapsigargin, a specific blocker of SERCA was seen in the control VSMCs but was significantly delayed and prolonged in cells from diabetic rats. To determine whether the changes were due to the direct effects of hyperglycemica, experiments were repeated using cultured rat aortic smooth muscle cells (A7r5) grown in hyperglycemic and control conditions. In general, they demonstrated the same changes in protein levels and distribution as well as the blunted Ca²⁺responses to vasopressin and thapsigargin as noted in the cells from diabetic animals.</p> <p>Conclusions/Significance</p> <p>This work demonstrates that the previously-reported reduced Ca²⁺signaling in VSMCs from diabetic animals is related to decreases and/or redistribution in the IP₃R Ca²⁺channels and SERCA proteins. These changes can be duplicated in culture with high glucose levels.</p

Diagnostic value of superficial cultures for late-onset sepsis

Background: Late-onset sepsis (LOS) is associated with poor outcome and one of the prevalent causes of death in preterm&nbsp;population; hence, there is always a need for early prediction of sepsis. The performance of routine superficial swab culture is one&nbsp;of the strategies for the early prediction and may help in the selection of appropriate empirical antibiotics. Objective: The purpose&nbsp;of the study is to evaluate the diagnostic value of superficial swab cultures for LOS. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort&nbsp;study (November 2015-October 2016) in a tertiary neonatal intensive care. Inclusion criteria were preterm infants with gestationalage ≤34 weeks with a diagnosis of sepsis (culture-positive and culture-negative clinical sepsis). In our unit, weekly surveillance&nbsp;swab cultures (skin swab, mouth swab, nasopharyngeal aspirate, and umbilical surface swab) are taken from all admitted neonates,&nbsp;and usually, no interventions are carried out based on these culture results. We excluded infants with surgical diagnosis/congenital&nbsp;anomalies and infants with early-onset sepsis. Results: After exclusion, there were 38 preterm infants fulfilling our inclusion criteria;&nbsp;among them, there were 108 LOS episodes. Blood culture was positive in 33 episodes, and Staphylococcus epidermidis (21%) was&nbsp;the most common organism cultured. In our study, superficial swab cultures had a very low diagnostic value, as sensitivity (42.9%),&nbsp;specificity (28.7%), predictive values, and likelihood ratio that all the estimations were low. Conclusions: Superficial swab cultures&nbsp;are associated with low diagnostic value for LOS. Superficial swab culture may be used surveillance of colonizing organism in the&nbsp;neonatal unit and provides antibiotic sensitivity pattern

Cardiac dysfunction in the diabetic rat: quantitative evaluation using high resolution magnetic resonance imaging

BACKGROUND: Diabetes is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease. In particular, type 1 diabetes compromises the cardiac function of individuals at a relatively early age due to the protracted course of abnormal glucose homeostasis. The functional abnormalities of diabetic myocardium have been attributed to the pathological changes of diabetic cardiomyopathy. METHODS: In this study, we used high field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to evaluate the left ventricular functional characteristics of streptozotocin treated diabetic Sprague-Dawley rats (8 weeks disease duration) in comparison with age/sex matched controls. RESULTS: Our analyses of EKG gated cardiac MRI scans of the left ventricle showed a 28% decrease in the end-diastolic volume and 10% increase in the end-systolic volume of diabetic hearts compared to controls. Mean stroke volume and ejection fraction in diabetic rats were decreased (48% and 28%, respectively) compared to controls. Further, dV/dt changes were suggestive of phase sensitive differences in left ventricular kinetics across the cardiac cycle between diabetic and control rats. CONCLUSION: Thus, the MRI analyses of diabetic left ventricle suggest impairment of diastolic and systolic hemodynamics in this rat model of diabetic cardiomyopathy. Our studies also show that in vivo MRI could be used in the evaluation of cardiac dysfunction in this rat model of type 1 diabetes

Time-Dependent Alterations in Rat Macrovessels with Type 1 Diabetes

Vascular complications are associated with the progressive severity of diabetes, resulting in significant morbidity and mortality. This study quantifies functional vascular parameters and macrovascular structure in a rat model of type 1 diabetes. While there was no difference in the systemic arterial elastance (Ea) with 50 days of diabetes, changes were noted in the aorta and femoral artery including increased tunica media extracellular matrix content, decreased width of both the media and individual smooth muscle cell layers, and increased incidence of damaged mitochondria. Extracellular matrix proteins and elastin levels were significantly greater in the aorta of diabetic animals. These differences correlated with diminished matrix metalloprotease activity in the aorta of the diabetic animals. In conclusion, diabetes significantly altered the structure and ultrastructure of the aorta and femoral artery before systemic changes in arterial elastance could be detected