Telehealth technology: Potentials, challenges and research directions for developing countries

Telehealth has been developed and successfully applied in clinical practices, gained a strong interest and demonstrated its usefulness for medical diagnosis, treatments and rehabilitation worldwide. The advent of high speed communication technology and complex signal processing techniques, and recent advancements in cloud and cognitive computing, has created a new wave of opportunities for delivering remote healthcare applications and services, where the cost-effective diagnosis and treatment solutions as well as healthcare services are important and need to be deployed widely. Nevertheless, there is still a significant challenge in fully adopting this technology due to asymmetry among the healthcare centers, hospitals and the user-ends, especially in developing countries. This paper provides an overview of the telehealth, then to addresses the possible telehealth technologies and applications that could be applied to improve the healthcare service performance, with the focus on the developing countries. The incorporation of different technologies in telehealth including, Internet of Things (IoT), cloud and cognitive computing, medical image processing and effective encoding is introduced and discussed. Finally, the possible research directions, challenges for the efficient telehealth, and potential research and technology collaborations are outlined

A Double-Voltage-Controlled Effective Thermal Conductivity Model of Graphene for Thermoelectric Cooling

© 1963-2012 IEEE. Graphene provides a new opportunity for thermoelectric study based on its unique heat transfer behavior controllable by a gate voltage. In this paper, an effective thermal conductivity model of graphene for thermoelectric cooling is proposed. The model is based on a double-voltage-control mechanism. According to the law of Fourier heat conduction, an effective thermal conductivity model of the proposed thermoelectric cooling device is derived taking a tunable external voltage into account. Then, a gate voltage is used which can change graphene's thermoelectric characteristics. To verify the correctness and effectiveness of the proposed model, a circuit simulation model using HSPICE is built based on the thermoelectric duality. The simulation results from HSPICE and the calculated results from the mathematic model show good agreements with each other. This paper provides a novel precisely controlling method for thermoelectric cooling

Interestingness of traces in declarative process mining: The janus LTLPf Approach

Declarative process mining is the set of techniques aimed at extracting behavioural constraints from event logs. These constraints are inherently of a reactive nature, in that their activation restricts the occurrence of other activities. In this way, they are prone to the principle of ex falso quod libet: they can be satisfied even when not activated. As a consequence, constraints can be mined that are hardly interesting to users or even potentially misleading. In this paper, we build on the observation that users typically read and write temporal constraints as if-statements with an explicit indication of the activation condition. Our approach is called Janus, because it permits the specification and verification of reactive constraints that, upon activation, look forward into the future and backwards into the past of a trace. Reactive constraints are expressed using Linear-time Temporal Logic with Past on Finite Traces (LTLp f). To mine them out of event logs, we devise a time bi-directional valuation technique based on triplets of automata operating in an on-line fashion. Our solution proves efficient, being at most quadratic w.r.t. trace length, and effective in recognising interestingness of discovered constraints

Coronary microvascular ischemia in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy - a pixel-wise quantitative cardiovascular magnetic resonance perfusion study.

BACKGROUND: Microvascular dysfunction in HCM has been associated with adverse clinical outcomes. Advances in quantitative cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) perfusion imaging now allow myocardial blood flow to be quantified at the pixel level. We applied these techniques to investigate the spectrum of microvascular dysfunction in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and to explore its relationship with fibrosis and wall thickness. METHODS: CMR perfusion imaging was undertaken during adenosine-induced hyperemia and again at rest in 35 patients together with late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) imaging. Myocardial blood flow (MBF) was quantified on a pixel-by-pixel basis from CMR perfusion images using a Fermi-constrained deconvolution algorithm. Regions-of-interest (ROI) in hypoperfused and hyperemic myocardium were identified from the MBF pixel maps. The myocardium was also divided into 16 AHA segments. RESULTS: Resting MBF was significantly higher in the endocardium than in the epicardium (mean ± SD: 1.25 ± 0.35 ml/g/min versus 1.20 ± 0.35 ml/g/min, P < 0.001), a pattern that reversed with stress (2.00 ± 0.76 ml/g/min versus 2.36 ± 0.83 ml/g/min, P < 0.001). ROI analysis revealed 11 (31%) patients with stress MBF lower than resting values (1.05 ± 0.39 ml/g/min versus 1.22 ± 0.36 ml/g/min, P = 0.021). There was a significant negative association between hyperemic MBF and wall thickness (β = −0.047 ml/g/min per mm, 95% CI: −0.057 to −0.038, P < 0.001) and a significantly lower probability of fibrosis in a segment with increasing hyperemic MBF (odds ratio per ml/g/min: 0.086, 95% CI: 0.078 to 0.095, P = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: Pixel-wise quantitative CMR perfusion imaging identifies a subgroup of patients with HCM that have localised severe microvascular dysfunction which may give rise to myocardial ischemia

Dust extinction from Balmer decrements of star-forming galaxies at 0.75<z<1.5 with HST/WFC3 spectroscopy from the WISP survey

Spectroscopic observations of Halpha and Hbeta emission lines of 128 star-forming galaxies in the redshift range 0.75<z<1.5 are presented. These data were taken with slitless spectroscopy using the G102 and G141 grisms of the Wide-Field-Camera 3 (WFC3) on board the Hubble Space Telescope as part of the WFC3 Infrared Spectroscopic Parallel (WISP) survey. Interstellar dust extinction is measured from stacked spectra that cover the Balmer decrement (Halpha/Hbeta). We present dust extinction as a function of Halpha luminosity (down to 3 x 10^{41} erg/s), galaxy stellar mass (reaching 4 x 10^{8} Msun), and rest-frame Halpha equivalent width. The faintest galaxies are two times fainter in Halpha luminosity than galaxies previously studied at z~1.5. An evolution is observed where galaxies of the same Halpha luminosity have lower extinction at higher redshifts, whereas no evolution is found within our error bars with stellar mass. The lower Halpha luminosity galaxies in our sample are found to be consistent with no dust extinction. We find an anti-correlation of the [OIII]5007/Halpha flux ratio as a function of luminosity where galaxies with L_{Halpha}<5 x 10^{41} erg/s are brighter in [OIII]5007 than Halpha. This trend is evident even after extinction correction, suggesting that the increased [OIII]5007/Halpha ratio in low luminosity galaxies is likely due to lower metallicity and/or higher ionization parameters.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures, 2 tables; version addressing the referee comment

Scaffold Proteins Lack And Track As Potential Drug Targets In Kinetoplastid Parasites: Development Of Inhibitors

Parasitic diseases cause similar to 500,000 deaths annually and remain a major challenge for therapeutic development. Using a rational design based approach, we developed peptide inhibitors with anti-parasitic activity that were derived from the sequences of parasite scaffold proteins LACK (Leishmania's receptor for activated C-kinase) and TRACK (Trypanosoma receptor for activated C-kinase). We hypothesized that sequences in LACK and TRACK that are conserved in the parasites, but not in the mammalian ortholog, RACK (Receptor for activated C-kinase), may be interaction sites for signaling proteins that are critical for the parasites' viability. One of these peptides exhibited leishmanicidal and trypanocidal activity in culture. Moreover, in infected mice, this peptide was also effective in reducing parasitemia and increasing survival without toxic effects. The identified peptide is a promising new anti-parasitic drug lead, as its unique features may limit toxicity and drug-resistance, thus overcoming central limitations of most anti-parasitic drugs. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Australian Society for Parasitology.67484National Institutes of Health [TW008781-01C-IDEA, AI078505

Dose-dependent T-cell Dynamics and Cytokine Cascade Following rVSV-ZEBOV Immunization.

BACKGROUND: The recent West African Ebola epidemic led to accelerated efforts to test Ebola vaccine candidates. As part of the World Health Organisation-led VSV Ebola Consortium (VEBCON), we performed a phase I clinical trial investigating rVSV-ZEBOV (a recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus-vectored Ebola vaccine), which has recently demonstrated protection from Ebola virus disease (EVD) in phase III clinical trials and is currently in advanced stages of licensing. So far, correlates of immune protection are incompletely understood and the role of cell-mediated immune responses has not been comprehensively investigated to date. METHODS: We recruited 30 healthy subjects aged 18-55 into an open-label, dose-escalation phase I trial testing three doses of rVSV-ZEBOV (3×105 plaque-forming units (PFU), 3×106 PFU, 2×107 PFU) (ClinicalTrials.gov; NCT02283099). Main study objectives were safety and immunogenicity, while exploratory objectives included lymphocyte dynamics, cell-mediated immunity and cytokine networks, which were assessed using flow cytometry, ELISpot and LUMINEX assay. FINDINGS: Immunization with rVSV-ZEBOV was well tolerated without serious vaccine-related adverse events. Ebola virus-specific neutralizing antibodies were induced in nearly all individuals. Additionally, vaccinees, particularly within the highest dose cohort, generated Ebola glycoprotein (GP)-specific T cells and initiated a cascade of signaling molecules following stimulation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells with Ebola GP peptides. INTERPRETATION: In addition to a benign safety and robust humoral immunogenicity profile, subjects immunized with 2×107 PFU elicited higher cellular immune responses and stronger interlocked cytokine networks compared to lower dose groups. To our knowledge these data represent the first detailed cell-mediated immuneprofile of a clinical trial testing rVSV-ZEBOV, which is of particular interest in light of its potential upcoming licensure as the first Ebola vaccine. VEBCON trial Hamburg, Germany (NCT02283099)

Non-overshooting stabilisation via state and output feedback

The concept of “strong stability” of LTI systems has been introduced in a recent paper [KHP2]. This is a stronger notion of stability compared to alternative definitions (e.g. stability in the sense of Lyapunov, asymptotic stability), which allows the analysis and design of control systems with non-overshooting response in the state-space for arbitrary initial conditions. The paper reviews the notion of “strong stability” [KHP2] and introduces the problem of non-overshooting stabilization. It is shown that non-overshooting stabilization under dynamic and static output feedback are, in a certain sense, equivalent problems. Thus, we turn our attention to static non-overshooting stabilization problems under state-feedback, output injection and output feedback. After developing a number of preliminary results, we give a geometric interpretation to the problem in terms of the intersection of an affine hyperplane and the interior of an open convex cone. A solution to the problem is finally obtained via Linear Matrix Inequalities, along with the complete parametrization of the optimal solution set

Developing the agenda for European Union collaboration on non-communicable diseases research in Sub-Saharan Africa

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Health research is increasing in Africa, but most resources are currently chanelled towards infectious diseases and health system development. While infectious diseases remain a heavy burden for some African countries, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) account for more than half of all deaths globally and WHO predicts 27% increase in NCDs in Africa over the next decade. We present findings of a European-Africa consultation on the research agenda for NCDs.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A workshop was held in Yaoundé, Cameroon, organized by the Network for the Coordination and Advancement of Sub-Saharan Africa-European Union Science and Technology Cooperation (CAAST-Net). Drawing on initial presentations, a small expert group from academic, clinical, public-health and administrative positions considered research needs in Africa for cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Research in Africa can draw from different environmental and genetic characteristics to understand the causes of the disease, while economic and social factors are important in developing relevant strategies for prevention and treatment. The suggested research needs include better methods for description and recording, clinical studies, understanding cultural impacts, prevention strategies, and the integrated organisation of care. Specific fields proposed for research are listed.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our paper contributes to transparency in the process of priority-setting for health research in Africa. Although the European Union Seventh Framework Research Programme prioritises biomedical and clinical research, research for Africa should also address broader social and cultural research and intervention research for greatest impact. Research policy leaders in Africa must engage national governments and international agencies as well as service providers and research communities. None can act effectively alone. Bringing together the different stakeholders, and feeding the results through to the European Union research programme is a valuable contribution of CAAST-Net.</p