Improving Patient Outcomes One Warm Patient at a Time

Patient Temperature measurement postoperatively reveals that hypothermia occurs in surgical patients 25-90% of the time. Unintended perioperative hypothermia can be linked to many negative patient outcomes such as increased incidence of surgical site infection (SSI), delayed wound healing and increased length of hospital stay, to mention a few. Any single or combination of the aforementioned issues can eventually lead to an increase in patient morbidity and mortality. The purpose of this proposed quality practice improvement project is to increase the compliance of hypothermia prevention strategies, specifically forced air warming, at the implementation site. The targeted practice improvement is aimed at increased compliance in warming preoperatively as well as intraoperatively. Education for perioperative staff will be rolled out on three separate occasions over three months. Education will be informal in the means of a physical take home reference card to serve as a reminder of current best protocol practices. The guiding framework of the project is based on the Model for Improvement utilizing Plan Do Study Act (PDSA) Cycles, which will propel the project forward as development, planning, and implementation take place. Another model used in synergy with the aforementioned, is Lewin\u27s three step model for successful change, which will ensure that change is accepted and becomes a part of the culture at the implementation site. The aim of this project is for ≥80% of colorectal surgery patients to maintain a median core target temperature above 36 degrees Celsius three months post implementation

Space-efficient merging of succinct de Bruijn graphs

We propose a new algorithm for merging succinct representations of de Bruijn graphs introduced in [Bowe et al. WABI 2012]. Our algorithm is based on the lightweight BWT merging approach by Holt and McMillan [Bionformatics 2014, ACM-BCB 2014]. Our algorithm has the same asymptotic cost of the state of the art tool for the same problem presented by Muggli et al. [bioRxiv 2017, Bioinformatics 2019], but it uses less than half of its working space. A novel important feature of our algorithm, not found in any of the existing tools, is that it can compute the Variable Order succinct representation of the union graph within the same asymptotic time/space bounds.Comment: Accepted to SPIRE'1

Methods for increasing the dependability of High-performance, Many-core, System-on-Chips

Future space exploration and exploitation missions will require significantly increased autonomy of operation for mission planning, decision-making, and adaptive control techniques. Spacecrafts will integrate new processing and compression algorithms that are often augmented with machine learning and artificial intelligence capabilities. This functionality will have to be provided with high levels of robustness, reliability, and dependability for conducting missions successfully. High-reliability requirements for space-grade processors have led to trade-offs in terms of costs, energy efficiency, and performance to obtain robustness. However, while high-performance / low-robustness configurations are acceptable in the Earth's vicinity, where assets remain protected by the planet's magnetosphere, they cease to work in more demanding environments, like cis-lunar or deep space, where high-energy particles will affect modern components heavily, causing temporary or permanent damage and ultimately system failures. The above has led to a situation where state-of-the-art processing elements (processors, co-processors, memories, special purpose accelerators, and field-programmable-gate arrays (FPGAs), all possibly integrated into System-on-a-Chip (SoC) designs) are superior to their high reliability, space-qualified counterparts in terms of processing power or energy efficiency. For example, from modern, state-of-the-art (SOTA) devices, one can expect a 2-3 order-of-magnitude performance per Watts improvement over space-grade equipment. Likewise, one finds a gap of approximately nine technology nodes between devices, which translates into a factor 25 decrease in operations per Watts. In this paper, we demonstrate how to utilize part of this enormous performance advantage to increase the robustness and resilience of otherwise susceptible semiconductor devices while harnessing the remaining processing power to build affordable space systems capable of hosting the compute-intensive functionality that future space missions require. We are bridging this performance-reliability gap by researching the enabling building blocks for constructing reliable and secure, space-ready Systems-on-a-Chip from SOTA processing elements

CANAL DISH (CD), THE NEW ANTIMICROBIAL TESTING APPARATUS

Objective: This writing aims to introduce new antimicrobial test apparatus called Canal Dish (CD), theoretically.Methods: We have designed two types of CD such as Circular CD (CCD) and Square CD (SCD). Internally, the CCD is a 80 mm diameter circular while the SCD is a 80×80 mm square CD plate. Both of them contain 2(40×2) mm parallel travelling canals from the each CD-centre having radius of 3 mm. Canals are 6 mm in depth.Results: The features of CCD and SCD indicate possible allowance of various size, low media consuming, the inclusion of multiple microorganisms and/or test samples/doses, ease of handling; therefore, understanding, rapidity, and economy.Conclusion: CD may replace currently used Petri dishes due to its cost-effectiveness, rapidity, ease of handling and a wider range of applicability.Keywords: Antimicrobial assay, Canal dish, Circular, Square, New apparatu

MACERATION-VORTEX-TECHNIQUE (MVT), A RAPID AND NEW EXTRACTION METHOD IN PHYTO-PHARMACOLOGICAL SCREENING

Extraction is a process of preparation of extracts from biological materials (plant/animal/microorganism) in the essence of drug discovery and development scienticism. This writing is aimed at proposing a new, rapid, economical and easy extraction method, Maceration-Vortex-Technique (MVT). For this 2-5 g of powdered materials is sucked into 5-10 ml of solvent recommended for extraction. A cleaned, small amber-colored glass bottle of 20-25 ml capacity is needed for this purpose. Powdered materials are mixed with the solvent, then followed by shaking vigorously; shaken for 1.5-2 h and vortexed for 5 min. The extract is collected by immediate filtration through filter paper (Whatmann no. 1) and allowed for concentration and/or solvent partitioning. The MVT allows a 3 h extraction of plant materials. A small amount of extraction material is needed along with a small quantity of solvent which is a marker for the economy of this extraction process. In conclusion, rapidity in the extraction process is the rapidity in the screening process of biological materials. The MVT may be one of the speediest and most economical extraction processes.Keywords: Extraction, Maceration-Vortex-Technique, New method, Phyto-pharmacological screenin

Competing biosecurity and risk rationalities in the Chittagong poultry commodity chain, Bangladesh

This paper anthropologically explores how key actors in the Chittagong live bird trading network perceive biosecurity and risk in relation to avian influenza between production sites, market maker scenes and outlets. They pay attention to the past and the present, rather than the future, downplaying the need for strict risk management, as outbreaks have not been reported frequently for a number of years. This is analysed as ‘temporalities of risk perception regarding biosecurity’, through Black Swan theory, the idea that unexpected events with major effects are often inappropriately rationalized (Taleb in The Black Swan. The impact of the highly improbable, Random House, New York, 2007). This incorporates a sociocultural perspective on risk, emphasizing the contexts in which risk is understood, lived, embodied and experienced. Their risk calculation is explained in terms of social consent, practical intelligibility and convergence of constraints and motivation. The pragmatic and practical orientation towards risk stands in contrast to how risk is calculated in the avian influenza preparedness paradigm. It is argued that disease risk on the ground has become a normalized part of everyday business, as implied in Black Swan theory. Risk which is calculated retrospectively is unlikely to encourage investment in biosecurity and, thereby, points to the danger of unpredictable outlier events

Dapsone-induced agranulocytosis leading to perianal abscess and death: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Dapsone (diaminodiphenylsulfone) is used for the treatment of intractable skin diseases such as pemphigus and leprosy. The side effects of Dapsone are anemia, leukopenia, and liver dysfunction. Here, we present a case of agranulocytosis-induced septic shock, which was a side effect of Dapsone.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>An 82-year-old Japanese woman was transferred to our hospital with fever, leucopenia, and respiratory arrest. At the previous hospital, she had been administered Dapsone for linear IgA bullous dermatosis. At the time of admission, she presented with methemoglobinemia and septic shock, which was due to immunosuppression caused by the normal dose of Dapsone. Although her overall health initially improved, her condition deteriorated because of septic shock caused by an anal fistula. She died of sepsis on hospital day 80.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>One of the side effects of Dapsone is agranulocytosis. Patients with agranulocytosis may be in danger of developing anal fistula. Therefore, care must be taken if a patient with agranulocytosis develops a decubitus ulcer in the sacral region, since it could develop into a fistula-in-ano.</p

Industrial revolution 4.0: Universiti Malaysia Sabah perspective

Industrial Revolution 4.0 or IR 4.0 is getting the attention of Higher Learning Institutions throughout the world. In the case of Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), “transformation towards University/Industry 4.0” has been identified as one of the nine key result areas (KRAs) in the Strategic Plan 2018-2020. The transformation framework focusses on three areas namely Teaching and Learning 4.0, Smart Eco-UMS 4.0 and Research 4.0. Various initiatives have been planned for each area, some of which are currently being implemented. Previously, under the Strategic Plan 2013-2017, UMS gave great attention on developing and promoting UMS as an eco-campus in line with UMS aspiration to be the reference of eco-campus or green campus in the region. This will be further enhanced under Smart EcoUMS 4.0 in line with the United Nation sustainable development goals. One of the related initiatives is Smart Energy. Through the initiatives under the UMS Ecocampus Plan 2013-2017, a total reduction of 44.50 % in energy consumption was recorded between 2014-2017 compared to 2013 and with 29 % reduction in carbon footprint from 2014-2017. The commitment towards an ecocampus has significant impacts on lowering energy usage and reducing carbon footprint. We believe that the smart energy initiative will further contribute to another level of energy saving and carbon footprint reduction towards reducing the impacts of climate change