Unconventional TV Detection using Mobile Devices

Recent studies show that the TV viewing experience is changing giving the rise of trends like "multi-screen viewing" and "connected viewers". These trends describe TV viewers that use mobile devices (e.g. tablets and smart phones) while watching TV. In this paper, we exploit the context information available from the ubiquitous mobile devices to detect the presence of TVs and track the media being viewed. Our approach leverages the array of sensors available in modern mobile devices, e.g. cameras and microphones, to detect the location of TV sets, their state (ON or OFF), and the channels they are currently tuned to. We present the feasibility of the proposed sensing technique using our implementation on Android phones with different realistic scenarios. Our results show that in a controlled environment a detection accuracy of 0.978 F-measure could be achieved.Comment: 4 pages, 14 figure

Acute vascular rejection after kidney transplantation outcome and effect of different therapeutic modalities

Background: Steroid resistant acute vascular rejection (AVR) is a great obstacle in successful renal transplantation (KTx). The aim of this work was to evaluate the outcome of histologically confirmed acute vascular rejection - which occurred in severe aggressive form in 39 patients following kidney transplantation as well as to study the outcome of therapy. These cases were chosen from 1000 renal allograft recipients who underwent kidney transplantation in the period between March, 1976 and April 1997 in Urology-Nephrology Center, Mansoura, Egypt.Methods: Statistical analysis of risk factors leading to AVR was carried out. The outcome of different rescue therapies used for AVR as well as graft survival functions were also analyzed.Results: Survival analysis for grafts with AVR revealed 60%, 53%, 30 %, 0% graft survival at 1, 2, 5, 10 yrs respectively after Tx. A statistically significant difference was found in comparison to patients who only experienced acute cellular rejection (90%, 84%, 71%, 46% graft survival at 1, 2, 5, 10 years post- KTx respectively) or patients who passed without rejection in their post-transplantation follow up (95%, 91.3%, 83.3%, 65.5% graft survival at 1, 2, 5, 10 yrs respectively). No statistically significant difference on the overall graft survival between the different modalities of therapy was noted. Steroid pulses + plasma exchange were given for 14 patients with AVR, whereas ATG, MAB ± plasma exchange were added to steroid resistant cases (25 patients). Logistic regression analysis of these data showed that prior blood transfusion, donor-recipient consanguinity, retransplantation are the most significant variables related to occurrence of AVR after kidney transplantation. At last follow up, 14 patients 35.9%) were living with functioning grafts, 16 patients (41%) were living on dialysis, 5 patients died with functioning grafts (12.8%) and 4 patients (10.25%) died with failed grafts.In conclusion: AVR remains a major obstacle for renal transplantation as it markedly impaired graft survival and responded poorly to therapy. Prior blood transfusion decreased the incidence of AVR whereas retransplantation and unrelated donation account significantly to the occurrence of AVR after renal Tx

The Impact of Disease Registries on Advancing Knowledge and Understanding of Dementia Globally

To help address the increasing challenges related to the provision of dementia care, dementia registries have emerged around the world as important tools to gain insights and a better understanding of the disease process. Dementia registries provide a valuable source of standardized data collected from a large number of patients. This review explores the published research relating to different dementia registries around the world and discusses how these registries have improved our knowledge and understanding of the incidence, prevalence, risk factors, mortality, diagnosis, and management of dementia. A number of the best-known dementia registries with high research output including SveDem, NACC, ReDeGi, CREDOS and PRODEM were selected to study the publication output based on their data, investigate the key findings of these registry-based studies. Registries data contributed to understanding many aspects of the disease including disease prevalence in specific areas, patient characteristics and how they differ in populations, mortality risks, as well as the disease risk factors. Registries data impacted the quality of patients’ lives through determining the best treatment strategy for a patient based on previous patient outcomes. In conclusion, registries have significantly advanced scientific knowledge and understanding of dementia and impacted policy, clinical practice care delivery

A prospective, randomized therapeutic trial for schistosomal specific nephropathy

A prospective, randomized therapeutic trial for schistosomal specific nephropathy. In this work 26 patients with schistosomal specific nephropathy were randomly distributed among three groups. Group I cases were given anti-schistosomal drugs (oxamniquine and praziquantel), group II cases were given anti-schistosomal drugs plus prednisolone, and group III cases were given anti-schistosomal drugs plus cyclosporine. The schistosomal specificity of kidney lesions was assessed by detecting the schistosomal specific antigens (CAA and CCA) and antibodies deposited in the renal glomeruli of these patients. Patients who had another etiologic cause which may explain their kidney disease were not admitted to this study. After initiation of the treatment, patients were followed up every other week in the outpatient clinic for 12 months. Follow-up showed complete remission of proteinuria in two cases in group II (duration of remission was 4 and 8 months) and in one case in group III (duration of remission was 6 months) but in none in group I. Partial remission was observed in one case in group I, in three cases in group II and in one case in group HI. During the observation period, improvement in kidney function was observed in two cases in group II but deterioration in kidney function was observed in one case in group I and in one other case in group III. We conclude that in patients with schistosomal nephropathy, none of the tried therapeutic regimens produce regression of the disease if given to patients with established disease

A Cross-Cultural Systematic Review of Vitamin D Deficiency in Women

Vitamin D deficiency has been reported in several cultures and regions, including the Middle East, North Europe, and Australia. In this review, we summarize and discuss existing studies on factors underlying vitamin D deficiency across different regions. In particular, we explain key roles played by lifestyle, including sun exposure, season change, diet, and clothing (concealing vs. non-concealing) as factors leading to vitamin D deficiency. We further discuss gender differences in vitamin D levels and, the impact of vitamin D supplements on cognition. The introductory section of this paper focuses on introducing vitamin D deficiency and highlighting the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in Eastern countries. Here, we also provide a comparative literature analysis not only based on Eastern and Western countries but also compare the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency between males and females. Our review provides key information on potential life changes that help increase vitamin D and protect against the development of several disorders