The Role of Acculturation on Betel Nut Chewing Practices in an Urban South Asian Immigrant Population in Canada

Objectives: To determine the use of betel nut (BN) among South Asian immigrants residing in Toronto and assess association between BN chewing practices and acculturation. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 406 participants aged 18 to 77 years old. An interviewer-administered semi-structured questionnaire was used to measure the association of BN chewing and acculturation, while also looking at participant demographics, oral health knowledge, beliefs and behaviors, and awareness. Results: Nearly half (47.8%) of the study participants chewed or had chewed BN and this was significantly associated with lower acculturation, lower oral health literacy, high exposure to Paan/Gutka and the belief that BN is not harmful. Preventive oral health behaviors were associated with decreased odds of BN chewing. Conclusions: BN use is common among immigrants who have not acculturated to Canada. Health professionals and public health program managers should be aware of the oral health consequences to provide appropriate services.M.Sc

Development and Performance Analysis of a Lossless Data Reduction Algorithm for VoIP

VoIP (Voice Over IP) is becoming an alternative way of voice communications over the Internet. To better utilize voice call bandwidth, some standard compression algorithms are applied in VoIP systems. However, these algorithms affect the voice quality with high compression ratios. This paper presents a lossless data reduction technique to improve VoIP data transfer rate over the IP network. The proposed algorithm exploits the data redundancies in digitized VFs (Voice Frames) generated by VoIP systems. Performance of proposed data reduction algorithm has been presented in terms of compression ratio. The proposed algorithm will help retain the voice quality along with the improvement in VoIP data transfer rates

A Uniform Clustering Mechanism for Wireless Sensor Networks

In wireless sensor networks with dynamic clustering, the cluster heads are usually not selected on the basis of their locations. This causes irregular distribution of cluster heads and highly variable number of nodes in the clusters. Also, some of the clusters are spread over large areas within the network, causing limited spatial correlation between associated sensor nodes. These irregularities in cluster placements and dimensions negatively impact the efficiency of a wireless sensor network. For example, for a cooperative data aggregation, it necessitates variable or large sized packets while the aggregations, based on spatial correlation of sensor nodes, cannot be exploited easily. In this paper, we have developed a Distributed Uniform Clustering Algorithm (DUCA) for cluster based WSN. In DUCA, cluster formation mechanism is based on a virtual-grid system and sensing ranges of nodes that provide even distribution of clusters, homogenized cluster sizes, and reduced energy consumption. Simulation results show that DUCA improves the distribution of cluster heads by more than 2 times and reduces the energy consumption within a range of 15% to 50% as compared to the existing protocols

Design and Analysis of a Remotely Operated Mini Forklift Bot

This work is concerned with the design, analysis and programming of a scaled down version of an electric forklift robot. An advantageous consequence of this device is the development of space saving storage units that allow for efficient packing of lighter goods into areas that while not built for human movement, allow ample space for movement of our forkliftt bot. This is especially important in cases where each cubic meter of the storage unit is valuable, for example, refrigerated goods storage units. Each part of the robot was either carefully selected or designed from scratch in the pursuit of maximizing the load bearing capacity to design-weight ratio. As such, structural analysis was conducted for each part using the Ansys Workbench simulation package. Furthermore, motors that were operated using standard electronic circuits were installed to remotely control the traversal of the bot, while cameras and sensors were employed to monitor its surroundings and movements. The next step was to program the logic circuit and link the various components wired to it. Here the main control device used was an Arduino, which is an integrated open-source electronic platform that allows for precision control of the various electronic components in accordance with the operator’s inputs. The hardware used for passing instructions to the Arduino was a common smart phone on which a self-developed android app was installed. Writing a program for this involves careful calibration of the power and position of the driving components and the electric signals they receive

IoT-Based Ambulatory Vital Signs Data Transfer System

In emergencies or life-threatening situations, patients are generally shifted to hospitals in ambulances. The health conditions of on-board patients can become critical if they are not evaluated and treated in time. Chances of saving lives can increase significantly if patients’ vital signs inside an ambulance or on-site triage area are transferred to a hospital in real time. If the ambulances are linked to target hospitals, then the physicians in emergency rooms can monitor on-board patients’ vital signs and issue instructions to paramedics to stabilize patients’ medical conditions before they reach the assigned hospitals. Transferred vital signs data may also be archived for medical records. The Internet of things (IoT) is a paradigm which envisions Internet connectivity of virtually everything on the earth. In this paper, an IoT-based low-cost solution is proposed to monitor, archive, analyze, and tag the vital signs data of multiple patients and transfer them to the remote hospital in real time. This opens up a lot of possibilities in telemedicine and disaster management. As a proof of concept, the functionality of the proposed system was validated by developing a prototype model utilizing an IoT-enabled medical sensor board and a Linux server mimicking the remote hospital server. Results of actual data transmission obtained during experimentation are also provided. It is hoped that the proposed system can play a role in saving human lives in disaster situations

Dyslipidemic drugs in metabolic syndrome

Introduction: Metabolic syndrome predisposes to diabetes and atherosclerotic vascular disease. Statins reduce cardiovascular events, so all metabolic syndrome patients should be evaluated for dyslipidemia. Many patients fail to achieve lipid goals with statin monotherapy. Co-administration of ezetimibe (EZE) and atorvastatin (ATV) may enable more patients to achievelow-density lipoproteincholesterol (LDL-C) goal while avoiding risks of high-dose statin monotherapy. Materials and Methods: The present study compares rosuvastatin (Rsv) with a combination of (Atv) and (Eze). Metabolic syndrome patients, 30-70 years with LDL-C ≥130 mg/dl and a 10-year CHD risk score of 10% were randomized to double-blind treatment with (Rsv) 5 mg (n = 67) or (Atv) 10 mg+(Eze) 10 mg (n = 68) for 12 weeks. Results: LDL-C reduced significantly; (32.3% and 30.3%, P < 0.001) in (Atv)+(Eze) and (Rsv), respectively, but there was no significant difference between two arms. More patients achieved LDL-C goal of ≤100 mg/dl with (Atv)+(Eze) compared to (Rsv) (65% vs. 58%, P < 0.05). Triglycerides (TG) were reduced more with (Atv)+(Eze) compared to (Rsv) (28.1% and 21.4%, P < 0.001). Greater increase in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) was observed with (Atv)+(Eze). Both treatments were well tolerated. Conclusion: This study shows that the combination of (Atv)+(Eze) has more efficacy and comparable safety to that of (Rsv)

Mechanisms of in Vivo Degradation and Resorption of Calcium Phosphate Based Biomaterials

Calcium phosphate ceramic materials are extensively used for bone replacement and regeneration in orthopedic, dental, and maxillofacial surgical applications. In order for these biomaterials to work effectively it is imperative that they undergo the process of degradation and resorption in vivo. This allows for the space to be created for the new bone tissue to form and infiltrate within the implanted graft material. Several factors affect the biodegradation and resorption of calcium phosphate materials after implantation. Various cell types are involved in the degradation process by phagocytic mechanisms (monocytes/macrophages, fibroblasts, osteoblasts) or via an acidic mechanism to reduce the micro-environmental pH which results in demineralization of the cement matrix and resorption via osteoclasts. These cells exert their degradation effects directly or indirectly through the cytokine growth factor secretion and their sensitivity and response to these biomolecules. This article discusses the mechanisms of calcium phosphate material degradation in vivo