117 research outputs found
Practical way of creating differential diagnoses through an expanded VITAMINSABCDEK mnemonic
Having an organized, structured thinking process is critical in medicine. It is through
this thinking process that enables one to go through the method of history-taking, which will
eventually lead to making a definitive diagnosis and all other processes that follow. The use of
mnemonic has been found to be useful for this purpose. The mnemonic VITAMINSABCDEK,
is a convenient and practical way to assist in expanding the differential diagnoses and covers
all possible causes of an illness. It is also easy to remember, as the vitamins whose letters are
represented in this mnemonic cover the entire range of vitamins known
Design and development of intelligent fingerprint-based security system
Traditionally, user authentication is meant to provide an identification number or a password that
is unique and well protected to assure the overall system security. This type of security system is
very fragile in an area where a higher level of security system is required. Biometrics-based system
offers a new and better approach to user authentication. Biometrics authentication is an automated
method whereby an individual identity is confirmed by examining a unique physiological trait or
behavioural characteristic, such as fingerprint, iris, or signature, since physiological traits have
stable physical characteristics. The design and development of a fingerprint-based security system,
comprising the scanner, interface system, Boltzmann machine neural network and access control
system is discussed in this paper. The integration between the hardware and the software is
completed by using Visual Basic 6 programming language. The results obtained both for the
simulation studies and testing of the integrated system with real-life physical system have
demonstrated the practicality of such system as well as its potential applications in many fields
Classification of visualization exudates fundus images results using support vector machine
This paper classifies the characteristics of normal and exudates fundus images by determine its accuracy for diagnostic purposes. Image normalization was performed on 149 fundus images (81 normal and 68 exudates) from MESSIDOR databases to standardize the colours in the fundus images. The OD removed fundus image and fundus image with the exudates areas removed. The SVM1 classifier was applied to 30 test fundus images to determine the best optimal parameter. The kernel function settings; linear, polynomial, quadratic and RBF have an effect on the classification results. For SVM1, the best parameter in classifying pixels is linear kernel function. The visualization results using CAC and radar chart are classified using ts accuracy. It has proven to discriminated exudates and non exudates pixels in fundus image using linear kernel function of SVM1 to diagnose DR.Keywords: Diabetic retinopathy (DR); Optic disc (OD); Support Vector Machine (SVM); AC); Radial Basis Function (RBF)
Effect of Lithium Chloride (Licl) Dopant on The Performance of Catalysts for the Oxidative Coupling of Methane
The present study reports effects of lithium
chloride (LiCl) doping on MgO, La2O3, SnO2, CaO and
ZnO catalysts. All the catalysts were prepared by the
impregnation method. The catalysts were tested at
reaction temperature of 775oC. The feed flow rate of
methane, oxygen and nitrogen was carried out in the
ratio of 3:1:2 giving a weight hourly space velocity
(WHSV) of 0.375 g.s/cm3. La2O3 showed the highest
C2+ selectivity among the undoped catalysts. All the
catalysts were doped with LiCl to compare their
methane conversion, selectivity and product yield. The
2.0 mol% LiCl doped into La2O3 was the best catalyst
formulation having achieved 46.7% of C2+ selectivity
with CH4 conversion of 29.0% and the increase in
selectivity was attributed to the presence of chlorine.
Hydrogen production was more pronounced for MgO
based catalysts and believed to be generated by surfacecatalyzed
reactions
Availability assessment of free-space-optics links with rain data from tropical climates
Rainfall in tropical environments acts as a dominant
parameter for estimating the availability of free-space optics (FSO). Long fades are caused by precipitation in particular heavy rains, and this precipitation increases atmospheric attenuation due to rain and reduces the availability of optical power from FSO links. In this
paper, the link availability of an FSO system is estimated under the impact of rain in a tropical climate. The influence of rain on the propagation of FSO signal is investigated based on experimental and statistical analyses of rain-rate measurements under tropical conditions. Rain-rate data are measured in Malaysia for three years
and used to estimate the availability of FSO links. Models developed in Malaysia are used to predict atmospheric attenuation due to rain. Long-term statistical measurements of rain data can enable good estimation of link availability. Based on the prediction model and
measured rain-rate data, the FSO link budget is analyzed, and the link availability as a function of distance is predicted. Carrier class availability limits the FSO link to a few hundred meters only, whereas enterprise class availability can exceed FSO links over a few
kilometers long
Simple and Low-Cost Visual Inspection of Engineering Control in Science Laboratories
To control chemical hazard, engineering control is one of the Hierarchy of Controls that protects workers from chemical hazard. Engineering control is accomplished by removing hazardous conditions by placing a barrier between the worker and the hazard. Local ventilation system is widely used in laboratories to remove any chemical agents that are released from any chemical reactions. The importance of these ventilation systems is to prevent any health complications to persons in the laboratory due to chemical exposure. İn this paper, the effects and effectiveness of sash height to vapor source position to effectiveness of local exhaust ventilation (LEV) system were studied and identified using vapor flow from the stimulated carbon dioxide (CO2) and water vapor. Eight LEVs were inspected. The stimulated vapor as a tracer was produced by mixing dry ice into hot-boiled water (100oC). The dispersion stimulated CO2 and water vapor inside and outside the LEV system, and this can predict the efficiency of LEV systems based on visual inspection. The results revealed that each LEV showed a different time taken to draw out the vapor from the inside of the fume hood
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