Global estimates on the number of people blind or visually impaired by age-related macular degeneration: a meta-analysis from 2000 to 2020

Background: We aimed to update estimates of global vision loss due to age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Methods: We did a systematic review and meta-analysis of population-based surveys of eye diseases from January, 1980, to October, 2018. We fitted hierarchical models to estimate the prevalence of moderate and severe vision impairment (MSVI; presenting visual acuity from <6/18 to 3/60) and blindness ( < 3/60) caused by AMD, stratified by age, region, and year. Results: In 2020, 1.85 million (95%UI: 1.35 to 2.43 million) people were estimated to be blind due to AMD, and another 6.23 million (95%UI: 5.04 to 7.58) with MSVI globally. High-income countries had the highest number of individuals with AMD-related blindness (0.60 million people; 0.46 to 0.77). The crude prevalence of AMD-related blindness in 2020 (among those aged ≥ 50 years) was 0.10% (0.07 to 0.12) globally, and the region with the highest prevalence of AMD-related blindness was North Africa/Middle East (0.22%; 0.16 to 0.30). Age-standardized prevalence (using the GBD 2019 data) of AMD-related MSVI in people aged ≥ 50 years in 2020 was 0.34% (0.27 to 0.41) globally, and the region with the highest prevalence of AMD-related MSVI was also North Africa/Middle East (0.55%; 0.44 to 0.68). From 2000 to 2020, the estimated crude prevalence of AMD-related blindness decreased globally by 19.29%, while the prevalence of MSVI increased by 10.08%. Conclusions: The estimated increase in the number of individuals with AMD-related blindness and MSVI globally urges the creation of novel treatment modalities and the expansion of rehabilitation services

The Changing Landscape for Stroke\ua0Prevention in AF: Findings From the GLORIA-AF Registry Phase 2

Background GLORIA-AF (Global Registry on Long-Term Oral Antithrombotic Treatment in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation) is a prospective, global registry program describing antithrombotic treatment patterns in patients with newly diagnosed nonvalvular atrial fibrillation at risk of stroke. Phase 2 began when dabigatran, the first non\u2013vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulant (NOAC), became available. Objectives This study sought to describe phase 2 baseline data and compare these with the pre-NOAC era collected during phase 1. Methods During phase 2, 15,641 consenting patients were enrolled (November 2011 to December 2014); 15,092 were eligible. This pre-specified cross-sectional analysis describes eligible patients\u2019 baseline characteristics. Atrial fibrillation disease characteristics, medical outcomes, and concomitant diseases and medications were collected. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results Of the total patients, 45.5% were female; median age was 71 (interquartile range: 64, 78) years. Patients were from Europe (47.1%), North America (22.5%), Asia (20.3%), Latin America (6.0%), and the Middle East/Africa (4.0%). Most had high stroke risk (CHA2DS2-VASc [Congestive heart failure, Hypertension, Age  6575 years, Diabetes mellitus, previous Stroke, Vascular disease, Age 65 to 74 years, Sex category] score  652; 86.1%); 13.9% had moderate risk (CHA2DS2-VASc = 1). Overall, 79.9% received oral anticoagulants, of whom 47.6% received NOAC and 32.3% vitamin K antagonists (VKA); 12.1% received antiplatelet agents; 7.8% received no antithrombotic treatment. For comparison, the proportion of phase 1 patients (of N = 1,063 all eligible) prescribed VKA was 32.8%, acetylsalicylic acid 41.7%, and no therapy 20.2%. In Europe in phase 2, treatment with NOAC was more common than VKA (52.3% and 37.8%, respectively); 6.0% of patients received antiplatelet treatment; and 3.8% received no antithrombotic treatment. In North America, 52.1%, 26.2%, and 14.0% of patients received NOAC, VKA, and antiplatelet drugs, respectively; 7.5% received no antithrombotic treatment. NOAC use was less common in Asia (27.7%), where 27.5% of patients received VKA, 25.0% antiplatelet drugs, and 19.8% no antithrombotic treatment. Conclusions The baseline data from GLORIA-AF phase 2 demonstrate that in newly diagnosed nonvalvular atrial fibrillation patients, NOAC have been highly adopted into practice, becoming more frequently prescribed than VKA in Europe and North America. Worldwide, however, a large proportion of patients remain undertreated, particularly in Asia and North America. (Global Registry on Long-Term Oral Antithrombotic Treatment in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation [GLORIA-AF]; NCT01468701

Artificial Intelligence and its Application in Various Fields

The term ‘AI’ is not a new term but the actual meaning of ai is still hidden. Artificial intelligence is a branch of computer science that aims to create machines which are as intelligent as human beings. AI mainly focus on some questions like knowledge required while thinking, the way knowledge can be presented and the way knowledge can be used in other field’s viz. Robotics. Scope of AI is much wider than our thinking. It is not limited to only one or two areas rather in coming future everything will be directly or indirectly linked to AI. Much research has been done on artificial intelligence which has shown that by the end of 2020 many works which was not possible by human beings will be efficiently and accurately can be carried out by the help of robots. Robotics is a branch of engineering that deals with formation, designing, manufacturing, operation of robots. Artificial intelligence is being applied to many areas which are capable to solve many problems like in robotics, e-commerce, domestic chores, medical treatment, gaming, mathematics, military planning etc. The main idea behind the merging of artificial intelligence and robotics is to optimize the level of autonomy through learning. In the coming future we can surely overcome the disadvantages of robots like misuse of it with the help of facial recognition. Or we can use AI in other fields like in cyber security to prevent the systems from being hacked. The applications of AI and how we can implement other applications in coming time are discussed adding to it how we can overcome the disadvantages of using robots in regular life are also discussed.</jats:p

ANCIENT METHODS OF RESEARCH IN AYURVEDA

Ayurveda is the Upaveda of Atharvaveda, the ancient literature which gave us the knowledge of healthier life. The absolute aim of Ayurveda is to maintain the health of a healthier person and diagnose and treat the diseased person. Ayurveda has the ability to treat many chronic diseases that are untreatable in modern medicine, it has got some very preventive and curative tools to treat the diseases, but unfortunately, due to the lack of scientific validation in various concepts, this precious gift from our ancestors is trailing. In a nutshell, Ayurveda gives human a healthy life with proven methods of medical treatment. The ancient methods of treatment are very effective and relevant in present time also. Hence, evidence-based research is highly needed for global recognition and acceptance of Ayurveda, which needs further advancements in the research methodology. </jats:p

Automatic Image Colorization using Deep Learning

Image colorization is a fascinating topic and has become an area of research in the recent years. In this project, we are going to colorize black and white images with the help of Deep Learning techniques. Some previous approaches required human involvement or resulted in the development of desaturated images. We are building a Deep Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) which will be trained on over a million images. The output generated by the model is fully dependent on the images it has been trained from and requires no human help. The images are taken from different sources like ResNet, Reddit, etc. The model will include many hidden layers to make the output more accurate. This will be a fully automatic model and will produce images with accurate colors and contrast. Finally, the goal of this project is to produce realistic and color accurate images that can easily fool the viewer. The viewer wouldn’t be able to differentiate between the photo which the model produced and the real photo. Our project has wide practical applications like historical image/video restoration, image enhancement for better interpretability, frame by frame colorization of black and white documentaries, etc.</jats:p

Positive Impact of Aachar-Rasayana on Health

The first and foremost aim of Ayurveda - “Swasthasya Swasthya Rakshanam Aaturasya Vikara Prashamanam Cha”  is to maintain a healthy state of life and to remain free from the burden of diseases and sufferings so as to accomplish the ultimate goal of human life. To achieve this objective, Ayurveda has advocated certain percepts and rules which can ensure the normal functioning of human body without any hindrance. Ayurveda has suggested schedules of Swasthvritta including Dincharya, Ratricharya, Ritucharya, Rasayana, and Sadvritta as some of the practices and methods that leads to a happy, healthy and long life. In Ayurveda general principles to prevent psychic disturbances, practices preventing psychosomatic disturbances, practices regarding codes of general ethics in diet, behaviour, study, self-control etc. are explained as parts of Sadvritta. True efforts made for the observation of these schedules and conduct give rise to the effects of rejuvenation therapy called Aachar Rasayana that promotes longevity without any attack of diseases. Rasayana is one of the comprehensive disciplines of Ayurveda, which comprises a specialized use of herbs, herbo-mineral formulations, food articles and lifestyle along with self-discipline with social etiquette to achieve the optimum state of tissues that there is least effect of etiological factors on body. A careful analysis of qualities of Aachar Rasayana reveals that most of them are related to Mana, Dhi, Dhriti, along with good conduct. It inculcates the discipline related to mind, character, social, religious and personal life, so as to accord with the happiness and good of the individual and the society as a whole.</jats:p

Internet of Things Based Approach to Detect Obstacle in Fog to Avoid Accidents

Human life is of the utmost importance. Every year, many people lose their lives in road accidents. Reasons for an accident are many like over-speeding, poor traffic system, drink and drive, rough driving, etc. this paper aims to develop a model that can be used in vehicles to identify accidents due to Zero visibility in fog in winters and alarming for the same to avoid it. IoT is an emerging technology and can be intensively used for intelligent transport systems. This paper aims to develop an automated IoT-enabled system to be used in cars for the detection and avoidance of accidents due to zero visibility in fog. To build this system, the Ultrasonic sensor will be integrated with Raspberry Pi along with other supportive components (power-bank, Jumper wires, breadboard, etc.).</jats:p

An investigation of bioactive and free radical scavenging potential of moringa Oliefera leaf extracts

Moringa oleifera Lam, commonly known as Sehjan belongs to the Moringaceae family. It is widely used for the treatment of infectious and inflammatory diseases. This study was an attempt to evaluate the morphological characteristics, percent yield, the bioactive and antioxidant potential of M. oleifera leaves that would help in elucidating a promising therapeutic and curative agent for the treatment of different ailments. The maximum percentage yield was obtained in methanolic extract (29.55%) of M. oliefera leaves. Qualitative analysis also revealed the maximum presence of all the metabolites in methanolic extract. Quantitative analysis revealed an appreciable presence of phenol (53.1 mg/g) flavonoids (47.7mg/g) and carotenoids (16.46 mg/g) in M. oleifera leaves. The methanolic extract had shown the maximum antioxidant potency in a dose-dependent manner during the evaluation of enzymatic (SOD and CAT) and nonenzymatic (DPPH and FRAP) antioxidants with minimum IC50 value. Thus, it could be concluded from the present study that methanolic leaf extract of M. oliefera could be amongst the principle extract for the antioxidant activity of M. oliefera, which could be used for the treatment of several ailments.</jats:p