Vehicular Internet: Security & Privacy Challenges and Opportunities

The vehicular internet will drive the future of vehicular technology and intelligent transportation systems (ITS). Whether it is road safety, infotainment, or driver-less cars, the vehicular internet will lay the foundation for the future of road travel. Governments and companies are pursuing driver-less vehicles as they are considered to be more reliable than humans and, therefore, safer. The vehicles today are not just a means of transportation but are also equipped with a wide range of sensors that provide valuable data. If vehicles are enabled to share data that they collect with other vehicles or authorities for decision-making and safer driving, they thereby form a vehicular network. However, there is a lot at stake in vehicular networks if they are compromised. With the stakes so high, it is imperative that the vehicular networks are secured and made resilient to any attack or attempt that may have serious consequences. The vehicular internet can also be the target of a cyber attack, which can be devastating. In this paper, the opportunities that the vehicular internet offers are presented and then various security and privacy aspects are discussed and some solutions are presented

Strategies to cope claustrophobia during magnetic resonance imaging examination

Background: Claustrophobia associated with MRI scan is a well-recognized problem all over the world. The unpleasant psychological experience during MRI can lead to premature cancellation of the study resulting in non-interpretable data. In addition, performing future studies on the claustrophobic patient may not be possible leading to non-utilization of an important diagnostic modality. This study was conducted with the aim to determine a cheap and short intervention which can be applicable to small radiology set up as well.Methods: A prospective study was conducted at a tertiary care hospital from October 2016 to December 2016. Accompanying someone was the first strategy used to coped MR imaging claustrophobia followed by placebo (multivitamin), listening Quran and closed eye (blindfold). All those patients who failed to respond in these strategies were finally labeled as an unsuccessful candidate. Listening of Quran was selected as one of the tools as all the patients were Muslims in present study.Results: Among 84 claustrophobic patients, a closed eye was the most successful strategy found effective in (13) 81.2%, followed by placebo 66.7% patients, listening Quran (7) 30.4%, accompanying someone (15) 17.85% while 4% patients remained claustrophobic after application of all strategies. Significant association of accompanying someone and placebo was observed with education (p-value 0.037) and age of the patients (0.016) respectively.Conclusions: In general, placebo, being accompanied by someone and blindfold were found to be the most effective strategies to cope with MRI related claustrophobia. However, the success of these strategies is also dependent on certain factors like age, education status and socioeconomic status of the patients

Image segmentation methods and edge detection: An application to knee joint articular cartilage edge detection

Image segmentation is the process of partitioning a digital image into multiple segments and regions for further processing. Edge detection methods are widely used in the area of image processing for feature detection and extraction. In this paper we use human’s Knee MRI (Magnetic resonance imaging) images of patients and applied various image segmentation and edge detection methods for knee cartilage visualization. Also this paper focuses on providing an overview of important concepts, methods and algorithms commonly used for image segmentation and edge detection with focus on knee joint articular cartilage image segmentation and visualizatio

Koncept opstrukcije portalnog sustava u Aviceninu kanonu medicine

Historical literature on portal hypertension is mainly focused on the contemporary advances in therapeutic methods, especially surgical ones. However, it seems that the origin of the human knowledge on the portal system, its association with the caval system, obstructive pathologies in this system and the gastrointestinal bleeding due to hepatic diseases might be much older than previously believed. Avicenna provided a detailed anatomy of the portal venous system and its feeding branches in the Canon of Medicine. Soddat al-Kabed va al-Masarigha (liver and mesenteric occlusion) is also a disease presented by Avicenna with clinical, etiological and therapeutic descriptions suggesting the fact that Soddat al-Kabed va al-Masarigha has multiple similarities with the currently identified concept of “portal hypertension”. He presented sense of heaviness in the liver area with or without mild pain, anemia, pale and inappropriate body color, and loose stool which can be complicated with ascites, infection, fever and abdominal pain as clinical manifestations of this disease. He has also suggested therapeutic approaches including laxative and diuretic herbs to help excreting the obstructive material into stool or urine.Povijesna literatura o portalnoj hipertenziji uglavnom je usredotočena na suvremeni napredak u terapijskim metodama, posebice kirurškim. Čini se, međutim, da ljudsko znanje o portalnom sustavu, njegovo povezivanje sa sustavom šuplje vene, patologije opstrukcija u tom sustavu i gastrointestinalno krvarenje zbog bolesti jetre može biti znatno starije nego što se prije vjerovalo. Avicenna je dao detaljnu anatomiju portalnoga venskog sustava i njegovih grana u Kanonu medicine. Soddat al-Kabed va al-Masarigha (jetra i okluzija mesenterijskih žila) bolest je koju je Avicenna predstavio kliničkim, etiološkim i terapeutskim opisima koji upućuju na to da ima puno sličnosti s identificiranim pojmom “portalne hipertenzije”. Avicenna je istaknuo osjećaj težine u području jetre s blagom boli ili bez nje, anemiju, blijedu i neodgovarajuću boju tijela te mekanu stolicu koja se može zakomplicirati ascitesom, infekcijom, groznicom i bolovima u trbuhu kao kliničkim manifestacijama ove bolesti. Predložio je i terapeutske pristupe, uključujući laksativ i diuretičke trave, kako bi se izbjeglo izlučivanje opstruktivnih tvari u stolici ili urinu

Impact of Oppressors on Truthfulness: A Case Study on University of Karachi – Students (Under-Graduate & Graduate)

Under this truth model and research study, the truth is defined as a central fold, which is communicated of its surroundings. Truth is always there available to every person for being revealed but each type of personality is distracted, distressed, dominated or oppressed with an oppressor who is a hurdle in prevalence of truth to each personality. It might be a voice, noise, a physical barrier or distortion etc..The communication type between each and every elements of the model is extra personal in nature. The truth to any one type whether, through direct or indirect interaction. Therefore, the model responds for two-way communication process where, each entity or element act as sender and as well as receiver in the same discipline.The model and research study will further help in finding the core hypothesis i.e. to calculate when the ability of truthfulness in under-graduate, post-graduate and graduate standard students come into existence when dealing with various oppressive conditions and policies i.e. being unaware with the truth, and reacted when dealt with the situation of known about the truth, furthermore; what sources are acquired for prevalence of truth. Secondly, the inheritance element in the process of discovering truth from ancestral roots and the frequency of parent child interaction in investigating of disturbing conditions and matter. How both the ends respond i.e. positively or negatively? The truth model will also be assisting in understanding the scenarios of untruthfulness (social interaction) when opposite reactions insist students to act differently to prescribed criteria and standards. Various studies show that untruthfulness occur due to in hunger and starvation. Further, truthfulness is the adverse situation in anger or aggression (need to be checked). Some other factors such as social disorder, neglected by superior authorities (teachers or maestros) also result in provoking truthfulness in the students. The model will be quite helpful in checking of such disorders of truthfulness. Keywords: Two-way Communication process, Disorders of truthfulness, Hunger and Starvation DOI: 10.7176/JESD/10-6-14 Publication date:March 31st 201

Making prescriptions “talk” to stroke and heart attack survivors to improve adherence: Results of a randomized clinical trial (The Talking Rx Study)

Background: We developed and tested the effectiveness of a tailored health information technology driven intervention: TalkingPrescriptions (Talking Rx) to improve medication adherence in a resource challenged environment.Methods: We conducted a parallel, randomized, controlled, assessor-blinded trial at the Aga Khan University (AKU), Karachi, Pakistan. Adults with diagnosis of cerebrovascular accident (CVA) or coronary artery disease (CAD) diagnosed least one month before enrollment, on anti-platelets and statins, with access to a mobile phone were enrolled. The intervention group received a) Daily Interactive Voice Response (IVR) call services regarding specific statin and antiplatelet b) Daily tailored medication reminders for statin and antiplatelet and c) Weekly lifestyle modification messages for a period of 3 months. We assessed Medication adherence to statin and antiplatelets by a validated version of the 8-item Morisky Medication Adherence scale 8 (MMAS-8) at 3 months by a blinded assessment officer. Analysis was conducted by intention-to-treat principle (ITT).Results: Between April 2015 and December 2015, 197 participants (99 in intervention and 98 in the usual care group) enrolled in the Talking Rx Study. The dropout rate was 9.6%. Baseline group characteristics were similar. At baseline, the mean MMAS-8 was 6.68 (SD = 1.28) in the intervention group and 6.77 (SD = 1.36) in usual care group. At end of follow-up, the mean MMAS-8 increased to 7.41(0.78) in the intervention group compared with 7.38 (0.99) in usual care group with mean difference of 0.03 (S.D 0.13) (95% C.I [-0.23, 0.29]), which was not statistically significant. (P-Value = 0.40) CVA patients showed a relatively greater magnitude of adherence via the MMAS-8 at the end of follow up where the mean MMAS-8 increased to 7.29 (S.D 0.82) in the intervention group as compared to 7.07(S.D 1.24) in usual care group with mean difference of 0.22 (SD = 0.22) 95% C.I (-0.20, 0.65) with (P-value = 0.15). Around 84% of those on intervention arm used the service, calling at least 3 times and listening to their prescriptions for an average of 8 minutes. No user was excluded due to technologic reasons.Conclusion: The use of a phone based medication adherence program was feasible in LMIC settings with high volume clinics and low patient literacy. In this early study, with limited follow up, the program did not achieve any statistically significant differences in adherencebehavior as self-reported by the MMAS-8 Scale

Translating knowledge for action against stroke – using 5-minute videos for stroke survivors and caregivers to improve post-stroke outcomes: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial (Movies4Stroke)

Participant timeline. (DOCX 48 kb

The impact of failure to achieve symptom control after resection of functional neuroendocrine tumors: An 8â institution study from the US Neuroendocrine Tumor Study Group

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/147162/1/jso25306_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/147162/2/jso25306.pd

Effect of 5-minute movies shown via a mobile phone app on risk factors and mortality after stroke in a low- to middle-income country: Randomized controlled trial for the stroke caregiver dyad education intervention (Movies4Stroke)

Background: Pakistan is the sixth most populous nation in the world and has an estimated 4 million stroke survivors. Most survivors are taken care of by community-based caregivers, and there are no inpatient rehabilitation facilities.Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of locally designed 5-min movies rolled out in order of relevance that are thematically delivered in a 3-month program to deliver poststroke education to stroke survivor and caregiver dyads returning to the community.Methods: This study was a randomized controlled, outcome assessor–blinded, parallel group, single-center superiority trial in which participants (stroke survivor-caregiver dyads) with first-ever stroke (both ischemic and hemorrhagic) incidence were randomized within 48 hours of their stroke into either the video-based education intervention group or the control group. The video-based education intervention group had health education delivered through short videos that were shown to the participants and their caregivers at the time of admission, before discharge, and the first and third months of follow-up after discharge. The control group had standardized care including predischarge education and counseling according to defined protocols. All participants enrolled in the video education intervention and control groups were followed for 12 months after discharge for outcome assessment in the outpatient stroke clinics. The primary outcome measures were the proportion of participants achieving control of blood pressure, blood sugar, and blood cholesterol in the video intervention versus the control group. Several predefined secondary outcomes were included in this study, of which we report the mortality and functional disability in this paper. Analysis was by performed using the intention-to-treat principle.Results: A total of 310 stroke survivors and their caregiver dyads (participant dyads) were recruited over a duration of 6 months. In total, 155 participant dyads were randomized into the intervention and control groups, each. The primary outcome of control of three major risk factors revealed that at 12 months, there was a greater percentage of participants with a systolic BP(18/54, 33% vs 11/52, 21%; P=.16), diastolic BP(44/54, 81% vs 37/52, 71%; P=.21), HbA1c levelP=.32), and low-density lipoprotein level/dL (36/51, 70% vs 30/45, 67%; P=.68) in the intervention group than in the control group. The secondary outcome reported is the mortality among the stroke survivors because the number of stroke-related complications was higher in the control group than in the intervention group (13/155, 8.4% vs 2/155, 1.3%), and this difference was statistically significant (P\u3c.001).Conclusions: The Movies4Stroke trial failed to achieve its primary specified outcome. However, secondary outcomes that directly related to survival skills of stroke survivors demonstrated the effectiveness of the video-based intervention on improving stroke-related mortality and survival without disability

Case report: Navigating the challenges: successful mechanical thrombectomy in a case of persistent primitive hypoglossal artery

Persistent primitive hypoglossal artery (PPHA) is a highly uncommon abnormal connection between the internal carotid artery (ICA) and vertebral artery (VA), with reported incidences ranging from 0.027 to 0.26%. Attempting endovascular intervention in such cases presents a considerable challenge as it carries a higher risk of embolization and other procedure-related complications that may affect a wide area of the brain. We present a case study involving the utilization of mechanical thrombectomy (MT) to treat an ischemic stroke in the M1 segment of the middle cerebral artery (MCA) despite the presence of PPHA. Performing mechanical thrombectomy in an anomalous vascular connection is feasible; however, it necessitates heightened vigilance, thorough knowledge of the anatomy, and utmost caution