Semantic-based decision support for remote care of dementia patients

This paper investigates the challenges in developing a semantic-based Dementia Care Decision Support System based on the non-intrusive monitoring of the patient's behaviour. Semantic-based approaches are well suited for modelling context-aware scenarios similar to Dementia care systems, where the patient's dynamic behaviour observations (occupants movement, equipment use) need to be analysed against the semantic knowledge about the patient's condition (illness history, medical advice, known symptoms) in an integrated knowledgebase. However, our research findings establish that the ability of semantic technologies to reason upon the complex interrelated events emanating from the behaviour monitoring sensors to infer knowledge assisting medical advice represents a major challenge. We attempt to address this problem by introducing a new approach that relies on propositional calculus modelling to segregate complex events that are amenable for semantic reasoning from events that require pre-processing outside the semantic engine before they can be reasoned upon. The event pre-processing activity also controls the timing of triggering the reasoning process in order to further improve the efficiency of the inference process. Using regression analysis, we evaluate the response-time as the number of monitored patients increases and conclude that the incurred overhead on the response time of the prototype decision support systems remains tolerable

USE OF PROSTAGLANDIN (PGF2α) TO INDUCE OESTRUS IN POSTPARTUM SAHIWAL COWS

Twenty-four postpartum Sahiwal cows that did not show oestrus upto 85 days postpartum were randomly divided into two equal groups, A and B. Group A cows were injected 2 ml Prostavet injection containing 5 mg Etiproston, a synthetic analogue of PGF2α (Virbac, France) intramuscularly at day 85 postpartum on chronological basis of calving dates without palpation. A second injection was given 11 days later to those cows that did not respond to first injection. A third injection was given at 118 days postpartum to those cows that had not responded to 1st and 2nd injection of PGF2α and did not show oestrus. The cows in group B were not given any treatment and served as control. The cows found in oestrus were artificially inseminated 12 hours after the detection of oestrus. The cumulative oestrus response was higher (66.66%) in group A than in group B (25%). Similarly, in group A the behavioral symptoms and physical changes were more pronounced as compared to group B. Mean (± SE) interval from treatment to onset of oestrus in group A was 96 ± 15.08 hours whereas, mean interval to oestrus from beginning of experiment was 25.0 ± 1.0 days in group B. Statistically non significant difference was observed in the mean duration of oestrus (23.25 ± 1.99 vs. 20.33 ± 1.45 hours) between animals of the two groups. However, a significant (P<0.05) difference was observed for the mean calving to first oestrus interval (89 ± 0.62 vs. 110 ± 0.19 days) in groups A and B. From the results, it is concluded that PGF2α is useful for treatment of unobserved oestrus in postpartum Sahiwal cows

Deep-Learning for Classification of Colorectal Polyps on Whole-Slide Images

Histopathological characterization of colorectal polyps is an important principle for determining the risk of colorectal cancer and future rates of surveillance for patients. This characterization is time-intensive, requires years of specialized training, and suffers from significant inter-observer and intra-observer variability. In this work, we built an automatic image-understanding method that can accurately classify different types of colorectal polyps in whole-slide histology images to help pathologists with histopathological characterization and diagnosis of colorectal polyps. The proposed image-understanding method is based on deep-learning techniques, which rely on numerous levels of abstraction for data representation and have shown state-of-the-art results for various image analysis tasks. Our image-understanding method covers all five polyp types (hyperplastic polyp, sessile serrated polyp, traditional serrated adenoma, tubular adenoma, and tubulovillous/villous adenoma) that are included in the US multi-society task force guidelines for colorectal cancer risk assessment and surveillance, and encompasses the most common occurrences of colorectal polyps. Our evaluation on 239 independent test samples shows our proposed method can identify the types of colorectal polyps in whole-slide images with a high efficacy (accuracy: 93.0%, precision: 89.7%, recall: 88.3%, F1 score: 88.8%). The presented method in this paper can reduce the cognitive burden on pathologists and improve their accuracy and efficiency in histopathological characterization of colorectal polyps, and in subsequent risk assessment and follow-up recommendations

Diptheria vaccine awareness survey among the general populace of Kaduna State

Aim: The aim of the study is to find the knowledge of Kaduna state populace on diphtheria vaccine which is the most effective way of tackling the disease as the Diphtheria antitoxin is not readily available for use in the country. Method: A survey conducted with a designed questionnaire at a confidence level of 95%, confidence interval of 12.5 showed Kaduna State populace’s responses on diphtheria, its vaccine and booster doses, the questionnaire was self administered and responses were collated using simple descriptive statistics. Results: A total number of 64 people responded; majority (37 of 64) were from the child bearing age fifty six, 56(88%), fifty nine, 59 (92%) were vaccinated against diphtheria but only eighteen, 18 (28%) knew about its booster doses. Twenty eight, 28 (45%) took their children for vaccine but only fourteen, 14 (11%) ever took them to receive the booster dose from among the respondents. Conclusion: Kaduna state residents have generally inconsequential awareness on diphtheria, its prevention and management. Key words: Diphtheria toxin; Diphtheria toxoid; Vaccine; Knowledge; Populac

Effect of Chop Length and Level of Molasses on Chemical Composition of Yellow Corn Stover Silage

This factorial study was carried out from 15/10/2020 to 31/6/2021 to investigate the effect of chop length (CL) and level of molasses (M) added at ensiling on chemical composition of yellow corn stover including leaves and stems. Those materials were chopped into 4 lengths, 5, 10, 15 and 20 mm and molasses was added as a source of soluble carbohydrates at 3 levels, 6, 8 and 10% of dry matter (DM). Urea was added to all samples at 2% to enhance nitrogen content. Samples of ensiled materials were packed in double plastic bags and preserved for 60 days. Results revealed that there was a significant (P˂0.01) increase in DM content with increasing CL and level of M, and a significant (P˂0.05) increase in crude protein (CP) content with increasing level of M. Ether extract content was significantly (P˂0.05) decreased with increasing CL but (P˂0.01) increased with increasing level of M. Regarding cell wall components, neutral and acid detergent fibers (NDF, ADF) and cellulose contents were significantly (P˂0.01) decreased in silage samples prepared at fine CL. Lower (P˂0.01) NDF and cellulose contents were associated with those prepared with addition of M at 10%. In general, it was concluded that better results were achieved when samples of yellow corn stover silages including leaves and stems were prepared at 5 mm of chop length and addition of molasses at 10%. &nbsp

Oxfendazole Resistance in Gastrointestinal Nematodes of Beetal Goats at Livestock Farms of Punjab (Pakistan)

This study was carried out to screen goat farms for anthelmintic resistance (AR) against oxfendazole (OXF) and to determine contributory factors for its development. For this purpose, Beetal goat farms (n = 18) were randomly selected, with natural mixed gastrointestinal nematodosis infection. In vivo (faecal egg count reduction test) and in vitro (egg hatch assay) tests were used to ascertain the presence of AR while a scorecard was used to determine the role of possible contributory factors for oxfendazole resistance. For in vivo test, the experimental animals were divided into two groups of 10 animals each; one group received OXF treatment, while the other served as control. Pre- and post-treatment coproculture was performed to identify the species and genera of nematodes. Egg hatch assay (EHA) was used to confirm the results of FECRT. Fecal egg count reduction test (FECRT) revealed the development of resistance on six farms and post-treatment larval cultures indicated Haemonchus contortus, Trichostrongylus colubriformis, Cooperia curticei, Teladorsagia circumcincta and Oesophagostomum spp. as dominant species with resistance. Furthermore, EHA confirmed the results of FECRT. Among the presumptive factors for AR, the highest composite score was for rotation of anthelmintics followed by treatment frequency, dose rate and nature of medication. The scorecard for the development of AR, used in this study, may be helpful for the assessment of contributory factors of AR