A Corridor Level GIS-Based Decision Support Model to Evaluate Truck Diversion Strategies

Increased urbanization, population growth, and economic development within the U.S. have led to an increased demand for freight travel to meet the needs of individuals and businesses. Consequently, freight transportation has grown significantly over time and has expanded beyond the capacity of infrastructure, which has caused new challenges in many regions. To maintain quality of life and enhance public safety, more effort must be dedicated to investigating and planning in the area of traffic management and to assessing the impact of trucks on highway systems. Traffic diversion is an effective strategy to reduce the impact of incident-induced congestion, but alternative routes for truck traffic must be carefully selected based on a route\u27s restrictions on the size and weight of commercial vehicles, route\u27s operational characteristics, and safety considerations. This study presents a diversion decision methodology that integrates the network analyst tool package of the ArcGIS platform with regression analysis to determine optimal alternative routes for trucks under nonrecurrent delay conditions. When an incident occurs on a limited-access road, the diversion algorithm can be initiated. The algorithm is embedded with an incident clearance prediction model that estimates travel time on the current route based on a number of factors including incident severity; capacity reduction; number of lanes closed; type of incident; traffic characteristics; temporal characteristics; responders; and reporting, response, and clearance times. If travel time is expected to increase because of the event, a truck alternative route selection module is activated. This module evaluates available routes for diversion based on predefined criteria including roadway characteristics (number of lanes and lane width), heavy vehicle restrictions (vertical clearance, bridge efficiency ranking, bridge design load, and span limitations), traffic conditions (level of service and speed limit), and neighborhood impact (proximity to schools and hospitals and the intensity of commercial and residential development). If any available alternative routes reduce travel time, the trucks are provided with a diversion strategy. The proposed decision-making tool can assist transportation planners in making truck diversion decisions based on observed conditions. The results of a simulation and a feasibility analysis indicate that the tool can improve the safety and efficiency of the overall traffic network

Severe congenital ocular coloboma

Congenital ocular colobomas are the result of a failure in closure of the embryonal fissure. They are important causes of childhood visual impairment and blindness. A 22 year old female patient with no particular history complaining of blurred vision of left eye; Visual acuity of the left eye is limited to counting finger; examination of the anterior segment was unremarkable. At fundoscopy, a large coloboma involving the optic disc and the adjacent retina. Examination of the right eye was normal. General examination was unremarkable including the neurological examination. Ocular coloboma can be seen in isolation and in an impressive number of multisystem syndromes. Systemic associations include the CHARGE syndrome (Coloboma, heart defects, atresia of the choane, retardation, genital defects and ear defects). Visual acuity can range from normal to severly impaired. In general, severity of disease can be linked to the temporalexpression of the gene, but this is modified by factors such as tissue specificity of gene expression and genetic redundancy

Severe congenital ocular coloboma

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FREQUENCY OF BLOOD GROUPS AMONGA SAMPLE OF PATIENTSWITH RENAL FAILURE AT ROYAL MEDICAL SERVICES

Introduction: Renal failure underlies various etiologies among which are infectious and autoimmune origins which may link directly or indirectly with blood groups. Objectives: To determine the frequency of blood groups among a sample of patients with renal failure at Royal medical services, and to investigate the association of renal function tests with blood groups. Methodology: A retrospective study design was followed to collect data from files of patients with renal failure. Files of renal patients was included if blood groups were written and kidney function tests were provided. A data sheet was made for each patient that included relevant information about renal patients. A total of 197 files were reviewed. Data were entered into excel sheet to make raw data for all patients. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS V20. Data were presented as frequencies and percentages. The relationships between blood groups and renal function tests were investigated using T-independent test. Significance was considered at alpha level < 0.05. Results: the most prevalent blood group among renal failure patients was blood group A (45.7%), blood group O (30.4%), blood group B (17.3%), and blood group AB (6.6%). When biochemical tests including renal function tests were compared between renal failure patients according their blood groups, results showed slight variations, which were not statistically significant (p>0.05), except for potassium level which was observed in its maximal level among patients with blood group A, and its minimal levels were observed among patients with blood group AB (p=0.032). Conclusions: The present study showed that renal failure patients exhibited more frequency with blood groups A and O and agreed with other studies in which blood group AB is the least associated blood group with renal failure. The level of potassium was highest in patients with blood group A and lowest in patients with blood group AB and this was statistically significant (p=0.032)

Sensory substitution for force feedback recovery: A perception experimental study

Robotic-assisted surgeries are commonly used today as a more efficient alternative to traditional surgical options. Both surgeons and patients benefit from those systems, as they offer many advantages, including less trauma and blood loss, fewer complications, and better ergonomics. However, a remaining limitation of currently available surgical systems is the lack of force feedback due to the teleoperation setting, which prevents direct interaction with the patient. Once the force information is obtained by either a sensing device or indirectly through vision-based force estimation, a concern arises on how to transmit this information to the surgeon. An attractive alternative is sensory substitution, which allows transcoding information from one sensory modality to present it in a different sensory modality. In the current work, we used visual feedback to convey interaction forces to the surgeon. Our overarching goal was to address the following question: How should interaction forces be displayed to support efficient comprehension by the surgeon without interfering with the surgeon’s perception and workflow during surgery? Until now, the use the visual modality for force feedback has not been carefully evaluated. For this reason, we conducted an experimental study with two aims: (1) to demonstrate the potential benefits of using this modality and (2) to understand the surgeons’ perceptual preferences. The results derived from our study of 28 surgeons revealed a strong positive acceptance of the users (96%) using this modality. Moreover, we found that for surgeons to easily interpret the information, their mental model must be considered, meaning that the design of the visualizations should fit the perceptual and cognitive abilities of the end user. To our knowledge, this is the first time that these principles have been analyzed for exploring sensory substitution in medical robotics. Finally, we provide user-centered recommendations for the design of visual displays for robotic surgical systems.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Potassium Ion Channels in Glioma: From Basic Knowledge into Therapeutic Applications

Ion channels, specifically those controlling the flux of potassium across cell membranes, have recently been shown to exhibit an important role in the pathophysiology of glioma, the most common primary central nervous system tumor with a poor prognosis. Potassium channels are grouped into four subfamilies differing by their domain structure, gating mechanisms, and functions. Pertinent literature indicates the vital functions of potassium channels in many aspects of glioma carcinogenesis, including proliferation, migration, and apoptosis. The dysfunction of potassium channels can result in pro-proliferative signals that are highly related to calcium signaling as well. Moreover, this dysfunction can feed into migration and metastasis, most likely by increasing the osmotic pressure of cells allowing the cells to initiate the “escape” and “invasion” of capillaries. Reducing the expression or channel blockage has shown efficacy in reducing the proliferation and infiltration of glioma cells as well as inducing apoptosis, priming several approaches to target potassium channels in gliomas pharmacologically. This review summarizes the current knowledge on potassium channels, their contribution to oncogenic transformations in glioma, and the existing perspectives on utilizing them as potential targets for therapy.The APC was funded by the Lebanese International University

Using Zebrafish for Investigating the Molecular Mechanisms of Drug-Induced Cardiotoxicity

Over the last decade, the zebrafish (Danio rerio) has emerged as amodel organismfor cardiovascular research.Zebrafish have several advantages over mammalian models. For instance, the experimental cost of using zebrafish is comparatively low; the embryos are transparent, develop externally, and have high fecundity making them suitable for large-scale genetic screening. More recently, zebrafish embryos have been used for the screening of a variety of toxic agents, particularly for cardiotoxicity testing. Zebrafish has been shown to exhibit physiological responses that are similar to mammals after exposure to medicinal drugs including xenobiotics, hormones, cancer drugs, and also environmental pollutants, including pesticides and heavy metals. In this review, we provided a summary for recent studies that have used zebrafish to investigate themolecularmechanisms of drug-induced cardiotoxicity. More specifically, we focused on the techniques that were exploited by us and others for cardiovascular toxicity assessment and described several microscopic imaging and analysis protocols that are being used for the estimation of a variety of cardiac hemodynamic parameters.Huseyin C. Yalcin is supported by Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF), National Priority Research Program NPRP 10-0123-170222,and Qatar University internal funds,QUUGBRC-2017-3 and QUST-BRC-SPR\2017-1. The publication of this article was partially funded by the Qatar National Library

Hypertrophy of the feet and ankles presenting in primary hypertrophic osteoarthropathy or pachydermoperiostosis: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Pachydermoperiostosis or primary hypertrophic osteoathropathy is a rare genetic disease with autosomal transmission. This disorder, which affects both bones and skin, is characterized by the association of dermatologic changes (pachydermia or thickening of the skin) and rheumatologic manifestations (periostosis and finger clubbing). Here, we report a new observation of pachydermoperiostosis.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A 20-year-old North African Tunisian Caucasian man presented with hypertrophic osteoarthropathy. On a clinical examination, we found morphologic abnormalities of his face and extremities associated with skin changes. The laboratory findings were normal. A work-up disclosed no organic etiology. The final diagnosis consisted of pachydermoperiostosis syndrome.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Pachydermoperiostosis is a rare entity that should be differentiated from secondary hypertrophic osteoarthropathy and chronic rheumatic diseases.</p

Exploring the effects of health behaviors and mental health on students' academic achievement: a cross-sectional study on lebanese university students

Background High academic achievement, an important determinant of future success, is known to be influenced by many factors including dietary behavior, lifestyle and mental health, among others. The objectives of the current study were to explore university students’ nutritive habits, daily lifestyle, and mental status, and to scrutinize the associations between these factors and students’ academic achievement. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among students of a private Lebanese university, using an electronic survey. Diet, eating habits, physical activity, sleep, and smoking were evaluated, and mental health was assessed using a validated Arabic version of the combined Depression, Anxiety, Stress Score (DASS-8). Academic achievement was measured using the Subjective Academic Achievement Scale (SAAS). Results A total of 1677 students participated in the questionnaire. The results of a linear regression taking the SAAS score as the dependent variable, showed that students who have a non-scientific versus scientific major (Beta = 0.53), and having breakfast ≥ 4 days per week compared to less than 2 days (Beta = 0.28) were significantly associated with higher SAAS scores. More psychological distress (Beta = − 0.06) and a higher number of days of eating out (Beta = − 0.07) were significantly associated with lower SAAS scores. Conclusions This is the first investigation on a Lebanese university students’ academic success in relation to lifestyle and mental profiles. Better academic achievement was demonstrated by students having healthier dietary and lifestyle habits, as well as less distressing mental status. Such results, in light of the compounded and unprecedented crises with which Lebanon has been assailed, suggest the need to focus on promoting healthy habits among students in higher education as a possible driver of better academic success.None.Scopu

HCV Seroconversion in two Egyptian Hemodialysis Units: Role of Detection Method and Patients Isolation

Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in end stage renal disease (ESRD) patients on hemodialysis (HD).  Routine HCV viremia screening is recommended in those patients but it is not applied.Aim: To evaluate the seroconversion rate in HD patients based on viremia detection compared to antibody (Ab), and to assess the role of isolation on the rate of seroconversion in those patients.Materials and Methods: One hundred ESRD patients from two HD units using same infection control criteria were enrolled in the study; only one unit was applying isolation for HCV patients. Patients were followed up for 12 month; HCV positivity was tested at the begining of the study and after 12 month of HD. HCV Ab and viremia were detected by third generation ELISA and PCR respectively.Results: The seroconversion rate was 0% based on HCV Ab detection by ELISA, compared with the 16 % seroconversion rate based on viremia detection by PCR. Notably, viremia seroconversion was seen only in the HD unit lacking the isolation system.Conclusion: HCV screening in HD units should be based on viremia detection; isolation in HD units prevents HCV spreading