A Wearable RFID-Based Navigation System for the Visually Impaired

Recent studies have focused on developing advanced assistive devices to help blind or visually impaired people. Navigation is challenging for this community; however, developing a simple yet reliable navigation system is still an unmet need. This study targets the navigation problem and proposes a wearable assistive system. We developed a smart glove and shoe set based on radio-frequency identification technology to assist visually impaired people with navigation and orientation in indoor environments. The system enables the user to find the directions through audio feedback. To evaluate the device's performance, we designed a simple experimental setup. The proposed system has a simple structure and can be personalized according to the user's requirements. The results identified that the platform is reliable, power efficient, and accurate enough for indoor navigation.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, 3 table

Evaluating Attentional Impulsivity: A Biomechatronic Approach

Executive function, also known as executive control, is a multifaceted construct encompassing several cognitive abilities, including working memory, attention, impulse control, and cognitive flexibility. To accurately measure executive functioning skills, it is necessary to develop assessment tools and strategies that can quantify the behaviors associated with cognitive control. Impulsivity, a range of cognitive control deficits, is typically evaluated using conventional neuropsychological tests. However, this study proposes a biomechatronic approach to assess impulsivity as a behavioral construct, in line with traditional neuropsychological assessments. The study involved thirty-four healthy adults who completed the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11) as an initial step. A low-cost biomechatronic system was developed, and an approach based on standard neuropsychological tests, including the trail-making test and serial subtraction-by-seven, was used to evaluate impulsivity. Three tests were conducted: WTMT-A (numbers only), WTMT-B (numbers and letters), and a dual-task of WTMT-A and serial subtraction-by-seven. The preliminary findings suggest that the proposed instrument and experiments successfully generated an attentional impulsivity score and differentiated between participants with high and low attentional impulsivity.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, 5 table

Numerical Simulation of the Cervical Spine in a Normal Subject and a Patient with Intervertebral Cage under Various Loadings and in Various Positions

Background: Cervical spine sustains most of thevertebral column injuries, among other injuries, the disc degeneration and damage that lead to replacement of the damaged disc with cage or artificial disc.Methods: The C4 to C6 vertebrae of a normal subject and a person with interbody fusion cage were 3d modelled and then analyzed using Finite element method. The results of maximum stress and strain in cervical spine of the normal subject and patient were compared in three positions: standing, lying with axial rotation of neck and standing with axial rotation of neck.Results: The maximum principal strain and stress in the patient are respectively 10.5% and 14.5% greater than those in normal subject in standing position, howeverin lying position when the head has axial rotation, the maximum principal strain and stress are in the normal subject 6.2% and 16.3% greater than those in patient, respectively. The difference between these results and the results of strain and stress in standing position when the head has axial rotation is very small. This outcome is due to smallness of the stress exerted on cervical spine as a result of the head weight (131-150 Pa).Conclusion: In contrary to the constraint between disc and vertebrae, there is no friction between cage and vertebrae and this leads to maximum stress transfer to the first vertebra above the cage in patient. However, the maximum stress is ultimately less in the patient with fusion cage than the normal subject. Generally, only the neck rotations are the cause of cervical spine injury in normal neck movements

Practical Use of ChatGPT in Psychiatry for Treatment Plan and Psychoeducation

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has revolutionized various fields, including medicine and mental health support. One promising application is ChatGPT, an advanced conversational AI model that uses deep learning techniques to provide human-like responses. This review paper explores the potential impact of ChatGPT in psychiatry and its various applications, highlighting its role in therapy and counseling techniques, self-help and coping strategies, mindfulness and relaxation techniques, screening and monitoring, education and information dissemination, specialized support, group and family support, learning and training, expressive and artistic therapies, telepsychiatry and online support, and crisis management and prevention. While ChatGPT offers personalized, accessible, and scalable support, it is essential to emphasize that it should not replace the expertise and guidance of qualified mental health professionals. Ethical considerations, such as user privacy, data security, and human oversight, are also discussed. By examining the potential and challenges, this paper sheds light on the responsible integration of ChatGPT in psychiatric research and practice, fostering improved mental health outcomes

Antitumor impact of amygdalin on adaptive immune response in BALB/c mice with breast cancer

Amygdalin is a potential therapeutically target in cancer. The main purpose of this experimental study was to evaluate the therapeutic effect of amygdalin in the mice model of breast cancer. The percentages of CD4, CD8 T lymphocyte, intracellular IFN-γ, and Granzyme B were assessed in spleen cells of tumorized mice treated with 50 and 150 mg/kg of amygdalin (AG50 and AG150). The expression of caspase 3 and p53, tumor size, and survival rate of Balb/c mice was determined in tumor tissue after amygdalin administration. No significant difference was observed in the frequency of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in the three study groups. However, a significantly increased level of granzyme B in CD8+ T cells, as well as a significant decrease in the level of IL-10 in CD4+ T cells was detected in the AG50 group compared to the AG150. There was no significant difference in the expression of caspase 3 and P53 between the two groups. A significant change was seen in tumor size and survival rate of AG50 and AG150 groups compared to the controls. Our findings indicated that antitumor effect of amygdalin in vivo was probably due to stimulating the effective immune response, not apoptotic genes induction

Health outcomes of Fitbit, Garmin or Apple Watch-based interventions

Introduction: A rising number of systematic reviews of smartwatch clinical effectiveness have been published; however, the findings are conflicting and need further investigation. Our purpose was to assess the methodological and evidence synthesis quality of meta-analyses of the therapeutic efficacy of Fitbit, Garmin, or Apple Watch-based interventions. Material and Methods: Systematic searches were carried out with three electronic databases from inception to October 2021. Full text systematic reviews originally published in English in peer-reviewed journals describing meta-analyses of all clinical outcomes of Fitbit-, Garmin-, or Apple Watch -based interventions were eligible for this study. The Amstar-2 scale and GRADE were used to assess the methodological and evidence synthesis quality, respectively. Results: One study with low methodological quality (overall score of 13.5) was identified, which contained five outcomes. None of the outcomes met the GRADE criteria for high-quality evidence (0%). Two outcomes (40%) had moderate-quality evidence synthesis, while three outcomes (60%) had low-quality evidence synthesis. The most prevalent downgrading GRADE factor was a risk of bias (100%), followed by imprecision (80%), and publication bias (60%). Conclusion: Despite the widespread adoption of smartwatches, there is a large gap in the literature as there is limited evidence. This review suggests that further clinical trials and meta- analyses are needed and it formulates research recommendations

Biomechanical Assessment of Cervical Spine with Artificial Disc during Axial Rotation, Flexion and Extension

Background: The cervical spine is the most vulnerable part of the vertebral column and the rotational movements are the most dangerous movements which may cause damages to cervical spine. A good treatment option for the cervical disc disease is the replacement of a damaged disc with an artificial disc that has shown satisfactory clinical results.Methods: The C4 to C6 vertebrae of a normal subject and a person with an artificial disc between the vertebrae C5 and C6 were 3d modelled and then analyzed using FEM. The results of stress and deformationin both subjects were calculated and compared for three rotational head movements: axial rotation, flexion and extension. A distributed load of 73.6 N was used to simulate the head weight and a moment of 1.8 N.m was used to create all three rotational movements.Results: The maximum Von Mises stress in the normal subject during the axial rotation was respectively 2.2 and 1.8 times greater than the maximum stress during flexion and extension. These numbers were 2.6 and 2.3 in the subject with artificial disc.Following the artificial disc replacement, the cervical spine strength against the extension improved about 2.7%, however, the strength in axial rotation and flexion decreased 6.9% and 24.3%, respectively. The maximum values of deformation in the normal subject during flexion, extension and axial rotation were 2.8, 2.8 and 2 times of the values in the subject with artificial disc during the similar movements.Conclusion: The flexion and extension involve risks of hurting the cervical spine, however, the axial rotation is much more dangerous regarding the damages it may cause especially to the C5/6 intervertebral disc. Numerically, there is a much greater possibility of cervical spine injury during axial rotation

The Effect of Education Based on Health Belief Model on Health-Promotion Behaviors in Middle-Aged Women

Background & Objectives: Creating and developing health-promoting behaviors in middle-aged women has a potential impact on promoting their health and quality of life. Therefore, it is necessary to design appropriate educational interventions in this group. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of education based on health belief model on health-promotion behaviors in middle-aged women. Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was performed as an intervention in 2019 on 64 middle-aged women referring to two comprehensive health services centers in Mashhad. Data collection tools were a standard questionnaire of health-promotion behaviors and a researcher-made questionnaire based on the health belief model that was completed before and after training in two intervention and control groups. Independent t-test, paired t-test and Mann-Whitney U test were used. Results: Before the intervention, the two control and intervention groups were identical in terms of the mean overall score of health-promotion behaviors, however, one month after the intervention, the mean overall score of health-promotion behaviors and its dimensions in the intervention group was significantly higher than that in the control group. Conclusion: Education based on the health belief model can improve health-promotion behaviors. Thus, it is necessary for health care providers in health centers to be trained on using models of behavior change. Key¬words: Health Belief Model, Health-Promotion Behaviors, Middle-Aged Women, Education Citation: Fahimi Hesari F, Zendetalab H, Zare M, Behnam Vashani H. The Effect of Education Based on Health Belief Model on Health-Promotion Behaviors in Middle-Aged Women. Journal of Health Based Research 2020; 6(1): 83-98. [In Persian

Evaluation Design of Banks: Development and Validation of a Comprehensive Assessment Tool Based on Principles

Background: Universal Design (UD) means designing the products and environments everyone can use as far as possible without requiring specialized compatibility or design. The present study aimed to design and develop a comprehensive and valid checklist to evaluate the design of banks based on UD principles and implement it in Iranian banks.Methods: Based on the seven UD principles and using a mixed methods sequential exploratory design, an initial checklist with 61 items was developed. Then, its psychometric properties were evaluated based on face and content validity and inter-rater agreement. The final checklist was prepared based on the results of this stage and used in the next stage to evaluate the design of 17 banks.Results: The final checklist consisted of 10 areas (as per the seven UD principles). The Content Validity Ratio (CVR) and Content Validity Index (CVI) were calculated as 0.91 and 0.93, respectively. Based on areas of the checklist, all the evaluated banks showed many problems, the most significant of which were related to the areas of equal use by different groups, flexibility in use, and the size and space of access and use.Conclusion: The present study’s findings led to the design of a comprehensive and standard checklist to evaluate the design of banks in terms of UD principles. The results indicated that the UD principles were not observed in most studied banks, and they need to implement targeted design interventions

Quality assessment of conventional X-ray diagnostic equipment by measuring X-ray exposure and tube output parameters in Great Khorasan Province, Iran

Introduction: Regular implementation of quality control (QC) program in diagnostic X-ray facilities may affect both image quality and patient radiation dose due to the changes in exposure parameters. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the status of randomly selected conventional radiographic X-ray devices installed in radiology centers of Great Khorasan Province, Iran, to produce the data needed to formulate QC policies, which are essential to ensure the accuracy of the diagnosis while minimizing the radiation dose. Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed using a calibrated Piranha multi-purpose detector to measure QC parameters in order to unify X‐ray imaging practices using international guidelines. The QC parameters included voltage accuracy, voltage reproducibility, exposure time accuracy, exposure time reproducibility, tube output linearity with time andmilliampere (mA), and tube output reproducibility. Data analysis procedures were performed based on the type of an X-ray generator, which has not been reported in previous studies. Results: The results showed that the implementation of high-frequency X-ray generators were more advantageous compared to alternative current generators, due to their efficient, better accuracy, linearity, and reproducibility. Conclusion: The survey revealed that the QC program was not conducted at regular intervals in some of the investigated radiology centers, mostly because of inadequate enforcement by national regulatory authorities for implementation of QC program