A systems based approach to microbiological quality assessment in a healthcare facility’s water distribution network: a case study

Background: Water distribution systems within healthcare facilities are complex ecosystems that can harbor opportunistic pathogens, posing a significant risk to patient safety. Ensuring the microbiological quality of water requires rigorous monitoring and a deep understanding of the entire system, from source to point-of-use. This study undertakes a comprehensive statistical analysis of microbiological data from a healthcare facility’s water treatment and distribution network to identify contamination hotspots, evaluate the efficacy of critical treatment barriers, and map potential contamination pathways. Methods: This retrospective case study analyzed heterotrophic plate count (HPC) data collected from 29 distinct sampling points throughout a healthcare facility’s water system. The points represented various stages, including municipal source water, intermediate treatment steps (softening, ultrafiltration, reverse osmosis), storage tanks, and multiple points-of-use. Non-parametric statistical methods were employed due to the non-normal distribution of microbial data. A Kruskal-Wallis test with Dunn's post-hoc analysis was used to compare microbial loads across all sampling points. A focused Mann-Whitney U test was performed to assess the performance of the ultrafiltration (UF) unit. Results: The analysis revealed significant variability in microbiological quality throughout the system (Kruskal-Wallis, p<0.0001). One point-of-use and a pre-UF exhibited high median microbial counts and extreme variability, indicating chronic contamination and potential biofilm proliferation. Critically, the ultrafiltration unit failed to demonstrate a statistically significant reduction in microbial load between the pre-filter. Conclusion: The data reveals variability in microbiological levels across the water system, suggesting that the ultrafiltration barrier's performance is a significant factor influencing downstream water quality. The data points to systemic issues, likely involving widespread biofilm, that compromise water quality at the points-of-use.

Mostafa Eissa Mostafa eissa

Deep artificial neural network based blind color image watermarking

Digital data is growing enormously as the year passes and therefore there is a need of mechanism to protect the digital contents. Image watermarking is one of the important tools for the human to provide copyright protection and authorship. For achieving the ideal balance between imperceptibility and robustness, a robust blind color image watermarking employing deep artificial neural networks (DANN), LWT and the YIQ color model has been presented. In the suggested watermarking method, an original 512-bit watermark is applied for testing and a randomly generated watermark of the same length is used for training. PCA is used to extract 10 statistical features with significant values out of 18 statistical features, and binary classification is used to extract watermarks here. For the four images Lena, Peppers, Mandril, and Jet, it displays an average imperceptibility of 52.48 dB. For the threshold value of 0.3, it does an excellent job of achieving good balance between robustness and imperceptibility. Except for the gaussian noise, rotation, and average filtering attacks, it also demonstrates good robustness against common image attacks. The results of the experiment demonstrate that the suggested watermarking method outperforms competing methods.

Manoj Kumar Pandey Manoj kumar pandey

Recent approches of" impurity profiling" in pharmaceutical analysis: a review

Impurity is something that is impure or makes something else impure. An impure substance may be defined as follows: a substance of interest mixed or impregnated with an extraneous or usually inferior substance, from the standpoint of its usage, the drug substance is compromised in terms of purity even if it contains another material with superior pharmacological or toxicological properties. The impurity may be developed either during formulation, or upon aging of both API’s and formulated API’s in medicines. The presence of these unwanted chemicals, even in small amount, may influence the efficacy and safety of the pharmaceutical products. The impurities are not necessarily always inferior. Highly sophisticated instrumentation, such as mass spectra meters attached to a Gas Chromatography or HPLC, are inevitable tools in the identification of minor components (drugs, impurities, degradation products, metabolites) in various matrices. Present article reveals different impurities found in the API’s, methods for identifying them and the possible measures to deal with the interferences caused by them in pharmaceutical analysis.

Prasanna Pradhan Prasanna pradhan

Liposomes for drug delivery - liposomes

Liposomes are a novel drug delivery system (NDDS), they are vesicular structures consisting of bilalyers which form spontaneously when phospholipids are dispersed in water. They are microscopic vesicles in which an aqueous volume is entirely enclosed by a membrane composed of lipid bilayers. NDDS aims to deliver the drug at a rate directed by the needs of the body during the period of treatment and direct the place of action. Liposomes are colloidal spheres of cholesterol non-toxic surfactants, sphingolipids, glycolipids, long chain fatty acids and even membrane proteins and drug molecules or it is also called vesicular system. It differs in size, composition and charge and drug carrier loaded with variety of molecules such as small drug molecules, proteins, nucleotides or plasmids etc. Few drugs are formulated as liposomes to improve their therapeutic index. Hence a number of vesicular drug delivery systems such as liposomes, niosomes, transfersomes and pharmacosomes are developed. The focus of this chapter is to the various method of preparation, characterization of liposomes, advantages and applications, etc. Liposomes for Drug Delivery - liposomes

Kamal Singh Kamal singh

Covid19 vaccine production in india – changing market scenario

India is in the midst of a severe second wave of Covid-19. As per the Global Commission for Post-Pandemic Policy by mid-April of 2021, India had manufactured nearly 17 percent of all Covid-19 vaccine doses globally. It was the world’s fourth-largest producer, after China (about 36 percent), the United States (about 22 percent) and the European Union (more than 17 percent). Even so, following a shortage of vaccines and with insufficient local production, Government of India decided to import more foreign vaccines with quicker approval process for vaccines accepted in US/EU markets. India is currently using made-in-India vaccines, namely, Covishield manufactured by Serum Institute India and Covaxin of Bharat Biotech in its COVID-19 immunisation programme. The shortcoming in the production of vaccines and its dissemination within the country urges one to understand who the local producers are and how the market is playing out. This paper looks at the evolving market structure of vaccine production in India in the textbook framework of an oligopoly market. We use secondary data sources and daily newspaper briefs.

Nandini Nandini

Deep learning-based detection system for heavy-construction vehicles and urban traffic monitoring

In this intelligent transportation systems era, traffic congestion analysis in terms of vehicle detection followed by tracking their speed is gaining tremendous attention due to its complicated intrinsic ingredients. Specifically, in the existing literature, vehicle detection on highway roads are studied extensively while, to the best of our knowledge the identification and tracking of heavy-construction vehicles such as rollers are not yet fully explored. More specifically, heavy- construction vehicles such as road rollers, trenchers and bulldozers significantly aggravate the congestion in urban roads during peak hours because of their deadly slow movement rates accompanied by their occupation of majority of road portions. Due to these reasons, promising frameworks are very much important, which can identify the heavy-construction vehicles moving in urban traffic-prone roads so that appropriate congestion evaluation strategies can be adopted to monitor traffic situations. To solve these issues, this article proposes a new deep-learning based detection framework, which employs Single Shot Detector (SSD)-based object detection system consisting of CNNs. The experimental evaluations extensively carried out on three different datasets including the benchmark ones MIO-TCD localization dataset, clearly demonstrate the enhanced performance of the proposed detection framework in terms of confidence scores and time efficiency when compared to the existing techniques.

Sreelatha R Sreelatha r

A neuropharmacological profile of lycium schweinfurthii (solanaceae) methanolic extract in mice

Lycium schweinfurthii is a shrub belonging to the Solanaceae family which widely grows in North Africa and Mediterranean regions. The plant leaves have traditionally been used for gastrointestinal diseases as peptic ulcer in Libya. This study aimed to investigate the effect of Lycium schweinfurthii extract on the central nervous system in mice including anticonvulsant, antidepressant and muscle relaxant activities. The methanolic extract was prepared by fractionation technique. Albino male mice weighing 22 ± 2.0 gm were used and equally divided into equal number and weight for each experiment (n = 6). The best effective pharmacologically dose of 400 mg/kg, i.p. of the methanolic extract was selected to explore the anticonvulsant activity for picrotoxin-induced convulsion in mice (5.0 mg/kg), antidepressant activity of forced swimming test of depression and muscle relaxant action by motor coordination test of hanging wire. Fluoxetine (10.0 mg/kg), imipramine (15.0 mg/kg) and diazepam (5.0 mg/kg) were used as reference compounds. Lycium schweinfurthii extract exhibited a significant prolonged delay in the onset time of induced convulsion and significant decrease in the frequency of convulsion as well as a significant decrease in the duration time of attacks. Pretreatment with flumazenil (2.0 mg/kg) was found to increase the frequency and duration of convulsions without profound change in the onset time produced by Lycium schweinfurthii. For antidepressant activity, the plant leave extract significantly decreased immobility time duration without a muscle relaxant effect. The results suggest that the methanolic extract of Lycium schweinfurthii leave has anticonvulsant and antidepressant-like activities without any muscle relaxant effect in mice. Thus, Lycium schweinfurthii may have a neuropharmacological potential use in human.

Mediterranean Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Mediterranean journal of pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences

Symmetric key cryptosystem based on randomized block cipher

Multimedia data encryption attempts to prevent unauthorized disclosure of confidential multimedia information in transit or storage. Security of multimedia files attracts more and more attention and many encryption methods have been proposed in literature. If we call a multimedia data stream (message) plaintext , the process of transforming the plaintext into unintelligible data stream is referred to as multimedia encryption (MME) where the encrypted message (data stream) is often named ciphertext. The process of transforming the ciphertext back into plaintext is termed decryption. We propose a new block cipher based on randomized key of size n × n where n is the block size and the block undergoes n 2 iterations with the plaintext. Every iteration generates the pseudo cipher text. The encryption process generate the ciphertext C with the help of the randomized key. The decryption apply the key in reverse order on the cipher text, to get back the plain text. This work deals with the problem of efficient multimedia data encryption.

S arul jothi

Medical research: a general perspective

Medical research is defined as "all scholarly activities that deal with any of the areas of studies being conducted in the pre, para, and clinical areas being taught in a medical school". Such a definition is somewhat arbitrary, as medical research covers a much larger field and ultimately affects every individual. The results of research activities are directly translated into social action, such as pollution control, vaccinations, mass fluoridation and nutritional improvements. The eradication of diseases like smallpox, poliomyelitis and plague, the decline in the death rate from infectious and cardiovascular diseases, and the diagnosis of genetic disorders are some examples of how medical research helps to provide improved health care. Thus, the wealth of medical knowledge that grows through the process of discovery and research development becomes part of daily living. The aim of scientific research is always to extend the frontiers of knowledge and to discover rational correlations and principles [1, 2]. Medical research can be divided into biomedical (basic medical), clinical, and health science research. The areas overlap each other and health science research has a component of social research. Experimental research covers areas such as physiology, biochemistry, microbiology, pharmacology and pathology and is relatively easy to conduct. If adequate financial support is obtained, the necessary infrastructure for laboratory research could be built and experimental animals maintained in an animal house. For clinical research, the patients with a particular disease are the direct object of study. This type of research involves dealing with the clinical picture, diagnosis, therapy and prognosis of the disease. Dealing with human beings requires stringent regulations and precautions to be observed. It requires setting up a research team in the hospital to monitor and chart out guidelines involving the ethical dimension of the problem to be studied and maintain a systematic medical recording system. Moreover, it is through a prolonged study of a large number of cases of the same disease that clinical research learns to predict the likely prognosis and judge the efficacy of the treatment. This type of research activity has limitations in the form of having a restricted number of cases of the disease under investigation, a need to update one's knowledge concerning laboratory techniques from which he obtains his 'cues', and the longer time interval required to complete the work. Health science research is a recent development of medical research due to the demands placed on many health services. More often basic medical and clinical research go hand in hand and are inseparable. Furthermore, clinical research workers often conduct studies on experimental animals, due to either the limited number of human cases or for ethical considerations.

Mediterranean Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Mediterranean journal of pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences

The media revival of evangelical seduction in cameroon

Our research is a contribution to the analysis of emergent practices in the mediatization of the Gospel. It mobilizes an intercultural approach of the appropriation of the TIC by social actors at ends of proselytism and propaganda. The mobilized problem is that of the seduction in the media revival of the neo-pentecostal leaders. By supporting us on an observation of the practices of the TVevangelism in Cameroon, we analyze the emergent social uses of the audio-usual mediums at ends of proselytism and propaganda. Our research reveals the interest to go beyond the deterministic analyses of the development of the TIC to propose an intercultural analysis which underlines the sociocultural contingency of the movement of emergence and development of the TIC. The aim is to propose an intercultural analysis which underlines the sociocultural contingency of the movement of emergence and development of the TIC in Africa.

Tedongmo Teko Tedongmo teko

Online medical education in india – different challenges and probable solutions in the age of covid-19

Introduction: During the COVID-19 pandemic, most educational institutions have opted for online education rather than traditional modes of education to protect their employees and students. Online education has been gaining momentum in almost all countries around the world. This coincides with the recently introduced competency-based medical education in India which has embraced online education. This poses a new challenge for the institutions involved, the instructors or teachers, and the students since they must adapt quickly to the new mode of learning. Online education requires teachers to improve their competency in three major areas; pedagogy, technology, and content knowledge. Some of the challenges include; lack of technological skill, poor time management and lack of infrastructure. As technology rapidly advances, health care education systems must also advance in tandem. To implement the new competency-based system and online education, the institutions and the individuals must realize the importance of online education, identify the barriers and quickly work on solutions for success. Methods: This review was conducted based on various research papers on the topic of online medical education, the challenges faced by faculty members, and the opinion of students on this dilemma. Search terms included online medical education, COVID19, competency-based medical education. Conclusion: This review identified various challenges posed by online education on the current medical curriculum, faced by both faculty members and students, especially under the light of the Competency-Based Undergraduate Curriculum for Indian Graduates. Different solutions were proposed to overcome these challenges.

Nirav

Quality assessment and sensory acceptability of bread produced from wheat, ground bean and sweet potato flour blends

The study was undertaken to evaluate the nutrient composition, physical and sensory properties of bread samples produced from wheat, ground bean and sweet potato flour blends. The ground beans and sweet potatoes were prepared into flours and used at varying replacement levels (5-25% and 5-25%) for wheat flour in the production of bread loaves with 100% wheat flour bread as control. The nutrient composition, physical and sensory properties of the bread samples were determined using standard methods. The moisture, crude protein, fat, crude fibre and ash contents of the bread samples increased significantly (p<0.05) with increase in the addition of ground bean and sweet potato flours from 7.53-8.03%, 9.06-14.52%, 3.12-4.68%, 3.42-5.15% and 2.41-3.04, respectively, while the carbohydrate and energy contents decreased from 74.46-64.58% and 362.16-358.52 KJ/100 g, respectively. The mineral composition of the bread samples also increased significantly (p<0.05) with increase in substitution of ground bean and sweet potato flours from 76.32-102.33 mg/100 g (calcium), 86.33-106.76 mg/100 g (potassium), 43.17-70.79 mg / 100 g (phosphorus), 92.14-112.15 mg / 100 g (magnesium), 1.52-2.05 mg / 100 g (iron) and 2.13-2.98 mg/100 g (zinc), respectively. The thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, ascorbic acid, vitamin A and vitamin E contents of the bread samples increased significantly (p<0.05) with increase in the addition of ground bean and sweet potato flours from 42.17-59.19 mg/100 g, 62.31-80.69 mg/100 g, 24.15-47.57 mg/100 g, 12.15-12.15-12.73 mg/100 g, 18.32-47.33 mg/100 g and 15.31-43.67 mg/100 g, respectively. The physical properties (loaf volume, loaf height, loaf weight, oven spring and specific loaf volume) of the bread samples decreased significantly (p<0.05) with corresponding increase in the addition of ground bean and sweet potato flours from 310.21-115.41 cm3, 6.82-3.84 cm; 410.21-246.31g, 458.15-407.94 cm and 0.76-0.26 cm3/g, respectively. The sensory properties of the samples showed that the control sample (100% wheat flour bread) was the most acceptable to the panelists and also differed significantly (p<0.05) from the composite flour breads in colour, texture, taste and flavour. Although the 100% wheat flour bread (control) had better sensory and physical properties, it had the least values in nutrient contents compared to the composite flour bread loaves. However, the study showed that the nutrient contents of wheat flour breads could be improved by enriching wheat flour with ground bean and sweet potato flours at the levels of 5-25% and 5-25%, respectively in the production of bread loaves.

OKECHUKWU OBED CHUKWUEMEKA Okechukwu obed chukwuemeka

Feedback mechanisms of school heads on teacher performance

The use of performance feedback in the workplace has gained popularity over the years, yet school heads have been challenged in providing it to teachers. In the initial interview, they shared that evaluation results can impact teachers’ motivation, and that feedback should be done carefully. However, they failed to clearly articulate a specific mechanism that had been applied in this vital role. Also, no studies have provided clear detail on the feedback mechanism used by school heads in the past. For this reason, a study explored the feedback mechanisms employed by school heads in conveying the performance evaluation results to teachers. This study employed a narrative inquiry, and interviews were conducted with five school heads and five teachers who were chosen purposively for this research. Responses were recorded using a voice recorder. These responses were transcribed and analyzed using thematic narrative analysis. Based on transcripts, the study identified six emergent themes, such as conversational (one-on-one), relational, reflective, technical, reinforcing, and properly situated mechanisms in conveying performance evaluation results to teachers. Thus, a new feedback mechanism framework was developed.

Manuel Caingcoy Manuel caingcoy

Advancements in ai-based healthcare monitoring systems: transforming patient care and clinical outcomes

This journal article investigates the evolving landscape of healthcare monitoring systems empowered by Artificial Intelligence (AI). Through an in-depth analysis of recent developments, methodologies, and case studies, the article elucidates the pivotal role of AI in revolutionizing patient care, diagnostics, and overall clinical outcomes.

Dhruvitkumar Talati Dhruvitkumar talati

Systemic lupus erythematosus manifestation following covid-19 infection: a coincidental or causal relation

Several intricate interactions of environmental and genetic factors can lead to autoimmune conditions in susceptible hosts. Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a complex systemic autoimmune disease which can be triggered or exacerbated by infection or infectious reactions. The causal link between infections and autoimmunity has been established through clinical studies. Although several viral infections have been associated with SLE, yet the impact of COVID-19 on SLE onset and flares has not been well established. We report a young female who developed new-onset SLE shortly after having COVID-19 infection. Her clinical and lab parameters were highly suggestive of SLE and she responded to standard medical therapy. We also briefly discuss the pathogenetic mechanisms of autoimmunity in cases of viral infections.

Karishma Karishma

A challenging presentation of pyrexia and macroscopic hematuria in a kidney transplant patient

Kidney transplant kidney transplant ( KTx) recipients have increased susceptibility to a spectrum of infections including; bacterial, viral, and fungal pathogens. Many factors contribute to their infection potential risk, in terms of their immunosuppressive state, that result in suppression of their B‑and T‑lymphocyte repertoire, also to consider certain donor and recipient‑related factors, that make them at risk of specific type of infectious complications. In addition kidney transplant patients tolerate poorly infections, which may adversely affect their graft function, by inducing glomerular injury, hence early diagnosis, directed therapy, and careful dosing of antimicrobial agents is of paramount importance in reducing patient’s morbidity and mortality. We report a kidney transplant patient, who received her live related kidney graft 7 years earlier (in 2013), she has been with stable graft function in most of her follow up period, until she presented with pyrexia, dyspnea and fatigue associated with deterioration of her graft function.

HANI Hani

Approaching the slums in pune, india, empowering and uplifting the community with education and health reforms

With the expansion of human societies, extending up to almost every corner of the earth, transforming it to be as per their condition, humankind has proved their extraordinary dominance on the earth. The dominating attitude of humans has not resulted pleasantly every time. Poverty is one such curse that has shamed the progressing world community. Christianity has dedicated a large portion of its ministerial approach towards the underprivileged. This paper presents a missiological approach to uplift the slum dwellers in the city of Pune with education and health reforms. A similar project was experimented in 2014 among homeless people. The project did well and the results were significantly progressive and potential. It is assumed that this paper will bring an insightful approach that benefits the slums in Pune and enhance the “serving the humanity” aspect of the Christian mission.

Santosh kumar Santosh kumar

Leveraging iks in business and management – a roadmap for viksit bharat 2047

This paper investigates the transformative potential of Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) in modern business and management practices, aligning with India's vision for "Viksit Bharat 2047"—a roadmap toward becoming a developed nation by 2047. Integrating ancient Indian wisdom with advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) provides an innovative framework for enhancing decision-making, sustainability, and innovation across diverse industries. This study aims to incorporate key IKS principles such as holistic management, ethical leadership, and community-centered business models into AI-driven methodologies to create a forward-thinking approach in Indian business contexts. Using a mixed-method research design, the study combines qualitative insights from traditional Indian texts with quantitative analysis of case studies where IKS principles are applied in contemporary businesses. The findings reveal that concepts like ―Dharma‖ (ethical responsibility), ―Artha‖ (resource management), and ―Karma‖ (action-driven leadership) play a crucial role in corporate governance, social responsibility, and achieving sustainable development goals when combined with AI's analytical power. This synergy addresses current challenges, including environmental sustainability, social equity, and ethical governance. The research demonstrates that a balanced integration of AI and IKS can foster inclusive and sustainable growth, supporting India's self-reliance and competitiveness on a global scale. The paper provides a roadmap for academics, policymakers, and business leaders to leverage IKS with AI, aiming for an innovative and resilient India by 2047.

Dr tatayya bommali

Therapeutic potential of marine peptides in prostate cancer: mechanistic insights

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the leading cause of cancer death in men, and its treatment is commonly associated with severe adverse effects. So, new treatment modalities are needed. In this context, natural compounds have been widely explored for their anti-PCa properties. Aquatic organisms contain numerous potential medications. Anticancer peptides are less toxic to normal cells and provide a productive treatment approach via multiple mechanisms, including altered cell viability, apoptosis, cell migration/invasion, suppression of angiogenesis and microtubule balance disturbances. This review sheds light on marine peptides as efficacious and safe therapeutic agents for PCa.

Dr. Salman Ahmed Dr. salman ahmed

A natural language processing approach to determine the polarity and subjectivity of iphone 12 twitter feeds using textblob

Sentiment analysis and opinion mining is a branch of computer science that has gained considerable growth over the last decade. This branch of computer science deals with determining the emotions, opinions, feelings amongst others of a person on a particular topic. Social media has become an outlet for people to voice out their thoughts and opinions publicly about various topics of discussion making it a great domain to apply sentiment analysis and opinion mining. Sentiment analysis and opinion mining employ Natural Language Processing (NLP) in order to fairly obtain the mood of a person’s opinion about any specific topic or product in the case of an ecommerce domain. It is a process involving automatic feature extractions by mode of notions of a person about service and it functions on a series of different expressions for a given topic based on some predefined features stored in a database of facts. In an ecommerce system, the process of analyzing the opinions of customers about products is vital for business growth and customer satisfaction. This proposed research will attempt to implement a model for sentiment analysis and opinion mining on Twitter feeds. In this paper, we address the issues of combining sentiment classification and the domain constraint analysis techniques for extracting opinions of the public from social media. The dataset that was employed in the paper was gotten from Twitter through the tweepy API. The TextBlob library was used for the analysis of the tweets to determine their sentiments. The result shows that more tweets were having a positive subjectivity and polarity on the subject matter.

Dr. Chandrashekhar Uppin Dr. chandrashekhar uppin

‹ First  < 45 46 47 48 49 >  Last ›