In the modern-day study of system behaviour and analysis, understanding the response of how the system will behave in a certain condition is considered vital. Thus, keeping object behaviour as the ...primary objective and object detection as a core instrument this project intends to identify the object and track the motion of the desired object. This paper provides an overview of how a closed-loop control-based system was designed using a camera as visual input. The video signal is analyzed to detect distinct color and shape similarities to a desired object. Based on a high similarity index the Raspberry Pi controller generates a pulse width modulation signal to regulate the angular position of the rotary actuator to align the camera frame of view according to a desired object’s position. Post system design experimentation results and potential realized system faults are expressed within the conclusion.
Lung transplantation has become a standard of care for a select group of patients with advanced lung diseases. Lung transplantation has undergone rapid growth in the last few years in Saudi Arabia.
...Describe five years of experience with lung transplantation.
Retrospective, descriptive.
Major tertiary care hospital.
All patients who underwent lung transplant surgery between 2010 to 2015.
Indications for lung transplant demographics, body mass index, blood group, type of transplant surgery, morbidity rate using the Clavien-Dindo classification, rate of early- and late-onset bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS), bronchiolitis obliterans-free survival, 30- and 90-day mortality rate, and survival (30 days, 90 days, 1-year, 3-years and 5-years) for lung transplant recipients. The duration of mechanical ventilation, colonization by bacteria and need for lung volume reduction surgery for lung donors.
80, 45% women and 55% men.
The most common indication for lung transplant in Saudi Arabia is pulmonary fibrosis (45%), followed by non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis (25%) and cystic fibrosis-related bronchiectasis (20%). Only 45% of our lung transplant recipients had a normal BMI (18-28 kg/m
). The most frequent blood group was A (40%), followed by blood group O (32.5%). Most (85%) lung transplants were bilateral while 15% were single lung transplants. Postoperative complications developed in 64 patients, 34 (42.5%) had minor grade 1 complications, while 13 (16.5%) had severe complications leading to death (grade V). Early onset BOS developed in 6 (7.5%) patients while 16 (20%) had late onset BOS. The BOS-free survival rate was 72.5%. The mean duration of mechanical ventilation in lung donors was 9 days and most were infected by bacteria. The majority of recipients required lung volume reduction. The 30-day mortality rate was 12.5% and the 90-day mortality rate was 17.5%. Survival rates at our center were 87.5% at 30 days, 82.5% at 90 days, 81.2% at 1 year, 67.9% at 2 years and 62.1% at 5 years.
Lung transplantation has become an invaluable approach for the treatment of end-stage respiratory disease. Our 5-year experience has shown exciting promises for lung transplantation in Saudi Arabia.
Retrospective design, single center experience.
None.
To compare the efficacy of mycophenolate mofetil with intravenous cyclophosphamideas induction therapy in lupus nephritis.
The observational, prospecrive, cohort study was conducted at the ...Rheumatology Department of Fatima Memorial Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan, from July 2016 to June 2019, and comprised lupus nephritis patients. For induction therapy, the patients were assigned at the discretion of the treating rheumatologist to mycophenolate mofetil group MMF, and intravenous cyclophosphamide group CYC. The latter group was further divided into NIH subgroup that received the therapy as per the protocol of the National Institutes of Health, and ELNT subgroup which recived the therapy as per the Euro Lupus Nephritis Trial protocol. Maintenance therapy in all groups was mycophenolate mofetil. Tacrolimus was added in case of non-response. The outcome was the achievement of complete renal response at 6, 12 and 24 months. Data was analysed using SPSS 26.
Of the 131 patients, 126(96.2%) were females. The overall mean age was 27±7.7 years. There were 58(44.2%) patients in group MMF and 73(55.7%) in group CYC, which had subgroup NIH 46(63%) and subgrpup ELNT 27(37%). The complete renal response rates at 6, 12, and 24 months were 22 (43.1%), 35 (71.4%), and 40(83.3%) for group MMF; 5(12.5%), 9(22%) and 24 (58.5%) for subgroup NIH, and 6(26.1%), 8(36.4%) and 14(63.6%) for subgroup ELNT. Group MMF outcomes were significantly better than the rest (p<0.05).
Mycophenolate mofetil induction therapy was more effective than intraveenous cyclophosphamide in terms of achieving remission at 6, 12 and 24 months.
A comprehensive strategy has been developed to construct nano-sized homogeneous and heterogeneous core/shell structures of NaYF
host. Synthesis conditions of cubic phase/α-NaYF
and hexagonal ...phase/β-NaYF
are discussed. Pure cubic NaYF
:Yb,Er nanocrystals were synthesized with different average sizes extending from 7 nm to 15 nm by varying the reaction time. Temperature and time thresholds of hexagonal nucleation were determined and utilized for controlled core/shell structures of different phases. α-NaYF
:Yb,Er@α-NaYF
, α-NaYF
:Yb,Er@β-NaYF
, β-NaYF
:Yb,Er@α-NaYF
, and β-NaYF
:Yb,Er@β-NaYF
core/shell structures were prepared by adopting the required conditions to achieve the desired phase. Excess sodium was used to grow hexagonal shell over metastable cubic core under controlled conditions of reaction time and temperature to prevent the structural transition of the core. Upconversion emission spectra have also been obtained. UCL integrated intensities demonstrated about 5-fold enhancement for α-shell over α-core as compared to the core alone and 22-fold enhancement with β-shell. On the other hand, α-shell over β-core exhibited 5-fold enhancement and β-shell over β-core exhibited 6-fold enhancement.
Introduction Vestibular schwannomas (VS) are the most common benign neoplasms of a cerebellopontine angle (CPA), which arise from the Schwann cells of the vestibulocochlear nerve. Eighty percent of ...CPA tumors are VS followed by meningioma as the second common mass lesion in this critical potential space. Treatment options range from watchful waiting with serial imaging studies to radiosurgery or a microsurgical excision or a combination of surgery and radiation therapy. The primary objective of the study was to assess hearing and facial nerve status before and after the surgery via the retrosigmoid approach. Methods The database of Aga Khan University Hospital was searched for diagnoses of vestibular schwannomas between 2000 and 2007. A total of 35 patients were identified; among them, 27 were selected for the study who met the inclusion criteria. The variables of the study were age, gender, presenting symptoms, size of the tumor, surgical approach, hearing levels, and facial nerve function. Hearing loss was categorized according to the Gardener-Robertson hearing classification and the House-Brackmann Scale was used for facial nerve assessment. Results Out of the 27 patients, 18 were male and nine were female. The mean age was 43 years. The most common presenting complaint was hearing loss and tinnitus, seen in 21 patients. Headache was present in six patients, ataxia in five, and vertigo in three. Facial nerve weakness was noticed in six patients. Two patients had Grade-III paralysis, three had Grade-IV paralysis, and one had Grade-V paralysis. The audiogram confirmed the presence of sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) in all patients. Twelve patients out of 27 had Class II hearing with the threshold between 31 and 50 decibels and a Speech Discrimination Score (SDS) of 50% to 69%. Ten patients had non-serviceable hearing and the remaining five had poor hearing. The audiogram was repeated after surgery for those 12 patients who had Class II hearing and showed that seven out of 12 patients maintained a hearing threshold within the range of Class II at the one-year follow-up (hearing preservation 58%). The facial nerve preservation rate was 56% considering House-Brackmann Grade III or less as acceptable facial nerve function. Conclusion The optimal treatment for small vestibular schwannomas is a matter of controversy; however, the choice of treatment for large vestibular schwannomas in patients without significant comorbidity is generally microsurgical excision. The surgical excision of a large VS with the retrosigmoid approach is found to be safe consistently. The hearing and facial nerve preservation in our study were found comparable with the literature.
To assess the efficacy and preparedness of the pre-hospital and hospital emergency medical systems and post graduate trainees in the city to deal with a massive terrorist strike.
A cross-sectional ...survey of postgraduate trainees was conducted at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center and Civil Hospital Karachi from 21st July 2007 to 24th July 2007, to evaluate the preparedness and self identified deficiencies of doctors involved in massive trauma casualty management. To assess the pre-hospital care in Karachi, structured telephonic interviews were conducted of administrators of two private run charity based ambulance services.
Out of the 90 respondents questioned regarding a self assessment of their training, only 3 (3.3%) of them were confident about their management of bomb blast victims. Eighty-seven (96.6%) of the respondents felt they required some further training (44.4%) or comprehensive training (52.2%). No simulated drills or courses had been conducted for disaster management in the emergency department of the surveyed Hospitals. Most of the ambulance drivers had no paramedic training. Ambulances are equipped with a stretcher and an oxygen cylinder only. No resuscitation measures are available in the ambulances.
With an increasing number of terrorist attacks in the country, massive influx of casualties in a relatively short time span has become a regular feature of the Pakistani hospital system. Lack of adequate training at pre-hospital and in hospital levels may translate into increasing morbidities and mortalities. It is imperative that training of junior doctors and paramedical staff be conducted regularly and an effective regional communication base established for efficient interdepartmental coordination.
PDF
