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Low and middle-income countries (LMICs) bear a disproportionately high burden of sepsis, contributing to an estimated 90% of global sepsis-related deaths. Critical care capabilities needed for septic patients, such as continuous vital sign monitoring, are often unavailable in LMICs.
Aim:
This study aimed to assess the feasibility and accuracy of using a small wireless, wearable biosensor device linked to a smartphone, and a cloud analytics platform for continuous vital sign monitoring in emergency department (ED) patients with suspected sepsis in Rwanda.
Methods:
This was a prospective observational study of adult and pediatric patients (≥ 2 months) with suspected sepsis presenting to Kigali University Teaching Hospital ED. Biosensor devices were applied to patients’ chest walls and continuously recorded vital signs (including heart rate and respiratory rate) for the duration of their ED course. These vital signs were compared to intermittent, manually-collected vital signs performed by a research nurse every 6-8 hours. Pearson’s correlation coefficients were calculated over the study population to determine the correlation between the vital signs obtained from the biosensor device and those collected manually.
Results:
42 patients (20 adults, 22 children) were enrolled. Mean duration of monitoring with the biosensor device was 34.4 hours. Biosensor and manual vital signs were strongly correlated for heart rate (r=0.87, p<0.001) and respiratory rate (r=0.74 p<0.001). Feasibility issues occurred in 9/42 (21%) patients, although were minor and included biosensor falling off (4.8%), technical/connectivity problems (7.1%), removal by a physician (2.4%), removal for a procedure (2.4%), and patient/parent desire to remove the device (4.8%).
Discussion:
Wearable biosensor devices can be feasibly implemented and provide accurate continuous vital sign measurements in critically ill pediatric and adult patients with suspected sepsis in a resource-limited setting. Further prospective studies evaluating the impact of biosensor devices on improving clinical outcomes for septic patients are needed.
We report the synthesis and optical properties of pure ZnS and Ag doped ZnS nanostructures. ZnS(Ag) was synthesized by using the hydrothermal technique and later annealed at different temperatures under vacuum conditions. It was observed that the photoluminescence (PL) emission from the ZnS(Ag) nanostructures can be easily tuned from the blue (445 nm) to green (530 nm) region of visible light by varying the annealing temperature. This tunability has been attributed to the introduction of excess sulfur vacancy states, which is evident from the PL excitation spectra. This observed change in the PL emission wavelength can be highly beneficial in the imaging screens where ZnS is regularly used and can be easily interfaced with the silicon photodiodes showing maximum sensitivity at 550 nm.
Low-cost, earth-abundant magnetocaloric materials (MCMs) are required for energy-efficient, green, and affordable magnetic cooling technology. We investigated the magnetic and magnetocaloric properties of rare-earth-free Fe75−xCrxAl25 (19≤x≤25) arc-melted alloys. The Curie temperature (Tc) of these alloys could be tuned from 220 K up to room temperature by Cr additions. The relative cooling power/US$ was found to be superior to other promising MCMs. Fe50Cr25Al25 ball-milled powders, with an average particle size of ~25 nm, were used to prepare magnetic fluid. Maximum cooling (ΔT) of 5.4°C was observed for Fe50Cr25Al25-based fluids.
Luffa cylindrica (L.) M. Roem. is an underutilized vegetable and a potential biodiesel crop for future. Its fruits are edible and used as vegetable. To aid in the selection of lines for breeding, genetic variation and structure of ten populations of L. cylindrica were determined with three morphological characters and 23 sequence-related amplified polymorphism (SRAP) markers. All the three morphological characters were found diverse among 45 accessions. The SRAP primers produced a total of 177 bands, out of which 129 were polymorphic. Informative markers assessed by different measures (polymorphism information content = 0.18, marker index = 1.26, resolving power = 2.87) will direct the selection of primers for cultivar identification in L. cylindrica. Low level of genetic differentiation among populations and higher level within populations (Gst= 0.4073, Nm= 0.7277, He= 0.124, I= 0.20) was detected that might be due to cross-pollinated nature of L. cylindrica. The clustering pattern obtained through dendrogram and principal coordinate analysis was loosely concordant with the geographical distribution. The Bayesian structure analysis indicated an admixture type of population distribution. The results designate that SRAP and morphological markers are informative for characterization of L. cylindrica and identification of distinctive cultivars.
The BiFeO3/BaTiO3 (BFO/BTO) multilayers were deposited on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates using sol-gel spin coating technique. The electric and magnetic studies on BFO/BTO multilayer structures were carried out for different number of layers. Enhancement in multiferroic properties were seen for all the prepared multilayers as compared to individual BTO and BFO thin films. Maximum value of ferroelectric polarization 71.18 µC/cm2 and saturation magnetization 69.85 emu/cm3 was obtained for multilayer structure having five layers. The observed enhancement in the multiferroic properties of the multilayer system is due to the increased interfacial stress and multiferroic coupling between the alternating layers.
Carbon emissions due to various man-made devices are one of the main reasons for global warming. Green communications is largely concerned with reducing the carbon emissions caused during communications. One of the main reasons for carbon emissions in communication is the emission in generating the electrical energy consumed in communication networks. Soon, the electrical energy consumed in information and communication technology (ICT) related activities will be about 14% of all the electrical energy consumed in the world [1]. A large part of this is consumed in wireless communication networks (where the base station consumes most of the energy). Thus, reducing the carbon emission due to the energy used in wireless communications will have a significant environmental impact. This can be done in two ways. One of course is that we should reduce the electrical energy consumed in communications. Recent work has shown that the energy consumed can easily be reduced to one-third [1, 2]. The other way is to generate the energy used in a way that reduces (or totally eliminates) carbon emission. If one generates electricity via coal or gas installations, typically 800–950 gram CO2 (equivalent) is emitted per kwh. However, if one generates it via solar cells or wind turbines there is no emission at all [1, 2]. Therefore, there has been tremendous interest in using solar and/or wind energy at the base stations (BSs) of cellular systems [2].
We analysed the responses of Anabaena doliolum to elevated levels of copper and zinc in batch and semi-continuous cultures. Approximately 10, 4 and 8 and 5-times greater inhibition in final yield of A. doliolum occurred at 1, 2 μM Cu and 2.5 and 5 μM of Zn, respectively, in semi-continuous culture in comparison to batch culture. Protein, chlorophyl a and carotenoid contents of A. doliolum showed significantly (P < 0.05) higher inhibition by test metals in semi-continuous culture than in batch culture. The greater sensitivity of different parameters of the test organism was related to the high metal content of the cells grown in semi-continuous system. Moreover, enhancement of pH of the culture suspension in batch culture showed a negative relationship with metal accumulation, and therefore with toxicity. This was due to decrease in free ionic concentrations of test metals. Carotenoids acted as a metal detoxifying agent by minimizing metal-induced inhibition in batch culture as was evident from its negative relationship with metal toxicity.
Inter-observer variations in contouring and their impacts on dosimetric and radiobiological parameters in intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) treatment for localised prostate cancer patients were investigated. Four observers delineated the gross tumour volume (GTV) (prostate and seminal vesicles), bladder and rectum for nine patients. Contouring done by radiologist was considered as gold standard for comparison purposes and for IMRT plan optimisation. Maximum average variations in contoured prostate, bladder and rectum volumes were 3% (SD = 8.4), 2.5% (SD = 4.12) and 13.2% (SD = 6.77), respectively. The average conformity index for standard contouring set (observer A) was 0.85 (SD = 0.028) and statistically significant differences were observed for observers A–B (p = 0.008), A–C (p = 0.006) and A–D (p = 0.011). Average values of normal tissue complication probability for bladder and rectum for observer A were 0.361% (SD = 0.036) and 1.59% (SD = 0.14). Maximum average tumour control probability was 99.94% (SD = 0.035) and statistically significant difference was observed for observers A–B (p = 0.037) and observers A–C (p = 0.01). Inter-observer contouring variations have significant impact on dosimetric and radiobiological outcome in IMRT treatment planning. So accurate contouring of tumour and normal organs is a fundamental prerequisite to make good correlation between calculated and clinical observed results.
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