ABSTRACT
The concept of paracetamol as a safe drug has become very misleading as this has led to a high rate of paracetamol toxicity. Hepatotoxicity and liver failure have been reported even with doses just more than the maximum therapeutic dose, which was obviously noticed in the (COVID-19) pandemic. Oxidative stress plays an important role in paracetamol hepatotoxicity. The current study investigates the mechanism of action through which paracetamol induces hepatotoxicity and implements an alarming sign for the unsupervised use of paracetamol. Twenty albino rats were equally divided into a normal control group and paracetamol treated group where rats received paracetamol at a dose of 2g/kg b.wt once orally for 24 hours. Oral administration of paracetamol resulted in a significant elevation of liver enzymes in serum such as glutamate pyruvate transaminase and glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase when compared with the results of the control group. In terms of oxidative stress biomarkers, the group that received an overdose of paracetamol showed a significant increase in the tissue level of 4-Hydroxynonenal accompanied by a significant decrease in the activity of the anti-oxidant markers Paraoxonase and Catalase. Histopathological examination revealed focal necrosis in the hepatocytes, Centri-lobular necrobiotic changes, and dilated congested portal vein. Immunohistochemical investigation for the Nuclear factor-kappa B showed strong positive expression in the nuclei of the hepatocytes of rats that received an overdose of paracetamol. Our study suggests that an overdose of paracetamol could attenuate the endogenous antioxidant defense mechanisms and augment the hepatic tissue inflammation;both factors may contribute to the observed increase in apoptosis-related signaling and cell death. ©2023 National Information and Documentation Center (NIDOC).
ABSTRACT
The spread of the Corona Virus pandemic on a global scale had a great impact on the trend towards e-learning. In the virtual exams the student can take his exams online without any papers, in addition to the correction and electronic monitoring of the exams. Tests are supervised and controlled by a camera and proven cheat-checking tools. This technology has opened the doors of academic institutions for distance learning to be wide spread without any problems at all. In this paper, a proposed model was built by linking a computer network using a server/client model because it is a system that distributes tasks between the two. The main computer that acts as a server (exam observer) is connected to a group of sub-computers (students) who are being tested and these devices are considered the set of clients. The proposed student face recognition system is run on each computer (client) in order to identify and verify the identity of the student. When another face is detected, the program sends a warning signal to the server. Thus, the concerned student is alerted. This mechanism helps examinees reduce cheating cases in early time. The results obtained from the face recognition showed high accuracy despite the large number of students' faces. The performance speed was in line with the test performance requirements, handling 1,081 real photos and adding 960 photos. © 2022 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
With the rapid spread of the coronavirus epidemic all over the world, educational and other institutions are heading towards digitization. In the era of digitization, identifying educational e-platform users using ear and iris based multi-modal biometric systems constitutes an urgent and interesting research topic to pre-serve enterprise security, particularly with wearing a face mask as a precaution against the new coronavirus epidemic. This study proposes a multimodal system based on ear and iris biometrics at the feature fusion level to identify students in electronic examinations (E-exams) during the COVID-19 pandemic. The proposed system comprises four steps. The first step is image preprocessing, which includes enhancing, segmenting, and extracting the regions of interest. The second step is feature extraction, where the Haralick texture and shape methods are used to extract the features of ear images, whereas Tamura texture and color histogram methods are used to extract the features of iris images. The third step is feature fusion, where the extracted features of the ear and iris images are combined into one sequential fused vector. The fourth step is the matching, which is executed using the City Block Distance (CTB) for student identification. The findings of the study indicate that the system's recognition accuracy is 97%, with a 2% False Acceptance Rate (FAR), a 4% False Rejection Rate (FRR), a 94% Correct Recognition Rate (CRR), and a 96% Genuine Acceptance Rate (GAR). In addition, the proposed recognition system achieved higher accuracy than other related systems. © 2023, Tech Science Press. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Due to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, it is crucial to study the efficiency of face masks in retaining viruses for the upcoming years. The first objective of this study was to validate a method to elute viruses from polyester and cotton face masks. We observed that deionized water followed by 3% beef glycine (pH 9.5 or pH 7.2) was significantly more efficient (p < 0.05) in eluting the bacteriophage phiX174 virus from polyester (4.73% ± 0.25% to 28.67% ± 1.89%), polyester/cotton (3% ± 0.33%), and cotton (1.7% ± 0.21%) face masks than 3% beef glycine only (pH 9.5 or pH 7.2) as a single eluent (3.4% ± 0.16% to 21.33% ± 0.94% for polyester, 1.91% ± 0.08% for polyester/cotton, and 1.47% ± 0.12% for cotton face masks). Also, deionized water was significantly less efficient as a single eluent for eluting bacteriophage phiX174 from all the studied face mask types. The polyethylene glycol (PEG) precipitation method was substantially more efficient (p < 0.05) as a second step concentration method for the viruses in the eluates than the organic flocculation (OF) method. Higher viral loads were eluted from polyester face masks than cotton ones. We also found varying viral loads in the eluate solutions from different commercial polyester face masks, with the highest percentage seen for the N95 face mask. The second objective was to apply the validated method to study the effect of autoclaving on the different face mask materials. Results of the study did not show any significant differences in the viral loads eluted from the studied face masks before and after one and five autoclaving cycles. Moreover, a scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis revealed no changes in the yarns, elongation, tensile strength, and contact angle measurements of the polyester or cotton materials after one or five autoclaving cycles. © Production and Hosting by Horizon Publisher India [HPI] (http://www.horizonpublisherindia.in/). All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
With the rapid spread of the coronavirus epidemic all over the world, educational and other institutions are heading towards digitization. In the era of digitization, identifying educational e-platform users using ear and iris based multi-modal biometric systems constitutes an urgent and interesting research topic to pre-serve enterprise security, particularly with wearing a face mask as a precaution against the new coronavirus epidemic. This study proposes a multimodal system based on ear and iris biometrics at the feature fusion level to identify students in electronic examinations (E-exams) during the COVID-19 pandemic. The proposed system comprises four steps. The first step is image preprocessing, which includes enhancing, segmenting, and extracting the regions of interest. The second step is feature extraction, where the Haralick texture and shape methods are used to extract the features of ear images, whereas Tamura texture and color histogram methods are used to extract the features of iris images. The third step is feature fusion, where the extracted features of the ear and iris images are combined into one sequential fused vector. The fourth step is the matching, which is executed using the City Block Distance (CTB) for student identification. The findings of the study indicate that the system’s recognition accuracy is 97%, with a 2% False Acceptance Rate (FAR), a 4% False Rejection Rate (FRR), a 94% Correct Recognition Rate (CRR), and a 96% Genuine Acceptance Rate (GAR). In addition, the proposed recognition system achieved higher accuracy than other related systems. © 2023, Tech Science Press. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Biosensors are the devices that find application in almost every field nowadays. In this paper, GaN MOSHEMT based biosensor is proposed for detection of biomolecules such as ChOx, protein, streptavidin and Uricase. The effect of biomolecule species on the performance parameters of the device has been studied. It has been observed that there is a significant increase in the drain current and gd is observed with the addition of biomolecule in the nanocavity. The electron concentration contour is studied which shows the rise of carrier concentration with biomolecule. Maximum positive shift is observed in threshold voltage for Uricase due to lowest dielectric constant. Similarly, the change in transconductance is also obtained with biomolecules. The effect of cavity dimensions on sensitivity is also studied. The maximum increase of 10% in channel potential is noted due biomolecule presence in the cavity. This device has shown good sensing and can be used for biosensing applications efficiently in addition to the high power performance of MOS-HEMTs.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Exposures to epidemics and Quarantine have been consistently associated with bad consequences. The impact of measures taken to contain COVID-19 on lifestyle-related behavior is undefined in Erbil academic teacher. The current study was undertaken to assess the impact of COVID-19 on lifestyle-related behaviors: eating, physical activity and sleep pattern among academic teachers of Salahadin University. Material and Methods: An online survey was conducted among (120) the academic teacher living in Erbil, Iraq during the COVID-19 quarantine. In addition to demographic and clinical data, participant’s self-reported changes in some lifestyle domains. Data were analyzed using SPSS software. Results: A total of 120 responses (51.7% male, and 48.3% mean age 42.10 ± 8.32 years) were collected. A reduction in physical activity coupled with an increase in daily screen time was found more among men. Changes in the participants’ physical activity decreased and they had a significant weight gain. With regard to sleeping habits, results indicated significant statistical differences before, during and after the pandemic, there was a marked increase in the number of sleeping hours per day. Conclusion: In this study, sizable proportions of participants reported meaningful changes in lifestyle behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic in Erbil. A detailed understanding of these factors can help to develop interventions to mitigate the negative lifestyle behaviors that have manifested during COVID-19. © 2021, Universitatea de Vest Vasile Goldis din Arad. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Since December 2019, the (COVID-19) epidemic has swept the world, causing widespread burden and increasingly hospitalizations. While public health and healthcare officers rushed to identify and incorporate the unfold of the virus, information was spreading uninhibited over traditional and social media program at a patently rapid pace. The objectives of the study were to 1) assess the attitude of Kurdish people regarding role of media in awareness regarding COVID-19 and practicing protection measures by them, 2) find out the association of their attitude with their sociodemographic characteristics. Materials and methods: it is a descriptive, cross-sectional study that started from 1-3-2020 to 1-6-2020. The sample size was included, 420 participants. Data were collected through a distributed Google-based questionnaire. The questionnaire consists of three main parts: socio-demographic characteristics, the role of mass media for prevention of COVID 19 and practicing of protection measures. The data were analyzed through the application of SPSS program version 23. Frequency, percentage, and chi-square tests were used. Results: The majority of participants depended on internet and social media to obtain information about COVID-19 and they are agreed that media has role on increasing awareness. Media encourage the majority of them to practice protection measures at least some of them. There was significant association between sociodemographic characteristics of sample with their attitude and practice regarding COVID-19. Conclusion: Media, specially social media have important roles in increasing awareness and obtaining information, regarding COVID-19 and encouraging people to practice the protection measures in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. © 2021 A. CARBONE Editore. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Background and aim: Spirituality is an important dimension of nursing care and spiritual care is essential to ensure that educational goals are met in the nursing profession, to provide optimal care and to meet, maintain and upgrade the standards of professional competence. The attitude and awareness of the medical staff towards spiritual care and spirituality can play a central role in the implementation of this care. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the attitudes toward spirituality and spiritual care in the healthcare workers (HCWs) to patients with COVID-19 in the intensive care unit (ICU). Materials and Methods: In this descriptive-analytical study, 298 HCWs were selected through sampling based on census. Data were collected using a demographic questionnaire and a Spirituality and Spiritual Care Rating Scale (SSCRS). questionnaire for measuring the spirituality and spiritual care in among HCWs. Data were analyzed using SPSS 18 software and descriptive and inferential statistics. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The majority of subjects (80.87%) were female and (63.8%) married. The mean age was 35.32 ± 1.53 years who had 10.51 ± 4.41 years of experience. The SSCRS score was 1.3% in low and undesirable HCWs, 59.2% in highly desirable levels, and the SSCRS score was moderate in 39.62% of cases. The attitudes toward spirituality had a direct and significant relationship with attitudes toward spiritual care, so that as attitudes toward spirituality increased, so did attitudes toward spiritual care. Conclusions: The attitude towards spirituality and spiritual care among the HCWs was favorable. The attention to spiritual care education is recommended for adverse events.