Secure NIfTI Image Authentication Scheme for Modern Healthcare System

Advances in digital neuroimaging technologies, i.e., MRI and CT scan technology, have radically changed illness diagnosis in the global healthcare system. Digital imaging technologies produce NIfTI images after scanning the patient's body. COVID-19 spared on a worldwide effort to detect the lung infection. CT scans have been performed on billions of COVID-19 patients in recent years, resulting in a massive amount of NIfTI images being produced and communicated over the internet for diagnosis. The dissemination of these medical photographs over the internet has resulted in a significant problem for the healthcare system to maintain its integrity, protect its intellectual property rights, and address other ethical considerations. Another significant issue is how radiologists recognize tempered medical images, sometimes leading to the wrong diagnosis. Thus, the healthcare system requires a robust and reliable watermarking method for these images. Several image watermarking approaches for .jpg, .dcm, .png, .bmp, and other image formats have been developed, but no substantial contribution to NIfTI images (.nii format) has been made. This research suggests a hybrid watermarking method for NIfTI images that employs Slantlet Transform (SLT), Lifting Wavelet Transform (LWT), and Arnold Cat Map. The suggested technique performed well against various attacks. Compared to earlier approaches, the results show that this method is more robust and invisible.

A nyugat-balkáni útvonal - migrációs trendek magyar szemszögből 2

A 2022-es évben folyamatosan no az irregularis migrációs nyomás Magyarország déli határán. Míg a 2020-2021 -es növekedést az illegális határátlépési kísérletek számában betudhattuk legalább részben a Covid-19-járvány miatt bevezetett korlátozások feloldásának, a 2022-es adatok további emelkedését már nem foghatjuk erre. Bár a jelenlegi érkezésszámok messze elmaradnak a 2015-ben tapasztaltaktól, ez nem jelenti azt, hogy az illegális migráció ma ne jelentene biztonsági kihívást. A tanulmány a rendelkezésre álló adatok elemzésén keresztül vizsgálja az irregularis migrációs mozgásokat. Földrajzi tekintetben a Magyarországot legközvetlenebbül érinto nyugat-balkáni útvonalra, idoben pedig elsosorban a 2020 utáni folyamatokra összpontosít, míg a migráció válfajait tekintve kizárólag annak irregularis formájával foglalkozik.Alternate :The pressure of irregular migration on the southern border of Hungary during 2022 has been increasing. While the increase in the number of illegal border crossing attempts in 2020-2021 could be attributed at least partially to the lifting of the restrictions introduced due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the further increase in 2022 cannot be explained by that. Although the current numbers are far below those seen in 2015, this does not mean that illegal migration is not a security challenge today. The study examines the irregular migration movements through an analysis of the available data. It focuses on the Western Balkan route, which most directly affects Hungary, and on the period after 2020, while regarding the types of migration, it deals exclusively with its irregular form.

THE EFFECT OF SURGICAL MASKS ON OXYGEN SATURATION AND PERCEIVED EXERTION DURING RESISTANCE TRAINING

Objective: This investigation aimed to evaluate SpO2, and the rate of perceived exertion (RPE) derived from a strength training session in two distinct scenarios: normal condition versus the usage of surgical masks for COVID-19 prevention. Methods: Fifteen trained men (81.66 ± 8.37 kg;177.66 ± 6.31 cm;26.88 ± 5.55 years of age;12.17 ± 5.98 % fat;1.15 ± 0.19 kg/kg bench press relative strength/body weight) were selected, and they performed two test sessions to determine 10-RM loads for all exercises adjusted for 80%. The SpO2 measurement was verified immediately after each set for every exercise, and, concomitantly, the participants were asked to identify their RPE to provide a subjective measure of fatigue. In the first session, subjects performed the training routine using the SARS-CoV-2 protection surgical mask with a passive rest interval of 2 minutes, but the second was performed without wearing a surgical mask. Results: The SpO2 showed a difference (p = 0.03) under the condition curve with the mask (481.33 ± 3.04) versus without the mask (484.46 ± 5.96), with increments in SpO2 for the condition without the mask at different verification times (p = 0.039). Regarding the initial sets and exercises, there were no significant differences between the RPE values between the different conditions, that is, regardless of the mask use (p = 0.052). However, for the final exercises, significant differences were observed in the second set (PD, p = 0.01;LC, p = 0.02) and in the three sets of the TE exercise (p = 0.006). Conclusion: Overall, we found that the use of surgical masks reduces SpO2 and increases RPE in a strength training session. © 2022, Drustvo Pedagoga Tjelesne i Zdravstvene Kulture. All rights reserved.

A Robust NIfTI Image Authentication Framework Based on DST and Multi-Scale Otsu Thresholding

Telemedicine has been intensely promoted in the present pandemic situation of COVID-19 to maintain a strategic distance from the infected person. Several medical tests were used to detect the coronavirus, including antigen, RT-PCR, and a lung CT scan. Only a lung CT-Scan can detect the coronavirus and provide information about the lung infection. As a result, digital imaging plays a critical role in the current pandemic situation. Teleradiology allows for the communication of digital medical images of patients over the internet for diagnosis. A lung CT-Scan test is currently being performed on billions of people to detect COVID-19. These images were sent via the internet for diagnosis and research purposes. The NIfTI image file (.nii extension) was created by the CT-Scanner and contains multiple slices of the lungs. As a result, radiologists determine that the received image has not been tempered during transmission, posing a critical authenticity problem when transmitting these images over the internet. As a result, the researchers are more concerned about the integrity and authenticity of these images in teleradiology. This paper proposes a blind, robust watermarking scheme for lung CT-Scan NIfTI images to address this issue. We use Otsu's image segmentation algorithm in the proposed scheme to identify the slice with the least amount of medical information for watermark embedding. The proposed scheme employs the Discrete Shearlet Transform (DST), Lifting Wavelet Transform (LWT), and Schur decomposition to embed the encrypted watermark. Watermarks are encrypted using the Affine Transform. The experimental results show that watermarked slice has been tainted by the addition of various sorts of noise, including salt-and-pepper noise, compression, Gaussian noise, speckle noise, and motion blur. After an attack, a watermark is retrieved, and the NC values of extracted watermarks are 0.99623 for Salt and pepper noise, 0.96964 for Gaussian noise, 0.99014 for Speckle noise. The proposed scheme was put to the test with a variety of attacks and produced significant results.

Risk factors of musculoskeletal disorders in loading and unloading tasks of couriers.

BACKGROUND: The use of home delivery services has expanded due to coronavirus disease - 2019, and couriers' high level of work intensity has become a severe social issue in various nations. OBJECTIVE: This study investigates the risk factors of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) caused by frequent loading and unloading actions, known to be the most demanding tasks for couriers. METHODS: A self-report survey and post-hoc interview were employed to collect personal information, task frequency, and the incidence of MSDs. Frequent actions during loading and unloading packages were identified, and the Rapid Entry Body Assessment (REBA) and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) lifting equations were assessed. RESULTS: Approximately 29.5% of the 44 subjects suffered from MSDs, and identify the types of actions that frequently occur during loading and unloading packages. According to the REBA survey, 60% of the responses for both loading and unloading are distributed within the risk range of 8-13 points, suggesting a high risk (mean REBA score: 8.8 (loading), 8.5 (unloading)). In every case, NIOSH determined that the lifting index (LI) was harmful (mean LI: 1.62). Thereby, the bending or twisting posture of the hands and neck, long horizontal distance between the packages and the body, and high lifting frequency were identified as major problems. CONCLUSION: The study identified a very high level of musculoskeletal risk for couriers, and the detailed working methods and body parts vulnerable to MSDs.

Excessive exercise and IPED use among sport disciplines

Background: Physical distancing under the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic had a significant impact on lifestyles, including exercise routines. In this study, we examined the difference of tendency of addictive behaviors, such as excessive exercise and the usage of the image and performance-enhancing drug (IPED) across 12 sport disciplines Method: A large cross-sectional sample of the adult population (N= 2,295) was surveyed. The use of IPED was assessed in conjunction with psychometric measures such as the Exercise Addiction Inventory (EAI) and the Appearance Anxiety Inventory (AAI). The participants were grouped into activity group (AG) and non-activity group (NAG) according to the presence or absence of their exercise habits. The results were compared between these groups, as well as across sport disciplines. Results: The frequency of IPEDs use was higher among AG (34.6%) than NAG (14.6%). The logistic regression analysis revealed that scores equal to or above cutoff points, in both the EAI and AAI, predicted the IPED use. Regarding the differences across the various sports disciplines, those who were involved in practicing Weight Lifting and Cross-Fit were found to be more at risk of excessive exercising and more inclined to use a wide range of IPED. Conversely, those who were engaged in walking is low EAI as well as a low rate of IPED use. Conclusions: These results may indicate that excessive exercise is associated with the risk of cross-addiction with substance intake, particularly in disciplines that demand high-intensity functional training.

THE EFFECT of REMOTE and FACE-TO-FACE STABILIZATION EXERCISES on FUNCTIONAL CAPACITY of ASYMPTOMATIC INDIVIDUALS

Background: In recent years, it has been emphasized that preventive rehabilitation approaches for problems such as low back and neck pain, which are very high in health expenditures, are more cost-effective than treating them. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, risk factors for individuals' spinal health have increased and access to health care has become difficult (1). Therefore, interest in tele-rehabilitation, which is an important part of telehealth, has increased recently. Objectives: This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of remote and face-to-face spinal stabilization exercise training on functional capacity tests in asymptomatic individuals. Methods: Individuals who did not have chronic low back and neck pain and between the ages of 18-55 were included in the study. While the face-to-face group traditionally exercised under the supervision of a physiotherapist, the tel-erehabilitation group exercised with videoconferencing and asynchronous video recordings. Both groups performed progressive spinal stabilization exercises 3 days a week for 8 weeks (2). Before and after the training functional capacity tests (repetitive reaching, lifting object overhead, and sustained overhead work) were performed (3). Results: Twenty (11 female, 9 male) individuals with a mean age of 30,252±9.06 and a mean body mass index of 24.36±4.09 were included in the study. There was no difference between the baseline values of functional capacity test scores of both groups (p>0.05). There were signifcant improvements in the repetitive reaching and sustained overhead work tests after the exercise program in both groups (p< 0.05), while there was no difference in the lifting object overhead test (p> 0.05). There was no difference between the changes in functional capacity test scores between the groups after the training (p> 0.05). Conclusion: According to our preliminary results, face-to-face and remote spinal stabilization exercise programs caused similarly positive changes in functional capacity test scores (repetitive reaching, sustained overhead tests) of asymptomatic individuals. These exercises are known to improve deep muscle activation. This development may have led to improvements in tests, which mostly evaluate speed, coordination and endurance. Weight lifting capacities have not changed. This may be because stabilization exercises focus more on deep muscle activation and not on developing superfcial muscle strength like upper extremity strength(2). Success of exercise training with telerehabilitation may have contributed to the younger population and possibly better adaptation to technology. It is planned that these preliminary results will be extended and make greater contributions to the current literature.

Editorial

[...]with many, if not all, countries lifting restrictions and international travel reopening, the 2022 in-person archaeology conference calendar looks particularly full, including EAA (Budapest), WAC (Prague), PanAf (Zanzibar), SEAA (Daegu, South Korea) and IPPA (Chiang Mai, Thailand). Sadly, the renovation of the Native North America Hall was not quite complete in time for the SAA meeting, though the curators were on hand in the gallery space to greet delegates and discuss the plans;the new displays subsequently opened at the end of May (Figure 1). The use of remotely sensed data for the detection and assessment of looting and other damage to archaeological sites has frequently featured in the pages of Antiquity.1 Much of this work has focused on the arid landscapes of the Middle East;Kirsty's research investigates the densely forested landscapes of Central America and makes the case for the wider application of lidar in this very different environment to help combat the persistent and widespread looting of sites across the region. Evaluating nearly 70 000 s drawn from 41 annual meetings, the authors identify very limited discussion of racism-related topics over the past 50 years, although they do note an uptick over the past decade. [...]the results suggest that most of the attention to racism documented in the s relates to the research of historical archaeologists working on the last few centuries, with much less discussion amongst specialists of other, earlier periods.

PREREQUISITES FOR THE CREATION OF LIFTING AND COLLECTING TECHNOLOGICAL MODULE FOR THE INSTALLATION OF STRUCTURAL BLOCKS OF THE COATING

The article considers the approach to the use of lifting and assembly technological module in installing structural blocks of the building. The urgency of this work is the need to develop methods and means of installation and dismantling of long-span buildings, due to the need to build premises (industrial hangars, concert venues, Covid-hospitals, etc.). Modern approaches to the installation of structural blocks of coatings are analyzed. Improvement of constructive decisions of basic units of a covering and directly their supports is offered. Given that the construction of buildings mainly depends on the level of mechanization on the construction site, the main attention is paid to the improvement of existing mechanized technological means. Based on the offered improvements in a design of a covering and its support use of the mechanized technological module for the realization of raising of the block of a covering to a design mark with the simultaneous growth of columns is offered. In the course of comparison of the offered technology of installation of a covering with the basic crane variant, the degree of consolidation of a covering and ways of robotization of the mechanized module are proved.

Suspect narratives: “Sinifying” an “Indianized” Japanese story

In 2013, the Malayalam film Drishyam, a suspenseful story of the cover up of an accidental murder, became a huge hit in India that inspired remakes in many regional languages including one in Hindi that, as with other recent Bollywood hits, traveled to China. This time, though, instead of screening the Hindi film in theaters, the narrative reached Chinese audiences with a Chinese language remake, titled Sheep Without A Shepherd《误杀》. The original film has been accused of lifting its story from a popular Japanese detective novel, The Devotion of Suspect X, which was also made into films in Japanese, Chinese, and Korean. This essay traces the many versions of the narrative to explore how comparing the Indian and Chinese films can recenter our understanding of global cinema and film circulation. When considering the many version of Drishyam, instead of focusing on tensions between center and periphery, we can examine both the anxieties and the creative power of cultural borrowing and the retelling of narratives in an increasingly inter-connected Asian film market

China's Tourism Crisis During the Pandemic: New Approaches and Transformation of the "Zero-COVID" Policy

In 2020 and 2021, the global tourism sector underwent profound transformations. Global lockdowns, border closures, and restrictions on the movement of citizens led to a recession in the tourism industry and to long-term negative consequences for the global economy. The pandemic highlighted the vulnerability of the sector, insufficient government support, excessive fragmentation, and the lack of experience in effectively dealing with new risks and threats. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, China was a crucial global tourism power. In the fight against coronavirus infection, the country has chosen the "zero-COVID" strategy.1 However, the return to the "bamboo curtain"2 policy and the closure of borders have not led to complete stagnation of the sector. The gradual liberalization of domestic tourist travel, the lifting of bans on the first outbound travel of citizens to the Macao SAR, discussion of vaccine diplomacy issues, and the high pace of the vaccination campaign will turn a new page in the development of the tourism sector in the country. During the fight against the pandemic, Beijing did not implement an incentive policy aimed at increasing domestic tourist travel. Recovery of the sector proceeded at a slow pace due to the forced need to coordinate the activities of tourism enterprises with the "zero-COVID" policy. Using the analysis of statistical data and regulatory legal acts of 2020-2021, the author traces the evolution of approaches to controlling the spread of the pandemic in the tourism industry and analyzes the trends that have emerged. The study proves that, in China, there are no contradictions between two opposing concepts: the "zero-COVID" approach and the strategy of "living with the virus."

Authentication of NIfTI Neuroimages Using Lifting Wavelet Transform, Arnold Cat Map, Z-Transform, and Hessenberg Decomposition

The technological progress in digital medical imaging has enabled the diagnosis of various ailments, and thus upgraded the global healthcare system. In the era of coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19), telemedicine plays the crucial role of supporting remote medical consultation in rural locations. During the remote consultation, numerous medical images are sent to each radiologist via the Internet. There has been a surge in the number of attacks on digital medical images worldwide, which severely threatens authenticity and ownership. To mitigate the threat, this paper proposes a robust and secure watermarking approach for NIfTI images. Our approach painstakingly incorporates a watermark into the chosen NIfTI image slice, aiming to accurately fit the watermark, while preserving the medical information contained in the slice. Specifically, the original image was converted through the lifting wavelet transform (LWT), realizing excellent modification during insertion. Next, Z transform was applied over the low-low (LL) band, and the Hessenberg decomposition (HD) was performed on the transformed band, which contains the maximum energy of the image. Afterwards, Arnold Cat map was employed to scramble the watermark, before inserting it into the slice. Simulation results show that our approach strikes a perfect balance between security, imperceptibility, and robustness against various attacks, as suggested by metrics like peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR), normalized correlation (NC), structural similarity index measure (SSIM), and universal image quality index Q.

IMPROVING ERGONOMICS: KEEPING WELL AT WORK

Self-care is a phrase that is often used recently, especially with the additional stresses and strains that the pandemic has delivered. With a common general focus on the care provided to women, birthing people and their families, consideration for midwives' own wellbeing can sometimes be low down on the list of priorities. So, for the new year, I challenge you all to be more mindful of yourself, your health, and your wellbeing needs. After all, what will benefit you will in turn benefit the people who you care for and make services overall more efficient. Also look out for your colleagues and students;it's often when observing others that we can see potential hazards more clearly. An important element of professional self-care is working with the correct equipment to ensure optimal outcomes for the person receiving care and to decrease the risk of injury for the practitioner.

Hit Hard but Recover Slowly: The Asymmetric Effects of Social Distancing Policies on the US Labor Market

This study employs a difference-in-differences approach to examine the US labor market response to two widely used social distancing policies, stay-at-home (SAH) order and non-essential business closure, with special attention paid to the asymmetric effect of the policies imposition and lifting. Exploiting the variation across states and time, we find that state employment rates declined by 4.3% and 1.9% for the two policies respectively, within one month of the enaction of social distancing policies, but the recovery was slower after the policies were removed. We also highlight that the low-income group suffered the highest employment rate drop from the SAH enaction while presenting the mildest rebound. Self-employed workers were more affected by the policy impositions but recovered slightly faster than wage earners. Our results suggest persistent efforts must be made after the pandemic, especially for more vulnerable groups in the labor market.

Evaluation of the HeroWear Apex back-assist exosuit during multiple brief tasks.

Trunk exoskeletons are wearable devices that support humans during physically demanding tasks by reducing biomechanical loads on the back. While most trunk exoskeletons are rigid devices, more lightweight soft exoskeletons (exosuits) have recently been developed. One such exosuit is the HeroWear Apex, which achieved promising results in the developers' own work but has not been independently evaluated. This paper thus presents an evaluation of the Apex with 20 adult participants during multiple brief tasks: standing up from a stool with a symmetric or asymmetric load, lifting a unilateral or bilateral load from the floor to waist level, lifting the same bilateral load with a 90-degree turn to the right, lowering a bilateral load from waist level to floor, and walking while carrying a bilateral load. The tasks were performed in an ABA-style protocol: first with exosuit assistance disengaged, then with it engaged, then disengaged again. Four measurement types were taken: electromyography (of the erector spinae, rectus abdominis, and middle trapezius), trunk kinematics, self-report ratings, and heart rate. The exosuit decreased the erector spinae electromyogram by about 15% during object lifting and lowering tasks; furthermore, participants found the exosuit mildly to moderately helpful. No adverse effects on other muscles or during non-lifting tasks were noted, and a decrease in middle trapezius electromyogram was observed for one task. This confirms that the HeroWear Apex could reduce muscle demand and fatigue. The results may transfer to other exoskeletons with similar design principles, and may inform researchers working with other wearable devices.

Lifting mobility restrictions and the effect of superspreading events on the short-term dynamics of COVID-19.

SARS-CoV-2 has now infected 15 million people and produced more than six hundred thousand deaths around the world. Due to high transmission levels, many governments implemented social distancing and confinement measures with different levels of required compliance to mitigate the COVID-19 epidemic. In several countries, these measures were effective, and it was possible to flatten the epidemic curve and control it. In others, this objective was not or has not been achieved. In far too many cities around the world, rebounds of the epidemic are occurring or, in others, plateaulike states have appeared, where high incidence rates remain constant for relatively long periods of time. Nonetheless, faced with the challenge of urgent social need to reactivate their economies, many countries have decided to lift mitigation measures at times of high incidence. In this paper, we use a mathematical model to characterize the impact of short duration transmission events within the confinement period previous but close to the epidemic peak. The model also describes the possible consequences on the disease dynamics after mitigation measures are lifted. We use Mexico City as a case study. The results show that events of high mobility may produce either a later higher peak, a long plateau with relatively constant but high incidence or the same peak as in the original baseline epidemic curve, but with a post-peak interval of slower decay. Finally, we also show the importance of carefully timing the lifting of mitigation measures. If this occurs during a period of high incidence, then the disease transmission will rapidly increase, unless the effective contact rate keeps decreasing, which will be very difficult to achieve once the population is released.

Could masks curtail the post-lockdown resurgence of COVID-19 in the US?

The community lockdown measures implemented in the United States from late March to late May of 2020 resulted in a significant reduction in the community transmission of the COVID-19 pandemic throughout the country. However, a number of US states are currently experiencing an alarming post-lockdown resurgence of the pandemic, triggering fears for a devastating second pandemic wave. We designed a mathematical model for addressing the key question of whether or not the universal use of face masks can halt such resurgence (and possibly avert a second wave, without having to undergo another cycle of major community lockdown) in the states of Arizona, Florida, New York and the entire US. Model calibration, using cumulative mortality data for the four jurisdictions during their respective pre-lockdown and lockdown periods, show that pre-symptomatic and asymptomatically-infectious individuals are, by far, the main drivers of the COVID-19 pandemic in each of the jurisdictions. The implication of this result is that detecting and isolating individuals with clinical symptoms of the pandemic alone (even if all of them are found) may not be sufficient to effectively curtail the pandemic. To achieve such control, it is crucially-necessary that pre-symptomatic and asymptomatically-infectious individuals are rapidly detected and isolated (and their contacts rapidly traced and tested). Our study highlights the importance of early implementation of the community lockdown measures. In particular, a sizable reduction in the burden of the pandemic would have been recorded in each of the four jurisdictions if the community lockdown measures were implemented a week or two earlier. These reductions are significantly increased if the early implementation of the lockdown measures was complemented with a public face mask use strategy. With all related control measures maintained at their baseline levels, this study shows that the pandemic would have been almost completely suppressed from significantly taking off if the lockdown measures were implemented two weeks earlier, and if a sizable percentage of the residents of the four jurisdictions wore face masks during the respective lockdown periods. The burden of the second wave of the pandemic would have been reduced significantly if the lockdown measures were extended by two weeks. We simulated the pandemic in the four jurisdictions under three levels of lifting of community lockdown, namely mild, moderate and high. For the scenario where the control measures adopted are maintained at their baseline levels during the lockdown period, our simulations show that the states of Arizona and Florida will record devastating second waves of the pandemic by the end of 2020, while the state of New York and the entire US will record milder second waves. If the community lockdown measures were lifted at the mild lifting level (i.e., only limited community contacts and business activities are allowed, in comparison to the levels of these activities allowed during the corresponding lockdown period), only the state of Florida will experience a second wave. It is further shown that the severity of the projected second waves depend on the level of lifting of the community lockdown. For instance, the projected second wave for Arizona and Florida will be more severe than their respective first waves. It is further shown that, for high level of lifting of community lockdown measures, the increased use of face masks after the lockdown period greatly reduces the burden of the pandemic in each jurisdiction. In particular, for this high lockdown lifting scenario, none of the four jurisdictions will experience a second wave if half of their residents wear face masks consistently after their respective lockdown period. A diagnostic testing strategy that increases the maximum detection rate of asymptomatic infected individuals (followed by contact tracing and self-isolation of the detected cases) greatly reduces the burden of the pandemic in all four jurisdictions, particularly if also combined with a universal face mask use strategy. Finally, it is shown that the universal use of face masks in public, with at least moderate level of compliance, could halt the post-lockdown resurgence of COVID-19, in addition to averting the potential for (and severity of) a second wave of the pandemic in each of the four jurisdictions.