Automatic Detection of Lung Ultrasound Artifacts using a Deep Neural Networks approach

The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged many of the healthcare systems around the world. Many patients who have been hospitalized due to this disease develop lung damage. In low and middle-income countries, people living in rural and remote areas have very limited access to adequate health care. Ultrasound is a safe, portable and accessible alternative;however, it has limitations such as being operator-dependent and requiring a trained professional. The use of lung ultrasound volume sweep imaging is a potential solution for this lack of physicians. In order to support this protocol, image processing together with machine learning is a potential methodology for an automatic lung damage screening system. In this paper we present an automatic detection of lung ultrasound artifacts using a Deep Neural Network, identifying clinical relevant artifacts such as pleural and A-lines contained in the ultrasound examination taken as part of the clinical screening in patients with suspected lung damage. The model achieved encouraging preliminary results such as sensitivity of 94%, specificity of 81%, and accuracy of 89% to identify the presence of A-lines. Finally, the present study could result in an alternative solution for an operator-independent lung damage screening in rural areas, leading to the integration of AI-based technology as a complementary tool for healthcare professionals. © 2023 SPIE.

Improving Healthcare Facilities in Remote Areas Using Cutting-Edge Technologies

Healthcare is a critical field of research and equally important for all nations. Providing secure healthcare facilities to citizens is the primary concern of each nation. However, people living in remote areas do not get timely and sufficient healthcare facilities, even in developed countries. During the recent COVID-19 pandemic, many fatalities occurred due to the inaccessibility of healthcare facilities on time. Therefore, there is a need to propose a solution that may help citizens living in remote areas with proper and secure healthcare facilities without moving to other places. The revolution in ICT technologies, especially IoT, 5G, and cloud computing, has made access to healthcare facilities easy and approachable. There is a need to benefit from these technologies so that everyone can get secure healthcare facilities from anywhere. This research proposes a framework that will ensure 24/7 accessibility of healthcare facilities by anyone from anywhere, especially in rural areas with fewer healthcare facilities. In the proposed approach, the patients will receive doorstep treatment from the remote doctor in rural areas or the nearby local clinic. Healthcare resources (doctor, treatment, patient counseling, diagnosis, etc.) will be shared remotely with people far from these facilities. The proposed approach is tested using mathematical modeling and a case study, and the findings confirm that the proposed approach helps improve healthcare facilities for remote patients.

Development of an acquisition system to monitoring asynchronous tele-ultrasound for lung patients

Lung ultrasound imaging allows the detection and evaluation of the lung damage generated by COVID-19. However, several infrastructure and logistical limitations prevent them from being carried out in isolated and remote areas. In this work, a system for the acquisition of medical images through asynchronous tele-ultrasounds was developed. The system is based on a graphical user interface, which records the three video cameras, the ultrasound image and the accelerometer simultaneously. The interface was developed according to the Volume Sweep Imaging acquisition protocol. The translational and rotational movement of the transducer are tracked and monitored by the accelerometer and the position of the transducer is obtained from the images acquired by the three video cameras. The results show a correct functioning of the system overall, being viable to be implemented for data acquisition and calculation of error, although in order to validate the error calculation there is still more research to be done. © 2023 SPIE.

Work in Progress: Benefits of Learning Engineering Sciences to Transition from Face-to-Face to Virtual Learning of Engineering, Technology, and Computing due to COVID-19

For equatorial African countries such as Rwanda the power grid in some regions is either absent or highly unreliable even though these locations are blessed with reliable solar radiation most of the time. Designing and implementing solar power systems capable of supporting micro-computer systems such as Raspberry Pi devices that can be used in educational environments is a way to overcome grid challenges while at the same time imparting valuable lessons covering Engineering, Technology, and Computing. Using Learning Engineering Sciences best practices effectively mitigates how COVID-19 that has required standard face-to-face project and learning strategies to transition to virtual or hybrid strategies that utilize Open Educational Resources (OER). These strategies include video conferencing, file sharing platforms, and messaging applications to generate learning activities, create courses to construct the learning program for training teachers in the use of OER and Raspberry Pi desktop devices. © 2023 IEEE.

Post Covid Scenario Effective E-Mentoring System in Higher Education

During Covid-19 pandemic many people and institutions preferred online coaching instead of in person education. The problem with online is that it will be difficult to carry on interconnections between students and professors in that environment. The main constraint for conducting online session is that the people in remote areas may find a difficulty to connect to online sessions having network issues. Electronic mentoring (e-mentoring) is implemented like a website in which the mentor and mentee can communicate with each other. With the help of this mentoring the project can provide a best solution for both the mentor and mentee. They can communicate with each other with the help of online platform and even with the help of emails.This proposed method will help them to keep the track of their academic progress and achievements of students. This article mainly focus on the mentoring through physical and virtual environment in which the mentee will be interacting with the mentor to know the progress of their academics. This article discusses about the website which is developed to fulfill the needs of the student and it discusses about the various stages of development that helped in building the website. Students can share their difficulties and their achievements with the mentor who are assigned for them particularly. In future planning to implement artificial intelligence technique to online mentoring process, this is for the betterment of student's growth. © 2023 IEEE.

5G-Based Telerobotic Ultrasound System Improves Access to Breast Examination in Rural and Remote Areas: A Prospective and Two-Scenario Study.

OBJECTIVE: Ultrasound (US) plays an important role in the diagnosis and management of breast diseases; however, effective breast US screening is lacking in rural and remote areas. To alleviate this issue, we prospectively evaluated the clinical availability of 5G-based telerobotic US technology for breast examinations in rural and remote areas. METHODS: Between September 2020 and March 2021, 63 patients underwent conventional and telerobotic US examinations in a rural island (Scenario A), while 20 patients underwent telerobotic US examination in a mobile car located in a remote county (Scenario B) in May 2021. The safety, duration, US image quality, consistency, and acceptability of the 5G-based telerobotic US were assessed. RESULTS: In Scenario A, the average duration of the telerobotic US procedure was longer than that of conventional US (10.3 ± 3.3 min vs. 7.6 ± 3.0 min, p = 0.017), but their average imaging scores were similar (4.86 vs. 4.90, p = 0.159). Two cases of gynecomastia, one of lactation mastitis, and one of postoperative breast effusion were diagnosed and 32 nodules were detected using the two US methods. There was good interobserver agreement between the US features and BI-RADS categories of the identical nodules (ICC = 0.795-1.000). In Scenario B, breast nodules were detected in 65% of the patients using telerobotic US. Its average duration was 10.1 ± 2.3 min, and the average imaging score was 4.85. Overall, 90.4% of the patients were willing to choose telerobotic US in the future, and tele-sonologists were satisfied with 85.5% of the examinations. CONCLUSION: The 5G-based telerobotic US system is feasible for providing effective breast examinations in rural and remote areas.

The use of residual serum samples to perform serological surveillance of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 in Dili and regional areas of Timor-Leste.

BACKGROUND: Lack of access to diagnostic testing for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection can limit disease surveillance in remote areas. Serological surveillance can indicate the true extent and distribution of infections in such settings. METHODS: This study monitored SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in residual serum samples salvaged from laboratories at five healthcare facilities across Timor-Leste from March to October 2021. RESULTS: Seroprevalence increased from 8.3% to 87.0% during the study period. Potential immunity gaps were identified among children aged 0-15 y (who had not been eligible for vaccination) and individuals aged >60 y. CONCLUSIONS: Efforts to vaccinate vulnerable individuals including older people should be maintained. Residual serum samples can be analysed to give local, contemporary information about the extent and distribution of antibodies to infections, especially SARS-CoV-2, in areas where epidemiological information is limited.

COVID-19 and Food Security in Ethiopia: Do Social Protection Programs Protect?

We assess the ability of Ethiopia's flagship social protection program, the Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP), to mitigate the adverse impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on food and nutrition security of households, mothers, and children. We use both prepandemic in-person household survey data and a postpandemic phone survey. Employing a household fixed effects difference-in-differences approach, we find that household food insecurity increased by 11.7 percentage points and the size of the food gap increased by 0.47 months in the aftermath of the onset of the pandemic. Participation in the PSNP offsets virtually almost all of this adverse change;the likelihood of becoming food insecure increased by only 2.4 percentage points for PSNP households, and the food gap increased by only 0.13 months. The protective role of the PSNP was greater for poorer households and those living in remote areas. Results are robust to definitions of PSNP participation, different estimators, and how we account for the nonrandomness of mobile phone ownership. Furthermore, PSNP households were less likely to reduce expenditures on health and education by 7.7 percentage points and were less likely to reduce expenditures on agricultural inputs by 13 percentage points.

SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF EMPLOYMENT IN RURAL AREAS

The results of a secondary analysis of representative All-Russian precarity studies (2018 and 2020) data characterizing employment conditions in rural areas are presented. Changes in material well-being, labor relations and social guarantees indicators in connection with restrictive measures in 2020 are discussed. Conclusions are drawn about the decline in the quality of labor resources in Russia's rural areas, underutilization and precarization of labor, as well as insufficient "safety cushion” for rural residents due to weak social security, lack of financial savings, instability in labor relations manifested during the pandemic. © 2022 г.

SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF EMPLOYMENT IN RURAL AREAS

The results of a secondary analysis of representative All-Russian precarity studies (2018 and 2020) data characterizing employment conditions in rural areas are presented. Changes in material well-being, labor relations and social guarantees indicators in connection with restrictive measures in 2020 are discussed. Conclusions are drawn about the decline in the quality of labor resources in Russia's rural areas, underutilization and precarization of labor, as well as insufficient "safety cushion” for rural residents due to weak social security, lack of financial savings, instability in labor relations manifested during the pandemic. © 2022 г.

The use of residual serum samples to perform serological surveillance of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 in Dili and regional areas of Timor-Leste

BACKGROUND: Lack of access to diagnostic testing for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection can limit disease surveillance in remote areas. Serological surveillance can indicate the true extent and distribution of infections in such settings. METHODS: This study monitored SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in residual serum samples salvaged from laboratories at five healthcare facilities across Timor-Leste from March to October 2021. RESULTS: Seroprevalence increased from 8.3% to 87.0% during the study period. Potential immunity gaps were identified among children aged 0-15 y (who had not been eligible for vaccination) and individuals aged >60 y. CONCLUSIONS: Efforts to vaccinate vulnerable individuals including older people should be maintained. Residual serum samples can be analysed to give local, contemporary information about the extent and distribution of antibodies to infections, especially SARS-CoV-2, in areas where epidemiological information is limited.

Tourism as an Opportunity to Effectively Counteract Marginalisation. The Case of the Italian National Strategy for Inner Areas

Remote rural areas are often rich in natural and landscape assets, which are in turn used as the main focus of tourism development strategies aiming at reverting their decline. However, mono-functional strategies hardly manage to achieve this goal, as in order to restore those structural conditions that are essential to liveability and local development it is necessary to engage in a more comprehensive approach. Acknowledging this challenge, the paper reflects on the possibility to include tourism within multi-level development strategies aimed at tackling marginalisation, drawing on the case of the Italian National Strategy for Inner Areas. More in detail, the authors analyse how the latter enables the integration of tourism-related actions into more comprehensive, place-based development strategies that act upon the peculiarities of the territories they focus on through a mix of top-down and bottom-up logics.

The perceived need for evidence-based COVID-19 management and Tele-education in the North-East region of India: a cross-sectional survey.

Due to the sudden rise in the cases of COVID-19 in the North-Eastern region of India, this study was conducted to survey the felt needs of the medical professionals with regards to education on the evidence-based management of COVID-19. A total of 25 North-East leaders were recruited and a baseline survey was conducted through the digital medium. Out of 25 North-East leaders, 52% were undergoing training in evidence-based medicine in the capacity-building program for evidence-based child health. Participants (48%) strongly agreed and 40% agreed on the possibility of enhanced care by capacity building in the areas of COVID-19 management through discussing cases. Out of 25 North East leaders, 48% agreed to join both as a speaker as well as a participant. Various priority topics on COVID-19 management e.g. childhood, adult, ocular manifestation, ICU management, telemedicine, vaccines, lab protocols, psychological distress, and treatment strategy have emerged. We have presented the findings of the survey which will help guide the mentoring program focusing on evidence-based management of COVID-19 in remote areas through Tele-education.

Telehealth for Social Interventions With Adolescents and Young Adults: Diverse Perspectives

This article describes the telehealth experiences of adolescents, young adults, and youth workers during the first and second waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in the province of Québec, Canada, where remote appointments was the recommended alternative to in-person meetings due to various public health restrictions. Four main themes emerged from individual interviews with nine adolescents and young adults (aged 15–25 years) and focus groups with 35 service providers: the trust relationship, loss of nonverbal communication, confidentiality concerns, and youth disengagement. Participants agreed that face-to-face psychosocial intervention is the preferred option for quality care and service. However, with appropriate support and infrastructure, telehealth could be a reliable alternate modality for reaching adolescents and young adults in remote and rural areas as well as for follow-up care for adolescents and young adults who have an established and trusted relationship with their service provider. For interventions to remain youth-friendly and person-centred, adolescents and young adults must always be offered a choice of modality. IMPLICATIONS Perspectives of adolescents, young adults, and youth workers intersect to provide a unique understanding of telehealth in a specific context. There is scant literature on the use of telehealth as a social work practice modality, specifically with adolescents, young adults and their families. This article attempts to fill this gap by providing an early look at the experiences of telehealth during the first two waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in Québec, Canada. Perspectives of adolescents, young adults, and youth workers intersect to provide a unique understanding of telehealth in a specific context.There is scant literature on the use of telehealth as a social work practice modality, specifically with adolescents, young adults and their families. This article attempts to fill this gap by providing an early look at the experiences of telehealth during the first two waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in Québec, Canada. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Australian Social Work is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Association between Diet Quality and Health Outcomes among Children in Rural Areas of Northwest China.

This study aims to examine the relationship between diet quality and health outcomes among children in rural remote areas of China. We draw on a cross-sectional dataset of 1216 children from two counties in the Gansu Province in Northwest China. Child health outcomes were assessed with both anthropometric measurements and reports by primary caregivers of the children. Child diet quality was assessed with the diet quality score (DQS) using information from a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Our data show the prevalence of stunting and underweight among sample children were 12% and 11%, respectively; 27% of children were reported by their caregivers as unhealthy, and 60% of children had at least one of the seventeen selected non-communicable diseases (NCDs) over the past 14 days. Overall, 780 (72%) children have at least one of the four above-mentioned health problems. Results from logistic regression models show that a higher DQS was significantly associated with a lower likelihood of being stunted and a higher likelihood of being reported healthy after adjusting for confounders. These findings imply that improving child diet quality might be an option when designing interventions to improve child health.

Tobacco Farming, Addiction, Promotion of Gender Equality, Well-being and Monopoly of the Indian Market

Women's land rights are still suppressed in India because men hold most of the land, and men decide what crops to grow. Tobacco use and farming are both detriments to one's health. It causes cancer, and cancer treatment is unavailable in the majority of India's remote areas. On the other hand, tobacco is grown in remote regions of India, and cancer hospitals are concentrated in major cities. There are eight states in India's north-eastern region, but only one cancer treatment facility in Guwahati, Assam. There is a need for new cancer hospitals in the north-eastern part of the country, where there is just one cancer hospital for eight states. Mindfulness training and tobacco harmful effects awareness education should be integrated into the educational curriculum and community centres. The school curriculum should include more mindfulness and psychoeducation about tobacco's detrimental effects. The pandemic situation in India and elsewhere make any community-based response difficult right now. Some parts of India, such as A&I Island, the North-Eastern region of India, and J&K, lack high-speed internet connectivity;therefore, radio, television, audio CDs, audio files, recorded videos, reading materials, and cell phones may be the best ways to reach out. Internetbased outreach is another option. A non-governmental organisation (NGO) or other organisation would be required to create regional language reading material, audio files, and video files. Given the global pandemic crisis, such programmes must be put in place as soon as possible. A team of specialists, regional language experts, local cultural experts, and volunteers would be needed to achieve these objectives.

Wireless Sensor Networks for Telerehabilitation of Parkinson’s Disease Using Rhythmic Auditory Stimulation

Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease affecting mainly the elderly. Patients affected by PD may experience slowness of movements, loss of automatic movements, and impaired posture and balance. Physical therapy is highly recommended to improve their walking where therapists instruct patients to perform big and loud exercises. Rhythmic Auditory Stimulation (RAS) is a method used in therapy where external stimuli are used to facilitate movement initiation and continuation. Aside from face-to-face therapy sessions, home rehabilitation programs are used by PD patients with mobility issues and who live in remote areas. Telerehabilitation is a growing practice amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This work describes the design and implementation of a wireless sensor network to remotely and objectively monitor the rehabilitation progress of patients at their own homes. The system, designed in consultation with a physical therapist, includes insole sensors which measure step parameters, a base station as a phone application which facilitates RAS training sessions and communication interface between the therapist and patients, and an online server storing all training results for viewing. Step data from the system’s real-time analysis were validated against post-processed and reconstructed signals from the raw sensor data gathered across different beats. The system has an accuracy of at least 80% and 72% for the total steps and correct steps respectively. © 2022, ICST Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering.

The role of digital technology in providing education, training, continuing professional development and support to the rural health workforce

Purpose>Education, training and continuing professional development are amongst the evidence-based initiatives for attracting and retaining rural and remote health professionals. With rapidly increasing access to and use of digital technology worldwide, there are new opportunities to leverage training and support for those who are working in rural and remote areas. In this paper we determine the key elements associated with the utility of digital technologies to provide education, training, professional learning and support for rural health workforce outside the University and tertiary sector.Design/methodology/approach>A scoping review of peer-reviewed literature from Australia, Canada, US and New Zealand was conducted in four bibliographic databases – Medline complete, CINAHL, Academic Search complete and Education Complete. Relevant studies published between January 2010 and September 2020 were identified. The Levac et al. (2010) enhanced methodology of the Arksey and O'Malley (2005) framework was used to analyse the literature.Findings>The literature suggests there is mounting evidence demonstrating the potential for online platforms to address the challenges of rural health professional practice and the tyranny of distance. After analysing 22 publications, seven main themes were found – Knowledge and skills (n = 13), access (n = 10), information technology (n = 7), translation of knowledge into practice (n = 6), empowerment and confidence (n = 5), engagement (n = 5) and the need for support (n = 5). Ongoing evaluation will be critical to explore new opportunities for digital technology to demonstrate enhanced capability and retention of rural health professionals.Originality/value>To date there has been limited examination of research that addresses the value of digital platforms on continuing professional development, education and support for rural health professionals outside the university and tertiary training sectors.

Guest editorial: Digital solutions to bridging the gap between health services and workforce in rural areas

[...]in most of these studies there was also a link between e-learning literacy and engagement in online learning. [...]it could be concluded that whilst the expansion of available e-learning resources and continuing advances in technology will enable many rural health professionals to access learning, it is of utmost importance that the intended audience is adequately supported to develop digital literacy and to put the learning into practice. The article by Johnsson, Lincoln, Bundy, Costley and Bulkeley titled “Evaluation of a webinar and video-conferencing support program designed to upskill staff working with children with autism in remote areas”, evaluated a novel webinar training and individual online support programme for 36 allied health, education and community support staff. The authors present a case study that demonstrates the value of a co-design process and key learning design choices in online course development to meet the educational needs of learners from broad disciplinary backgrounds, in various stages of learning/understanding of telehealth and/or requiring a practice-based resource in the context of a rapidly changing policy environment. [...]it is the CHWs in the Udupi district that help bridge the gap between thousands of India's rural remote populace and the health systems.

INNOVATIVE MEASURES OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN GOVERNMENT TO PROVIDE SERVICES TO THE PUBLIC DURING COVID-19: A TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP PERSPECTIVE

Covid-19 has exposed lack of transformation in the provision ofservices in government, this has occurred amidst the claims of available e-services across all government departments. Many services, which could have been accessed online, were not available. For example, a considerable number of South Africans were not able to apply for social grants online during the lockdown period, especially those that are residing in the rural areas. Furthermore, many schools and universities had to shut down completely as government has delayed in incorporate technology in teaching and learning. Thus, government was forced to be innovative in its approach to deliver essential services and in mitigating the effects of Covid-19 pandemic. Covid-19 pandemic is predicted to remain with the public for a near future whilst trials are being conducted to find a vaccine. Therefore, this article is based on a research that was conducted on the innovative measures that were implored by government to respond to Covid-19 pandemic. A qualitative research approach was used to conduct a desk top analysis. Data was collected through extensive review of literature. Thus, the study concluded that the government is not proactive in making e-services available in remote areas. One of the recommendations is that government has to transform, and that can happen if transformational leadership is pursued across the departments.