Malaysian Journal of Medical and Biological Research
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Utilization of Machine Learning in a Responsible Manner in the Healthcare Sector
Get PDFArtificial Intelligence and Machine Learning technologies have improved the ability to forecast and recognize health emergencies, disease populations, and disease status and immune response. Many people still need to be convinced about using ML-based approaches in healthcare, yet their incorporation is increasing regardless of such reservations. Here are brief descriptions and examples of supervised, unsupervised, and reinforcement learning algorithms and machine learning-based methodologies. Second, we discuss how ML is used in healthcare, like X-rays, DNA analysis, EHRs, and MRIs. We also offer solutions to the problems that arise when applying ML to healthcare, such as system privacy and ethical considerations, and point the way toward potential future applications
Evaluation of the BSc Nursing Science Programme: Employer’s Perspective
Get PDFIn the educational system, programme evaluation is an important component for quality assurance. Evaluation in open and distance learning is undertaken to guide decision-makers, programme leaders and programme coordinators, with an overall aim of improving processes and service delivery in order to achieve stakeholder satisfaction.
A cross-sectional survey was conducted to evaluate the BSc Nursing Science Programme from the employer’s perspective. Purpose of the study was to gain some insight into performance of the Zimbabwe Open University BSc graduates as they operated in the various fields of health care. A purposive sample of 48 respondents was drawn from a population of all employers in health institutions in the ten regions of Zimbabwe, who occupied senior positions in their institutions. Questionnaires were distributed to stakeholders who had interacted with ZOU graduates and the BSc. Nursing Science learning materials. Comparisons were made on the graduates’ performance before, during training and after graduating. Data were analysed using SPSS and results presented in cross tabulations and bar graphs.
Demographic data of respondents is presented in Section ‘A’. General performance and performance levels in the various areas of care are summarized in Section ‘B’. Information on the quality of modules is presented in Section ‘C’ of the results. More females participated in the research. Seventy five percent worked in government institutions. Major highligts of the findings indicated that ZOU graduates performed favourably compared to their counter-parts who trained at conventional institutions. However, some gaps in terms of the need to strengthen hands on experience were highlighted.
 
Level of Unintended Pregnancy and its Associated Factors among Currently Pregnant Women in Duguna Fango District, Wolaita Zone, Southern Ethiopia
Get PDFFew researchers in Ethiopia have studied issues related to unintended pregnancy and little has been discussed about its cause especially in the rural parts of the county. Moreover, efforts to reduce the incidence of unintended pregnancy were very weak. Hence, there is a continued need for research, information sharing and documentation of efforts aimed at reducing unintended pregnancy. Hence the objective of this study is to measure the level of unintended pregnancy and identify associated factors among currently pregnant women in Duguna Fango Woreda, Wolaita Zone, South Ethiopia. Facility based Cross-sectional study method were instrumental under current study. Four hundred Seventy Seven (477) respondents were selected by systematic random sampling method from five health centers. Data collected through structured and pre-tested questionnaire, and analyzed using SPSS for windows version 16.0. Bivariate and multivariate logistic analysis was used to calculate the odds ratios with 95% confidence interval for the different risk factors. The level of significance was set at P < 0.05. It is concluded that, unintended pregnancy was found to be a major reproductive health problem in the study area and thus deserves priority attention. It is recommended that, different partners in partnership with the government to address the issue of improving income among women, improving their perception, empowerment, economic status and women on reproductive health issues is encouraged.
 
Intercropping System of Maize with Different Winter Vegetables
Get PDFThe experiment was conducted at farmers’ fields of Hqripur in Dauadkandiupzilla underOn- Farm Research Division of Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, Comilla during the rabi seasons of 2012-13 and 2013-14 toevaluate the performance of maizeunder intercropping with different winter vegetables. The experiment comprised of four treatments viz., Maize + Spinach, Maize + Red amaranth, Maize + Coriander and Sole maize with four replications. Results revealed that each of maize- vegetables intercropping combinations showed superior in terms of gross return,net return, BCR and Maize equivalent yield (MEY) over sole cropping of maize. The highest grain yield of maize (9.61 t ha-1) was obtained fromMaize + coriander due to the highest contribution of yield contributing characters and lowest (7.8 t ha-1) yield was received from the treatment of maize + red amaranth intercropping system, where the sole maize produced second highest yield.The highest Maize equivalent yield (12.85 t ha-1), gross return (Tk. 128500 ha-1), net return (Tk. 80080 ha-1) and BCR (2.65) were found in the intercropping system Maize + Spinach which indicated the advantage of intercropping over the sole Maize cropping.
 
Menstruation and its Social Implications on Un-Married Adolescent Girls: A Case Study of Village Tarayyia, District Rawalpindi
Get PDFThe paper presents research findings on menarche and developments associated with it. This particular village was chosen on account of being traditional with some development and its link with the city. Menarche is regarded as sign for restrictions to be imposed on girls, which deprives them from their basic rights. The authority and autonomy of these girls is almost nil as there are no windows of opportunities for them, this is all culturally constructed and there is change coming but with a slow pace. There are a few cases that show that females when provided with an opportunity have done well but these were only possible in special circumstances, for all the adolescent girls means have to be explored for bringing them up on a common ground from where they can find ways.
 
Clinical Significance of HbA1c in the Management of Complicated Type 2 Diabetic Patients in Bangladesh
Get PDFDiabetic patients are generally suffered by several other diseases such as dyslipidemia, cardiovascular and urinary diseases. Glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) is a commonly used marker for identifying long-term glycemic control. The objective of this study is to investigate the co-relation of HbA1c with blood glucose level, serum lipid, cholesterol and creatinine level in type 2 diabetes patients. A prospective study was carried to collect data from the diabetic hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh though interview and from the current pathological reports of the patients and then data was analyzed using Excel. Results showed that serum lipid concentration, fasting and postprandial blood glucose are directly related with the percentage of HbA1c in the blood. In addition, risks of hypertension, dyslipidemia and kidney diseases also showed higher in high percentage of HbA1c in the blood of the patients. However, HbA1c is independent with age, weight and height of the patients. This study will help to mange complicated diabetic patients by controlling HbA1c from the beginning of the treatment.
 
Occupational Exposure to Ionizing Radiation in Interventional Cardiology Practices in Bangladesh during 2010-2014
Get PDFObjective: The objective of this study is to assess, analyze and discuss the occupational exposure to ionizing radiation in interventional cardiology practices in Bangladesh for the last 5-year periods.
Method: Each year, about 100 workers working in interventional cardiology departments of big hospitals in Dhaka City were monitored using Harshaw Thermoluminescent Dosimeters (TLDs) for quarterly basis. The effective dose of the occupational workers were measured using Two Harshaw TLD Readers (one is manual TLD reader, model-4500, and another is automatic TLD reader, model 6600 plus).
Finding: The average annual effective dose (about 80 % workers) in interventional cardiology practices were <2mSv in 2010-2014 and no monitored workers were found to have received an occupational exposure >50 mSv in a single year or >100 mSv in a 5 year period. The status and trends in occupational exposure demonstrate that radiation protection conditions at the majority of the workplace were adequate. Despite that, further optimization is necessary due to large variations observed in the maximum individual doses over the 5-year periods.
 
Antibacterial effect of Aqueous Neem (Azadirachta indica) leaf extract, crude neem leaf paste, and Ceftriaxone against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Get PDFThe study was conducted during the period of July 2004 to June 2005 in the Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics in collaboration of Department of Microbiology, Mymensingh Medical College, Mymensingh to determine the profile of antibacterial effect of crude neem leaf paste (CNLP), aqueous neem leaf extract (ANLE), and standard antibiotic Ceftriaxone against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and, Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Five separate experiments were done e.g. I) Determination of inhibitory effect of crude neem leaf paste (CNLP) by incorporation into nutrient agar media (NA), against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and, Pseudomonas aeruginosa. II) Determination of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of aqueous neem leaf extract (ANLE) against that three test organisms by broth dilution technique, III) Determination of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of standard antibiotic ceftriaxcone against test organisms by broth dilution technique as well as making a comparison with MIC of ANLE and IV) Subculture study of materials from effective CNLP, ANLE, NLEE and Ceftriaxone in nutrient agar medium for confirmation of respective results of different experiments conducted. Results revealed that inhibitory effects were observed against the growth of Staph. aureus, Esch. coli and Ps. aeruginosa at 15%, 20% and 25% respectively of CNLP incorporated into NA media. The broth dilution technique was followed to determine the MICs of ANLE and Ceftriaxone. The MIC of ANLE was 714 μg/ml against S. aureus and that against E. coli and P. aeruginosa was 1428 μg/ml. The MIC of Ceftriaxone was 10μg/ml against S. aureus and that against E. coli and P. aeruginosa was 25 μg/ml. The MIC of Ceftriaxone was the lowest in comparison to MICs of ANLE. The subculture study showed similar results with that of previous experiments in terms of inhibitory effects of CNLP and MICs of ANLE, Ceftriaxone against all of the organisms studied.
 
A Case Report of the Dental Quackery in a 42 year old Male Patient
Get PDFDental quackery describes the misinterpretation of the diagnosis and treatment of the dental disease. Most commonly dental quacks are the self-styled experts, whose basic tools are very incompetent and also fraud. It is prevalent in India since many decades. Many dental quacks are practicing roadside, which makes money by doing unethical practice and ultimately hampering patient’s oral health. It is thus challenge to the dental practitioners to fight against dental quackery. Hereby, the article describes a case report of dental quackery in 42 year old male patient.
 
Comparative Efficiency Evaluation of Different Clay Pots Versus Bucket Irrigation System Under Swiss Chard (Beta vulgaris subsp. cicla) Growers Condition in Northern Ethiopia
No full textRain-fed agriculture shares the largest crop production system in Tigray region. However, due to erratic nature of rainfall, crop production is always at a risk. For this reason crop production in the arid and semi arid regions of northern Ethiopia usually requires supplemental irrigation. In an effort to assist agricultural production under smallholder farmers, the Regional Bureau of Agriculture and Natural Resources has been looking for efficient and less costly irrigation methods. Although drip irrigation technology has been well known for its higher efficiency, its adoption was too slow due to its high initial cost and inadequate technical knowhow. At the moment, in some areas of Tigray farmers have started practicing locally made low cost clay pot irrigation technology. However, the water use efficiency and its economic viability under smallholder farmers were not adequately understood. The objectives of this study were thus to examine the economical viability and estimate the water use efficiency of clay pot irrigation technology and to evaluate the performance of different clay pot design for irrigating Swiss chard (the most common leafy vegetable crop in this region). In this research traditional pot maker was instructed to manufacture four different clay pot designs (imperforated bar type, imperforated round shape type, perforated bar type and perforated round types) which were used for assessing performance of clay pot for irrigating swiss chard. Performance tests were carried out based on economic and biomass water use efficiencies and cost benefit ratios under two groups of farmers (with and without land). The result showed that the imperforated bar shaped clay pots were found to be suited to grow Swiss chard. The water seeps out through the micro pores of the clay pots with relatively slow leaks and long surface wetting time and large area converge around the roots of plants. Contrarly, perforated clay pots leak the water fast through the macro and micro pores and have relatively short wetting time and small area coverage. On the other hand, the difference between imperforated bar and round types were simply the shapes of the pots which is to do with the area coverage along with the rows of the Swiss chard plant. Round types were not as suitable as bar type of the same capacity for row Swiss chard crops due to their small wetting area coverage compared to a similar volume with imperforated bar shaped clay pots type. The economic and biomass water use efficiency for the imperforated bar clay pot design was higher than that of the bucket irrigation system as well as other tested clay pots. The other advantages with imperforated bar clay pots over the bucket type is that the water source is inside the soil thus evaporation is almost nil and there is also less probability of occurrence of leaf disease due to watering and ultimately improving the biomass and economical water use efficiency. However, the technology was not as profitable as the bucket irrigation technique when considering the benefit-cost ratio (BCR) due to costs incurred for purchase of clay pots.