scholarly journals ResUHUrge: A Low Cost and Fully Functional Ventilator Indicated for Application in COVID-19 Patients

Sensors ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (23) ◽  
pp. 6774
Author(s):  
Francisco José Vivas Fernández ◽  
José Sánchez Segovia ◽  
Ismael Martel Bravo ◽  
Carlos García Ramos ◽  
Daniel Ruiz Castilla ◽  
...  

Although the cure for the SARS-CoV-2 virus (COVID-19) will come in the form of pharmaceutical solutions and/or a vaccine, one of the only ways to face it at present is to guarantee the best quality of health for patients, so that they can overcome the disease on their own. Therefore, and considering that COVID-19 generally causes damage to the respiratory system (in the form of lung infection), it is essential to ensure the best pulmonary ventilation for the patient. However, depending on the severity of the disease and the health condition of the patient, the situation can become critical when the patient has respiratory distress or becomes unable to breathe on his/her own. In that case, the ventilator becomes the lifeline of the patient. This device must keep patients stable until, on their own or with the help of medications, they manage to overcome the lung infection. However, with thousands or hundreds of thousands of infected patients, no country has enough ventilators. If this situation has become critical in the Global North, it has turned disastrous in developing countries, where ventilators are even more scarce. This article shows the race against time of a multidisciplinary research team at the University of Huelva, UHU, southwest of Spain, to develop an inexpensive, multifunctional, and easy-to-manufacture ventilator, which has been named ResUHUrge. The device meets all medical requirements and is developed with open-source hardware and software.

Pain Medicine ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (10) ◽  
pp. 2212-2218
Author(s):  
Carolina Chaves ◽  
Paulo Cesar T Bittencourt ◽  
Andreia Pelegrini

Abstract Objective To determine the benefit of a tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)-rich cannabis oil on symptoms and quality of life of fibromyalgia patients. Methods A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial was conducted for eight weeks to determine the benefit of a THC-rich cannabis oil (24.44 mg/mL of THC and 0.51 mg/mL of cannabidiol [CBD]) on symptoms and quality of life of 17 women with fibromyalgia, residents of a neighborhood with a low socioeconomic profile and a high incidence of violence in the city of Florianopolis, Brazil. The initial dose was one drop (∼1.22 mg of THC and 0.02 mg of CBD) a day with subsequent increases according to symptoms. The Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ) was applied at pre- and postintervention moments and in five visits over eight weeks. Results There were no significant differences on baseline FIQ score between groups. However, after the intervention, the cannabis group presented a significant decrease in FIQ score in comparison with the placebo group (P = 0.005) and in comparison with cannabis group baseline score. (P < 0.001). Analyzing isolated items on the FIQ, the cannabis group presented significant improvement on the “feel good,” “pain,” “do work,” and “fatigue” scores. The placebo group presented significant improvement on the “depression” score after intervention. There were no intolerable adverse effects. Conclusions Phytocannabinoids can be a low-cost and well-tolerated therapy to reduce symptoms and increase the quality of life of patients with fibromyalgia. Future studies are still needed to assess long-term benefits, and studies with different varieties of cannabinoids associated with a washout period must be done to enhance our knowledge of cannabis action in this health condition.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  

Introduction Too Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System is a seminal report that highlights how improved training and objective assessment are key to reducing medical errors. The purpose of this study is to design a low cost, do-it-yourself (DIY) suture and knot tying training kit that enhances the novice learner’s basic surgical skills and to evaluate the efficacy of this training kit. Materials and Methods: Pre-medical and medical students from the University of Hawaii were administered a pretest to evaluate their two-handed knot tying and simple interrupted suturing with instrument tie using an objective scoring system. Then, subjects were shown an instructional video and allowed to practice using a low-cost, DIY training kit. A posttest was administered in the same format as the pretest. The primary outcome was subject confidence level, and secondary outcomes were time and quality of suturing and knot tying. Results: 20 subjects were recruited. After using the training kit, mean confidence levels increased for two-handed knot tying (1.55 vs. 7.15, p<0.0001), suturing (1.75 vs. 6.95, p<0.0001), and instrument tie (1.50 vs. 6.95, p<0.0001). Mean time to complete two-handed knot tying (116.03 vs. 52.85 seconds, p<0.0001) and simple interrupted suturing with instrument tie (300.00 vs. 181.05 seconds, p<0.0001) both decreased. Mean quality of both knot tying (0 vs. 4.25, p<0.0001) and simple interrupted suturing with instrument tie (0 vs. 13.1, p<0.0001) increased. Conclusions: This low-cost, DIY suture and knot tying training kit increased the confidence and basic surgical skills of the novice learner.


Respati ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindung Siswanto

INTISARIRuangan dalam kaitan nya untuk kegiatan akademik di Universitas Respati Yogyakarta (UNRIYO) baik itu ruangan kuliah, laboratorium atau ruangan lain yang digunakan secara bersama merupakan sarana yang penting untuk mendukung kelancaran dalam kegiatan akademik. Kegiatan akademik yang diselenggarakan oleh dosen, mahasiswa dan unit kerja lain yang dilakukan di UNRIYO seringkali terjadi hambatan yang disebabkan keterbatasan ruangan, dan hal ini tidak tertangani dengan baik karena tidak adanya monitoring dan pengaturan terhadap penggunaan ruangan. Penelitian bertujuan untuk merancang dan membangun sistem informasi manajemen ruangan dengan metode pengembangan perangkat lunak dengan SDLC didukung dengan teknologi cloud computing sebagai penyedia infrastuktur dengan kemampuannya untuk bisa disesuaikan dengan kapasistas sistem yang akan dibangun, pemeliharaan yang mudah dengan biaya rendah sehingga kuaitas layanan sistem yang diberikan dapat terjaga dengan baik. Dari hasil penelitian diharapkan dapat membantu UNRIYO khususnya dosen, mahasiswa dan unit kerja yang bertanggung jawab terhadap pengelolaan ruangan untuk dapat memonitoring serta pemanfaatan ruangan secara baik dan maksimal. Kata kunci — Sistem informasi manajemen, pemesanan ruangan, akademik, iaas, cloud computing. ABSTRACTThe room in relation to academic activities at the University of Respati Yogyakarta (UNRIYO) whether lecture rooms, laboratories or other rooms that are used together is an important means to support fluency in academic activities. Academic activities organized by lecturers, students and other work units conducted at UNRIYO often occur due to limited space constraints, and this is not handled properly because there is no monitoring and regulation of room use.The research aims to design and build a room management information system with software development methods with SDLC supported by cloud computing technology as a provider of infrastructure with the ability to be adapted to the capacity of the system to be built, easy maintenance at low cost so that the quality of service systems provided can well maintained.The results of the study are expected to help UNRIYO especially lecturers, students and work units who are responsible for the management of the room to be able to monitor and use the space properly and optimally.Keywords —  Management information systems, room reservations, academics, iaas, cloud computing.


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 45-59
Author(s):  
Mariola Rybka ◽  
Iwona Kawczyńska

Admission. Quality of life is a difficult concept to define because it is reference to the subjective feeling of satisfaction that is influenced by many factors, including obesity. Aim. The aim of the study was to assess the impact of obesity on the quality of life of seniors over 65 living in the home environment. Material and methods. The research was conducted among students of the University of the Third Age in Włocławek. The study included 100 people aged 65 and over living in a home environment. The research was conducted on the basis of an anonymous proprietary questionnaire and the WHOQOL - BREF survey. Results. In the conducted research, the most numerous group were people aged 65-70, every fourth person was aged 71-75. Among the surveyed group, 32% of the respondents are overweight, 28% of the respondents are obese I degree, 7% obese II degree. The research shows that of the respondents were overweight or obese. Respondents with 2nd degree obesity indicate a low level of satisfaction with their health condition. Conclusions. The quality of life of seniors staying in the home environment is average, but the scale of the obesity problem calculated on the basis of BMI is high. The obtained results confirm that overweight and obesity largely affects the population of people ≥65 years old. Conclusions. The comprehensive care provided by medical staff has significantly improved the patient's well-being, but all activities should be continued so that the patient can recover fully.


Author(s):  
H. O. Colijn

Many labs today wish to transfer data between their EDS systems and their existing PCs and minicomputers. Our lab has implemented SpectraPlot, a low- cost PC-based system to allow offline examination and plotting of spectra. We adopted this system in order to make more efficient use of our microscopes and EDS consoles, to provide hardcopy output for an older EDS system, and to allow students to access their data after leaving the university.As shown in Fig. 1, we have three EDS systems (one of which is located in another building) which can store data on 8 inch RT-11 floppy disks. We transfer data from these systems to a DEC MINC computer using “SneakerNet”, which consists of putting on a pair of sneakers and running down the hall. We then use the Hermit file transfer program to download the data files with error checking from the MINC to the PC.


2013 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 91-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Pizarek ◽  
Valeriy Shafiro ◽  
Patricia McCarthy

Computerized auditory training (CAT) is a convenient, low-cost approach to improving communication of individuals with hearing loss or other communicative disorders. A number of CAT programs are being marketed to patients and audiologists. The present literature review is an examination of evidence for the effectiveness of CAT in improving speech perception in adults with hearing impairments. Six current CAT programs, used in 9 published studies, were reviewed. In all 9 studies, some benefit of CAT for speech perception was demonstrated. Although these results are encouraging, the overall quality of available evidence remains low, and many programs currently on the market have not yet been evaluated. Thus, caution is needed when selecting CAT programs for specific patients. It is hoped that future researchers will (a) examine a greater number of CAT programs using more rigorous experimental designs, (b) determine which program features and training regimens are most effective, and (c) indicate which patients may benefit from CAT the most.


2002 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
pp. 139-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Céline Darnon ◽  
Céline Buchs ◽  
Fabrizio Butera

When interacting on a learning task, which is typical of several academic situations, individuals may experience two different motives: Understanding the problem, or showing their competences. When a conflict (confrontation of divergent propositions) emerges from this interaction, it can be solved either in an epistemic way (focused on the task) or in a relational way (focused on the social comparison of competences). The latter is believed to be detrimental for learning. Moreover, research on cooperative learning shows that when they share identical information, partners are led to compare to each other, and are less encouraged to cooperate than when they share complementary information. An epistemic vs. relational conflict vs. no conflict was provoked in dyads composed by a participant and a confederate, working either on identical or on complementary information (N = 122). Results showed that, if relational and epistemic conflicts both entailed more perceived interactions and divergence than the control group, only relational conflict entailed more perceived comparison activities and a less positive relationship than the control group. Epistemic conflict resulted in a more positive perceived relationship than the control group. As far as performance is concerned, relational conflict led to a worse learning than epistemic conflict, and - after a delay - than the control group. An interaction between the two variables on delayed performance showed that epistemic and relational conflicts were different only when working with complementary information. This study shows the importance of the quality of relationship when sharing information during cooperative learning, a crucial factor to be taken into account when planning educational settings at the university.


1995 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Fernández ◽  
Miguel A. Mateo ◽  
José Muñiz

The conditions are investigated in which Spanish university teachers carry out their teaching and research functions. 655 teachers from the University of Oviedo took part in this study by completing the Academic Setting Evaluation Questionnaire (ASEQ). Of the three dimensions assessed in the ASEQ, Satisfaction received the lowest ratings, Social Climate was rated higher, and Relations with students was rated the highest. These results are similar to those found in two studies carried out in the academic years 1986/87 and 1989/90. Their relevance for higher education is twofold because these data can be used as a complement of those obtained by means of students' opinions, and the crossing of both types of data can facilitate decision making in order to improve the quality of the work (teaching and research) of the university institutions.


Skull Base ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 19 (03) ◽  
Author(s):  
John de Almeida ◽  
Allan Vescan ◽  
Jolie Ringash ◽  
Patrick Gullane ◽  
Fred Gentili ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Tanwi Singh ◽  
Anshuman Sinha

The major risk associated with low platelet count in pregnancy is the increased risk of bleeding during the childbirth or post that. There is an increased blood supply to the uterus during pregnancy and the surgical procedure requires cutting of major blood vessels. Women with thrombocytopenia are at increased risk of losing excessive blood. The risk is more in case of caesarean delivery as compared to vaginal delivery. Hence based on above findings the present study was planned for Assessment of the Platelet Count in the Pregnant Women in IGIMS, Patna, Bihar. The present study was planned in Department of Pathology, Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Science, Patna, Bihar, India. The present study was planned from duration of January 2019 to June 2019. In the present study 200 pregnant females samples received for the platelet estimation were enrolled in the present study. Clinically platelet indices can be a useful screening test for early identification of preeclampsia and eclampsia. Also platelet indices can assess the prognosis of this disease in pregnant women and can be used as an effective prognostic marker because it correlates with severity of the disease. Platelet count is a simple, low cost, and rapid routine screening test. Hence the data generated from the present study concludes that platelet count can be used as a simple and cost effective tool to monitor the progression of preeclampsia, thereby preventing complications to develop during the gestational period. Keywords: Platelet Count, Pregnant Women, IGIMS, Patna, Bihar, etc.


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