The Impact of Pharmacist Care on Diabetes Outcomes in Primary Care Settings: An Umbrella Review of Systematic Reviews

Objective: To systematically review published systematic reviews (SRs) examining the impact of pharmacist interventions in multidisciplinary diabetes care teams on diabetes-related clinical, humanistic, and economic outcomes in primary care settings. Methods: PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus, Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects, Cochrane Library, Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Database, Google Scholar, and PROSPERO were searched from inception to 2018. Studies published in English evaluating the effect of pharmacist interventions on diabetes outcomes were included. Two independent reviewers were involved in the screening of titles and abstracts, selection of studies, and methodological quality assessment. Results: Seven SRs were included in the study. Three of them included only randomized controlled trials, while the rest involved other study designs. Educational interventions by clinical pharmacists within the healthcare team were the most common types of interventions reported across all SRs. Pharmacist’s interventions compared to usual care resulted in favorable significant improvements in hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), fasting blood glucose, blood pressure, body mass index, total cholesterol, lowdensity lipoprotein, high-density lipoprotein and triglycerides in more than 50% of the SRs. Improvement in HbA1c was the mostly reported clinical outcome of pharmacist intervention in the literature (reported in six SRs). Pharmacist’s interventions led to significant cost-saving ($8–$85,000 per person per year), cost-utility, and cost-benefit (benefit-to-cost ratio range from 1:1 to 8.5:1) versus usual care. Pharmacist’s interventions improved patients’ quality of life (QoL) in three SRs; however, no conclusion can be drawn due to the use of diverse QoL assessment tools. Conclusion: Most SRs support the benefit of pharmacist care on diabetes-related clinical, humanistic, and economic outcomes in primary care settings. Improvements in diabetes outcomes can significantly reduce the burden of diabetes on the healthcare system. Hence, the incorporation of pharmacists into multidisciplinary diabetes care teams is beneficial and should be strongly considered by clinicians and health policymakers.

Validation of Selected Commercial Serological Assays for Diagnosis of COVID-19

As researchers around the globe rush to put the available antibody tests to use, concerns have been raised about their precision. This study aimed to evaluate and compare the performance of selected commercial & automated serological assays that are widely used in different clinical settings in Qatar. We validated the performance of five commercial IgG and IgM ELISA kits, three fully automated immunoassays, and two commercial rapid tests. The sensitivity of all assays was compared to RT-PCR and a surrogate virus neutralization test (sVNT). In addition, cross-reactivity was investigated. Among the evaluated kits, Lionex IgG assay demonstrated the best performance (~88% sensitivity and ~99 specificity). All automated assays showed an excellent correlation with the neutralization test with an overall agreement of 93.6-98.5%. The rapid assays demonstrated a very good performance in detecting IgG antibodies (86.0-88.0% sensitivity and 98.0-100% specificity).

Parametric Study on Moment Redistribution of Fiber Reinforced Concrete Continuous Beams with Basalt FRP Bars

The state of Qatar is suffering from its harsh environment and coastal conditions, which stand for most of the year. As a result, steel-reinforced concrete structures are subjected to rapid corrosion and deterioration. Therefore, there is a necessity to replace the conventional steel reinforcement by fiber-reinforced polymers (FRP) bars. Apart from FRP bars corrosion resistance, their strength to weight ratio is higher than steel reinforcement, which made the FRP, bars a viable alternative to steel reinforcement. Continuous concrete beams are commonly used elements in structures such as parking garages and overpasses. In such structures, forces could be distributed between the critical sections after cracking. This phenomenon is called moment redistribution. It reduces the congested rebars in connections and enhances the ductility of the members. However, the linear-elastic behaviour of FRP materials makes the ability of continuous beams to redistribute loads and moments questionable. This study aims to investigate the capability of moment redistribution of basalt fiber reinforced concrete (BFRC) continuous beams reinforced with basalt FRP (BFRP) bars. Eleven reinforced concrete (RC) continuous beams of 200 x 300 x 4000 mm were tested up to failure under fivepoint loading. The main investigated parameters were the reinforcement ratio (0.6rb, 1.0rb, 1.8rb and 2.8rb; where rb is the balanced reinforcement ratio), stirrups spacing (80 and 120 mm) and volume fractions of Basalt-macro fibers (BMF) (0.75 and 1.5%). A parametric study was then conducted using a validated finite element (FE) model to extend the investigated parameters that may affect the moment redistribution of RC continuous beams. It was concluded that moment redistribution occurs in beams that have at least a ratio of bottom to top reinforcement of 0.3.

RF Based Anti-Drone System

The anti-drone system blocks drones from entering a protected area. The aim of this project is to design a drone detection mechanism using the RF control signal exchanged between the drone and its remote controller. The system generates a high-power jamming signal transmitted over the same carrier frequency and band of the detected drone (project supports only 2.4 GHz band) and directed towards the drone location in order to disconnect it from its controller causing safe landing or return to home mechanisms to triggered.

The association between Insomnia Disorder and Depression in the General Population of Qatar: The Role of Inflammatory Disease

Background: There is emerging evidence that supports a role for inflammatory processes and insomnia in the pathophysiology of depression. However, little is known about the role of inflammation in depression and insomnia in non-clinical populations. Aims: We aimed to estimate the association between inflammatory illness, depression and insomnia in the Qatari population. We hypothesized that inflammatory illness would be associated with sub-clinical depression and insomnia in the Qatari population. Methods: We used probability-based sampling on a representative sample (N= 1,611) of Qatar’s adult household population. Face-to-face interviews were conducted using computer-assisted technology as part of the SESRI’s annual omnibus survey in 2019. We used the Espie’s (2014) Sleep Condition Indicator, to assess insomnia symptoms, and PHQ-9 and GAD-2 for subthreshold depression (SUBD), major depressive disorder (MDD), and anxiety. Health information including personal and family history of inflammatory disease were also collected. Univariate, bivariate, and multivariate statistics were conducted. Results: Among those with no inflammatory disease, the 30-day prevalence of subthreshold and major depression in those with insomnia disorder compared to those without insomnia was (SUBD: 5.3% vs 2.9%; MDD: 7.2% vs 0.6%, P<0.001), respectively. In contrast, among respondents with inflammatory disease, the prevalence of subthreshold and major depression in those with insomnia compared to those without insomnia was (SUBD: 11.8% vs 3.6%; MDD: 17% vs 1.7%, P<0.001), respectively. In crude (adjusted for age, gender, and household type) models with depression as a dependent variable, a statistically significant association between SUBD and insomnia was found (OR=4.2, P<0.01), while much stronger association was found between major depression and insomnia (OR=20.4, P<0.001). Conclusion: These findings highlight the possible impact of inflammatory disease on mental health in the otherwise healthy population of Qatar.

Smart Technologies Driven approaches to tackle COVID-19 Pandemic

The emergence of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) had led to a global outbreak of Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) and raised an international public health issue. To mitigate the infection and bring the sustainability in current pandemic situation, the healthcare system and governments are doing exceptional work. Globally, the implementation of technologies in healthcare systems and diverse government policies has proven to be effective in tackling COVID-19. The rapid technological swift during the pandemic and its role in assisting the fight against corona virus is phenomenal. Various technologies like robotics, drone, artificial intelligence (AI), data communication, mask, and smart sensors, etc. has synergistically helped in mitigating the effect of COVID-19. The poster represents the outlook of these technologies in terms of strategies and framework in which they have been applied for assisting various sectors like the health system, industries, government, and public, etc.

Highly active Bifunctional Lamo3 (M=Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni) Perovskites for Oxygen Reduction and Oxygen Evolution Reaction in Alkaline Media

Lanthanum based electrocatalytically active perovskites, LaMO3 (M=Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni), were synthesized using a single step solution combustion synthesis technique. The perovskites showed exceptional performance for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in alkaline medium. Based on the experimental results and literature survey, it is suggested that the exceptional activity of Mn and Co based lanthanum perovskite catalyst could be due to the optimum stabilization of reaction intermediates involved in the rate-determining step (RDS) of ORR/OER. According to crystal field theory (CFT), the d-orbital of transition metals are affected by the octahedral arrangement of six negative charges around it. The d orbital degenerates by splitting into two high energy (eg) and three lower energy orbitals (t2g) while maintaining the same average energy level. The rate-determining step in the ORR/OER reaction that based on the eg orbital filling of B site transition metal cations If the d-electrons are less, the valence state goes up and lowering the eg orbital filling that results in strong adsorption of oxygenated species on the B site (strong B-OH bond). This strong bonding limits the overall reaction rate by the slow desorption of OH and its derivatives during ORR/OER. Similarly, too high eg filling causes weak adsorption of oxygenated species that limits the reaction through the slow adsorption of reactants. Therefore, to enhance the activity of ORR/OER reaction it is required to balance the adsorption and desorption of the reactants and the intermediate respectively. The better way is to optimize the eg orbital filling to be nearly 1 (eg = 1).Based on the experimental results and literature survey, it is suggested that the exceptional activity of Mn and Co based lanthanum perovskite catalyst could be due to the optimum stabilization of reaction intermediates involved in the rate-determining step (RDS) of ORR and OER.

Crowd Density Estimation for Crowd Management at Event Entrance

Crowd management is an essential task to ensure the safety and smoothness of any events. Using the novel technologies including surveillance cameras, communication technics between security agents, the control of the crowd has become easier. However, the sue of these technics is still not perfectly effective. This paper presents an approach for managing the crowd at the entrance of event (festival, stadium...) using surveillance cameras. Using cameras and some panels in each entrance, the crowd density is extracted and illustrated in each panel. So, before reaching any gate, the people can see the available and the not crowded gate to reach the target. The proposed technique helps not just in smoothing the motion of the crowd but also minimize the crowdity and abnormal behaviors of the people.

AI-powered Motion Interaction for 3D Cultural Heritage

Museums and cultural institutions, in general, are in a constant challenge of adding more value to their collections. The attractiveness of assets is practically tightly related to their value obeying the offer and demand law. New digital visualization technologies are found to give more excitements, especially to the younger generation as it is proven by multiple studies. Nowadays, museums around the world are currently trying to promote their collections through new multimedia and digital technologies such as 3D modeling, Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), serious games, etc. However, the difficulty and the resources required to implement such technologies present a real challenge. Through this poster, we propose a 3D acquisition and visualization framework aiming mostly at increasing the value of cultural collections. This framework preserves cost-effectiveness and time constraints while still introducing new ways of visualization and interaction with high-quality 3D models of cultural objects. Our framework leverages a new acquisition setup to simplify the visual capturing process by using consumer-level hardware. The acquired images are enhanced using frame interpolation and super-resolution. A photogrammetry tool is then used to generate the asset 3D model. This model is displayed in a screen attached to the leap motion controller, which allows hand interaction without having to deal with sophisticated controllers or headgear allowing almost natural interaction.

Electronic Ventilator for COVID-19 Patient treatment

In response to expected shortages of ventilators caused by COVID-19 pandemic, globally many organizations and institutes have developed low cost and high rate production ventilators. Many of these ventilators are mechanical type and pneumatic type which are easy to produce but do not have all the necessary control parameters and their options as per the patient requirements. Furthermore, their failure rate is very high and computer interfacing and control is difficult. To address all the drawbacks of the available ventilator, power electronic motor drive based digitally controlled ventilator is designed, developed and tested in the Qatar University Laboratory. It consists of semiconductor switches based inverter driven by the microcontroller to run the BLDC (brushless direct current) motor. All the parameters such as pressure, rate of flow and volume required is successfully tuned and trained to the microcontroller. As per the patient requirement, it can deliver the required amount of the oxygen into the patient’s body and similarly removes the exhaling air from inside. As all the control process is happening by the microcontroller, all the safety, sound and valves can be easily integrated to reduce the risk for the patient. Minimal number of access control buttons are provided to use the developed ventilator so that it can be easily used by all kinds of hospital nurses.