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1.
Foods ; 13(17)2024 Aug 29.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-39272520

RESUMO

Balanites aegyptiaca is a multipurpose fruit tree that grows wild in many arid and semi-arid African areas; however, recent domestication efforts have been undertaken to protect the species from the threat of urbanization and climate change. Within this context, the impact of the domestication of Algerian B. aegyptiaca was evaluated on its seed oil, which is already valued as food. Hence, oils from wild and domesticated trees were comparatively investigated for their physicochemical and compositional quality. Both oil types had a good oxidative stability and met the requirements for human consumption in terms of the saponification index, the free acidity, and the peroxide value. Moreover, they showed a comparable FA composition, with high levels of oleic and linoleic acids, which are beneficial for the consumer's health. Domestication led to a statistically significant decrease in the tocopherols and polyphenols in the oil. The phytosterols and squalene were slightly lower in the domesticated oil than in the wild relative, although no statistically significant differences were observed. A comparable mineral profile was revealed and the minimal variations in the trace elements between the oils could be related to the natural variability in the seeds. Hopefully, this study will encourage the domestication of B. aegyptiaca as a sustainable strategy for enhancing its socioeconomic value in Algerian rural areas.

2.
Biofouling ; 40(7): 431-445, 2024 Aug.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38973173

RESUMO

Candida albicans is often implicated in nosocomial infections with fatal consequences. Its virulence is contributed to hydrolytic enzymes and biofilm formation. Previous research focused on studying these virulence factors individually. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the impact of biofilm formation on the hydrolytic activity using an adapted low-cost method. Eleven strains of C. albicans were used. The biofilms were formed on pre-treated silicone discs using 24-well plates and then deposited on the appropriate agar to test each enzyme, while the planktonic cells were conventionally seeded. Biofilms were analysed using Raman spectroscopy, fluorescent and scanning electron microscopy. The adapted method provided an evaluation of hydrolytic enzymes activity in C. albicans biofilm and showed that sessile cells had a higher phospholipase and proteinase activities compared with planktonic cells. These findings were supported by spectroscopic and microscopic analyses, which provided valuable insights into the virulence mechanisms of C. albicans during biofilm formation.


Assuntos
Biofilmes , Candida albicans , Plâncton , Candida albicans/fisiologia , Biofilmes/crescimento & desenvolvimento , Hidrólise , Microscopia Eletrônica de Varredura , Fosfolipases/metabolismo , Análise Espectral Raman/métodos , Peptídeo Hidrolases/metabolismo
3.
Cureus ; 16(5): e60053, 2024 May.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38854308

RESUMO

A spontaneous rupture of the urinary bladder (SRUB) is an exceedingly rare surgical emergency that might be misdiagnosed, resulting in a high mortality risk. Clinicians should be mindful that secondary peritonitis can occur as a result of a ruptured urinary bladder, which is frequently misdiagnosed and undertreated. The majority of cases are identified during laparotomy. We report a case of a 70-year-old woman who had irradiation for endometrial cancer 25 years ago and had a history of hypertension, diabetes, and recurring urinary tract infections. The current study sought to determine the etiology of SRUB as well as clinical aspects and diagnostic strategies. She was diagnosed with generalized peritonitis. An exploratory laparotomy discovered a perforated urinary bladder. Following further care, the patient was released with no further complaints.

4.
SAGE Open Med Case Rep ; 12: 2050313X241255497, 2024.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38764914

RESUMO

Solid pseudopapillary epithelial neoplasms of the pancreas are rare entities, first described in 1959 by Frantz. These tumors represent less than 2% of pancreatic cancers and mainly affect young women. They can reach a significant size and its radiological features can lead to diagnostic pitfalls, such as gastrointestinal stromal tumors, which are rare soft-tissue sarcomas that can appear anywhere along the gastrointestinal tract. Clinicians and radiologists need to be aware of the existing diagnostic pitfalls between these two entities, because of their possible similarities. We report here the case of a 33-year-old woman with a solid pseudopapillary epithelial neoplasms of the pancreas initially misdiagnosed as an exophytic gastric stromal tumor.

5.
Environ Technol ; : 1-16, 2024 Feb 07.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38325427

RESUMO

This paper focuses on the degrading capacity of various hydrocarbon fractions of used engine oils (UEO) by marine microorganisms, as well as the biosorption of heavy metals. A bacterial strain with a significant capability to grow on UEO as a sole source of carbon and energy was isolated from harbour seawater samples (Oran, Algeria). The molecular identification by sequencing the 16S rDNA gene revealed that the bacterium matched Acinetobacter baumanii with 96.84% homology similarity. Thus, strain HAR20 was named Acinetobacter sp.HAR20. The degradation rate of UEO (at 1%, v/v) obtained after 15 days of incubation was about 53.4 ± 4.2%. The results of GC-MS analysis of the biodegraded residual motor oil indicate that strain Acinetobacter sp.HAR20 degrades alkanes with chain lengths ranging from C4 to C48 completely or to shorter fractions. The bacterium was also able to degrade all aromatic compounds of UEO, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (alkylated and no alkylated naphthalene, alkylated phenanthrene, and fluorene). The strain Acinetobacter sp.HAR20 exhibited different degrees of resistance to the heavy metals tested (Cd, Zn, Ni, Cu, Fe, and Pb). The highest tolerance was obtained for Pb (600 mg.l-1). The study of lead biosorption at a concentration of 300 mg.l-1 revealed that the bacterium displayed a removal rate of 57.47 ± 7.5%. The strain Acinetobacter sp.HAR20 has shown an interesting biodegradation potential; therefore, it could be proposed as a choice for the bioremediation of contaminated seawater by used engine oils.

6.
Exp Parasitol ; 257: 108699, 2024 Feb.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38199324

RESUMO

Medicinal plants have become a source of new drugs to treat various diseases due to their low cost, few side effects, and wide accessibility. Among these, essential oils are promising natural compounds for use in scolicidal activity. The targets of our current work were to assess the chemical composition, antioxidant and protoscolicidal activities of Thymus fontanesii essential oil. The essential oil was extracted by hydrodistillation, and chemical compounds were quantified by GC-MS/GC-FID. The in vitro antioxidant activity was determined by DPPH radical scavenging assay and ferric reducing power. Three concentrations of essential oil (4.625, 9.25, and 13.875 mg/ml) were tested for 5, 10, and 15 min against E. granulosus protoscoleces and their viability was assessed by eosin staining essay. The yield of the essential oil was 2.06 ± 0.41 % (w/w). Carvacrol (59.68 %) was the main compound of Thymus fontanesii essential oils. Moreover, Thymus fontanesii essential oil has an antioxidant activity IC50 of 346.08 µg/ml and EC50 of 869.82 µg/ml. Furthermore, 100 % mortality of protoscoleces was observed at the doses of 9.25 mg/ml and 13.875 mg/ml after 5 min of exposure. Our findings show a potency of antioxidant and protoscolicidal activities against protoscoleces of E. granulosus.


Assuntos
Óleos Voláteis , Plantas Medicinais , Óleos Voláteis/farmacologia , Óleos Voláteis/química , Antioxidantes/farmacologia , Óleos de Plantas/farmacologia , Óleos de Plantas/química
7.
J Med Ultrasound ; 31(3): 188-194, 2023.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38025000

RESUMO

Clinicians frequently study arterial Doppler velocimetric waveforms depicted by Doppler sonography of the kidneys, the heart, the brain, and the feto-maternal circulation to assess the well-being of the aforementioned vital organs. The waveform interpretation of the Doppler indices can be studied using a mathematical model. The developed models serve as teaching tools and for easy comprehension of the regulatory mechanism of the organs. It will also obtain accurate wall shear stress (WSS) and likely atherosclerotic sites can be predicted early. The aim of this review is to reveal the imperatives of mathematical models in the study of the physical interpretation of Doppler velocimetry. The models will explore sonographic Doppler velocimetry and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) in determining the segments of the arteries that are prone to the development of atheromatous plaque. It will be achieved by comparing and computing the measurement differences of the WSS. A thorough literature review was carried out between 1971 and 2021 on the mathematical modeling of blood dynamics and Doppler velocimetry of different blood vessels, across various electronic databases including NC AHEC Digital Library, PUBMED, ERIC, MEDLINE, Free Medical Journals, and EMBASE. The results of the literature search were presented using the PRISMA flow chat. The narrative review of the mathematical models of arterial blood dynamics is based on incompressible Navier-Stokes equations, the Windkessel model, and CFD. It was deduced that the blood flow velocity decreased with time across the varying frequency from 0.2Hz to 0.50Hz in the interlobar arterial channels. The review also revealed that adult humans' Doppler indices of the renal-interlobar artery agree with developed models of renal interlobar arterial blood dynamics. The mathematical model measurements of the great vessels matched the sonographic Doppler velocimetry with <15% variation. In our fast-paced world of epidemiological transition, the imperatives of mathematical modeling of arterial flow dynamics based on the Navier-Stokes equations to represent various physiologic and pathologic situations cannot be overstated. The practical consequences include the possibility of mathematical models to acquire precise WSS distribution and early detection of potential atherosclerotic sites during cardiovascular Doppler sonography.

8.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int ; 30(26): 69289-69306, 2023 Jun.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37131008

RESUMO

The relationship between natural resources and the ecological footprint is a debate issue and shows inconclusive results. Therefore, the present study attempts to examine the role of natural resource abundance in shaping Algeria's ecological footprint over the period 1970-2018 using autoregressive distributed lags (ARDL) and quantile-on-quantile regression (QQR). Empirical findings from the ARDL technique suggest that natural resource rents, GDP per capita, gross fixed capital formation, and urbanization increase ecological footprint. The QQR methodology, however, provided more insightful and in-depth findings compared to those of the ARDL. Interestingly, the findings of the QQR uncovered that while the impact of natural resources on ecological footprint is positive and substantial at the middle and upper quantiles, it gets weaker at the lower quantiles. This further implies that the over-extraction of natural resources would generate impacts on environmental degradation, while lesser natural resource extraction appears to be less detrimental to the environment. The QQR also reveals that economic growth, gross fixed capital formation, and urbanization have a positive effect on the ecological footprint in the majority of quantiles, with the exception of the lower quantiles of urbanization, where the effect is negative, indicating that the lowest degree of urbanization improved environmental quality in Algeria. Policymakers in Algeria are urged to pay critical attention to the management of the country's natural resources, promote renewable energy sources, and develop public awareness to secure environmental sustainability.


Assuntos
Pegada de Carbono , Recursos Naturais , Argélia , Dióxido de Carbono/análise , Desenvolvimento Econômico , Urbanização
9.
J Clin Med ; 12(8)2023 Apr 10.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37109131

RESUMO

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of digital visualization for enhancing the visualization of iridocorneal structures during surgical gonioscopy. Methods: This was a prospective, single-center study on a series of 26 cases of trabecular stent implantation performed by the same surgeon. Images were recorded during surgical gonioscopy, and before stent implantation, with standard colors and with the optimization of various settings, principally color saturation and temperature and the use of the cyan color filter. Subjective analyses were performed by two glaucoma surgeons, and objective contrast measurements were made on iridocorneal structure images. Results: The surgeons evaluating the images considered the optimized digital settings to produce enhanced tissue visibility for both trabecular meshwork pigmentation and Schlemm's canal in more than 65% of cases. The mean difference in the standard deviation of the pixel intensity values was 37.87 (±4.61) for the optimized filter images and 32.37 (±3.51) for the standard-color images (p < 0.001). The use of a cyan filter provided a good level of contrast for the visualization of trabecular meshwork pigmentation. Increasing the color temperature highlighted the red appearance of Schlemm's canal. Conclusions: We report here the utility of optimized digital settings including the cyan filter and a warmer color for enhancing the visualization of iridocorneal structures during surgical gonioscopy. These settings could be used in surgical practice to enhance the visualization of the trabecular meshwork and Schlemm's canal during minimally invasive glaucoma surgery.

10.
Vet Parasitol Reg Stud Reports ; 36: 100787, 2022 11.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-36436887

RESUMO

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of canine leishmaniasis in the Atlas shepherd dogs from the Tiaret region of Algeria. A total of 161 dogs were included in this study and four diagnostic techniques were used, namely lymph node cytology, PCR, IFAT and ELISA. 110 out of 161 dogs were positive by at least one diagnostic technique, a percentage of 68.32% of the total number, which represent very high prevalence of canine leishmaniasis in this canine breed. 152 dogs underwent the two serological tests namely IFAT and ELISA among which 137 dogs underwent in addition the molecular examination by PCR. IFAT was positive in 9.86% of the dogs, ELISA was positive in 12.5% while 68% of the dogs proved positive by PCR. 47 dogs with lymph node enlargement underwent lymph node cytology, of which 26 dogs showed forms of amastigotes in their smears after microscopic examination, confirming the usefulness of this approach for the diagnosis of canine leishmaniasis. The clinical signs of the disease in this breed are similar to those of other canine breeds The dominant clinical signs in these dogs were onychogryphosis, poor general condition and lymph node hypertrophy. The autopsy was carried out on 7 dogs that died of canine leishmaniasis, all of which showed splenomegaly, while 5 dogs also showed hepatomegaly. Renal damage was found in 1 dog with frank jaundice. The splenic cytology was positive in all 7 dogs with the presence of amastigote forms in the smears after microscopic examination.


Assuntos
Doenças do Cão , Leishmaniose Visceral , Leishmaniose , Cães , Animais , Leishmaniose Visceral/diagnóstico , Leishmaniose Visceral/epidemiologia , Leishmaniose Visceral/veterinária , Prevalência , Doenças do Cão/diagnóstico , Doenças do Cão/epidemiologia , Leishmaniose/diagnóstico , Leishmaniose/epidemiologia , Leishmaniose/veterinária , Técnica Indireta de Fluorescência para Anticorpo/veterinária
11.
Biofouling ; 38(8): 852-864, 2022 09.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-36314078

RESUMO

The decline in the performance of spiral-wound reverse osmosis (SWRO) membranes is frequently due to biofouling. This study focus on qualitative and quantitative diagnosis of SWRO membrane biofouling. Bacterial counts on the different surfaces of the fouled membranes were carried out. Surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) was performed to highlight clogging materials as well as their natures and identity. The topography of the fouled membranes and the structures of biofilms were visualized by fluorescence microscopy (FM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results indicated the presence of bacteria in the different SWRO membrane areas. Those strongly adhered were significantly higher than those weakly. It varied between 26 × 105 and 262 × 105 CFU m-2. However, SERS mapping showed different fouling levels and the thickness of the fouling layer was 5 µm. Microscopic imaging revealed biotic and abiotic deposits. These data can together allow better management of the seawater desalination process.


Assuntos
Incrustação Biológica , Purificação da Água , Osmose , Análise Espectral Raman , Purificação da Água/métodos , Biofilmes , Membranas Artificiais
12.
Cluster Comput ; 25(1): 561-578, 2022.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34629940

RESUMO

Presently, Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems are broadly adopted in remote monitoring large-scale production systems and modern power grids. However, SCADA systems are continuously exposed to various heterogeneous cyberattacks, making the detection task using the conventional intrusion detection systems (IDSs) very challenging. Furthermore, conventional security solutions, such as firewalls, and antivirus software, are not appropriate for fully protecting SCADA systems because they have distinct specifications. Thus, accurately detecting cyber-attacks in critical SCADA systems is undoubtedly indispensable to enhance their resilience, ensure safe operations, and avoid costly maintenance. The overarching goal of this paper is to detect malicious intrusions that already detoured traditional IDS and firewalls. In this paper, a stacked deep learning method is introduced to identify malicious attacks targeting SCADA systems. Specifically, we investigate the feasibility of a deep learning approach for intrusion detection in SCADA systems. Real data sets from two laboratory-scale SCADA systems, a two-line three-bus power transmission system and a gas pipeline are used to evaluate the proposed method's performance. The results of this investigation show the satisfying detection performance of the proposed stacked deep learning approach. This study also showed that the proposed approach outperformed the standalone deep learning models and the state-of-the-art algorithms, including Nearest neighbor, Random forests, Naive Bayes, Adaboost, Support Vector Machine, and oneR. Besides detecting the malicious attacks, we also investigate the feature importance of the cyber-attacks detection process using the Random Forest procedure, which helps design more parsimonious models.

13.
J Med Ultrasound ; 30(4): 245-250, 2022.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-36844781

RESUMO

Sonography has proven to be valuable diagnostic imaging equipment in the work-up of patients infected with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) and tuberculosis (TB) coinfection. An extensive literature search was conducted between 1994 and 2021 for original peer-reviewed articles in the English language on ultrasound application in the diagnosis of extrapulmonary TB (EPTB), ultrasound application in infectious diseases in resource-constrained settings, point-of-care ultrasound in resource-scarce settings among others, across various electronic databases including MEDLINE, PubMed, POPLINE, Scopus and Google Scholar, among others and some gray literature were also retrieved. Emerging themes were identified by their recurrence in literature. Ultrasound imaging is a rapid diagnostic tool and can accurately identify and characterize pathologic findings in patients infected with HIV/AIDS and TB co-infection, such as enlarged lymph nodes, pericarditis, and pleural effusion, among others for prompt patient management. Ultrasonography is cheaper and portable; interfacing software has become more users friendly and image quality significantly improved, making it possible for the provision of imaging services in an increasing number of clinical settings in resource-limited settings where access to diagnostic imaging is scarce. The use of focused assessment with sonography for HIV (FASH) for prompt diagnosis of EPTB in regions with a high incidence of HIV/AIDS and TB co-infection will aid in prompt diagnosis and treatment of patients with undifferentiated TB, thus impacting on morbidity and mortality. The training and deployment of sonographers in endemic regions with a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS and TB co-infection, to diagnose EPTB using FASH protocol is a viable option that is in line with the global drive for intensified case finding and treatment algorithm, with a view to meeting the sustainable development goals target of ending HIV and TB epidemics and achieving universal health coverage.

14.
Pathogens ; 10(11)2021 Oct 26.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34832535

RESUMO

Tick control is a priority in order to prevent the transmission of vector-borne diseases. Industrial chemical acaricides and repellents have been the most efficient tools against hard ticks for a long time. However, the appearance of resistances has meant the declining effectiveness of the chemicals available on the market. The trend today is to develop alternative control methods using natural products to replace nonefficient pesticides and to preserve the efficient ones, hoping to delay resistance development. Traditional in vitro evaluation of acaricidal activity or resistance to synthetic pesticides have been reviewed and they mainly focus on just one species, the one host tick (Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus (Acari: Ixodidae)). Recent reports have called for the standardization of natural product components, extraction techniques, and experimental design to fully discover their acaricidal potential. This study reviews the main variables used in the bibliography about the efficiency of natural products against ticks, and it proposes a unification of variables relating to ticks, practical development of bioassays, and estimation of ixodicidal activity.

15.
J Med Eng Technol ; 45(7): 546-551, 2021 Oct.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34184604

RESUMO

To understand the principal functioning of binaural beats signals and the way it can affect the brain, eight drugs were used. This study was carried out on three groups: the first one contains four binaural beats signals, each one refers to a specific tone: alpha, beta, theta, and delta waves. The second group holds three records, representing three separate meditation binaural beats; however, the third one contains only one record that stands for the Marijuana e-drugs. Two types of analyses were performed on these groups, the temporal and the frequency analyses. In the first one, Hilbert transform was used to detect the envelope of the signal; we then determined the cross correlation function to understand the relationship between the two signals of the left and the right ears. However, in the frequency analysis, Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) was applied to extract binaural and carrier frequencies. The obtained results are very satisfactory and show that there is a delay between the two signals of the left and the right ears. Nevertheless, the frequency analysis shows that in the second group, Solfeggio frequencies lambda, theta and delta waves are used to obtain the meditation state, were gamma, lambda, alpha, and delta waves are applied to get the Marijuana effect in the third group.


Assuntos
Encéfalo , Preparações Farmacêuticas , Estimulação Acústica , Humanos
16.
Pan Afr Med J ; 40: 243, 2021.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-35233263

RESUMO

Mixed neuroendocrine-non neuroendocrine neoplasm (MiNENs) is a rare gastrointestinal neoplasm that has been redefined by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2017 as the association of two types of components, neuroendocrine and non-neuroendocrine, each of them present in at least 30% of the tumour mass. Small case reports and case series have demonstrated the occurrence of this neoplasm in the colon. We here report the case of a 47-year-old man undergoing colonscopy for anemia. This showed impassable polypoidal tumor budding in the right colic flexure. Computerized tomography (CT) scan and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed the presence of liver metastases. As the tumor was hemorrhagic, right hemicolectomy with lymph node dissection was performed. The histological examination showed MiNEN of the ascending colon. The patient received adjuvant chemotherapy.


Assuntos
Neoplasias do Colo , Neoplasias Gastrointestinais , Tumores Neuroendócrinos , Colo/patologia , Neoplasias do Colo/diagnóstico , Humanos , Excisão de Linfonodo , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Tumores Neuroendócrinos/diagnóstico , Tumores Neuroendócrinos/patologia
17.
Phys Eng Sci Med ; 43(4): 1371-1385, 2020 Dec.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-33165819

RESUMO

Phonocardiography is a dynamic non-invasive and relatively low-cost technique used to monitor the state of the mechanical activity of the heart. The recordings generated by such a technique is called phonocardiogram (PCG) signals. When shown visually, PCG signals can provide more insights of heart sounds for medical doctors. Thus, several approaches have been proposed to analyse these sounds through PCG recordings. However, due to the complexity and the high nonlinear nature of these recordings, a computer-assisted technique based on higher-order statistics HOS is shown to be, among these techniques, an important tool in PCG signal processing. The third-order spectra technique is one of these techniques; known as bispectrum, it can provide significant information to support physicians with an accurate and objective interpretation of heart condition. This technique is implemented and discussed in this paper. The implemented technique is used for the analysis of heart severity on nine different PCG recordings. These are normal, innocent murmur, coarctation of the aorta, ejection click, atrial gallop, opening snap, aortic stenosis, drum rumble, and aortic regurgitation. A unique bispectrum representation is generated for each type of heart sounds signal. Then, based on the bispectrum analysis, fifteen higher-order spectra HOS features such as the bispectral amplitude, the entropies, the moments, and the weighted center are extracted from each PCG record. The obtained HOS-features showed a well-correlated evolution with the increasing importance of heart severity leading therefore to a high potential in discriminating pathological PCG signals. One should know that, generally, classification of pathological PCG signals refers to the distinction between the presence of a pathology from its absence (binary response) while the discrimination considered in this paper provides an analogue response (value) which can vary from one pathology to another in an increasing or decreasing way.


Assuntos
Algoritmos , Ruídos Cardíacos , Sopros Cardíacos/diagnóstico , Humanos , Fonocardiografia , Processamento de Sinais Assistido por Computador
18.
J Med Eng Technol ; 44(7): 396-410, 2020.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-32840440

RESUMO

Heart auscultation has been recognised for a long time as an important tool for the diagnosis of heart disease; it is the most common and widely recommended method to screen for structural abnormalities of the cardiovascular system. Detecting relevant characteristics and forming a diagnosis based on the sounds heard through a stethoscope, however, is a skill that can take years to be acquired and refine. The efficiency and accuracy of diagnosis based on heart sound auscultation can be improved considerably by using digital signal processing techniques to analyse phonocardiographic (PCG) signals. The study of the functioning of the heart is very important for the diagnosis of different cardiac pathologies. The phonocardiogram signal (PCG) is the signal generated after conversion of the sound noises coming from the heart into an electrical signal, it groups together a set of four cardiac noises (S1, S2, S3, S4) which are in direct correlation with cardiac activity. The short-term Fourier Transform (STFT) is an analytical technique that describes the evolution of the time and frequency behaviour of these four heart sounds. A statistical study has been carried out in this direction in order to better highlight the characteristics of the PCG signal. A fairly high number of cycles (twenty) was used to further refine the expected results. The objective of this paper is to use a statistical analysis based on the results obtained by the use of The STFT technic this in order to find statistical parameters (mean, standard deviation, etc.) which can give us a clear vision of the electrophysiological behaviour of the phonocardiogram signal. This aspect has not been done so far and which however can give appreciable practical results.


Assuntos
Análise de Fourier , Ruídos Cardíacos/fisiologia , Fonocardiografia , Humanos , Fatores de Tempo
19.
Curr Med Mycol ; 6(3): 27-32, 2020 Sep.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-33834140

RESUMO

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Candida albicans is an important microorganism in the normal flora of a healthy subject; however, it has an expedient pathogenic character that induces hydrolytic virulence. Regarding this, the present study aimed to find an in vitro alternative that could reduce the virulence of this yeast. MATERIALS AND METHODS: For the purpose of the study, the effect of amphotericin B (AmB) combined with the extract of Traganum nudatum (E1) or Mentha pulegium (E2) was evaluated against the hydrolytic activities of esterase, protease, and phospholipase. This effect was determined by calculating the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), used to adjust the extract/AmB mixtures in culture media. RESULTS: The evaluated Pz values, which corresponded to the different enzymatic activities, showed a decrease in the hydrolytic activities of C. albicans strains after the addition of E1/AmB and E2/AmB combinations at descending concentrations (lower than the obtained MICs). CONCLUSION: Based on the findings, it would be possible to reduce the pathogenesis of this species without destabilizing the balance of the flora.

20.
West Afr. j. radiol ; 27(2): 75-80, 2020. ilus
Artigo em Inglês | AIM (África) | ID: biblio-1273555

RESUMO

Background: Measurement of optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) and anterior chamber depth (ACD) by ultrasound is increasingly used as a marker to detect raised intracranial pressure and other eye pathologies. Knowledge of normal ONSD and ACD in a healthy population is essential in the interpretation of pathological conditions.Aim: The study aimed at evaluating the ONSD and ACD of the eye in apparently healthy adults in Kano State.Materials and Methods: This was a prospective and cross-sectional study conducted among apparently healthy adults in Kano State from April 2019 to October 2019. Using convenience sampling method, 384 adults participated in the study. An ethical approval was obtained from the Human Research and Ethics Committee of the Kano State Ministry of Health, and informed consent was obtained from all the selected participants. A portable digital ultrasound machine, Nortek CS 3 with a 7.5 MHz linear transducer, was used to obtain ACD and ONSD at 3 mm behind the globe, and the values were recorded in data capture sheet. The obtained data were analyzed using SPSS version 23.0.Results: The mean and standard deviation of the right and left ONSDs for males was 4.42 ± 1.38 mm and 4.44 ± 1.41 mm and for the females was 4.39 ± 1.31 mm and 4.41 ± 1.31, respectively. The mean and standard deviation of the right and left ACDs for males was 3.16 ± 0.37 mm and 3.14 ± 0.35 mm and for females was 3.12 ± 0.40 mm and 3.11 ± 1.39 mm, respectively.Conclusion: The study has established normative values for the ONSD and ACD of the eye in Kano State, Nigeria


Assuntos
Câmara Anterior , Nigéria
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