| 1. |
- Muhammad, Khayal, et al.
(författare)
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Physicians' perception about the side effects of covid-19 vaccine and their role in vaccination program
- 2022
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Ingår i: Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness. - : Cambridge University Press. - 1935-7893 .- 1938-744X. ; 16:6, s. 2290-2292
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Introduction: The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused many problems in the health sector. Effective and safe vaccines are the only tool to combat the COVID-19 disease. Researchers and regulatory agencies have made efforts to develop such vaccines and healthcare professionals were prioritized for the vaccination program as first-line care providers. Considering this prioritization, we aimed to assess the physicians' perceptions regarding the side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine.Methods: An interview-based study was conducted from May 5 May to November 5, 2021 (6 months) in a teaching hospital in the capital city of Islamabad, Pakistan.Results: Among the 200 physicians who agreed to participate in the interview, 74% were male. A total of 94% did not experience any side effects after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, regardless of the type of vaccine; 6% experienced side effects. Furthermore, 90% of physicians were afraid of side effects due to the high number of vaccine doses.Conclusion: Conclusively, physicians had a positive perception regarding the COVID-19 vaccine. Healthcare authorities and related departments must take precautions to ensure the effective and safe COVID-19 vaccine to change the perceptions of physicians who had a negative perception. This will not only reduce the reluctance among physicians regarding administering COVID-19 vaccine, but will also boost and facilitate the vaccination program for the general public as well.
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| 2. |
- Khan, Aisha, et al.
(författare)
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Epidemiological and Pathological Characteristics of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis from Baluchistan Province of Pakistan
- 2021
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Ingår i: Parasitology. - : Cambridge University Press. - 0031-1820 .- 1469-8161. ; 148:5, s. 591-597
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (CL) is considered a neglected tropical disease which in Pakistan can now be considered as growing public health problem. The exact figures on the magnitude of disease are lacking both at national and regional level and only a few health centers are available for diagnosis of CL. The present study was designed to identify the epidemiology of CL infection from August 2018 to December 2019 and to assess clinical aspects of CL in Baluchistan Province of Pakistan. A total of 4072 clinically suspected CL cases were analysed statistically. The highest number of CL cases were reported in May, followed by April, January and then July, February, and June and lowest number of cases were observed in March and November. The highest prevalence rate was found in males where 38% of reported cases were aged 0-9 years. The majority (24.4%) of lesions were found on the hands followed by the face in which cheeks, ears and nose were the effected organs. About 50% of the participants have single lesion while 14% of the participants had two and nearly 3% of the participants have six lesions. The atypical clinical presentations were observed in Baluchistan and common unusual presentations were lupus erythematosus. The study findings suggest that more epidemiological studies and health education campaigns are needed for the population awareness regarding CL in Baluchistan. It is recommended that risk factors should be evaluated to establish the control and management strategies to prevent disease at individual and community level.
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| 3. |
- Achite, Mohammed, et al.
(författare)
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An improved adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system for hydrological drought prediction in Algeria
- 2023
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Ingår i: Physics and Chemistry of the Earth. - 1474-7065. ; 131
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Drought has negative impacts on water resources, food security, soil degradation, desertification and agricultural productivity. The meteorological and hydrological droughts prediction using standardized precipitation/runoff indices (SPI/SRI) is crucial for effective water resource management. In this study, we suggest ANFISWCA, an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) optimized by the water cycle algorithm (WCA), for hydrological drought forecasting in semi-arid regions of Algeria. The new model was used to predict SRI at 3-, 6-, 9-, and 12-month accumulation periods in the Wadi Mina basin, Algeria. The results of the model were assessed using four criteria; determination coefficient, mean absolute error, variance accounted for, and root mean square error, and compared with those of the standalone ANFIS model. The findings suggested that throughout the testing phase at all the sub-basins, the proposed hybrid model outperformed the conventional model for estimating drought. This study indicated that the WCA algorithm enhanced the ANFIS model's drought forecasting accuracy. The proposed model could be employed for forecasting drought at multi-timescales, deciding on remedial strategies for dealing with drought at study stations, and aiding in sustainable water resources management.
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| 4. |
- Gul, Lubna, et al.
(författare)
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Integrated Traceability Approach for an Effective Impact Analysis
- 2021
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Ingår i: Mehran University Research Journal of Engineering and Technology. - : MEHRAN UNIV ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY. - 0254-7821 .- 2413-7219. ; 40:2, s. 346-357
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Change is inevitable, software undergoes continuous change during its life cycle. A small change can trigger high evolution because of the ripple effect identified during the activity of impact analysis. However, it depends on the traceability information, which is the connection between software development artifacts. The current traceability techniques lack the breadth and depth to carryout informative impact analysis. We have performed a detailed literature survey of traceability techniques from the year 2008-2018. These techniques are evaluated on the criteria for effective impact analysis present in the literature. The results highlight that no single technique fulfills the criteria for effective impact analysis alone, they can be combined together to achieve promising results. We have presented a hybrid approach that combines four traceability techniques to achieve the entire criteria for an effective impact analysis after careful evaluation. The techniques combined are: Information Retrieval, Pre-Requirement Specification Traceability, Value based Requirements Traceability Technique and Goal Centric Traceability Technique. Our proposed hybrid approach is empirically validated via a field experiment. Results are analyzed for time and effort utilized in maintaining and retrieving the traceability information. The results are promising as the hybrid approach achieves effective impact analysis within minimal time and effort. We plan to extend the validation to real world impact analysis situation via case study.
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| 5. |
- Moazzam, Muhammad Farhan Ul, et al.
(författare)
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Trend of snow cover under the influence of climate change using Google Earth Engine platform: A case study of Astore (Western Himalayas) and Shigar (Karakoram region)
- 2022
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Environmental Science. - : Frontiers Media S.A.. - 2296-665X. ; 10
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Freshwater resources present in the Upper Indus Basin (UIB) supply water to Pakistan’s irrigation. Half of the annual water discharge in the UIB is contributed from the glacier and snow-fed basins in the Hindu Kush, Karakoram, and Himalaya (HKH) region, and it is currently under the threat of climate change. Therefore, it is very necessary to study and monitor the spatiotemporal changes in the snow cover area (SCA) and its response to climate variables to efficiently manage water reservoirs. Thus, keeping this problem in mind, we conducted this study using the Google Earth Engine Application Programming Interface (GEE API) for Astore and Shigar. We used mean annual Landsat data between 1991 and 2021 to derive the SCA using the normalized difference snow index (NDSI). ASTER GDEM data was used to extract the elevation and analyze the distribution of SCA on different elevation zones. Eventually, we used the climate research unit (CRU) data (rainfall and temperature) to analyze them with SCA. The results revealed that SCA in Astore and Shigar has an increasing trend with a rate of 11.16 km2/year and 4.27 km2/year, respectively. Mean annual precipitation and temperature also confirmed the increasing trend of SCA because mean annual precipitation is increasing and temperature is decreasing in both regions. SCA and elevation analysis revealed that SCA is decreasing on foothills while increasing at the valley top. This is because temperature is increasing and precipitation is decreasing from zone 1 to zone 3 and vice versa for zone 4. It is found that Astore and Shigar in UIB have an increasing trend of SCA and are not affected by global warming. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct studies on large scale to efficiently evaluate the impact of climate change on SCA.
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| 6. |
- Nadeem, Muhammad, et al.
(författare)
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Evaluation of mechanical properties of cored interlocking blocks – A step toward affordable masonry material
- 2023
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Ingår i: Results in Engineering (RINENG). - : Elsevier. - 2590-1230. ; 18
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This research study is about the evaluation of mechanical properties of locally prepared Cored 6” self-interlocking blocks. Currently, all the construction practices, whether brick masonry, block masonry, or reinforced concrete, are time consuming, relatively energy inefficient, not eco-friendly, and non-sustainable. Another issue in masonry construction is that the strength and behavior of bricks or blocks masonry depend upon the properties of the binding material (mortar) used in masonry wall joints. Considering these issues, Eco Blocks are newly introduced interlocking blocks with different sizes and shapes. Construction with interlocking blocks is faster, economical, and easier, as they do not require binding material. The aim of this study was to obtain the mechanical properties such as the compressive strength (individual block and prism), diagonal tensile strength, shear parameters, modulus of elasticity, shear modulus, and flexural strength of Cored 6′′ Eco Blocks through comprehensive experimental investigation. These showed encouraging results as compared with typical interlocking compressed earth blocks and also satisfied the threshold set forth by the international standards regulating earth construction. The compressive and flexural strengths of the blocks have been obtained as 6.03 MPa and 1.66 MPa, respectively. Based on the results outcomes, Cored 6” Eco Blocks can be utilized in load bearing walls.
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| 7. |
- Sodhro, Ali Hassan, et al.
(författare)
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An adaptive QoS computation for medical data processing in intelligent healthcare applications
- 2020
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Ingår i: Neural Computing and Applications. - : Springer. - 0941-0643 .- 1433-3058. ; 32:2020, s. 723-734
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Efficient computation of quality of service (QoS) during medical data processing through intelligent measurement methods is one of the mandatory requirements of the medial healthcare world. However, emergency medical services often involve transmission of critical data, thus having stringent requirements for network quality of service (QoS). This paper contributes in three distinct ways. First, it proposes the novel adaptive QoS computation algorithm (AQCA) for fair and efficient monitoring of the performance indicators, i.e., transmission power, duty cycle and route selection during medical data processing in healthcare applications. Second, framework of QoS computation in medical applications is proposed at physical, medium access control (MAC) and network layers. Third, QoS computation mechanism with proposed AQCA and quality of experience (QoE) is developed. Besides, proper examination of QoS computation for medical healthcare application is evaluated with 4–10 inches large-screen user terminal (UT) devices (for example, LCD panel size, resolution, etc.). These devices are based on high visualization, battery lifetime and power optimization for ECG service in emergency condition. These UT devices are used to achieve highest level of satisfaction in terms, i.e., less power drain, extended battery lifetime and optimal route selection. QoS parameters with estimation of QoE perception identify the degree of influence of each QoS parameters on the medical data processing is analyzed. The experimental results indicate that QoS is computed at physical, MAC and network layers with transmission power (− 15 dBm), delay (100 ms), jitter (40 ms), throughput (200 Bytes), duty cycle (10%) and route selection (optimal). Thus it can be said that proposed AQCA is the potential candidate for QoS computation than Baseline for medical healthcare applications.
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| 8. |
- Sodhro, Ali Hassan, et al.
(författare)
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Towards 5G-Enabled Self Adaptive Green and Reliable Communication in Intelligent Transportation System
- 2021
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Ingår i: IEEE transactions on intelligent transportation systems (Print). - : IEEE. - 1524-9050 .- 1558-0016. ; 22:8, s. 5223-5231
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Fifth generation (5G) technologies have become the center of attention in managing and monitoring high-speed transportation system effectively with the intelligent and self-adaptive sensing capabilities. Besides, the boom in portable devices has witnessed a huge breakthrough in the data driven vehicular platform. However, sensor-based Internet of Things (IoT) devices are playing the major role as edge nodes in the intelligent transportation system (ITS). Thus, due to high mobility/speed of vehicles and resource-constrained nature of edge nodes more data packets will be lost with high power drain and shorter battery life. Thus, this research significantly contributes in three ways. First, 5G-based self-adaptive green (i.e., energy efficient) algorithm is proposed. Second, a novel 5G-driven reliable algorithm is proposed. Proposed joint energy efficient and reliable approach contains four layers, i.e., application, physical, networks, and medium access control. Third, a novel joint energy efficient and reliable framework is proposed for ITS. Moreover, the energy and reliability in terms of received signal strength (RSSI) and hence packet loss ratio (PLR) optimization is performed under the constraint that all transmitted packets must utilize minimum transmission power with high reliability under particular active time slot. Experimental results reveal that the proposed approach (with Cross Layer) significantly obtains the green (55%) and reliable (41%) ITS platform unlike the Baseline (without Cross Layer) for aging society.
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| 9. |
- Zhou, Zheng, et al.
(författare)
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Reduced intensity conditioning for acute myeloid leukemia using melphalan- vs busulfan-based regimens : a CIBMTR report
- 2020
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Ingår i: Blood Advances. - : American Society of Hematology. - 2473-9529 .- 2473-9537. ; 4:13, s. 3180-3190
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- There is a lack of large comparative study on the outcomes of reduced intensity conditioning (RIC) in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) transplantation using fludarabine/busulfan (FB) and fludarabine/melphalan (FM) regimens. Adult AML patients from Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research who received first RIC allo-transplant between 2001 and 2015 were studied. Patients were excluded if they received cord blood or identical twin transplant, total body irradiation in conditioning, or graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis with in vitro T-cell depletion. Primary outcome was overall survival (OS), secondary end points were leukemia-free survival (LFS), nonrelapse mortality (NRM), relapse, and GVHD. Multivariate survival model was used with adjustment for patient, leukemia, and transplant-related factors. A total of 622 patients received FM and 791 received FB RIC. Compared with FB, the FM group had fewer transplant in complete remission (CR), fewer matched sibling donors, and less usage of anti-thymocyte globulin or alemtuzumab. More patients in the FM group received marrow grafts and had transplantation before 2005. OS was significantly lower within the first 3 months posttransplant in the FM group (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.82, P < .001), but was marginally superior beyond 3 months (HR = 0.87, P = .05). LFS was better with FM compared with FB (HR = 0.89, P = .05). NRM was significantly increased in the FM group during the first 3 months of posttransplant (HR = 3.85, P < .001). Long-term relapse was lower with FM (HR = 0.65, P < .001). Analysis restricted to patients with CR showed comparable results. In conclusion, compared with FB, the FM RIC showed a marginally superior long-term OS and LFS and a lower relapse rate. A lower OS early posttransplant within 3 months was largely the result of a higher early NRM.
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