Slit lamp photography for objective assessment of topical eye disorders

Evidence based scientific studies has weightage, when they are presented with quantitative data analysis. Documentation and parametric analysis has become an integral part of present day research. Any publications or write-ups without explanation through standard parameters are not appreciated by the research society. In Ophthalmology assessment of various parameters through photography is a debatable issue. Affordability for higher end diagnostic / OPD instruments may not be feasible for all. In such a scenario, here is an attempt made to standardize the slit lamp photography with a smart phone and its scientific analysis for evaluating clinical conditions like sub-conjunctival hemorrhage, etc. This technique can become a tool for assessment and response of the therapies as well as an important tool to seek help from higher centers. Various add-on benefits in research, limitation and scope for further evaluation also being discussed.

Process Models of Development of a Triad of Subsystems of Medical and Preventive Institutions: Management, Resources, Potential. Control

Frontal analysis of the activities of medical and preventive institutions on the basis of the process model involves an objective assessment of the activities of all sections of preventive and therapeutic and diagnostic work, identification of shortcomings and reserves, foresight on this basis of the results of the work of medical and preventive institutions.

Objective Assessment of Superiority of Enteral Feeding by Traditional Home Kitchen-Based Feed V/S Commercial Formula Feed in Patients of Esophagogastric Corrosive Injury

Background: Corrosive ingestion can cause severe chemical injury to upper gastrointestinal tract which leads to dysphagia, malnutrition and weight loss. Early nutritional assessment and support through feeding jejunostomy is important and it should be nutritionally optimum and economically balanced. The aim is to compare cost and nutritional status after nutritional support with traditional home kitchen made and commercial formula feed through feeding jejunostomy.Methods:A prospective study included patients on enteral nutrition based on traditional home kitchen feed (cohort-1) and on commercial formula feed (cohort-2). Patient’s body weight, BMI, haemoglobin, serum albumin, nutritional risk index, controlling nutritional status score were checked at the admission, 3rd and 6th month follow up.Results: In cohort 1 mean albumin and haemoglobin raised by 33.13% & 14.60% at 3rd month and 47.23% & 22.3% at 6th month respectively; In cohort 2 it was 9.12% & 2.69% at 3rd month and 17.62% & 6.53% at 6th month respectively. At 6th month in cohort 1 and 2 mean weight gain was 7.56% & 4.0%; mean increase in NRI was 34.78% & 11.5% respectively. Mean CONUT score at six months was better improved in cohort 1 which is 6 to 1 as compared to cohort 2 which was 6 to 3. Mean monthly cost of home-based feeds was significantly lower as compared to commercial feeds (62.14 Rs v/s 682-2354 Rs/day).Conclusions:In corrosive GI tract injury patient enteral nutrition with traditional home kitchen-based feeds is safe, cost effective and associated with better improvement in nutritional status objective parameters.

A Multi-Criteria Assessment of Manufacturing Cell Performance Using the AHP Method

Research of manufacturing cell design problems is still pertinent today, because new manufacturing strategies, such as mass customization, call for further improvement of the fundamental performance of cellular manufacturing systems. The main scope of this article is to find the optimal cell design(s) from alternative design(s) by multi-criteria evaluation. For this purpose, alternative design solutions are mutually compared by using the selected performance criteria, namely operational complexity, production line balancing rate, and makespan. Then, multi-criteria decision analysis based on the analytic hierarchy process method is used to show that two more-cell solutions better satisfy the determined criteria of manufacturing cell design performance than three less-cell solutions. The novelty of this research approach refers to the use of the modification of Saaty’s scale for the comparison of alternatives in pairs based on the objective assessment of the designs. Its benefit lies in the exactly enumerated values of the selected criteria, according to which the points from the mentioned scale are assigned to the alternatives.

Efficiency of Municipal Self-Government Bodies in the Kemerovo Region (Kuzbass)

The author reviewed domestic and foreign publications that feature various methods of assessing the performance of municipal authorities, which is the most important criterion for determining the well-being of population. The article introduces an authentic method that relies on the analysis of performance indicators based on the predominance of the achieved values over the average converted values. The method makes it possible to quantify and interpret the level of the so-called "administrative rationality" of municipal self-government bodies. It converts the values of indicators into coefficients (dominance and achievement), elements, and integral values of efficiency. The transformed values are then systematized in the context of economy (assets, budget, wages, etc.) and social components (transport accessibility, land, population, housing, communal services, etc.). A comparative analysis determined the following effective municipal districts of the Kemerovo region: Prokopyevsk, Kemerovo, Novokuznetsk, Yaya, Leninsk-Kuznetsky, and Izhmorka. The new method provides a transparent and objective assessment of municipal management.

Method for the estimation of antibacterial activity of the polyfunctional protein from transferrin family in the experimental model of the kinetics of Staphylococcus aureus development

Introduction. Lactoferrin is a cationic monomeric glycoprotein produced by acinar cells and glands, present in different places of the mucous membrane in different concentrations. In connection with the development of various variants of hygienic and medicinal products for the treatment of inflammatory diseases of the oral cavity based on lactoferrin, there was a need for an objective assessment of its antibacterial and antibiofilms properties, followed by an analysis of the preservation of activity in various variants of the isolation of this protein from the substrate and storage.Aim - to improve the effectiveness of evaluating the antibacterial activity of lactoferrin and the duration of its preservation in various biological substrates containing the active substance and individual experimental batches of the manufactured drug using automatic cultivation.Materials and methods. As part of the experiment, a microbiological diagnostic technique employing a system for the automatic cultivation of microbial populations was used. A pre-prepared bacterial suspension was inoculated into the nutrient broth and the studied lactoferrin samples were added, followed by cultivation and analysis of the possible antibacterial effects of transferrin protein. To determine the sensitivity of the isolated strains, we used our own modification of the serial dilution method developed at the Department of microbiology, virology, immunology of the A.I. Yevdokimov Moscow State University of Medicine and Dentistry. The experiment was based on the programmed automatic cultivation using the RTS-1 bioreactor. The interpretation of the results was carried out by changing the optical density at a wavelength of λ = 850 nm. The study of the growth dynamics of microorganisms was carried out in several repetitions, which was reflected in the graphs of the development of bacterial populations. The assessment of the growth control of the corresponding bacterial species was reflected in the change in the optical density values, on the basis of which the curve was built. Results and discussion. According to the results of an experimental study of the growth curves of bacterial populations, statistically significant differences in the number of viable cells in different phases of the growth curves were noted, when using different lactoferrin samples. Higher activity of human recombinant lactoferrin samples was established. An analysis of growth dynamics revealed differences in the onset of the maximum reproduction and its inhibition under the influence of various aggravating factors during cultivation. The bacteriostatic effect of lactoferrin is realized through the binding of iron ions, depriving the bacteria of this microelement, causing inhibition of their development. Along with this, lactoferrin is active against certain virulence factors of microorganisms, splitting them like serine proteases, and thus prevents their penetration into human cells.Conclusion. The method used for automatic cultivation of microorganisms in the bioreactor used allows one to obtain reproducible results, is available for wide use, and can be recommended for obtaining objective, comparable, reliable information about the antimicrobial properties of various samples of the bactericidal protein lactoferrin produced by the domestic pharmaceutical industry. The studied substrate containing recombinant human lactoferrin of Russian production is characterized by high antibacterial activity that persists for 3 years as minimum.

Color measurement of animal source foods

Rapid and objective assessment of food color is necessary in quality control. The color evaluation of animal source foods using a computer vision system (CVS) and a traditional colorimeter is examined. With the same measurement conditions, color results deviated between these two approaches. The color returned by the CVS had a close resemblance to the perceived color of the animal source foods, whereas the colorimeter returned not typical colors. The effectiveness of the CVS is confirmed by the study results. Considering these data, it could be concluded that the colorimeter is not representative method for color analysis of animal source foods, therefore, the color read by the CVS seemed to be more similar to the real ones.

Using Screen-Capture Technology to Authenticate IT Online Learning and Assessment

Assessment has always been fundamental to teaching as it aims to gauge the impact of the teaching on students learning. The current assessment in teaching computer literacy is objective assessment that focuses on making it intentional, informative, and formalized. Although this assessment is the best way when assessing large groups of students at one limited time, it has a drawback of being limited to check the knowledge of understanding terminology and recalling steps of a particular process. This study introduces a screen-capture technology based approach to performative and authentic assessment. It involved design and implementation of screen-capture assignments to assess computer maintenance skills. The sample consisted of 28 students enrolled in computer hardware and software maintenance classes. Data from students was collected through a multi-modal student survey and a semi-structured interview. The results analysis has indicated that screen-capture performative assessment promotes students’ engagement and learning level of solving real-world problems.