TP8.2.23 Surgical education in low resource settings

Aims To help build medical capacity in low resource settings. Methods I researched and worked with two organisations, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and Mercy Ships. I worked with Mercy Ships in collaboration with ASGBI Results MSF is a humanitarian organisation. Although MSF works in low resource settings, it is not developmental and therefore education was not part of its brief. I completed 2x 2 month missions with MSF, in Central African Republic and Chad. Mercy Ships is a developmental organisation. I worked with Mercy Ships, in four countries, to help deliver a total of 10 skills courses and 5 Training the Trainers courses which had been set up in collaboration with ASGBI. The first time was with a UK surgical trainee under this scheme. French was the working language in each setting. Conclusions There is a real and pressing need for basic surgical education in most low resource settings. Teaching with Mercy Ships is a good vehicle for teaching essential surgical skills locally and training local trainers to continue the process. It is also a good opportunity for providing a supervised introduction to working in a low resource setting for those trainees who wish to become involved in humanitarian work.

Technological Potential of a Lupin Protein Concentrate as a Nutraceutical Delivery System in Baked Cookies

Previous reports have shown that lupin protein extracts (LE) contain a polypeptide named deflamin with a potent matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 inhibitory activity. The aim of our study was to develop an efficient delivery method for incorporating deflamin into cookies using different alternative flours. A lupin protein concentrate (10 g protein/100 g cookie dough) was added to gluten and gluten-free flours to produce savoury cookies, and its impacts on the physical properties of doughs and cookies, as well on the maintenance of deflamin’s anti-MMP-9 activity, were analysed. The results showed that the biochemical compositions of all cookies with LE presented higher protein and ash contents when compared to the control cookies. Rice, buckwheat and oat doughs were firmer than the others, whereas the addition of LE to kamut and buckwheat flours made cookies significantly firmer than the controls. Additionally, strong interactions between LE and several flours were observed, yielding different impacts on the MMP-9 bioactivity. Overall, the only flour that did not interfere with the desired nutraceutical activities was buckwheat, with 60% MMP-9 inhibitory activity and a concomitant reduction of colon cancer migration; hence, buckwheat flour was revealed to be a good vehicle to deliver bioactive deflamin, showing strong potential as a functional food to be used in preventive or curative approaches to gastrointestinal diseases.

Elaboration of Gluten-Free Cookies with Defatted Seed Flours: Effects on Technological, Nutritional, and Consumer Aspects

Cookies, which form the largest category of bakery snacks, are considered a good vehicle to introduce nutrients into the diet. In this study, to increase the nutritional value of traditional commercial cookies, wheat flour was substituted with defatted flours made from flax, sesame, chia, and poppy, which are byproducts of the oil extraction industry. The differences in the technological properties, nutritional composition, and consumer acceptance of the reformulated cookies were evaluated. The results show that the wheat cookies used as the control showed a more elastic behavior than the cookies elaborated with defatted seed flours, which showed a greater tendency to crumble. The use of defatted seed flours yielded cookies with a higher content of protein and fiber, and a lower content in carbohydrates than the wheat cookies. Consumer evaluations for the sesame and flax cookies were similar to those for the traditional wheat cookies, with positive assessments on all of the parameters evaluated. On the other hand, the cookies elaborated using chia and poppy flours received the least positive evaluations from consumers. Thus, the use of some defatted seed flours, mainly flax and sesame, is proposed as an interesting alternative to produce health-promoting cookies in order to cover the current demand for gluten-free products.

Vehicle Detection in Overhead Satellite Images Using a One-Stage Object Detection Model

In order to improve the traffic in large cities and to avoid congestion, advanced methods of detecting and predicting vehicle behaviour are needed. Such methods require complex information regarding the number of vehicles on the roads, their positions, directions, etc. One way to obtain this information is by analyzing overhead images collected by satellites or drones, and extracting information from them through intelligent machine learning models. Thus, in this paper we propose and present a one-stage object detection model for finding vehicles in satellite images using the RetinaNet architecture and the Cars Overhead With Context dataset. By analyzing the results obtained by the proposed model, we show that it has a very good vehicle detection accuracy and a very low detection time, which shows that it can be employed to successfully extract data from real-time satellite or drone data.

The Awareness of Blind Spot Area in Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV)

This paper is to demonstrate the awareness of blind spot area in heavy goods vehicles (HGV) towards the road user. A blind spot is an area or zone that cannot be directly observe by the driver. Usually, the weaknesses in the blind spot area resulted in accident between the vehicle as many drivers did not alert or have awareness on the blind spot area especially in heavy goods vehicle. The objective of this paper is to identify the awareness on the blind spot area in heavy goods vehicles to the road users. To achieve the objective, a questionnaire survey has been conducted to the road user. About 100 drivers randomly pick to answer the survey and they are consisting of non-truck drivers that drive a car, van and motorcycle. The results reveal that even the respondents know about the blind spot in heavy good vehicle, but the awareness in the of blind spot area still less where they mistake on the exact location of blind spot. Typically, the only zone that they know as the blind spot for heavy goods vehicle is at the back area. Therefore, it is suggested that the government to improve the awareness of blind spot areas within the drivers through restructure the system inside driving school by give more attention on the blind spot for heavy goods vehicle, make a campaign on the awareness of blind spot in heavy goods vehicle to remind again the road users about the area of blind spots, and establish a standard direct vision in heavy goods vehicle. Keywords: Blind spot, heavy good

Interactions between β-Lactoglobulin and 3,3′-Diindolylmethane in Model System

The compound 3,3′-diindolylmethane (DIM) has a broad spectrum of anticancer activities. However, low stability and bioavailability limit its application. Elucidating interactions between DIM and β-lactoglobulin (β-LG) may be useful for fabricating whey protein-based protecting systems. Interaction with DIM increased the diameter and absolute zeta potential value of β-LG. UV-absorption spectra suggested that there was a complex of DIM and β-LG. β-LG showed enhanced fluorescence intensity by complexing with DIM with a binding constant of 6.7 × 105 M−1. Upon interaction with DIM, β-LG was decreased in secondary structure content of helix and turn while increased in β-sheet and unordered. FT-IR spectra and molecular docking results indicated the roles of hydrophobic interaction and hydrogen bond for the formation of DIM and β-LG nanocomplexes. Data suggested that β-LG may be a good vehicle for making a protein-based DIM protection and delivery system due to the tight binding of DIM to β-LG.

Steering Strategy for a Multi-Axle Wheeled Vehicles

This paper presents a mathematical model for multi-axle steering vehicles operating on level ground. For transporting heavy loads vehicles with multiple axles are required. Apart from added complexity steering of multiple axle for turning is a big challenge. Due to type of load being carried a single unit vehicle is sometimes preferred. The mathematical model of a six axle vehicle with 4-axle steering system is developed. Simulations at various track radii, vehicle speeds and steering ratios (ratio between the first, second, fifth and sixth steering axle) are performed. Axle steering angles and wheel slip angles are evaluated. The steering ratio requirements vary with vehicle speed and turn radius. A configuration is selected for better performance for a wider range. The resulting steering ratios show good vehicle maneuverability, stability and steering efficiency.

The Financial Detective, 1996

This case provides a foundation for student discussion of financial ratios and the insights that may be gained through their use. The case presents textual descriptions of pairs of companies in eight different industries and asks the students to match the text description with the correct financial ratios for each company. Classroom discussion of the students' attempts to match results and companies reveals the strong influence of both industry and corporate strategy on the financial results and ratios for firms. A key lesson is that good financial and ratio analysis requires learning about both an industry's and a company's strategy. The case is also a good vehicle for discussing different financial ratios and their meaning.