Easy Access Research Articles

Mental and Physical Symptoms and Perceived Health Risks of Pregnant and Postpartum Women following the Significant Shift in COVID-19 Management in China: A Cross-Sectional Survey

Background. There was a remarkable downgrade in China’s COVID-19 response strategies in January 2023. The COVID-19 infection rate grew rapidly in the early stages following the management policy shift. This study attempted to explore the associations between SARS-CoV-2 infection and mental or physical health status in pregnant and postpartum women and the role of perceived health risks and family members’ SARS-CoV-2 infection status on these associations by capturing the impact of policy shifts in a short period of time. Methods. This cross-sectional study with a random sample from a convenience sample of hospitals was conducted in pregnant and postpartum women in January 2023. Standardized assessment tools were employed to assess anxiety, depressive and physical symptoms, and feelings of hopelessness. Hierarchical multiple logistic regressions were conducted to examine the mechanisms of associations of interests by including a range of sociodemographic factors, self-perceived health, SARS-CoV-2 infection status, and perceived health risks as covariates. Results. Of the 1,013 pregnant and postpartum women aged 32.0 ± 0.3 years, 58.2% (n = 590) were diagnosed with COVID-19, and 49.4% (n = 500) had family members who were infected with SARS-CoV-2. Nearly 98% of the included participants took measures to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection. A COVID-19 diagnosis was positively associated with feelings of hopelessness (OR = 1.68, 95% CI: 1.20–2.35), probable anxiety (OR = 6.42, 95% CI: 2.18–24.61), possible depression (OR = 2.56, 95% CI: 1.07–6.70), and physical symptoms (OR = 6.28, 95% CI: 1.63–42.03) after adjusting for sociodemographic and health characteristics, while the associations presented no statistical significance when family members’ SARS-CoV-2 infection status and perceived health risks were introduced into the models. Conclusions. Our results suggested that pregnant and postpartum women may experience physical and mental health challenges when they or their family members contracted COVID-19 in the context of a considerable shift in COVID-19 management. Early detection of poor health status and its risk factors for vulnerable groups during shifts in health policy and administrative practice is very necessary, and health services, including easy access to psychosocial support and obstetric counselling, should be prioritized.

Book My Doctor Application

The mobile application, called "Book My Doctor Application," is designed for easy access to medical assistance by providing prompt and accurate information. The users of the healthcare system include physicians, patients, pharmacists, and pharmaceutical suppliers. The concept of the application will give users access to all content whenever and wherever they want, given that smartphone usage has skyrocketed. In today’s technologically advanced world, it is important to have a quick, digital solution for every issue so that any urgent needs can be meet in an accessible manner. This system has a symptom analyzer that analyzes the input symptoms and recommends medications or physicians based on the patient and his or her symptoms. Given how difficult it is to remind everyone in the modern world, medication reminders help users remember their medications. Anything to forget except loud. Many accounts help maintain data security by limiting the user to only data they are authorized to send, so data integrity is very useful. Again, this. The application includes a chat room where users can consult with doctors, avoid waiting in line at the hospital, access there. wallet, and take advantage of the health insurance service. The patient may have a health condition. He is supervised by a physician who can also review past medical records.

Public Networks: A Threat or Shield to Personal Data

The increase in development of technologies made networking an integral part of everyone’s life. From initial wired technology to the change in wireless technology today, everything has become so convenient that it is difficult to live in this society without access to such benefits. Public network is one of them. Along with convenience, such network also has potential security and privacy risks. However, most users keep neglecting the privacy threats being unaware of the preventive measures to shield their data. The aim of this research paper is to analyze whether the public networks are only a threat to personal data or if it can be shield to protect user’s personal and sensitive data from getting revealed. The public networks have its own set of pros and cons which on one hand, supports the networks as most preferred connection because of its easy accessibility, availability, cost-efficiency etc. while on the other hand, proves to be a paradise of hackers, home to viruses and malwares etc. After collection of all the information, related articles, etc., it is brought to notice that there are several kinds of threats and malwares attached to this type of network which is unthinkable for the general public. Although there are various preventive measures as well to protect the personal data but it is unaware to the general public. The research paper gives details on the working of public networks, advantages and limitations of these networks, various malicious attacks, articles on major security risk at public places on free Wi-Fi, cyber-crime risk on free Wi-Fi and Bluetooth as well as free Wi-Fi being the most potent tools for cyber crooks, along with the preventive measures to shield personal data from any such above mentioned threats.

Impact of end‐capped engineering on the optoelectronic characteristics of pyrene‐based non‐fullerene acceptors for organic photovoltaics

AbstractPyrene‐based molecules are being explored as prospective fullerene‐free acceptors for organic solar cells (OSCs), due to their easy accessibility, structural planarity, and excellent electron delocalization. In this work, we successfully designed and analyzed pyrene‐based acceptor materials (QL1–QL8) to investigate their photophysical and electro‐optical parameters. Various geometric parameters were computed at the MPW1PW91/6‐31G(d,p). Advanced quantum chemical approaches were employed to characterize the molecules. All the tailored molecules (QL1–QL8) exhibit a lower bandgap than the reference (R), signifying their superiority. Among these, QL8 was found to have a maximum absorption (λmax) at 791.37 nm and an optical bandgap (ELUMO − EHOMO) minimum of 2.11 eV. Redshifted absorption spectra are observed in both gaseous and solvent phases for all the designed (QL1–QL8) molecules in contrast to R. Among these, QL4 exhibits the highest light harvesting efficiency (0.9826), and open‐circuit voltage. A detailed donor–acceptor investigation of QL8/PBDB‐T revealed the marvelous charge switching at the donor–acceptor interface. The approach used in this study is anticipated to facilitate the manufacturing of highly efficient OSC molecules.

Value of a blended learning supervision course at the advanced level: Supervisors’ experiences

Aim: To explore what experiences specialist nurses and midwives have with a blended learning course (digital course component one and physical course component two) to develop their supervisory competence. Methods: A qualitative descriptive design with two focus group interviews (n=9) and written reflections from participants (n=70) from five courses conducted in 2021 and 2022. Findings: Thematic analysis revealed two main themes: 1) The value of blended learning in a clinical supervision course and 2) Areas for improvement. Participants experienced a profound learning outcome through the acquisition of theoretical knowledge digitally during part one of the course, followed by in-person engagement in simulation-based learning activities in part two. Specifically, the participants gained a heightened awareness of the complexity of supervision and increased confidence in using communication tools through simulation. The challenges faced in the digital part of the course highlighted the need for technical improvements, emphasizing the importance of improving flexibility and development of an application for easy access to learning resources. Conclusion: The findings indicate that the blended learning approach enhanced supervision competence. The online component facilitated a more profound learning experience in the in-person simulation-based course. Recommendations for improvement centered on simplifying content and introducing greater flexibility and accessibility in the digital part of the course.

Clinical Innovation Custom Made Mara Appliance (Mandibular Anterior Repositioning Appliance)

The mandibular anterior repositioning appliance (MARA) is a tooth-borne functional appliance for use in patients with Class II malocclusions. So attempts have been made to make MARA appliance on the basis of easy accessibility of material and cost effective. As the cost of MARA is 50,000 INR, its difficult to take advantage of MARA. So we thought of this popular functional appliance MARA to be fabricated in our institute and treat patients with the same appliance and observe its effectiveness with the help of lateral cephalograms and photographs

Antibiotic prescribing patterns and carriage of antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli and Enterococcus species in healthy individuals from selected communities in Lusaka and Ndola districts, Zambia.

This study assessed antibiotic prescribing patterns in primary healthcare facilities and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) profiles of commensal Escherichia coli and enterococci isolated from pregnant women and children under 5 years of age. This cross-sectional study was conducted in Lusaka and Ndola districts of Zambia. Prescription pattern data were obtained from hospital pharmacies. Identification and antimicrobial susceptibility profiles of E. coli and enterococci were determined by conventional methods, while confirmation of both pathogens and AMR genes were determined by PCR. Data were analysed using WHONET and SPSS version 25.0. Most prescribed antibiotics at the primary healthcare facilities belonged to the Access group of the WHO Access, Watch and Reserve (AWaRe) classification. All the primary healthcare facilities adhered to the AWaRe framework of ≥60% prescribed antibiotics belonging to the Access group. However, resistance was highest in the Access group of antibiotics. E. coli resistance to ampicillin ranged from 71% to 77% and to co-trimoxazole from 74% to 80%, while enterococcal resistance to tetracycline was 59%-64%. MDR was highest in E. coli (75%) isolates, while XDR was highest in enterococcal isolates (97%). The identified AMR genes in E. coli included blaCTX-M, sul2 and qnrA, while those of enterococci included erm(B), erm(C) and erm(A). Resistance was highest in the prescribed WHO Access group of antibiotics. These findings highlight the need to use local susceptibility data to formulate country-specific treatment guidelines in line with WHO AWaRe classification and enforce regulations that prohibit easy access to antibiotics.

The peroxidase-like activity of Au NPs deposited inverse opal CeO2 nanozyme for rapid and sensitive H2O2 sensing

In this study, the hybrid nanozyme gold nanoparticles deposited CeO2 inverse opal photonic crystals (IOPCs) on the glass slide was fabricated by bestowing the hybrid with the beneficial porous morphology with its unique advantages: its surface valence states, high surface area, and copious active sites. The oxidase and peroxidase-mimicking activity was studied by observing the catalytic oxidation of chromogenic substrate 2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) in the presence of H2O2, which can be visualized by the eyes. Au NPs and CeO2 IOPCs consisting of Ce3+ and Ce4+ can oxidize ABTS in the presence of H2O2 by mimicking peroxidase enzymes. The peroxidase-like activity of nanozyme was substantially improved by introducing light irradiation due to the photosensitive nature of the hybrid. The peroxidase-like activity of nanozyme enabled H2O2 linear detection over the range 9 to 500 μM, with a LOD of 2.7 µM. The acceptable nanozyme activity is probably owing to the easy access of H2O2 to the active sites of nanozyme. The porous architecture led to the easy channeling of reactants and products. The periodic architecture of the nanozyme also led to decent reproducibility. Without functionalization, the nanozyme can be a promising alternative to peroxidase enzymes for hydrogen peroxide measurements.

Efficient Solar-Driven Interfacial Water Evaporator using Hydrogel Modified Carbon-Based Biomass with Abundant Microchannels.

The conventional sea water desalination technologies are not yet adopted worldwide, especially in the third world countries due to their high capital cost as well as large energy requirement. To solve this issue in a sustainable way an interfacial solar water evaporation device is designed and proposed in this article using the branches of Prunus serrulata (PB). The PB has abundant microchannels and shows excellent photothermal conversion capability after carbonization. Moreover, the easy access to raw materials and the facile fabrication process makes the solar water evaporating device very cost effective for seawater desalination application. Experiments show that in the presence of the fabricated evaporator the evaporation rate of water can reach 3.5kgm-2h-1 under 1 sun, which is superior to many similar experimental devices. In addition, its advantages, such as effective sewage purification capability, low cost, and environmental friendliness, make this evaporator highly competitive in the extensive promotion of this technology and can be considered as a new sustainable solution for seawater desalination with great application potential and prospects.

Gasless robot-assisted transaxillary hemithyroidectomy (RATH): learning curve and complications

PurposeGasless robot-assisted transaxillary hemithyroidectomy (RATH) is regarded as an alternative surgical option for thyroid operations. However, the associated steep learning curve is a clinical concern. This study evaluated the learning curve of RATH for surgeons without experience of endoscopic surgery and the early surgical outcomes of RATH.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective study of patients who underwent gasless RATH and conventional hemithyroidectomy (CH) at Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China, from June 2021 to August 2022. The learning curve and early surgical outcomes of gasless RATH were evaluated. And the early surgical outcomes of gasless RATH were compared to CH.ResultsIn total, 105 patients who underwent gasless RATH and 104 patients who underwent CH were matched and assessed. The cumulative sum techniques (CUSUM) analysis showed that the peak point of gasless RATH operative time occurred at the 31st case. No clear single peak was identified in the CUSUM plot for drainage amount and blood loss. No significant difference in perioperative complications was observed between these two groups. Moreover, the number of postoperative patients who got sense of thyroid area traction were fewer in the gasless RATH group (n = 11, 10.5%) than in the CH group (n = 32, 30.8%).ConclusionGasless RATH can be considered as an alternative approach to the conventional open procedure, as it is an easy remote access technique, with shorter learning curves and certain advantage such as less sense of thyroid area traction.

Preventing zoonotic and zooanthroponotic disease transmission at wild great ape sites: Recommendations from qualitative research at Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.

Employees at wild great ape sites are at high risk of transmitting infectious diseases to endangered great apes. Because of the significant amount of time employees spend near great apes, they are a priority population for the prevention and treatment of zoonotic and zooanthroponotic spillover and need adequate preventive and curative healthcare. Qualitative, semi-structured interviews with 46 staff (rangers and porters) at Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda (BINP) and key informants from five other wild great ape sites around the world were performed. The objectives of the study were to 1) evaluate health-seeking behavior and health resources used by staff in contact with great apes at Bwindi Impenetrable National Park; 2) evaluate existing occupational health programs for employees working with great apes in other parts of the world; and 3) make recommendations for improvement of occupational health at BINP. Results show that BINP employees do not frequently access preventive healthcare measures, nor do they have easy access to diagnostic testing for infectious diseases of spillover concern. Recommendations include assigning a dedicated healthcare provider for great ape site staff, providing free annual physical exams, and stocking rapid malaria tests and deworming medication in first aid kits at each site.

A miniaturized culture platform for control of the metabolic environment.

The heart is a metabolic "omnivore" and adjusts its energy source depending on the circulating metabolites. Human cardiac organoids, a three-dimensional in vitro model of the heart wall, are a useful tool to study cardiac physiology and pathology. However, cardiac tissue naturally experiences shear stress and nutrient fluctuations via blood flow in vivo, whilst in vitro models are conventionally cultivated in a static medium. This necessitates the regular refreshing of culture media, which creates acute cellular disturbances and large metabolic fluxes. To culture human cardiac organoids in a more physiological manner, we have developed a perfused bioreactor for cultures in a 96-well plate format. The designed bioreactor is easy to fabricate using a common culture plate and a 3D printer. Its open system allows for the use of traditional molecular biology techniques, prevents flow blockage issues, and provides easy access for sampling and cell assays. We hypothesized that a perfused culture would create more stable environment improving cardiac function and maturation. We found that lactate is rapidly produced by human cardiac organoids, resulting in large fluctuations in this metabolite under static culture. Despite this, neither medium perfusion in bioreactor culture nor lactate supplementation improved cardiac function or maturation. In fact, RNA sequencing revealed little change across the transcriptome. This demonstrates that cardiac organoids are robust in response to fluctuating environmental conditions under normal physiological conditions. Together, we provide a framework for establishing an easily accessible perfusion system that can be adapted to a range of miniaturized cell culture systems.

Influence of storage temperature and natural antioxidants addition on chia oil nutraceutical blends shelf life

AbstractThis study focuses on the influence of storage temperature and addition of commercial natural antioxidant‐rich sources on the shelf life of chia oil (CO) nutraceutical blends. CO is a valuable product for consumers due to its high ω‐3 content, but its susceptibility to oxidation comprises challenges for its shelf life and quality. Thereby, different chia oil‐antioxidant blends were prepared and stored at 4°C and 25°C to evaluate alternative shelf‐life conditions. Commercial antioxidant‐rich sources containing astaxanthin (ASX), β‐carotene (BC) and vitamin E (VE) were added either alone or combined to CO. To monitor blends oxidative stability during storage, primary and secondary oxidation compounds were assessed weekly using peroxide value (PV) and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) as indicators. Results showed that storage temperature played a significant role on oxidative stability of CO. When stored under refrigeration at 4°C, the oil exhibited low and stable oxidation indicators over time, regardless of the antioxidants used. However, at room temperature (25°C), the use of antioxidants and some particular combinations of them became crucial to prevent oil oxidative deterioration. Nutraceutical blends of CO/BC and CO/ASX were the best options to preserve CO from oxidation after 8 weeks storage at room temperature (PV < 2 meq O2/kg oil).Practical Applications: This work provides evidence on enhancing oxidative stability of chia oil through addition of natural antioxidants and proper storage. We focused primarily on designing blends from edible ingredients that are currently available in the market, with the aim of ensuring easy accessibility and affordability. Our findings offer valuable insights for the development of chia oil and antioxidant‐enriched blends, that could potentially serve as nutraceuticals or pharmacy‐compounded supplements to manage specific chronic inflammatory diseases. Our study highlights the importance of considering storage temperature and antioxidant selection to enhance shelf life and quality. These results have significant implications for the food industry, nutrition, and health, by providing valuable information for the creation of healthier and more sustainable food products. Furthermore, this work underscores the need for companies and retailers handling and storing vegetable oils with high omega‐3 content to adopt improved storage practices to ensure the quality and longevity of their products.

Reviewing the Potential Role of Artificial Intelligence in Delivering Personalized and Interactive Pain Medicine Education for Chronic Pain Patients.

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in patient pain medicine education has the potential to revolutionize pain management. By harnessing the power of AI, patient education becomes more personalized, interactive, and supportive, empowering patients to understand their pain, make informed decisions, and actively participate in their pain management journey. AI tailors the educational content to individual patients' needs, providing personalized recommendations. It introduces interactive elements through chatbots and virtual assistants, enhancing engagement and motivation. AI-powered platforms improve accessibility by providing easy access to educational resources and adapting content to diverse patient populations. Future AI applications in pain management include explaining pain mechanisms, treatment options, predicting outcomes based on individualized patient-specific factors, and supporting monitoring and adherence. Though the literature on AI in pain medicine and its applications are scarce yet growing, we propose avenues where AI may be applied and review the potential applications of AI in pain management education. Additionally, we address ethical considerations, patient empowerment, and accessibility barriers.

A direct Monte Carlo approach for the modeling of neutrals at the plasma edge and its self-consistent coupling with the 2D fluid plasma edge turbulence model HESEL

This paper presents a novel coupling of a kinetic description of neutrals with a fluid description of a fusion plasma. The code, plasma interacting super-atoms and molecules (PISAM), employs a grid-free Cartesian geometry and a direct simulation Monte Carlo approach to solve the kinetic equations of deuterium atoms and molecules. The grid-free geometry and the parallel nature of the neutral dynamics, in the absence of neutral–neutral interactions, allow for an unlimited and work-efficient parallelization of PISAM that always ensures a balanced workload. The highly optimized Python implementation obtains good performance while securing easy accessibility to new users. The coupling of PISAM with the edge turbulence model HESEL is outlined with emphasis on the technical aspects of coupling Message Passing Interface-parallelized Python and C++ codes. Furthermore, the paper presents and analyzes simulation results from running the coupled HESEL-PISAM model. These results demonstrate the impact of radial neutral transport and plasma–neutral dynamics perpendicular to the magnetic field. Specifically, they illustrate how the inward flow of neutral kinetic energy and the inhibition of radial electric shear, resulting from poloidal momentum transfer between atoms and ions, can affect the energy containment time. By comparing the results of the HESEL-PISAM model with those obtained from coupling HESEL with a diffusive-fluid-neutral model, the capabilities of diffusion models in predicting neutral transport in the plasma edge and scrape-off layer are elucidated.

Cryo-forum: A framework for orientation recovery with uncertainty measure with the application in cryo-EM image analysis

In single-particle cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), efficient determination of orientation parameters for particle images poses a significant challenge yet is crucial for reconstructing 3D structures. This task is complicated by the high noise levels in the datasets, which often include outliers, necessitating several time-consuming 2D clean-up processes. Recently, solutions based on deep learning have emerged, offering a more streamlined approach to the traditionally laborious task of orientation estimation. These solutions employ amortized inference, eliminating the need to estimate parameters individually for each image. However, these methods frequently overlook the presence of outliers and may not adequately concentrate on the components used within the network. This paper introduces a novel approach that uses a 10-dimensional feature vector to represent the orientation and applies a Quadratically-Constrained Quadratic Program to derive the predicted orientation as a unit quaternion, supplemented by an uncertainty metric. Furthermore, we propose a unique loss function that considers the pairwise distances between orientations, thereby enhancing the accuracy of our method. Finally, we also comprehensively evaluate the design choices in constructing the encoder network, a topic that has not received sufficient attention in the literature. Our numerical analysis demonstrates that our methodology effectively recovers orientations from 2D cryo-EM images in an end-to-end manner. Notably, the inclusion of uncertainty quantification allows for direct clean-up of the dataset at the 3D level. Lastly, we package our proposed methods into a user-friendly software suite named cryo-forum, designed for easy access by developers.

Development of an Online Platform for Lesson Scheduling and Grade Management at MAN 1 Padang Using Waterfall Methodology

This study aimed to create an online platform devoted to managing lesson schedules and grade data in MAN 1 Padang. This platform was developed with the specific needs of MAN 1 Padang. The development approach used the MVC architecture (Model, View, Controller), which applies the waterfall method approach to provide a structured development framework. The platform presents services such as lesson scheduling, grade processing, and report provision that are accessible to students and parents. The successful provision of these services is expected to facilitate learning in schools. The utilization of technologies such as PHP as a programming language, the Yii Framework, and MySQL databases provides a solid technological foundation, guaranteeing the efficiency and scalability of these platforms. Overall, the creation of this platform is expected to facilitate the learning process in MAN 1 Padang by providing easy access to schedule information, grades, and reports to students and parents. Thus, this platform is expected to provide positive benefits in the development and management of the learning process in MAN 1 Padang.

Keystone - A Smart Campus

Abstract: Increasing numbers of institutes have set up facilities on their Web portal as a way of providing users (i.e. Students and Faculties) with information about their facilities and features. Generally in colleges, things are done manually such as submission, handouts, notice, results, records, examinations, etc. so to avoid this we are designing a web portal for our institute, which will be helpful in following features like time saving, easy access and user friendly. In this project, we developed a Smart Campus Web Portal called Keystone App. Keystone App offers campus management solutions with the collaboration of smart features, the Internet and computer applications. The system has many features; these are Online Attendance System, Online Noticeboard, providing study materials and many more. It is a digitalization of campus resources in the real world, allowing different resources to be integrated and generating an ecology. The virtual campus interacts powerfully with the physical campus, improving the efficiency of campus operations and promoting the university's long-term development.

Eyesight to insight: evidence from urban eye health programme

India, with a population exceeding 1.486 billion, faces substantial challenges in urban eye health, particularly in densely populated states like Uttar Pradesh. This study delves into real-world impact of urban eye health programme, implemented in Kanpur and Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, aiming to identify success factors and examine the tangible effects of interventions through comprehensive endline study. Utilizing a hub-and-spoke model, the programme established base hospitals as hubs and vision centres as spokes, creating a network for affordable and accessible eye care. The project significantly improved accessibility, with over 85% in Kanpur and 97% in Prayagraj reporting easy access to vision centres. A shift in community behaviour was observed, with a preference for vision centres for eye examinations increasing from 5.6-64.6% in Kanpur and 10.6-57.1% in Prayagraj. The programme empowered women to prioritize their eye health, reaching 53% of women for eye screening. Community perception shifted positively, with over 82% in Prayagraj recognizing the programme's pivotal role. In Kanpur, 87.5% of women actively take charge of their eye health decisions, while 99.1% do so in Prayagraj. This empowerment underscores programme commitment to providing equal access to eye care and demonstrates a strong focus on inclusivity and gender equality.

Campus United

Abstract: Easy access to all content on the website facilitates user interaction. Our college's current website is run by a business, so there aren't many disadvantages. To address the issue of the college having to pay a substantial sum and the possibility of data loss, the "P. C. Polytechnic" website was created. We used HTML, CSS, and JavaScript as frontend tools and MySQL and PHP as back-end designers for our website. Our project's primary goals are to deliver user interface apps and dynamic content changes. This website offers a virtual tour of the campus and the most recent information about the organization.