Department Of Science Research Articles

Managing the Orientation Towards Competition in Handball of Students of the Department of Physical Education and Sports Sciences

Managing the Orientation Towards Competition in Handball of Students of the Department of Physical Education and Sports Sciences

TEX13B is essential for metabolic reprogramming during germ cell differentiation.

What is the functional significance of Tex13b in male germ cell development and differentiation? Tex13b regulates male germ cell differentiation by metabolic reprogramming during spermatogenesis. Studies in mice and humans suggest that TEX13B is a transcription factor and is exclusively expressed in germ cells. We sequenced the coding regions of TEX13B in 628 infertile men and 427 ethnically matched fertile control men. Further, to identify the molecular function of Tex13b, we created a Tex13b knockout and conditional overexpression system in GC-1spg (hereafter, GC-1) cells. Our recent exome sequencing study identified novel candidate genes for male infertility. TEX13B was found to be one of the potential candidates, hence we explored the role of TEX13B in male infertility within a large infertile case-control cohort. We performed functional analyses of Tex13b in a GC-1 cell line using CRISPR-Cas9. We differentially labelled the cell proteins by stable isotope labelling of amino acids in cell culture (SILAC) and performed mass spectrometry-based whole-cell proteomics to identify the differential protein regulation in knockout cells compared to wild-type cells. We found that Tex13b knockout leads to downregulation of the OXPHOS complexes and upregulation of glycolysis genes, which was further validated by western blotting. These results were further confirmed by respirometry analysis in Tex13b knockout cells. Further, we also performed a conditional overexpression of TEX13B in GC-1 cells and studied the expression of OXPHOS complex proteins by western blotting. We identified a rare variant, rs775429506 (p.Gly237Glu), exclusively in two non-obstructive-azoospermia (NOA) men, that may genetically predispose these men for infertility. Further, we demonstrated that Tex13b functions in the transcription regulation of OXPHOS complexes. N/A. We examined the function of Tex13b in GC-1 in vitro by knocking out and conditional overexpression, for understanding the function of Tex13b in germ cells. Unfortunately, this could not be replicated in either an animal model or in patient-derived tissue due to the non-availability of an animal model or patient's testis biopsies. This study identified that Tex13b plays an important role in male germ cell development and differentiation. The findings of this study would be useful for screening infertile males with spermatogenic failure and counselling them before the implementation of assisted reproduction technique(s). Funding was provided by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) under the network project (BSC0101 and MLP0113) and SERB, the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India (J C Bose Fellowship: JCB/2019/000027). The authors do not have any competing interest.

The Effect of Educational Units According to the Cognitive Training Strategy on Cognitive Flexibility and Learning the Skill of Scoring in Football

The first chapter contained the introduction and importance of the research, as the importance of using the cognitive training strategy according to cognitive flexibility was addressed for learning football for first-stage students. The research aims to address whether educational units developed by the researchers positively influence learning outcomes in football scoring. The objectives of the research were to prepare educational units using a cognitive training strategy according to cognitive flexibility in learning the skill of scoring in football. Where the research areas were: The human field: first-year students in the College of Basic Education, Department of Physical Education and Sports Sciences / Al- Mustansiriya University, the time field: for the period from 10/12/2022 until 2/ 10/2023. As for the research community, it was represented by the students of the first stage in the College of Basic Education/Al- Mustansiriya University (70) students. The sample consisted of two equal groups (10), experimental and control. The Vina system was used using a three-dimensional test to determine cognitive flexibility. The researcher conducted pre-tests for the research sample, then the main experiment was applied for a period of 10 weeks, one educational unit per week, after which the researcher conducted the post-tests and the pre-tests with the same procedures, which indicated that there were significant differences between the two research groups and in favor of the experimental group. The conclusions were that there was a positive impact of the educational units used in the research to learn skills, as the researcher recommended using a cognitive training strategy according to cognitive flexibility in learning other skills.

Nagynyomású hidrogénatmoszférás kemence gyártása szénacélok elridegedésének vizsgálatához

Összefoglalás. A hidrogén tárolása iránti igény egyre növekszik, melynek oka az, hogy a hidrogén mint alternatív energiahordozó jelentős szerepet játszik a szén-dioxidkibocsátás-csökkentési törekvésekben. Azonban, az elridegedési folyamatok körében a hidrogén által előidézett károsodások jelentik a legkomolyabb problémát az acélokra nézve. Kutatómunkánk során egy nagynyomású hidrogénatmoszférás hőkezelésre alkalmas autoklávot terveztünk, majd gyártottunk. Az autoklávban P355 NH minőségű alapanyagból kimunkált szabványos Charpy-féle ütőpróbatesteket hőkezeltünk 150 °C-on, 40 bar túlnyomáson, 200 órán keresztül, tiszta hidrogén atmoszférában. A vizsgálatok eredményei alapján megállapítottuk, hogy a jelentős mértékű elridegedés a hidrogénezési folyamat után sem történt. Summary. The demand for hydrogen storage is growing. The primary reason for this is that hydrogen as an alternative energy carrier is playing a significant role in carbon reduction efforts as a fuel for road and maritime transport. In addition, hydrogen can be seen as a long-term flexible energy storage option. Hydrogen as an energy carrier is expected to play a significant role in residential and industrial use in the future. A first step in this development is the mixing of hydrogen with natural gas in small quantities. Increasing the share of hydrogen would not only reduce CO2 emissions, but would also facilitate the development of different hydrogen production methods and thus reduce production costs. The upper safety limit for hydrogen blending with natural gas is set by the national specification of the natural gas supply, possible material quality restrictions and the tolerance of the most sensitive equipment in the network. For this reason, the maximum allowable hydrogen content in natural gas is generally limited to 2,5%. However, among the embrittlement processes, hydrogen-induced damage is the most serious problem for both non-alloy and low-alloy steels. Atomic hydrogen diffuses in steel at high rates. The diffusion rate is orders of magnitude higher than that of other elements; this is due to the small atomic diameter of hydrogen. To investigate the degradation of different carbon steels in a high-pressure hydrogen atmosphere, a hydrogenation furnace was designed and fabricated at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at BME. The hydrogenation furnace is the main part of a complex mechanical engineering system, for the operation of which the mechanical, heating, electrical supply, control and gas handling components are indispensable. The entire design process of the furnace was led by József Blücher, Professor Emeritus at BME, with the help of the engineers and technicians working on the project. Standard Charpy impact test specimens were machined from P355 NH grade material to test the embrittlement of carbon steels. The hydrogenation temperature was 150 °C, the internal overpressure in the chamber was 40 bar, the hydrogenation time was 200 hours and the atmosphere was hydrogen gas of purity 5.0. The impact test was carried out at -20, 0 and +20 °C. Based on the results of the tests, it can be concluded that there was no significant degree of degradation both before hydrogenation and after prolonged exposure to hydrogen. It can be concluded that the tube material used as a sample is suitable for operation in a hydrogen medium. Based on the analysis of the burst areas and impact values of the impact test specimens, it was concluded that hydrogen did not cause any observable damage to the test material.

Agency under German Occupation: Conservationist Policy-Making in The Netherlands, 1940–1945

The paper provides a political history of nature conservation in the Netherlands during the Second World War, 1940–1945. Nature and nature conservation were not mere victims of Nazi German oppression or destruction; rather, conservationist organisations clearly had agency under difficult circumstances. The movement’s leaders were accustomed to using informal contacts, semi-formal arrangements and back channel deals with government authorities and agencies, and continued to exert influence on the new Department of Education, Science and Protection of Culture with considerable success after 1940. Although these consultation structures and the Department’s power to impose measures by decree could not always prevent severe damage, this story sheds new light on the history of the nature conservation movement as an historical actor in its own right under the conditions of war and occupation. This article was published open access under a CC BY licence: https://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0 .

Immunohistochemical Findings of Lens Capsules Obtained from Dead Bag Syndrome Patients.

To investigate the extracellular matrix and cellular components in lens capsules extracted from patients with dead bag syndrome (DBS) through immunohistochemistry. Department of Ophthalmology, Wakayama Medical University School of Medicine and Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, John A. Moran Eye Center, University of Utah. Immunohistochemical experimental study. Nine capsular bag specimens from DBS cases, as well as 2 control specimens from late-postoperative in-the-bag intraocular lens dislocation cases related to previous vitrectomy, pseudoexfoliation, and blunt trauma were included. They were processed for histopathology; unstained sections were obtained from each one, and analyzed by immunohistochemistry targeting collagen type IV, laminin, vimentin, collagen type I and fibronectin. Immunohistochemistry in DBS showed lens capsule stained for basement membrane components. The outer part of the anterior capsule that was split from the inner part was more markedly stained for type IV collagen as compared with the posterior part. Faint staining for fibrous posterior capsular opacification (PCO) components, e. g., collagen type I and fibronectin, was detected in limited areas, but the major portion of the capsule was free from these components. Small spotty vimentin-positive materials, suggesting the presence of cell debris, was also detected in limited samples. Small amounts of fibrotic PCO components were detected in capsules extracted from patients with DBS, but their major parts were free from PCO components. Current findings suggest small amounts of lens epithelial cells were present after surgery and secreted fibrous components before undergoing cell death process.

Gavel to Ground: Examining the Effectiveness and Efficacy of Project Karunungan in Enhancing Local Governance and Its Future Direction

In the context of local governance, careful implementation of parliamentary procedures during meetings is of great concern. In 2019, Project Karunungan, a training workshop program, was born from cooperation between the Political Science Department of Mindanao State University and the Local Government Unit of General Santos City, Philippines. The initiative's primary goal is to educate barangay officials about Robert's Rules of Order principles. This paper is qualitative and quantitative research, drawing arguments from interviews and surveys. The correct parliamentary process significantly improves local governance by providing a formal framework for decision-making and guaranteeing fairness, openness, and accountability. This paper advances the significance of Project Karunungan to new heights as a continuous program to produce better leaders.

Assessment of Microbial Activity, Shelf Life, and Sensory Characteristics of Buttermilk Enhanced with Indian Prickly Ash (Zanthoxylum rhetsa) Extract

The present investigation was carried out at the Dairy Science Laboratory of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairy Science, College of Agriculture, Dr. BSKKV., Dapoli (M.S.) to Assessment of Microbial Activity, Shelf Life, and Sensory Characteristics of Buttermilk enhanced with Indian Prickly Ash (Zanthoxylum rhetsa) extract. This study aimed to evaluate the microbial activity, shelf life, and sensory attributes of Indian Prickly Ash extract fortified buttermilk during storage under refrigerated conditions. Microbial analysis was conducted on fresh and stored samples over 15 days, focusing on standard plate count, coliform count, yeast, and mold count. Results indicated that the initial standard plate count of fresh buttermilk increased marginally during storage. Shelf-life assessment revealed that the buttermilk remained suitable for consumption for up to 15 days under refrigerated conditions. Sensory evaluation was performed concurrently with microbial analysis. Overall acceptability scores were highest for buttermilk fortified with 6% Indian Prickly Ash extract, followed by treatments with lower extract concentrations. Statistical analysis showed significant differences among treatments, with 6% extract incorporation yielding the most favorable sensory outcomes. In conclusion, Indian Prickly Ash extract fortified buttermilk, particularly at 6% concentration, exhibited enhanced microbial stability and sensory appeal, suggesting its potential as a functional food product. Keywords: Milk, Buttermilk, Indian Prickly Ash.

A Primer on Genetic Testing for Horse Owners and Breeders

With the increasing development of genetic testing and advanced genomic technologies, horse owners and breeders have more opportunities than ever before to learn more about the genetic background of their horses. This publication provides information to help horse owners and breeders understand what genetic testing services are, which genetic tests are available for their horses, and how to locate genetic testing services. Written by Julia L. Ciosek, Carissa Wickens, and Samantha A. Brooks, and published by the Veterinary Medicine—Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, UF/IFAS Extension, April 2024.

Toward Opportunity-Centered Institutional Logics: Evidence from Hispanic-Serving Institutions and Science Equity Efforts

ABSTRACT In U.S. 4-year postsecondary institutions, predominant institutional logics — the embedded assumptions that guide organizational action — have traditionally focused on prestige seeking via acquisition of resources, reputation, and research capabilities. This focus can hinder the design and implementation of teaching approaches and structures that support equitable student experiences and outcomes, particularly for minoritized students. This study examined the institutional logics guiding the organizational behavior of four broadly accessible Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) computer science departments. All were participating in a multi-institutional network of HSIs designed to advance science equity efforts and postsecondary attainment for Latinx students in the discipline. A multiple case study of these four departments included 63 interviews with faculty and administrators, 69 observations of departmental activities, and extensive participant-observations of the network before, during, and after site visits. Data analysis revealed three themes — inclusivity, talent development, and cultural responsiveness — that indicate how departmental personnel employ institutional logics alternative to prestige-seeking institutional logics. The paper discusses the implications of these alternative institutional logics, characterized as opportunity-centered logics, to effect equity-focused institutional transformation, strengthening of HSIs’ capacities to serve Latinx and minoritized students, and inclusive efforts in science.

The Revival of Essay-Type Questions in Medical Education: Harnessing Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.

To analyse and compare the assessment and grading of human-written and machine-written formative essays. Quasi-experimental, qualitative cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of the Study: Department of Science of Dental Materials, Hamdard College of Medicine & Dentistry, Hamdard University, Karachi, from February to April 2023. Ten short formative essays of final-year dental students were manually assessed and graded. These essays were then graded using ChatGPT version 3.5. The chatbot responses and prompts were recorded and matched with manually graded essays. Qualitative analysis of the chatbot responses was then performed. Four different prompts were given to the artificial intelligence (AI) driven platform of ChatGPT to grade the summative essays. These were the chatbot's initial responses without grading, the chatbot's response to grading against criteria, the chatbot's response to criteria-wise grading, and the chatbot's response to questions for the difference in grading. Based on the results, four innovative ways of using AI and machine learning (ML) have been proposed for medical educators: Automated grading, content analysis, plagiarism detection, and formative assessment. ChatGPT provided a comprehensive report with feedback on writing skills, as opposed to manual grading of essays. The chatbot's responses were fascinating and thought-provoking. AI and ML technologies can potentially supplement human grading in the assessment of essays. Medical educators need to embrace AI and ML technology to enhance the standards and quality of medical education, particularly when assessing long and short essay-type questions. Further empirical research and evaluation are needed to confirm their effectiveness. Machine learning, Artificial intelligence, Essays, ChatGPT, Formative assessment.

Supporting the COVID Response with Solutions from Science

January 2023 marks the 36th month following the World Health Organization’s declaration of COVID-19 as a public health emergency of international concern. Recent and upcoming events show how far the Philippines has come in terms of its response: emerging from what has been referred to as the world’s longest lockdown1, crowds converging in public spacesand participating in mass gatherings demonstrate how people are adapting to COVID-19 as a reality of daily life. The journey to this milestone has not been simple nor straightforward. In addition to the thousands of health care workers who provide frontline services, a multi-disciplinary group of scientists continues to work tirelessly in the background, dedicating their efforts to gain a better understanding of COVID, particularly in the Philippine context. For example:1. The Philippines has contributed over 12,000 sequences to the Global Initiative on Sharing Avian Influenza Data (GISAID) platform.2 This resource provides open access to genomic data on coronavirus and allows real-time surveillance to monitor the emergence of new COVID-19 variants globally.2. The FASSSTER (Feasibility Analysis of Syndromic Surveillance Using Spatio-Temporal Epidemiological Modeler) team of computer and data scientists, mathematical and economics modelers, public health and epidemiological experts provides scenario-based projections for COVID-19 using a disease surveillance and modeling platform.3The platform outputs guide decision making by national and local government agencies for interventions such as community quarantines, granular lockdowns, and vaccination targets.3. The Department of Science and Technology is supporting more than 60 projects and studies through its ARCHER (Addressing and Responding to COVID-19 Through Health Research) program. Aside from the usual focus on diagnosis, treatment and prevention, work is also being done on a broad range of topics, such as AI/ICT-driven prediction models and COVID behavior studies.4 Even as scientists struggled to provide information and technology solutions to guide a rational response, governments followed their advice to varying degrees, sometimes resulting in confusing messages. The pandemic has truly highlighted the “synergies as well as the tensions between science and policy.”5Yin and colleagues explored the connection between science and policy in their 2021 paper published in Science. Matching the scientific references in policy documents obtained from a large-scale database with another publication and citation database provided the team with a “distinct opportunity to examine the role of science in the global policy responseto COVID-19.” They found that policy documents in the COVID-19 pandemic substantially access recent, peer-reviewed, and highimpact science. However, national policy approaches have varied greatly, with some countries being actively antagonistic to scientific advice.6 In a perfect world, science and government should work closely together to formulate evidence-based policy. Bicchieri et al. found the largest gaps between trust in science and trust in government in Colombia and Mexico; in contrast, the smallest were in Germany and South Korea, where policy and science were more aligned. They note that “country-level trust in science, and not in government, becomes a strong predictor of compliance.”7 According to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the pandemic response requires a more collaborative relationship between scientists and policymakers. Their recommendations include strengthened use of science in policy, ensuring “open science,” universal access to solutions, and a faster response to scientific findings. Of note, the need for building public trust in science is also emphasized.8 For science to be able to provide solutions to support the COVID response, it must communicate, and it must be heard.

Międzynarodowa Konferencja Naukowa „Dobrostan zwierząt. Perspektywa prawna”, Lublin–Iwano-Frankiwsk, 26 października 2023 r.

On 26 October 2023, an International Scientific Conference “Animal Welfare: A Legal Perspective” was held at the Faculty of Law and Administration of the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University (Lublin). It was the third meeting in the series “Legal Protection of Animals”, which was launched in 2019. The conference was organized by the Department of Administrative Law and Administrative Science of the Faculty of Law and Administration of the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin, in cooperation with the Department of Labour, Ecological and Agrarian Law of the Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University in Ivano-Frankivsk and the Foundation for Academic Initiatives in Lublin. The report presents selected theses from the speeches of all speakers.

Advances in Speech Emotion Recognition and Analysis: A Review of Applied Machine Learning Methodologies

Abstract: The most important marketing tactics in the current environment is emotion detection based on individual’s interests, allowing extensive customization to cater to the varied needs of customers. For instance, contact centers may start playing music while a caller is on the line if they are agitated. A smart car that slows down when the driver is angry or scared is another illustration.The recognition of speech emotion has become a vital task in the field of computer science department . A very important aspect of human emotional state information is speech emotion that is the source of communication between human and computer interactions . The recognition of speech emotion is currently a very hot topic in the field of machine learning and deep learning and many systems have been build and are currently working on the recognition of these speech emotions using deep learning and neural networks algorithms. In this paper, various types of models and features like Mel-frequency Cepstral Coefficients (MFCC), Modulation spectral features (MSFs), Low-Level Descriptors(LLDs) for speech emotion recognition are categorized. Ultimately, the algorithms like recurrent neural network(RNN), support vector machine(SVM) used in different models are tabulated presenting their advantages and disadvantages along with their features and efficiency.

BENEFITS OF INTERNSHIP ACCORDING TO POLITICAL SCIENCE AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION STUDENTS

A step has been taken in higher education towards the specialization of universities. In line with this step, a trend towards internship applications has started in the political science and public administration departments of universities. There is a gap in the literature on studies related to internships in these departments. The present study aims to fill said gap. The purpose of the study is to explore the benefits of internship through the opinions of political science and public administration students. The study was conducted descriptively employing the qualitative research method with a single case design. The participants of the study were identified using the purposive sampling method and typical case sampling. The participants were students of the Department of Political Science and Public Administration, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Aksaray University. The internship program in the department had been recently initiated at the request of the students. Seven students out of a total of ten students who had completed their internship were the participants of the study. Observations, interviews and document analysis were used as data collection tools. Semi-structured interview questions were used in the interviews. The collected data were transferred to the Maxqda 2022 software for coding. Categories were generated based on these codes and themes were identified based on the categories. At the end of the study, the benefits of internship were grouped under two themes. The first theme is “Benefits of internship for students” and the second one is “Benefits of internship for the faculty”.

Online training needs assessment (TNA) among Municipal Nutrition Action Officers (MNAOs) in the Philippines

Introduction: A training needs assessment (TNA) was conducted by the Department of Science and Technology, Food and Nutrition Research Institute (DOST-FNRI) to design appropriate and relevant trainings for Municipal Nutrition Action Officers (MNAOs). In the Philippines, MNAO is a nutrition officer who serves at the municipal level and is tasked to ensure the localisation of the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition (PPAN) in Local Government Units (LGU) to ensure proper implementation of activities on Public Health Nutrition (PHN). Methods: A total of 162 MNAOs in the country answered the online TNA survey conducted from April to May 2023. Results: Based on the results of the TNA survey, there was a need for DOST-FNRI to design and conduct trainings related to the top three core competencies identified by MNAOs: Creating policies and standards related to food and nutrition; advocating legislation, regulation, and nutrition policies; and designing appropriate nutrition information education and communication (IEC) materials. Conclusion: Based on the study results, it is recommended that LGUs allocate funds for capacity building of the public health workforce to create a skilled workforce in the community that will coordinate the formulation, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of nutrition plans at the municipal level. For future consideration, curriculum design for professional development in public health nutrition should include core competencies on food and nutrition policy programme, nutrition programme management, and IEC development.

Comprehensible Extraction of Knowledge Bases for Learning Agents in Games

AbstractThis dissertation abstract summarizes results of the thesis “Comprehensible Knowledge Base Extraction for Learning Agents - Practical Challenges and Applications in Games” (accepted as dissertation at the Department of Computer Science of TU Dortmund University, Germany). The thesis presents approaches that allow for the automated creation of knowledge bases from agent behavior learned in the context of games. The aims are twofold: (1) The creation of human-readable knowledge that can provide insights into what an agent learned, and (2) the investigation of how learning agents themselves can benefit from incorporating these approaches into their learning processes. Applications are presented, e.g., in the context of general video game playing. Moreover, an outlook on the InteKRator toolbox is provided which implements the most essential approaches in a more general context for the potential use in other domains (e.g. in medical informatics).

Sequential CD7 CAR T-Cell Therapy and Allogeneic HSCT without GVHD Prophylaxis

BackgroundPatients with relapsed or refractory hematologic cancers have a poor prognosis. Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy as a bridge to allogeneic hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT) has the potential for long-term tumor elimination. However, pre-HSCT myeloablation and graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis agents have toxic effects and could eradicate residual CAR T cells and compromise antitumor effects. Whether the integration of CAR T-cell therapy and allogeneic HSCT can preserve CAR T-cell function and improve tumor control is unclear.MethodsWe tested a novel “all-in-one” strategy consisting of sequential CD7 CAR T-cell therapy and haploidentical HSCT in 10 patients with relapsed or refractory CD7-positive leukemia or lymphoma. After CAR T-cell therapy led to complete remission with incomplete hematologic recovery, patients received haploidentical HSCT without pharmacologic myeloablation or GVHD prophylaxis drugs. Toxic effects and efficacy were closely monitored.ResultsAfter CAR T-cell therapy, all 10 patients had complete remission with incomplete hematologic recovery and grade 4 pancytopenia. After haploidentical HSCT, 1 patient died on day 13 of septic shock and encephalitis, 8 patients had full donor chimerism, and 1 patient had autologous hematopoiesis. Three patients had grade 2 HSCT-associated acute GVHD. The median follow-up was 15.1 months (range, 3.1 to 24.0) after CAR T-cell therapy. Six patients remained in minimal residual disease–negative complete remission, 2 had a relapse of CD7-negative leukemia, and 1 died of septic shock at 3.7 months. The estimated 1-year overall survival was 68% (95% confidence interval [CI], 43 to 100), and the estimated 1-year disease-free survival was 54% (95% CI, 29 to 100).ConclusionsOur findings suggest that sequential CD7 CAR T-cell therapy and haploidentical HSCT is safe and effective, with remission and serious but reversible adverse events. This strategy offers a feasible approach for patients with CD7-positive tumors who are ineligible for conventional allogeneic HSCT. (Funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Key Project of Science and Technology Department of Zhejiang Province; ClinicalTrials.gov numbers, NCT04599556 and NCT04538599.)

Drug utilization and prescribing pattern in the treatment of urolithiasis: a perspective on World Health Organization recommendations

Background: Drug utilization research (DUR) is essential in promoting rational use of medicine, aimed at understanding the patterns of prescription, administration, and utilization of medications. It provides valuable insights into the actual drug usage patterns for specific disease conditions. To evaluate the current utilization pattern of drugs in patients of urolithiasis in the Department of General Medicine and Surgery at Integral Institute of Medical Science and Research Hospital, Lucknow. Methods: Following the approval of the institutional ethics committee, a prospective observational study was conducted at Integral Institute of Medical Science and Research Department of general medicine and surgery over a six-month period. Urolithiasis patients’ prescriptions were analyzed to study the prescribing patterns. Information about patient demographics, co-morbidities, and the number and types of medications prescribed were collected and analyzed. Results: Out of 102 patients studied, a female preponderance over male patients was observed. The co-morbidities that are encountered most commonly were hydronephrosis, cystitis, and renal cyst. There is averaged 7 medicines per prescription, 15.25% of medicines written by the generic name, 83.33% of patients receiving antibiotics, 54.70% of patients receiving injections, and 83% of drugs prescribed are mentioned in the essential medicine list. Analgesics, antibiotics, nutritional supplements, antiemetic, alkalizing agents, and antispasmodics were among the class of medicines given. Conclusions: This study highlights the current use of medicines and drug utilization in urolithiasis management. The findings show important insights for healthcare professionals to enhance medication therapy, encourage cost-effective healthcare delivery and improve quality of patient in urolithiasis management.

ANALYSIS OF NOVASAR-1 S-BAND DATA IN DEVELOPING AN ALTERNATIVE LAND COVER MAPPING

Abstract. The Advanced Science and Technology Institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-ASTI), through its Synthetic Aperture Radar and Automatic Identification System (SARwAIS) Project, has gained access to S-Band SAR images acquired by the NovaSAR-1 satellite of UK’s Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (SSTL) To help maximize the utility of these images especially in the aspect of terrain-related applications, their viability as potential alternatives to datasets like optical satellite images and other SAR images in characterizing land cover types was evaluated. Statistical analyses on the backscatter values from the tri-polarization ScanSAR datasets using Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) and its corresponding post-hoc tests showed that there is a significant difference on the mean backscatter values at 0.05 level of significance. Moreover, Tukey’s honestly significant difference (Tukey’s HSD) test determined which pairs contribute to the significant difference. Using the Random Forest algorithm resulted in an accuracy of 66.93% without further optimization and/or reduction in the number of land covers being classified. Despite the relatively unremarkable accuracy score, it still showed potential for data augmentation with optical satellites for land cover mapping and other terrain-related applications.