Estimation of the levels of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) in cardiac blood samples by a simple and indigenous enzyme linked immunosorbent assay

Levels of Atrial Natriuretic Peptide (ANP) were estimated in twenty four blood samples collected from the right and the left ventricles of the patients undergoing cardiac catheterization by an Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) developed to the sensitivity of 5 pp/well and within 10% of interassay coeficient of variance. Simultaneously, levels of ANP in plasma samples from the systemic venous blood of seventy five normal subjects were also estimated which ranged between 25–60 pg/ml.     

Monitoring and Root Cause Analysis of Clinical Biochemistry Turn Around Time at an Academic Hospital

Quality can be defined as the ability of a product or service to satisfy the needs and expectations of the customer. Laboratories are more focusing on technical and analytical quality for reliability and accuracy of test results. Patients and clinicians however are interested in rapid, reliable and efficient service from laboratory. Turn around time (TAT), the timeliness with which laboratory personnel deliver test results, is one of the most noticeable signs of laboratory service and is often used as a key performance indicator of laboratory performance. This study is aims to provide clue for laboratory TAT monitoring and root cause analysis. In a 2 year period a total of 75,499 specimens of outdoor patient department were monitor, of this a total of 4,142 specimens exceeded TAT. With consistent efforts to monitor, root cause analysis and corrective measures, we are able to decreased the specimens exceeding TAT from 7–8 to 3.7 %. Though it is difficult task to monitor TAT with the help of laboratory information system, real time documentation and authentic data retrievable, along with identification of causes for delays and its remedial measures, improve laboratory TAT and thus patient satisfaction.     

Effect of integrating IoT courses at the freshman level on learning attitude and behaviour in the classroom

Education and Information Technologies - As a technology the effect of the Internet of Things (IoT) is so strong that it has changed the way of living. The transition is also apparent in the field...     

Wavelet transforms: Application to data analysis - I

In this article, we elaborate upon the key ideas underlying the construction of various wavelet basis sets. The roles of translation and scaling, which enable the wavelets to localize variations at desired levels of resolution, are clearly brought out. After explaining the implementation of one dimensional wavelet transform, we illustrate their usefulness through the analysis of a data set.     

Condensation of Water Vapour in Ambient Atmosphere Under Applied Pressure at Room Temperature A Demonstration Experiment

The article demonstrates the condensation of water vapour under pressure and at room temperature, using a disposable syringe and an ambient light source. The small amount of trapped water vapour inside a syringe along with the air is compressed manually to one-sixth of its original volume. The compressed water vapour inside the syringe can be easily seen in the form of a white condensate on the inner side of the transparent, circular wall of the syringe. The condensate cloud can be observed in the atmosphere by releasing it in the open air while holding the syringe in front of a light source over a dark background. This model can be used as an analogous experiment while explaining the concept of condensation of gases under pressure–from school to postgraduate students.     

Medical students’ help-seeking recommendations for a person with Alzheimer’s disease: relationships with knowledge and stigmatic beliefs

ABSTRACT

Primary care physicians play a central role in the process of providing a timely diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Recent reviews reported that their lack of knowledge and stigmatic beliefs about the disease are important barriers to providing an adequate diagnosis and even affect physicians’ referral recommendations for help-seeking (HS). This topic however, has not been examined among medical students. Thus, the aim of this study was to examine Israeli medical students’ HS recommendations for a person with AD, and their associations with knowledge about the disease and stigmatic beliefs, including agism and AD stigma. A convenience sample of 142 six-year medical students completed a structured questionnaire (60% female; mean age = 25.8). Overall, regarding nonprofessional sources, the vast majority of the participants stated they would recommend seeking help from close family members and friends. Regarding medical sources, almost all the participants recommended seeking help from family physicians and neurologists. Results showed that AD stigma mediated the relationship between knowledge about AD and HS recommendations. Our results stress the importance of investing efforts during the training and socialization phases of future clinicians in order to improve the timely diagnosis of AD, placing special attention on AD stigma.