Assessing the knowledge, attitude, and practice measures against tuberculosis in patients in ambulatory department facilities in Pakistan: a cross-sectional analysis.

Tuberculosis (TB), at present, is the leading infectious etiology of death globally. In Pakistan, there are approximately 510,000 new cases annually, with more than 15,000 of them developing into drug-resistant TB, making the nation the fifth-leading country in TB prevalence in the world. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the focus has drifted away from TB screening, diagnostic and health awareness campaigns, and therapeutic measures endangering knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) towards TB in our population.

Modeling of the Influence of Operational Parameters on Tire Lateral Dynamics.

Tires play a critical role in vehicle safety. Proper modeling of tire-road interaction is essential for optimal performance of active safety systems. This work studies the influence of temperature, longitudinal vehicle speed, steering frequency, vertical load, and inflation pressure on lateral tire dynamics.

The Use of IV Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide (Aviptadil) in Patients With Critical COVID-19 Respiratory Failure: Results of a 60-Day Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objectives: Respiratory failure is a lethal complication of COVID-19 that has remained resistant to drug therapy. Vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) is shown in nonclinical studies to upregulate surfactant production, inhibit cytokine synthesis, prevent cytopathy, and block replication of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 virus in pulmonary cells. The study aims to determine whether Aviptadil (synthetic VIP) can improve survival and recovery in patients with COVID-19 respiratory failure compared with placebo and demonstrate biological effects in such patients.

Use of Dupilumab in Glucocorticoid-Dependent Asthma.

Of the patients with asthma, 20% to 25% progress to severe symptoms, resulting in poor quality of life and increased episodes of exacerbation. There is a broad range of drugs used for asthma; the most used medications for severe asthma are inhaled glucocorticoids with or without long-acting β-agonists. Systemic glucocorticoids and other treatments as add-on therapies are also given as needed.

The impact of misinformation on the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since the inception of the current pandemic, COVID-19 related misinformation has played a role in defaulting control of the situation. It has become evident that the internet, social media, and other communication outlets with readily available data have contributed to the dissemination and availability of misleading information. It has perpetuated beliefs that led to vaccine avoidance, mask refusal, and utilization of medications with insignificant scientific data, ultimately contributing to increased morbidity.

Treatment with therapeutic plasma exchange in severe COVID-19 pneumonia: A case report and review of the literature.

The role of various therapeutic approaches on the clinical improvement in patients with severe COVID-19 is being researched. Few published studies show positive outcomes after the use of therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE). However, additional clinical evidence is required to understand better the role of therapeutic plasma exchange in severe COVID-19 patients.

Association of Intestinal Microbial Dysbiosis With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Normal gut flora plays various beneficial roles for the human body, including the protection against inflammatory states and mucosal viral infections. It also influences the immune system of the body. The metabolites produced by the gut bacteria control local and other systemic organs' immune functions like the lungs and brain, playing a role in their response to acute and chronic illnesses.

A Novel Method for Determining Angular Speed and Acceleration Using Sin-Cos Encoders.

The performance of vehicle safety systems depends very much on the accuracy of the signals coming from vehicle sensors. Among them, the wheel speed is of vital importance. This paper describes a new method to obtain the wheel speed by using Sin-Cos encoders.

Low-Cost FPGA-Based Electronic Control Unit for Vehicle Control Systems.

The development of new control algorithms in vehicles requires high economic resources, mainly due to the use of generic real-time instrumentation and control systems. In this work, we proposed a low-cost electronic control unit (ECU) that could be used for both development and implementation. The proposed electronic system used a hybrid system on chip (SoC) between a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) and an Advanced RISC (reduced instruction set computer) Machine (ARM) processor that allowed the execution of parallel tasks, fulfilling the real-time requirements that vehicle controls demand.