Strategical selection of maintenance type under different conditions.

Selecting the appropriate maintenance type is a challenging task that involves multiple criteria working together. This decision has a significant impact on the organization and its overall market sustainability. The primary categorization of maintenance consists of two main types: corrective maintenance and preventive maintenance.

Quantifying Long QT Syndrome in Obese Sleep Apnea Patients Undergoing Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass Surgery.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea/Hypopnea Syndrome (OSAHS) is sleep-disordered breathing distinguished by repetitive cessation or reduction of airflow due to the collapse or narrowing of the upper airway during sleep with continued respiratory effort. A high level of incidence of OSAHS is correlated with obesity. Both severely obese patients and OSAHS patients manifest Long QT Syndrome (LQTS).

Estimation of cerebral blood flow velocity during breath-hold challenge using artificial neural networks.

Unlabelled: The effect of untreated Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA) on cerebral haemodynamics and CA impairment is an active field of research interest. A breath-hold challenge is usually used in clinical and research settings to simulate cardiovascular and cerebrovascular changes that mimic OSA events. This work utilises temporal arterial oxygen saturation (SpO) and photoplethysmography (PPG) signals to estimate the temporal cerebral blood flow velocity (CBFv) waveform.

Using Six Sigma DMAIC Methodology and Discrete Event Simulation to Reduce Patient Discharge Time in King Hussein Cancer Center.

Short discharge time from hospitals increases both bed availability and patients' and families' satisfaction. In this study, the Six Sigma process improvement methodology was applied to reduce patients' discharge time in a cancer treatment hospital. Data on the duration of all activities, from the physician signing the discharge form to the patient leaving the treatment room, were collected through patient shadowing.

Objective detection of chronic stress using physiological parameters.

The aim of this study was to design a system to diagnose chronic stress, based on blunted reactivity of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) to cognitive load (CL). The system concurrently measures CL-induced variations in pupil diameter (PD), heart rate (HR), pulse wave amplitude (PWA), galvanic skin response (GSR), and breathing rate (BR). Measurements were recorded from 58 volunteers whose stress level was identified using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory.

Improvement of medical content in the curriculum of biomedical engineering based on assessment of students outcomes.

Background: Improvement of medical content in Biomedical Engineering curricula based on a qualitative assessment process or on a comparison with another high-standard program has been approached by a number of studies. However, the quantitative assessment tools have not been emphasized. The quantitative assessment tools can be more accurate and robust in cases of challenging multidisciplinary fields like that of Biomedical Engineering which includes biomedicine elements mixed with technology aspects.

Classification of Normal, Ictal and Inter-ictal EEG via Direct Quadrature and Random Forest Tree.

This paper presents an accurate nonlinear classification method that can help physicians diagnose seizure in electroencephalographic (EEG) signal characterized by a disturbance in temporal and spectral content. This is accomplished by applying four steps. First, different EEG signals containing healthy, ictal and seizure-free (inter-ictal) activities are decomposed by empirical mode decomposition method.

Algorithm for automatic angles measurement and screening for Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip (DDH).

Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip (DDH) is a medical term represent the hip joint instability that appear mainly in infants. The examination for this condition can be done by ultrasound for children under 6 months old and by X-ray for children over 6 months old. Physician's assessment is based on certain angles derived from those images, namely the Acetabular Angle, and the Center Edge Angle.

Internal jugular vein valve morphology in the patients with chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI); angiographic findings and schematic demonstrations.

Chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI) is a syndrome recently described in multiple sclerosis patients. It is characterized by abnormal venous hemodynamics resulting from numerous obstacles in the main veins draining the central nervous system, usually: the internal jugular veins and the azygous vein. Internal jugular vein is the most commonly vein affected.

Monitoring sunitinib-induced vascular effects to optimize radiotherapy combined with soy isoflavones in murine xenograft tumor.

Using dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) to monitor vascular changes induced by sunitinib within a murine xenograft kidney tumor, we previously determined a dose that caused only partial destruction of blood vessels leading to "normalization" of tumor vasculature and improved blood flow. In the current study, kidney tumors were treated with this dose of sunitinib to modify the tumor microenvironment and enhance the effect of kidney tumor irradiation. The addition of soy isoflavones to this combined antiangiogenic and radiotherapy approach was investigated based on our studies demonstrating that soy isoflavones can potentiate the radiation effect on the tumors and act as antioxidants to protect normal tissues from treatment-induced toxicity.

Dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging of sunitinib-induced vascular changes to schedule chemotherapy in renal cell carcinoma xenograft tumors.

In an attempt to develop better therapeutic approaches for metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC), the combination of the antiangiogenic drug sunitinib with gemcitabine was studied. Using dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI), we have previously determined that a sunitinib dosage of 20 mg/kg per day increased kidney tumor perfusion and decreased vascular permeability in a preclinical murine RCC model. This sunitinib dosage causing regularization of tumor vessels was selected to improve delivery of gemcitabine to the tumor.

Dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging of vascular changes induced by sunitinib in papillary renal cell carcinoma xenograft tumors.

To investigate further the antiangiogenic potential of sunitinib for renal cell carcinoma (RCC) treatment, its effects on tumor vasculature were monitored by dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) using an orthotopic KCI-18 model of human RCC xenografts in nude mice. Tumor-bearing mice were treated with various doses of sunitinib, and vascular changes were assessed by DCE-MRI and histologic studies. Sunitinib induced dose-dependent vascular changes, which were observed both in kidney tumors and in normal kidneys by DCE-MRI.

Red blood cell alloimmunization among sickle cell Kuwaiti Arab patients who received red blood cell transfusion.

Background: Sickle cell disease (SCD) is common in the Arabian Gulf region. Most cases require a red blood cell (RBC) transfusion, increasing the potential for RBC alloantibody development. The incidence of RBC alloimmunization among Kuwaiti Arab SCD patients is not yet known.

Early Detection of Tubulo-Interstitial Kidney Disease in Children Using Highly Discriminating SDS-Gel Electrophoresis.

Tubulo-interstitial kidney disease is characterized by moderate proteinuria < 1 g/day of low molecular weight proteins in range of MW 10.000-50.000.

On-line Urea Monitoring during Hemodialysis: A Review.

In recent years, methods of on-line urea concentration and on-line urea clearance monitoring have been proposed for control of dialysis dose (Kt/V) and protein catabolic rate (PCR) in patients on regular dialysis therapy; these offer an alternative to the established methods of urea kinetics based on pre- and post-dialysis measurements of urea concentration. In contrast to such conventional urea kinetics, the new methods deliver results in real time and treatment parameters can be changed instantly. Three on-line measurement methods are to be distinguished: monitoring of urea concentration in ultrafiltrate, monitoring of urea concentration in dialysate (both yield Kt/V and PCR), and monitoring of urea clearance based on conductivity measurements.

New algorithm for quantifying vascular changes in dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI independent of absolute T1 values.

In this work, we present a new method for predicting changes in tumor vascularity using only one flip angle in dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) imaging. The usual DCE approach finds the tissue initial T1 value T1(0) prior to injection of a contrast agent. We propose finding changes in the tissue contrast agent uptake characteristics pre- and postdrug treatment by fixing T1(0).

Prevalence of viral markers among first-time Arab blood donors in Kuwait.

Background: The aim of this study was to assess the effect of blood donation modes on the prevalence of viral markers among Arab first-time blood donors in Kuwait.

Study Design And Methods: Donor ethnic background was classified as Kuwaiti nationals and non-Kuwaiti Arabs. A total of 26,874 donors were screened in 2002 for the following viral markers: hepatitis C virus antibody (anti-HCV), hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), anti-hepatitis B core antigen (HBc), human immunodeficiency virus-1 and -2 antibody (anti-HIV-1 and -2), HIV p24, and human T lymphotropic virus-I and -II antibody (anti-HTLVI/II).

Frequency of red blood cell alloantibody in Kuwaiti population.

Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze the alloimmunization against red blood cells (RBC) among Kuwaiti population.

Materials And Methods: Retrospective analysis of RBC alloimmunization among 179,045 Kuwaiti patients, pregnant women, and allogeneic blood donors was conducted for the period of 1992-2001. The frequency of 24 alloantibody specificities from 1,278 alloimmunized Kuwaitis was estimated.

RBC alloimmunization and autoimmunization among transfusion-dependent Arab thalassemia patients.

Background: Thalassemia major is a common hemoglobinopathy in the Arabian Gulf region. However, limited data are available on the frequency of RBC alloimmunization and autoimmunization in transfusion-dependent Arab thalassemia patients.

Study Design And Methods: A total of 190 thalassemia major patients were classified as Kuwaiti Arab and non-Kuwaiti Arab.

Diacap alpha-polysulfone HI PS: a new dialysis membrane with optimum beta2-microglobulin elimination.

Background: Plasma concentration of beta2-microglobulin (beta2-m) in the case of renal insufficiency is about 20 to 30 times higher than normal. Beta2-m is associated with secondary amyloidosis, a late complication of regular dialysis therapy. To prevent the complications of secondary amyloidosis beta2-m should therefore be eliminated as efficiently as possible during dialysis treatment.

Testing protein permeability of dialysis membranes using SDS-PAGE.

Background: Permeability of dialysis membranes for high molecular weight compounds should be similar to that of the glomerular membrane in order to remove uremic toxins like the human kidney does. In order to evaluate permeability of high-flux dialysis membranes SDS-PAGE is applied for examination of filtrate of dialysers during routine dialysis with different membranes.

Method: SDS-PAGE analysis is performed with silver staining method according to the modification of Melzer (5) and consecutive laser densitometry.

Allele frequencies and molecular genotyping of the ABO blood group system in a Kuwaiti population.

The phenotypic distributions of observed numbers of ABO blood groups in a Kuwaiti sample population of 18,558 subjects are 4962 (26.7%) with A, 4,462 (24.1%) with B, 858 (4.

Determination of extra renal clearance and generation rate of beta2-microglobulin in hemodialysis patients using a kinetic model.

Beta-2-microglobulin (beta2-m) has been proposed as a marker of middle molecules to assess one aspect of the efficacy of dialysis. Until now, few data have been published about extra renal (metabolic) clearance and generation rates of beta2-microglobulin, which are necessary for calculation of total clearance and mass removal of beta2-m in hemodialysis patients. We have developed a simple method to derive extra renal clearance and generation rates of beta2-m by measuring the pre and post dialysis blood concentrations of beta2-m using kinetic modeling.