Explore the vast range of titles available.

11C-Acetate is currently being investigated as a new tracer for imaging neoplasms, most notably prostate cancer and its metastases. Previously reported dose estimates for (11)C-acetate prepared by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) were based on a simple 3-compartment model in which all activity not measured in blood or excretion via breath was assumed to reside in the heart. Because all organs are involved in acetate metabolism to some extent, these estimates might overestimate heart and underestimate other organ dosimetry. Dynamic whole-body (11)C-acetate PET was therefore performed on 6 healthy human volunteers. Measured dose estimates for all target organs were compared with the existing ORISE values. After transmission scanning had been performed for measured attenuation, 525 MBq of (11)C-acetate were injected intravenously, and 5 sequential whole-body emission scans were obtained from the head to mid thighs. Regions of interest were drawn to encompass the entire activity in all visible organs at each time point. Time-activity data were fit in a least-squares sense to obtain residence times. Absorbed dose estimates were determined using MIRDOSE3.1 software. The effective dose was 0.0049 mSv/MBq. The organs receiving the highest absorbed doses were the pancreas (0.017 mGy/MBq), bowel (0.011 mGy/MBq), kidneys (0.0092 mGy/MBq), and spleen (0.0092 mGy/MBq). No urinary excretion of tracer was measurable. Using these new estimates for (11)C-acetate dosimetry, the maximum injected activity under Radioactive Drug Research Committee limits can be raised up to 5-fold over the limit imposed by the previous ORISE estimates. A higher injected activity would improve counting statistics and, it is hoped, overall image quality and tumor detection with whole-body (11)C-acetate PET.

Background Starting in 1999, Concern Worldwide Inc. (Concern) worked with two Bangladeshi municipal health departments to support delivery of maternal and child health preventive services. A mid-term evaluation identified sustainability challenges. Concern relied on systems thinking implicitly to re-prioritize sustainability, but stakeholders also required a method, an explicit set of processes, to guide their decisions and choices during and after the project. Methods Concern chose the Sustainability Framework method to generate creative thinking from stakeholders, create a common vision, and monitor progress. The Framework is based on participatory and iterative steps: defining (mapping) the local system and articulating a long-term vision, describing scenarios for achieving the vision, defining the elements of the model, and selecting corresponding indicators, setting and executing an assessment plan,, and repeated stakeholder engagement in analysis and decisions . Formal assessments took place up to 5 years post-project (2009). Results Strategic choices for the project were guided by articulating a collective vision for sustainable health, mapping the system of actors required to effect and sustain change, and defining different components of analysis. Municipal authorities oriented health teams toward equity-oriented service delivery efforts, strengthening of the functionality of Ward Health Committees, resource leveraging between municipalities and the Ministry of Health, and mitigation of contextual risks. Regular reference to a vision (and set of metrics (population health, organizational and community capacity) mitigated political factors. Key structures and processes were maintained following elections and political changes. Post-project achievements included the maintenance or improvement 5 years post-project (2009) in 9 of the 11 health indicator gains realized during the project (1999–2004). Some elements of performance and capacity weakened, but reductions in the equity gap achieved during the project were largely maintained post-project. Conclusions Sustainability is dynamic and results from local systems processes, which can be strengthened through both implicit and explicit systems thinking steps applied with constancy of purpose.

Little is known about the sexual and reproductive health care needs of female sex workers in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Survey data were collected from 354 hotel-based and 323 street-based female sex workers using a venue-based stratified cluster sampling approach. In addition, in-depth interviews were conducted with 20 female sex workers recruited from drop-in centers. We calculated unmet need for family planning and examined fertility desires, use of condoms and other contraceptive methods, experiences with gender-based violence, sexual and reproductive health service needs, and preferences on where to receive services. The prevalence of unmet need was 25% among hotel-based female sex workers and 36% among street-based female sex workers. Almost all participants reported having used condoms in the past 30 days, and 44% of hotel-based sex workers and 30% of street-based sex workers reported dual method use during that period. Condom use was inconsistent, however, and condom breakage and nonuse for extra money were common. Many women reported experiencing gender-based violence. Sexual and reproductive health services had been obtained by 64% of hotel-based and 89% of street-based sex workers in the past six months; drop-in centers were their preferred site for receiving health services. Female sex workers in Dhaka need family planning and other sexual and reproductive health services and prefer receiving them from drop-in centers.

The door-to-door distribution of contraceptives and information on maternal and child health and family planning (MCH-FP) services, through bimonthly visits to eligible couples by trained fieldworkers, has been instrumental in increasing the contraceptive prevalence rate and immunization coverage in Bangladesh. The doorstep delivery strategy, however, is labour-intensive and costly. More cost-effective service delivery strategies are needed, not only for family planning services but also for a broader package of reproductive and other essential health services. Against this backdrop, operations research was conducted by the Centre for Health and Population Research at the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B) from January 1996 to May 1997, in collaboration with government agencies and a leading national nongovernmental organization, with a view to developing and field-testing alternative approaches to the delivery of MCH-FP services in urban areas. Two alternative strategies featuring the withdrawal of home-based distribution and the delivery of basic health care from fixed-site facilities were tested in two areas of Dhaka. The clinic-based service delivery strategy was found to be a feasible alternative to the resource-intensive doorstep system in urban Dhaka. It did not adversely affect programme performance and it allowed the needs of clients to be addressed holistically through a package of essential health and family planning services.

11C-Acetate is currently being investigated as a new tracer for imaging neoplasms, most notably prostate cancer and its metastases. Previously reported dose estimates for (11)C-acetate prepared by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) were based on a simple 3-compartment model in which all activity not measured in blood or excretion via breath was assumed to reside in the heart. Because all organs are involved in acetate metabolism to some extent, these estimates might overestimate heart and underestimate other organ dosimetry. Dynamic whole-body (11)C-acetate PET was therefore performed on 6 healthy human volunteers. Measured dose estimates for all target organs were compared with the existing ORISE values. After transmission scanning had been performed for measured attenuation, 525 MBq of (11)C-acetate were injected intravenously, and 5 sequential whole-body emission scans were obtained from the head to mid thighs. Regions of interest were drawn to encompass the entire activity in all visible organs at each time point. Time-activity data were fit in a least-squares sense to obtain residence times. Absorbed dose estimates were determined using MIRDOSE3.1 software. The effective dose was 0.0049 mSv/MBq. The organs receiving the highest absorbed doses were the pancreas (0.017 mGy/MBq), bowel (0.011 mGy/MBq), kidneys (0.0092 mGy/MBq), and spleen (0.0092 mGy/MBq). No urinary excretion of tracer was measurable. Using these new estimates for (11)C-acetate dosimetry, the maximum injected activity under Radioactive Drug Research Committee limits can be raised up to 5-fold over the limit imposed by the previous ORISE estimates. A higher injected activity would improve counting statistics and, it is hoped, overall image quality and tumor detection with whole-body (11)C-acetate PET.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), dementia is the seventh leading reason of death among all illnesses and one of the leading causes of disability among the world's elderly people. Day by day the number of Alzheimer's patients is rising. Considering the increasing rate and the dangers, Alzheimer's disease should be diagnosed carefully. Machine learning is a potential technique for Alzheimer's diagnosis but general users do not trust machine learning models due to the black-box nature. Even, some of those models do not provide the best performance because of using only neuroimaging data. To solve these issues, this paper proposes a novel explainable Alzheimer's disease prediction model using a multimodal dataset. This approach performs a data-level fusion using clinical data, MRI segmentation data, and psychological data. However, currently, there is very little understanding of multimodal five-class classification of Alzheimer's disease. For predicting five class classifications, 9 most popular Machine Learning models are used. These models are Random Forest (RF), Logistic Regression (LR), Decision Tree (DT), Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP), K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN), Gradient Boosting (GB), Adaptive Boosting (AdaB), Support Vector Machine (SVM), and Naive Bayes (NB). Among these models RF has scored the highest value. Besides for explainability, SHapley Additive exPlanation (SHAP) is used in this research work. The performance evaluation demonstrates that the RF classifier has a 10-fold cross-validation accuracy of 98.81% for predicting Alzheimer's disease, cognitively normal, non-Alzheimer's dementia, uncertain dementia, and others. In addition, the study utilized Explainable Artificial Intelligence based on the SHAP model and analyzed the causes of prediction. To the best of our knowledge, we are the first to present this multimodal (Clinical, Psychological, and MRI segmentation data) five-class classification of Alzheimer's disease using Open Access Series of Imaging Studies (OASIS-3) dataset. Besides, a novel Alzheimer's patient management architecture is also proposed in this work.

This study investigated groundwater pollution and potential human health risks from arsenic, iron, and manganese in the rural area of Jashore, Bangladesh. Study results show that the mean value of groundwater pH is 7.25 ± 0.31, with a mean conductivity of 633.94 ± 327.41 μs/cm, while about 73, 97, and 91% of groundwater samples exceeded the Bangladesh drinking water standard limits for As, Fe, and Mn, respectively. Groundwater pollution evaluation indices, including the heavy metal pollution index, the heavy metal evaluation index, the degree of contamination, and the Nemerow pollution index, show that approximately 97, 82, 100, and 100% of samples are in the high degree of pollution category, respectively. Spatial distribution exhibited that the study area is highly exposed to As (73%), Fe (82%), and Mn (46%). In the case of non-carcinogenic health risk via oral exposure, about 94% of samples suggest a high category of risk for infants, and 97% of samples are found to be at high risk for children and adults. The carcinogenic risk of arsenic via an oral exposure pathway suggests that approximately 97% of the samples are found to be at high risk for infants, and all of the samples are at high risk for both adults and children.

Nano-sized silver has drawn a great deal of attention in the field of health sciences owing to its remarkable therapeutic applications. Interestingly, the method applied to synthesize nanoparticles and the choice of reagents considerably influence their therapeutic potential and toxicities. Current research has explored the toxicity, anti-inflammatory, antinociceptive, and antioxidant responses of the malonic acid-capped silver nanoparticles (MA-AgNPs (C) by using sodium borohydride as a reducing agent at low temperatures by employing both in vitro and in vivo approaches. Furthermore, it has highlighted the synergistic effect of these novel compounds with conventional anti-inflammatory therapeutic agents. Acute and sub-acute toxicity analysis performed following OECD guidelines showed that the studied MA-AgNPs (C) are safer, and prominent toxic signs have not been detected at the highest studied dose of 2,000 mg/kg. Cytotoxicity evaluation through brine shrimp lethality revealed 20% lethality at the highest concentration of 169.8 μg/mL. Significantly, positive anti-inflammatory and analgesic responses alone as well as synergism with the standard were identified through in vitro as well as in vivo methods which were more potent at a lower dose (200 mg/kg). Notably synergistic outcomes were more pronounced than individual ones, indicating their prominent effect as a feasible drug delivery system. IL-6 and TNF-α assessment in excised paw tissue through RTPCR technique further supported their anti-inflammatory potential. DPPH assay revealed eminent in vitro antioxidant activity which was further corroborated by in vivo antioxidant assessment through evaluation of SOD in excised paw tissue.