Complaints of stress are common in modern life. Psychological stress is a major cause of lifestyle-related issues, contributing to poor quality of life. Chronic stress impedes brain function, causing impairment of many executive functions, including working memory, decision making and attentional control. The current study sought to describe newly developed stress mitigation techniques, and their influence on autonomic and endocrine functions. The literature search revealed that the most frequently studied technique for stress mitigation was biofeedback (BFB). However, evidence suggests that neurofeedback (NFB) and noninvasive brain stimulation (NIBS) could potentially provide appropriate approaches. We found that recent studies of BFB methods have typically used measures of heart rate variability, respiration and skin conductance. In contrast, studies of NFB methods have typically utilized neurocomputation techniques employing electroencephalography, functional magnetic resonance imaging and near infrared spectroscopy. NIBS studies have typically utilized transcranial direct current stimulation methods. Mitigation of stress is a challenging but important research target for improving quality of life.
The aim of this prospective study was to determine the prevalence of Cryptosporidium parvum in hospitalized children in Kota Bharu, Malaysia. Over a 19 month study period, 258 stool samples were examined from 159 children; 109 with diarrhea and 50 controls without diarrhea. Modified Ziehl-Neelsen staining method and a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay were used to detect C. parvum and the samples were also examined for the presence of other intestinal parasites. Only 1 of the 109 (0.9%) children with acute diarrhea was positive for C. parvum by microscopy and PCR. Thirty-one percent of children were infested with other intestinal parasites, the most common being Ascaris lumbricoides and Trichuris trichiura. In conclusion, we found C. parvum to be an uncommon infective agent in hospitalized children with or without diarrhea in Kota Bharu, Malaysia.
We studied the impact of 2D and 3D educational contents on learning and memory recall using electroencephalography (EEG) brain signals. For this purpose, we adopted a classification approach that predicts true and false memories in case of both short term memory (STM) and long term memory (LTM) and helps to decide whether there is a difference between the impact of 2D and 3D educational contents. In this approach, EEG brain signals are converted into topomaps and then discriminative features are extracted from them and finally support vector machine (SVM) which is employed to predict brain states. For data collection, half of sixty-eight healthy individuals watched the learning material in 2D format whereas the rest watched the same material in 3D format. After learning task, memory recall tasks were performed after 30 minutes (STM) and two months (LTM), and EEG signals were recorded. In case of STM, 97.5% prediction accuracy was achieved for 3D and 96.6% for 2D and, in case of LTM, it was 100% for both 2D and 3D. The statistical analysis of the results suggested that for learning and memory recall both 2D and 3D materials do not have much difference in case of STM and LTM.
Consumer preference is rapidly changing from 2D to 3D movies due to the sensational effects of 3D scenes, like those in Avatar and The Hobbit. Two 3D viewing technologies are available: active shutter glasses and passive polarized glasses. However, there are consistent reports of discomfort while viewing in 3D mode where the discomfort may refer to dizziness, headaches, nausea or simply not being able to see in 3D continuously.
Color is a perceptual stimulus that has a significant impact on improving human emotion and memory. Studies have revealed that colored multimedia learning materials (MLMs) have a positive effect on learner's emotion and learning where it was assessed by subjective/objective measurements. This study aimed to quantitatively assess the influence of colored MLMs on emotion, cognitive processes during learning, and long-term memory (LTM) retention using electroencephalography (EEG). The dataset consisted of 45 healthy participants, and MLMs were designed in colored or achromatic illustrations to elicit emotion and that to assess its impact on LTM retention after 30-min and 1-month delay. The EEG signal analysis was first started to estimate the effective connectivity network (ECN) using the phase slope index and expand it to characterize the ECN pattern using graph theoretical analysis. EEG results showed that colored MLMs had influences on theta and alpha networks, including (1) an increased frontal-parietal connectivity (top-down processing), (2) a larger number of brain hubs, (3) a lower clustering coefficient, and (4) a higher local efficiency, indicating that color influences information processing in the brain, as reflected by ECN, together with a significant improvement in learner's emotion and memory performance. This is evidenced by a more positive emotional valence and higher recall accuracy for groups who learned with colored MLMs than that of achromatic MLMs. In conclusion, this paper demonstrated how the EEG ECN parameters could help quantify the influences of colored MLMs on emotion and cognitive processes during learning.
Load inconsistency has disrupted the power system, causing rotor angle fluctuation that leads to angle instability in the system. This research suggests an innovative proportional integral derivative with filter (PIDF)-based thyristor-controlled series compensator (TCSC) controller that utilise an evolutionary programming sine cosine algorithm (EPSCA) for hybrid optimisation to increase the angle stability of the power system. The challenge of the PIDF-TCSC design is transformed into an optimal control problem with respect to performance indices, such as the maximum imaginary part of system eigenvalues, damping ratio and damping factor, where another multi-objective function is utilised to determine the best stabiliser settings. Eigenvalue analysis is used to conduct the stability study in a linearised paradigm of the single-machine infinite-bus (SMIB) network. The resilience of the PIDF controller was tested using a SMIB power network under various operating circumstances. Simulation results are used to evaluate the system's effectiveness with the proposed optimised PIDF-TCSC controller to that of the system using the proportional integral derivative, proportional integral, and base case PIDF-TCSC approaches. The research findings demonstrate the efficacy of EPSCA in implementing PIDF-TCSC motif and its excellent resilient performance for improving power system stability as related to other strategies in various situations.
INTRODUCTION: The latest revised version of the World Health Organization's dengue classification was released in 2009. A handful of studies have taken initiatives to evaluate the old and revised guidelines to determine early signs and symptoms of severe dengue. This retrospective study aimed to compare the classification of dengue using both the 1997 and 2009 guidelines in a selected cohort of dengue patients from Peninsular Malaysia between 2008 and 2012.
METHODOLOGY: Adult dengue patients were recruited from tertiary hospitals in two different states, Selangor and Kelantan, in Peninsular Malaysia. Their clinical manifestations were assessed.
RESULTS: A total of 281 confirmed dengue patients were enrolled; the mean duration of illness at admission was five days. Of these, 88.6%, 10.7%, and 0.7% were classified according to the 1997 guidelines as having dengue fever (DF), dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF), and dengue shock syndrome (DSS), respectively. When the WHO 2009 guidelines were applied, 17.1%, 78.3%, and 4.6% were classified as dengue without warning signs, dengue with warning signs, and severe dengue, respectively.
CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggests that the revised WHO 2009 guidelines stratify a much larger proportion of patients into a category that requires a higher level of medical and nursing care.