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Abdulrahman M Jabour,1 Wajiha Rehman,1 Sumaira Idrees,1 Hemalatha Thanganadar,1 Kiani Hira,2 Mohammad A Alarifi3 1Department of Health Informatics, Faculty of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi Arabia; 2Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health Research Network, Islamabad, Pakistan; 3Department of Radiological Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaCorrespondence: Abdulrahman M JabourDepartment of Health Informatics, Faculty of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi ArabiaTel +966-17329500 Ext 5545Email ajabour@jazanu.edu.saBackground: Studies documented the important role of health-care professionals in encouraging their patients to adopt and use mobile health applications. Health-care professionals who use and believe in mobile health applications are more likely to encourage and empower their patients to use it. Likewise, students in health-profession related specialties who use mobile health applications are more likely to continue to do so when they join the workforce.Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the rate of adoption of mobile health applications in students in health colleges, identify the types of health applications used by health students, and identify the barriers that prevent the use of mobile health applications.Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among university students. Students were invited to participate in a self-administrated survey from five health colleges. The survey included questions about the pattern of utilization, the purpose of the health-related application being used, and the barriers to adoption. The analysis included descriptive statistics using SPSS.Results: A total of 383 students participated in this study. The within gender comparison showed that more female students were using health-related applications 59.8% compared to male students 49%. The most frequent purpose of using mobile health applications were tracking physical activities 72.5% followed by counting calories intake 44%. We also identified the frequency and duration of use as well as the factors which may impact students intention to use.Conclusion: Fitness and dietary related applications were more common which might be explained by the fact that we only included a younger age group. The reported levels of perceived usefulness, accessibility and ease of use suggest that students will continue to use it.Keywords: mHealth, mobile phones, behavior change, health promotion, physical activity, nutrition, overweight, adolescents and students

In this paper, a two-stage 0.18 μm CMOS power amplifier (PA) for ultrawideband (UWB) 3 to 5 GHz based on common source inductive degeneration with an auxiliary amplifier is proposed. In this proposal, an auxiliary amplifier is used to place the 2nd harmonic in the core amplified in order to make up for the gain progression phenomena at the main amplifier output node. Simulation results show a power gain of 16 dB with a gain flatness of 0.4 dB and an input 1 dB compression of about -5 dBm from 3 to 5 GHz using a 1.8 V power supply consuming 25 mW. Power added efficiency (PAE) of around 47% at 4 GHz with 50 Ω load impedance was also observed.

Approximately 350 million patients of hepatitis B and 170 million patients of Hepatitis C are present worldwide according to WHO. Many risk factors are involved in the transmission of theses deadly viral infections but blood transfusion in Beta thalassemic patients is working with two faces, one as remedy and the other is key risk factor in the spread of silent killers. Thalassemia patients registered in Combine Military Hospital (CMH) Rawalakot and Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan Hospital, Muzaffarabad Azad Jammu and Kashmir Pakistan were studied for the viral hepatitis B and C prevalence. A total of 303 (including 164 males and 139 females) individuals, aged between 1 and 12 years were studied. All the understudy participants were interviewed through questionnaire method. After taking written consent from each participant or guardian, 5 ml of blood was collected from each participant and brought to the working laboratory for HBV and HCV screening through ICT kit method. All ICT positive samples were further confirmed through ELISA. Individuals 25(8.2%) were found positive for both hepatitis B surface Antigen (HBsAg) and Anti hepatitis C antibody (Anti-HCV antibody) after initial screening with no coinfection of both diseases. Out of 25 total infected individuals, 05(1.6%) were found HBsAg positive and 20(6.6%) were found anti-HCV positive. All the ICT positive individuals were further confirmed by quantitative Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) and 23(7.6%) individuals were confirmed for both hepatitis B and C including 05(1.6%) HBsAg positive as well as 18(5.9%) anti-HCV antibody positive individuals. We can conclude that 8.2% prevalence of hepatitis B and C among thalassemic patients is an alarming health concern which directly indicates to pay attention for ensuring 100% safe blood transfusion.

The reliability of software is founded on the development, testing, evaluation and maintenance of software systems. In recent years, researchers have been come to see software reliability as a major focus. This is due to the fact that reliability is central to all software quality concepts. System Reliability Engineering is the study of the processes and results of software systems in relation to the basic requirements of users. This paper provides an overview (roadmap) of current developments in software reliability metrics, modeling and operational profiles. It outlines several software engineering methods to achieve reasonable system reliability. Finally, failure metrics are considered based on feedback collected from users after releasing the software and case studies of detected failures. Consequently, numbers and types of failures will be recorded from the users feedback.

Security is a crucial issue for wireless sensor networks due to the deployment nature and the resources limitations of tiny sensor devices used in such networks. Sensor networks are used sometime in very sensitive applications such as healthcare and military. With this in mind we must address the security concerns from the beginning of network design. Owing to limited resources and computing constraints security in sensor networks poses more severe challenges as compare to the traditional networks. There are currently enormous approaches in the field of wireless sensor networks security. No comprehensive study lists the security issues and the threat models which pose unique threats to the wireless sensor networks. In this paper we have corroborated well known security issues and have provided the direction of research towards effective countermeasures against the threats posed by these issues.

Global investment in biomedical research has grown significantly over the last decades, reaching approximately a quarter of a trillion US dollars in 2010. However, not all of this investment is distributed evenly by gender. It follows, arguably, that scarce research resources may not be optimally invested (by either not supporting the best science or by failing to investigate topics that benefit women and men equitably). Women across the world tend to be significantly underrepresented in research both as researchers and research participants, receive less research funding, and appear less frequently than men as authors on research publications. There is also some evidence that women are relatively disadvantaged as the beneficiaries of research, in terms of its health, societal and economic impacts. Historical gender biases may have created a path dependency that means that the research system and the impacts of research are biased towards male researchers and male beneficiaries, making it inherently difficult (though not impossible) to eliminate gender bias. In this commentary, we - a group of scholars and practitioners from Africa, America, Asia and Europe - argue that gender-sensitive research impact assessment could become a force for good in moving science policy and practice towards gender equity. Research impact assessment is the multidisciplinary field of scientific inquiry that examines the research process to maximise scientific, societal and economic returns on investment in research. It encompasses many theoretical and methodological approaches that can be used to investigate gender bias and recommend actions for change to maximise research impact. We offer a set of recommendations to research funders, research institutions and research evaluators who conduct impact assessment on how to include and strengthen analysis of gender equity in research impact assessment and issue a global call for action. La inversión global en investigación biomédica ha crecido significativamente en las últimas décadas, alcanzando aproximadamente un cuarto de billón de dólares en 2010. Sin embargo, no toda esta inversión se distribuye de manera uniforme por género. De ello se deduce que los escasos recursos de investigación no pueden invertirse de manera óptima (ya sea porque no apoyan a la mejor ciencia o porque no se investigan temas que beneficien equitativamente a mujeres y hombres). Las mujeres en todo el mundo tienden a estar significativamente subrepresentadas en la investigación, tanto como investigadoras como participantes en la investigación, reciben menos fondos para la investigación y aparecen con menos frecuencia que los hombres como autoras en publicaciones de investigación. También hay cierta evidencia de que las mujeres se encuentran en una situación de desventaja relativa como beneficiarias de la investigación, en términos de su salud, impacto social y económico. Los sesgos históricos de género pueden haber creado una dependencia de ruta que significa que el sistema de investigación y los impactos de la investigación están sesgados hacia los investigadores hombres y los beneficiarios masculinos, por lo que es intrínsecamente difícil (aunque no imposible) eliminar el sesgo de género. En este comentario, nosotros, un grupo de académicos y profesionales de África, América, Asia y Europa, argumentamos que la evaluación de impacto de investigación sensible al género podría convertirse en una fuerza para bien al mover la política y la práctica científica hacia la equidad de género. La evaluación del impacto de la investigación es el campo multidisciplinario de la investigación científica que examina el proceso de investigación para maximizar el rendimiento científico, social y económico de la inversión en investigación. Abarca muchos enfoques teóricos y metodológicos que se pueden utilizar para investigar el sesgo de género y recomendar acciones para el cambio a fin de maximizar el impacto de la investigación. Ofrecemos un conjunto de recomendaciones para las fundaciones de investigación, instituciones de investigación y evaluadores de investigación que realizan evaluaciones de impacto sobre cómo incluir y fortalecer el análisis de equidad de género en la evaluación de impacto de la investigación y emitir una llamamiento global a la acción. La inversió global en recerca biomèdica ha crescut significativament en les últimes dècades, arribant a aproximadament un quart de bilió de dòlars en 2010. No obstant això, no tota aquesta inversió es distribueix de manera uniforme per gènere. D'això es dedueix que els escassos recursos d'investigació no poden invertir-se de manera òptima (ja sigui perquè no donen suport a la millor ciència o perquè no s'investiguen temes que beneficiïn equitativament a dones i homes). Les dones a tot el món tendeixen a estar significativament subrepresentades en la investigació, tant com a investigadores com a participants en la investigació, reben menys fons per a la investigació i apareixen amb menys freqüència que els homes com a autores en publicacions d'investigació. També hi ha certa evidència que les dones es troben en una situació de desavantatge relatiu com a beneficiàries de la investigació, en termes de la seva salut, impacte social i econòmic. Els biaixos històrics de gènere poden haver creat una dependència de ruta que vol dir que el sistema de recerca i els impactes de la investigació estan esbiaixats cap als investigadors homes i els beneficiaris masculins, per la qual cosa és intrínsecament difícil (encara que no impossible) eliminar el biaix de gènere. En aquest comentari, nosaltres, un grup d'acadèmics i professionals de l'Àfrica, Amèrica, Àsia i Europa, vam argumentar que l'avaluació d'impacte d'investigació sensible al gènere podria convertir-se en una força per bé en moure la política i la pràctica científica cap a l'equitat de gènere. L'avaluació de l'impacte de la recerca és el camp multidisciplinari de la recerca científica que examina el procés de recerca per maximitzar el rendiment científic, social i econòmic de la inversió en recerca. Abasta molts enfocaments teòrics i metodològics que es poden utilitzar per investigar el biaix de gènere i recomanar accions per al canvi per tal de maximitzar l'impacte de la investigació. Oferim un conjunt de recomanacions per a les fundacions de recerca, institucions de recerca i avaluadors d'investigació que realitzen avaluacions d'impacte sobre com incloure i enfortir l'anàlisi d'equitat de gènere en l'avaluació d'impacte de la investigació i emetre una crida global a l'acció .

OBJECT Adult upper trunk brachial plexus injuries result in significant disability. Several surgical treatment strategies exist, including nerve grafting, nerve transfers, and a combination of both approaches. However, no existing data clearly indicate the most successful strategy for restoring elbow flexion and shoulder abduction in these patients. The authors reviewed the literature to compare outcomes of the three surgical repair techniques listed above to determine the optimal approach to traumatic injury to the upper brachial plexus in adults. METHODS Both PubMed and EMBASE databases were searched for English-language articles containing the MeSH topic “brachial plexus” in conjunction with the word “injury” or “trauma” in the title and “surgery” or “repair” as a MeSH subheading or in the title, excluding pediatric articles and those articles limited to avulsions. The search was also limited to articles published after 1990 and containing at least 10 operated cases involving upper brachial plexus injuries. The search was supplemented with articles obtained through the “Related Articles” feature on PubMed and the bibliographies of selected publications. From the articles was collected information on the operation performed, number of operated cases, mean subject ages, sex distribution, interval between injury and surgery, source of nerve transfers, mean duration of follow-up, year of publication, and percentage of operative success in terms of elbow flexion and shoulder abduction of the injured limb. The recovery of elbow flexion and shoulder abduction was separately analyzed. A subanalysis was also performed to assess the recovery of elbow flexion following various neurotization techniques. RESULTS As regards the restoration of elbow flexion, nerve grafting led to significantly better outcomes than either nerve transfer or the combined techniques (F = 4.71, p = 0.0097). However, separating the Oberlin procedure from other neurotization techniques revealed that the former was significantly more successful (F = 82.82, p < 0.001). Moreover, in comparing the Oberlin procedure to nerve grafting or combined procedures, again the former was significantly more successful than either of the latter two approaches (F = 53.14; p < 0.001). In the restoration of shoulder abduction, nerve transfer was significantly more successful than the combined procedure (p = 0.046), which in turn was significantly better than nerve grafting procedures (F = 5.53, p = 0.0044). CONCLUSIONS According to data in this study, in upper trunk brachial plexus injuries in adults, the Oberlin procedure and nerve transfers are the more successful approaches to restore elbow flexion and shoulder abduction, respectively, compared with nerve grafting or combined techniques. A prospective, randomized controlled trial would be necessary to fully elucidate differences in outcome among the various surgical approaches.