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As patients seek online health information to supplement their medical decision-making, the aim of this study is to assess the quality and readability of internet information on the left ventricular assist device (LVAD).Three online search engines (Google, Bing, and Yahoo) were searched for "LVAD" and "Left ventricular assist device." Included websites were classified as academic, foundation/advocacy, hospital-affiliated, commercial, or unspecified. The quality of information was assessed using the JAMA benchmark criteria (0-4), DISCERN tool (16-80), and the presence of Health On the Net code (HONcode) accreditation. Readability was assessed using the Flesch Reading Ease score.A total of 38 unique websites were included. The average JAMA and DISCERN scores of all websites were 0.82 ± 1.11 and 52.45 ± 13.51, respectively. Academic sites had a significantly lower JAMA mean score than commercial (p 0.001) and unspecified (p 0.001) websites, as well as a significantly lower DISCERN, mean score than commercial sites (p = 0.002). HONcode certification was present in 6 (15%) websites analyzed, which had significantly higher JAMA (p 0.001) and DISCERN (p 0.016) mean scores than sites without HONcode certification. Readability was fairly difficult and at the level of high school students.The quality of online information on the LVAD is variable, and overall readability exceeds the recommended level for the public. Patients accessing online information on the LVAD should be referred to sites with HONcode accreditation. Academic institutions must provide higher quality online patient literature on LVADs.

We aim to assess the quality and readability of online information available to patients considering cytoreductive surgery with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (CRS-HIPEC).The top three search engines (Google, Bing, and Yahoo) were searched in March 2022. Websites were classified as academic, hospital-affiliated, foundation/advocacy, commercial, or unspecified. Quality of information was assessed using the JAMA benchmark criteria (0-4) and DISCERN tool (16-80), and the presence of a Health On the Net code (HONcode) seal. Readability was evaluated using the Flesch Reading Ease score.Fifty unique websites were included. The average JAMA and DISCERN scores of all websites were 0.72 ± 1.14 and 39.58 ± 13.71, respectively. Foundation/advocacy websites had significantly higher JAMA mean score than commercial (p = 0.044), academic (p 0.001), and hospital-affiliated websites (p = 0.001). Foundation/advocacy sites had a significantly higher DISCERN mean score than hospital-affiliated (p = 0.035) and academic websites (p = 0.030). The HONcode seal was present in 4 (8%) websites analyzed. Readability was difficult and at the level of college students.The overall quality of patient-oriented online information on CRS-HIPEC is poor and available resources may not be comprehensible to the general public. Patients seeking information on CRS-HIPEC should be directed to sites affiliated with foundation/advocacy organizations.

Patients increasingly access online materials for health-related information. Using validated assessment tools, we aim to assess the quality and readability of online information for patients considering incisional hernia (IH) repair.The top three online search engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo) were searched in July 2022 for "Incisional hernia repair" and "Surgical hernia repair". Included websites were classified as academic, hospital-affiliated, commercial, and unspecified. The quality of information was assessed using the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) benchmark criteria (0-4), DISCERN instrument (16-80), and the presence of Health On the Net code (HONcode) certification. Readability was assessed using the Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL) tests.25 unique websites were included. The average JAMA and DISCERN scores of all websites were 0.68 ± 1.02 and 36.50 ± 10.91, respectively. Commercial sites showed a significantly higher DISCERN mean score than academic sites (p = 0.034), while no significant difference was demonstrated between other website categories. 3 (12%) websites reported HONcode certification and had significantly higher JAMA (p = 0.016) and DISCERN (p = 0.045) mean scores than sites without certification. Average FRE and FKGL scores were 39.84 ± 13.11 and 10.62 ± 1.76, respectively, corresponding to college- and high school-level comprehensibility.Our findings suggest online patient resources on IH repair are of poor overall quality and may not be comprehensible to the public. Patients accessing internet resources for additional information on IH repair should be made aware of these inadequacies and directed to sites bearing HONcode certification.

Objective: Vulnerability of healthcare facilities (HCF’s) in Malaysia due to flooding from climate change impacts is understudied. This study aims to identify the flood prone government HCF’s due to climate change. Methods: Projection of 100-year Return Period riverine flooding at baseline or current condition, 2030 and 2050 was done through hydrodynamic modelling. The location of government HCF’s in terms of longitude, latitude and elevation was determined by using the Geographic Information System and later overlaid with the flood maps produced by the National Hydraulic Research Institute of Malaysia (NAHRIM). Projection of the 15 most vulnerable river basins in Peninsular Malaysia was done based on IPCCC SRES-AR4. Results: The river basin flood extent map projections were done at Baseline, 2030 and 2050 associated with 100-year Return Period for Flood Depth Levels (FDL) of 0.01m-0.50m, 0.50-1.2m and >1.2m, respectively. The HCF’s were categorized as Community Health Clinics (CHC’s), Primary Health Clinics (PHC’s) and Hospitals. A total of 1268 CHC’s, 520 PHC’s and 82 Hospitals were included in this study. HCF’s in Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan were excluded. At Baseline, 23 CHC’s, 9 PHC’s and 1 hospital were projected to be flooded at Flood Depth Level (FDL) of 0.01-0.5m. FDL of 0.5-1.2m estimated 31 CHC’s, 7 PHC’s and 1 Hospital and FDL>1.2m estimated 54 CHC’s and 9 PHC’s being flooded. According to projections at 2030, FDL of 0.01-0.5m estimated 31 CHC’s, 9 PHC’s and 1 Hospital being flooded and FDL of 0.5-1.2m estimated 33 CHC’s, 9 PHC’s and 1 Hospital being affected. FDL of >1.2m estimated 153 CHC’s, 9 PHC’s and 1 Hospital being affected. Flood projections at 2050 with FDL 0.01-0.5m estimated 24 CHC’s, 9 PHC’s and 1 Hospital being affected and FDL of 0.5m-1.2m affected 37 CHC’s, 7 PHC’s and 2 Hospitals. FDL>1.2m estimated 154 CHC’s, 51 PHC’s and 8 Hospitals being affected. Conclusion: This study enables stakeholders to assess vulnerability of flooding and plan adaptation measures necessary in anticipation of the impact of climate change on riverine flooding in Malaysia.

The rotor circuit time constant is an important parameter for indirect field oriented control. Incorrect estimation of the rotor time constant also leads to incorrect flux angle calculations and can cause significant performance deterioration if no means for compensation or identification is applied. The magnetic saturation, the operating temperature and difficulties in using sensors for speed measurement are one of the sources of parameters variations, caused by non-linear nature of the magnetizing curve and the variations of the rotor resistance. The classical indirect field-oriented control is highly sensitive to the inductance values decrease when increasing the saturation level. To solve this problem, this paper presents a detailed study of the application of extended Kalman Filter (EKF) to parameters estimation for speed sensor less and neural network (ANNs) of an induction motor. The general structure of the EKF is reviewed and the various systems vectors and matrices are defined. The elements of the covariance matrices are properly selected. The EKF associated to the neural network (EKF-ANNs) trained off line algorithm are used to estimate the rotor resistance, the main inductance and the rotor speed. By including these parameters as states variables, the EKF equations are established from a discrete two-axis model of the three-phase induction motor. The proposed EKF-ANNs compensation has shown a good performance in both the transient and steady state operations even in the presence of noise, and also at either variable speed operation in the field-weakening region or in the load variation.