International Journal of Biology and Biomedical Engineering

 
E-ISSN: 1998-4510
Volume 8, 2014

Notice: As of 2014 and for the forthcoming years, the publication frequency/periodicity of NAUN Journals is adapted to the 'continuously updated' model. What this means is that instead of being separated into issues, new papers will be added on a continuous basis, allowing a more regular flow and shorter publication times. The papers will appear in reverse order, therefore the most recent one will be on top.

Main Page

Submit a paper | Submission terms | Paper format

 


Volume 8, 2014


Title of the Paper: Statistical Analysis of Biogenic Amines Formation Process under Different Levels of Selected Factors

 

Authors: M. Tláskal, P. Pleva, J. Michálek, L. Buňková, F. Buňka

Pages: 197-204

Abstract: Some bacterial strains of enterococci are commonly used in food industry and therefore their ability of biogenic amine formation should be investigated. This enables to indicate decarboxylase-positive strains. Within the process of decarboxylation, these strains produce high amount of biogenic amine, which is a toxicologically important compound. Biogenic amines are present in certain foodstuffs (cheese, meat, wine ...) and at high concentrations they are considered risk factors for human health. The aim of this contribution was to explore production of eight chosen biogenic amines by Enterococcus faecium (DPE 002) from rabbit meat (Oryctolagus cuniculus f. domesticus) and to evaluate the effect of selected factors on the production. To fit the data subsets involving different conditions of the experiment, appropriate regression models were used. Some of the growth curves such as Gompertz, logistic, and Richards are found to be very useful in many areas. The most suitable models for our data appeared to be Gompertz and logistic. Their three regression parameters, which are of biological interest, are an asymptotic value of concentration, a maximum production rate and a lag time. Model parameters were estimated and tested. The effect of different factor levels on the parameter values is studied.


Title of the Paper: A Computational Model for Tinnitus Generation and Its Management by Sound Therapy

 

Authors: Hirofumi Nagashino, Yohsuke Kinouchi, Ali A. Danesh, Abhijit S. Pandya

Pages: 191-196

Abstract: Tinnitus is an auditory perception of sound with no external source that can be perceived in the ear(s) or in the head. There is a wide range of methods for tinnitus management. Sound therapy is considered as one of the most effective ones. In this paper, a simple, computational and dynamical model with plasticity is proposed using Bonheoffer-van der Pol (BVP) equations for a preliminary step of modeling the framework with tonotopic organization with hearing loss. Mechanisms of the generation of tinnitus and the effects of sound therapy is investigated. This model replicates tinnitus generation associated with hearing loss and the temporary inhibition of tinnitus perception following sound therapy.


Title of the Paper: Measurement Techniques for the Objective Diagnosis of Primary Gonarthrosis

 

Authors: F. Lamonaca, L. M. Caligiuri, M. Riccio, M. Vasile, A. Nastro

Pages: 184-190

Abstract: The aim of the paper is to furnish a new methodology to (i) define chemical and physical parameters used as references to distinguish between a healthy human bone tissue and the one affected by primary gonarthrosis and (ii) to enrich the base of knowledge used in the biomaterials field. The methodology pointed out is based on measurement techniques used for civil engineering materials. Therefore, it is possible to assess that the obtained results depend only by the material under test and not by the specific measurement method. Experimental results will be shown (i) to verify the suitability of the characterization method pointed out, and (ii) to allow the definition of parameters to evaluate the primary gonarthrosis diseases in human knees.


Title of the Paper: Physical Modeling of Normal and Pathological Gait Using Identification Of Kinematic Parameters

 

Authors: C. A. Collazos, R. E. Argothy

Pages: 179-183

Abstract: This paper present the one-dimensional gait kinematic principle, in order to identify the kinematic parameters for Normal and Pathological (transtibial amputation) Gait of two subjects with similar anthropometry. Each type of gait is associated with uniform linear motion and uniformly accelerated motion. We use Manuela Beltrán University Biomechanics Laboratory.The physical modeling developed complements the information of the data acquisition system and is used for the biomechanics modeling.


Title of the Paper: The Drivers Spine Analytical Model

 

Authors: Veronica Argesanu, Raul Miklos Kulcsar, Ion Silviu Borozan, Mihaela Jula, Saša Ćuković, Eugen Bota

Pages: 172-178

Abstract: The paper presents the determination of the analytical expression in the coronal plane of the drivers spine while driving along curved roads. Further on the analytical expression is used to determine ergonomic parameters for the car seat design. The analytical expression is determined by developing an experiment to monitor the position variation in time of the vertebras in the sagittal and coronal plane. The results lead to three sinusoidal equations of which amplitude values describing the variation in time of angles between the vertebras gives an image regarding the deformation degree of the intervertebral discs.


Title of the Paper: E-Health Artificial Intelligence System Implementation: Case Study of Knowledge Management Dashboard of Epidemiological Data in Poland

 

Authors: P. Ziuziański, M. Furmankiewicz, A. Sołtysik-Piorunkiewicz

Pages: 164-171

Abstract: The aim of this paper was to show the state of art in e-health artificial intelligence systems and describe the concept of methodology of dashboard implementation in e-health knowledge management especially for monitoring epidemiological data. In this paper the authors characterized the different data sources of epidemic diseases’ and describe the case study based on own dashboard project of epidemiological data in Poland. There is a variety of those tools including artificial intelligence systems like expert systems or multi-agent systems, Business Intelligence and performance dashboards. Nowadays, application of this kind of systems in e-health has increased significantly, which was highlighted by presented examples. The last chapter presents a project of performance dashboard for monitoring epidemic diseases.


Title of the Paper: Examining the Problem Areas In Diabetes scale (MY-PAID-20) among Malay T2DM Patients

 

Authors: Z. Jannoo, B. W. Yap, N. M. Razali, S. Gnanasan, M. A. Hassali, A. A. Shafie, M. Karuppannan, Y. Gopalan, M. Omar, N. I. Ramli

Pages: 157-163

Abstract: The Problem Areas in Diabetes Scale (PAID) was translated using forward and backward translations following a predefined set of guidelines. The sample consists of 46 Malay patients from a public hospital in Malaysia. The PAID scale was found to have high internal consistency (Cronbach’s Alpha value = 0.921). The patients suffered from mild diabetes distress having an average PAID score of 39.4. The findings gave support of convergent validity with a significant association (Pearson correlation = 0.081; p<0.05) between PAID score and HbA1c values. The Malay version of PAID was found to be reliable and valid among Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus patients.


Title of the Paper: The Drivers Spine Movement Equation in the Coronal Plane

 

Authors: Raul Miklos Kulcsar, Veronica Argesanu, Ion Silviu Borozan, Inocentiu Maniu, Mihaela Jula, Adrian Nagel

Pages: 151-156

Abstract: The paper presents the determination of the movement equation of the drivers spine in the coronal plane, during the drive. Using the movement equation, the spines movements in the coronal plane were simulate by using the MathCAD and CATIA software. On this line was proposed a methodology to approach the interaction between driver and the vehicle to allow accurate conclusions for the driving activity.


Title of the Paper: A Computational Study of a Prebiotic Synthesis of L-Asparagine, L-Aspartic Acid, L-Glutamine and L-Glutamic Acid

 

Authors: N. Aylward

Pages: 142-150

Abstract: The magnesium ion metalloporphyrin complex is shown to bind the ligands cyanoacetylene and 2-cyanoethanimine in weak van der Waals complexes on the metal site. Further reaction of the bound cyanoacetylene with ammonia gives an amine that easily transforms to an aziridine derivative, and ultimately an imine bound to the catalyst. When carbon monoxide is also bound to the complex as a high energy compound whose particular structure has been dictated by the magnetic vector of the exciting radiation, reaction occurs to give a substituted aziridine-2one that may easily hydrolyse to the zwitterionic form of the amino acids L-asparagine and L-aspartic acid. Dicyano derivatives of acetylene such as dicyano acetylene, dicyano ethene and dicyano ethane when partially reduced to the corresponding imines also form weak van der Waals charge transfer complexes with the catalyst, Mg.porphin, that react in a similar sequence of reactions to give L-glutamine and ultimately L-glutamic acid. The reactions have been shown to be feasible from the overall enthalpy changes in the ZKE approximation at the HF and MP2 /6-31G* level, and with acceptable activation energies.


Title of the Paper: Mathematical Modeling of Tumour Growth in Inhomogeneous Spheroidal Environment

 

Authors: Foteini Kariotou, Panayiotis Vafeas, Polycarpos K. Papadopoulos

Pages: 132-141

Abstract: Developing a mathematical model for cancer tumour growth that can be treated analytically and produce analytical results, is useful in the qualitative study of such complicated phenomenon. Most of such models consider radially symmetric tumours growing in homogeneous conditions, due to the availability of experimental data that concern mainly spherical tumours. Though, in vivo, the inhomogeneity of the host environment affects the geometrical features of the growing tumour mass, as shown in cases like the esophageal cancer. In the present work, we assume that the host tissue imposes the axisymmetric structure of a prolate spheroidal tumour via an appropriate pressure field and we investigate the evolution of such growth in a consistent nutritive microenvironment. To that purpose, the mathematical model that we consider consists of three boundary value problems, which describe the nutrient concentration, the inhibitor concentration and the pressure field in the interior and in the exterior of a layered prolate spheroid that models the tumour. These problems provide the necessary data for solving the evolution equation of the tumour’s exterior boundary, which is a highly nonlinear ordinary differential equation. Additionally, our model exhibits a geometrical reduction to special cases and, mainly, to the spherical geometry in order to recover the existing results for the sphere.


Title of the Paper: Physical and Chemical Properties of Edible Films from Faba Bean Protein

 

Authors: C. Montalvo-Paquini, M. Rangel-Marrón, E. Palou, A. López-Malo

Pages: 125-131

Abstract: Natural polymers derived from natural sources like proteins of plants, offer great opportunities for the food industry due their biodegradability and ability to supplement nutritional value of foods. In this study, the effect of different values of pH (7.0, 8.5 and 10.0) of film forming solution on physical and chemical properties of faba bean edible films was investigated. The edible films were prepared by the solution casting method with 3% w/w of faba bean protein concentrate (FPC) and glycerol (50%, w/w of FPC) as plasticizer. Films were evaluated for thickness, water content, soluble matter, protein solubility, puncture strength, elongation, water vapor permeability (WVP) and color. The pH value did not have significant influence on moisture content and thickness. The total soluble matter and protein solubility showed a significant increase as pH forming solution increased from 7.0 to 10.0. However, edible films obtained had a good stability since polymer did not exceed 26% of total solubility film, while the protein solubility was not greater than 3%. At alkaline conditions the edible films showed the lowest WVP (0.96 x10^-10g mm/kPa h m^2) and the highest values of puncture strength (17.92 MPa) and elongation (44.43 %). Edible protein films from faba bean had a lightly yellow color. The effect of pH on chemical properties has been explained using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis.


Title of the Paper: Health Risk Assessment of Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) in Urban Soils of Sofia

 

Authors: Anna D. Dimitrova, Yana P. Stoyanova, Anton K. Tachev

Pages: 118-124

Abstract: There is a lack of information regarding levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in soil samples from Bulgaria. This paper reports the concentrations of six indicator PCBs and six dioxin-like PCBs determined in 35 soil samples from urban areas of Sofia City, the capital of Bulgaria. TEQ values of dioxin-like PCBs were calculated also. The results show that the sums of concentration of indicator-PCBs were in the range 7.2–17.2 μg/kg. Small amounts of all dioxin-like PCBs also were found (1.1–5.1 μg/kg). High chlorinated indicator-PCBs: 138, 153 and 180 were the most abundant in the soil samples. Dioxin-like PCB 77 was in minor concentration (0.25 μg/kg) and dl-PCB 118 was predominant dioxin-like congener (0.68 μg/kg). TEQs of soil samples are in the range 0.006 - 0.08 μg/kg. The highest TEQ is found for PCB 126. All concentrations of PCBs determined in this study are below the maximum admissible concentration in soils according to the Bulgarian Legislation and TEQ concentrations met the Canadian soil quality standard. In cases of contamination with low levels of PCBs, as the determined concentration, there is no health risk to humans.


Title of the Paper: Natural Language Processing, Big Data, Bioinformatics and Biology

 

Authors: Emdad Khan

Pages: 107-117

Abstract: As we know, the most complex machine in this world is human being, especially, our brain. Understanding the human biological system and how human brain really works (even partially) are top research areas being addressed by many researchers around the world. This effort has been expedited significantly since the completion of the human genome project. With the rapid growth of biological data, this field has become even more multi-disciplinary that includes Big Data, Bioinformatics, Biology and Natural Language Processing (NLP). The intersection of NLP is interesting and important as NLP can contribute from multiple angles and help solve various problems in Big Data, Biology, Bioinformatics and more. In this paper, we propose Semantic Engine using Brain-Like Approach (SEBLA) and associated NLP & Natural Language Understanding (NLU) based approach to address the key problems of Big Data in Bioinformatics and Biology. Our approach (SEBLANLU) resembles human Brain-Like and Brain-Inspired algorithms as humans can significantly compress the data by representing with a few words or sentences using the semantics of the information while preserving the core meaning. Thus, it very effectively converts data to knowledge and also compresses it; and hence addresses the key Big Data problems in an effective way. We describe how SEBLANLU can be used to handle both unstructured and structured Big Data for addressing complex problems including summarization and analytics. We also describe how SEBLA-NLU can help understand the DNA (including non-coding DNA) and hence biological systems/processes (e.g. Gene Expression, Gene Function, Protein Function, Protein Interactions and Protein Scaffolding). We also discuss how SEBLA-NLU can help the modeling aspect of biological systems / processes.


Title of the Paper: A Reproducible Method to Transcranial B-MODE Ultrasound Images Analysis Based on Echogenicity Evaluation in Selectable ROI

 

Authors: Jiri Blahuta, Petr Cermak, Tomas Soukup, Michal Vecerek

Pages: 98-106

Abstract: The presented paper demonstrates how to detect pathological issues in transcranial B-MODE ultrasound images. We developed an algorithm based on binary thresholding with subsequential computing of area inside ROI which represents an area in which we detect the issue. We work with a collection of images acquisted from 3 different ultrasound machines. We detect echogenic area in substantia nigra which is primary feature to Morbus Parkinson and also raphe nucleus echogenicity to detection of other neurological diseases. All achieved results were verified by an erudite neurosonologist and based on statistics such as correlation and kappa analysis. Average correlation between observers r > 0.88, level of agreement kappa > 0.82. So, we proved that developed algorithm is highly reproducible and also could be used for different cases, not only in neurology due to principle of B-MODE imaging. The algorithm has been implemented in MATLAB with Image Processing Toolbox. Achieved results will verified for 3 different ultrasound machines.


Title of the Paper: Physical and Mechanical Properties of Alginate Edible Films Formulated with a Two Level Experimental Design

 

Authors: M. Rangel-Marrón, C. Montalvo-Paquini, E. Palou, A. López-Malo

Pages: 89-97

Abstract: The present study focuses on the effects of sodium alginate (0.5-2.5% w/v) and glycerol (0.5-1.5% w/v) concentration and the film forming method (FFM), dry (D) or wet (W) on physical (moisture content, thickness, water solubility (WS), water vapor permeability (WVP), and color) and mechanical properties of edible films. The effects were formulated and analyzed using a two-level factorial design. Prediction equations were obtained and optimized for each response variable. To generate insoluble polymers 2% of CaCl2 was added directly to the film emulsion (wet method). For the dry method, the emulsions were dried at 60 ºC for 6 hours, and then CaCl2 was added. The moisture content, water solubility, thickness, hue angle, chroma, luminosity, and percentage elongation were significantly affected (p <0.05) by the evaluated factor. Furthermore, glycerol concentration did not affect the water vapor permeability and alginate concentration did not affect the puncture strength. The films obtained by wet method, showed the highest water solubility values 66.06% (0.5% alginate-glycerol) and WVP 579.74 g mm/kPa h m^2 (2.5 - 0.5% glycerol alginate). Unlike, the films formed by the dry method, the water solubility was 44.66% and WVP was 13.66 g mm/kPa h m^2 for the 0.5 - 1.5 and 2.5 - 0.5% alginate-glycerol concentrations respectively. Predictive equations for each response variable showed a good fit of the experimental data (R^2> 0.999). Optimization results suggested that alginate 2% and glycerol 1.5% concentrations and dry method can be considered a better formulation for edible films.


Title of the Paper: Six Years' Results of Partially Edentulous Patients Treatment in Academic Institute

 

Authors: Laith Mahmoud Abdulhadi, Hana Abbas Mohammed

Pages: 79-88

Abstract: With the growth and development of new knowledge and skill every day, the evaluation of dental program and teaching outcome in prosthetic dentistry become crucial to compete with the advances in other disciplines concerning human well-being and health service provider of the community. The purpose of this study was first; to explore the clinical service presented by undergraduate students during their formal training in prosthetic dentistry clinics at faculty of dentistry from 2005-2010. The second objective was to evaluate and assess the designing concept of metallic frame work as offered for the patients for the same period. The data were collected from patient’s archive of prosthetic dentistry department according to certain inclusion criteria. Results revealed that men seek treatment more than women. Patient’s age was related to increase in removable partial denture demand. Chinese attended the prosthetic clinics more than other ethnic groups. Hypertension and diabetes mellitus represented the highest general diseases among patients. Kennedy Class III patients were the most group seeking prosthetic replacement. Acrylic resin material was mostly used for fabrication of partial denture. The average time needed by the student to treat one partially edentulous patient was 4 months. Recall for successfully issued partial dentures was 84.2%. For maxillary arch, 1% of the lab forms were filled properly before sending to the technician. However, in mandibular arch, the problem was worse. One of the important feedback of this study indicated that gingival uncover was used systematically in less than 20% of the treated cases. Increased general conditions were correlated to reduced number of remaining teeth. Repeated service was included 20.4 % of the total treatment outcome. The designing rules for metal partial dentures should be revised according to new updates of oral immunity and preventive measures during treatment offering like minimum coverage, protection of the normal cleansing action and load distribution. As a conclusion, assessing the clinical activity of undergraduates should be done regularly as one of the important parameters for clinical proficiency evaluation of the students as well as the instructors and the clinical program. More efforts are required to develop and update the clinical skill, knowledge and training methods for undergraduate dental students.


Title of the Paper: Wavelet Analysis and Autoregressive Modeling of the Electromyography Signal

 

Authors: James E. Whitney II, Amanda K. Nebel

Pages: 70-78

Abstract: Electromyography(EMG) serves many purposes in the biomedical field, from the diagnosis and analysis of patient medical conditions to use for patient rehabilitation. EMG usage in rehabilitation settings includes helping train patients who may have undergone trauma through accidents, or medical conditions. EMG signal analysis can also help in restoring patient ambulatory capability by modeling muscle function and creating adaptive models for use in assistive-technology hardware. Depending on the exact application, due to the amount of data obtainable from the EMG signal it is potentially more advantageous to decrease the amount of data required for the application, while maintaining the fidelity of the information contained in the data. This is particularly true when EMG data is used in assistive-technology devices. In this case it is desired to use a smaller subset of the raw data. This can be accomplished through correct modeling of the data. Two candidate methods for this analysis and modeling are the wavelet transform and autoregressive modeling.


Title of the Paper: Topographical Mapping by a Synchronous Neural System with Physical Measures of Time, Space, and Motion

 

Authors: Yumi Takizawa, Atsushi Fukasawa

Pages: 63-69

Abstract: This paper presents topographical mapping in brain by synchronous neural system. This model is based on function of recognition of events in physical measures, time, space, and motion. This effect is realized by a neural system with synchronization established by unique configuration with recurrent connections and mutual pulse injections among all neurons. Topographical mapping in brain has been proved on this system with autonomous convergence algorithm. This algorithm was proved in convergence of calculation for estimation of time and position of events with adaptation less than 3 or 5 times for 20 sounds within 2 sec time frame.


Title of the Paper: Can C60 Fullerene Demonstrate Properties of Mitochondria-Targeted Antioxidant from the Computational Point of View?

 

Authors: V. A. Chistyakov, E. V. Prazdnova, A. V. Soldatov, Yu. O. Smirnova, I. Alperovich

Pages: 59-62

Abstract: Theoretical examination of one hypothesis explaining fullerene C60 anti-oxidant potential has been done with Density Functional Theory (DFT). We found that a mechanism involving fullerene-mediated proton transport through inner mitohondria membrane is feasible from the computational point of view. Such a hypothesis may explain recent experimental results on C60 high anti-oxidant activity promoted by additional mechanism based on decreasing of the transmembrane proton concentration gradient.


Title of the Paper: Evaluation of Postural Stability Using Fuzzy Logic

 

Authors: Lucie Pivnickova, Viliam Dolinay, Vladimir Vasek

Pages: 51-58

Abstract: This study presents the experiment focused on balance disorders diagnosis determination. The main idea is based on the measured data, expert diagnosis and the use of fuzzy logic. The data used in this experiment were measured under the static conditions on the posturography platform. The patients were split into three groups: peripheral, central and normal, based on doctor's diagnosis. Membership functions for the fuzzy logic were created based on these samples. These functions foundations based on the standards obtained from a set of measurements performed on selected patients and expert base. From the obtained results was found, that for the group of selected patients - without balance disorders, using the proposed methodology, it was found that in 60% of them can be clearly said, that it is a normal patient, without balance disorders and in the remaining 40% of the results was inconclusive, from 85 patients in the group of patients with peripheral balance disorders using the proposed methodology, it was found that in 78% can be clearly argued that these patients are with peripheral balance disorders and in the remaining 22% of the results were inconclusive and from 82 patients in the group of patients with central balance disorders using the proposed methodology, it was found that in 83% can be clearly argued that these patients are with central balance disorders. Remaining 17% of the results were inconclusive. From the performed experiments appears, that proposed methodology has good possibility to distinguish whether patients have impaired balance or not, but ability to distinguish patients with peripheral balance disorders in patients with central disorder seems weak. However, research continues and the application of other modern methods can eliminate this weakness.


Title of the Paper: Measurement of Asymmetric Sitting Posture Using Unstable Board with Accelerometer

 

Authors: Ji-Yong Jung, In-Sik Park, Bong-Ok Kim, Tae-Kyu Kwon, Yonggwan Won, Jung-Ja Kim

Pages: 44-50

Abstract: Postural balance has a significant effect on activities in daily life continuously. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of pelvic asymmetry on postural balance during sitting. For accurate analysis, we developed sitting posture measurement system using unstable board with accelerometer. 5 pelvis asymmetry patients and 5 control subjects were participated in this study. Subjects were instructed to perform static and dynamic sitting. Angle variation in the frontal and sagittal plane as well as body pressure distribution of left and right side including maximum force, peak pressure, mean pressure, and area were assessed while sitting. Also, intra class correlation coefficient was used to evaluate the reliability of the system. In comparison with mean angular variation and pressure distribution between two groups, all parameters were more tilted to left side than right side in pelvic asymmetry group. And, the reliability of the measurement system was excellent in both static and dynamic sitting. From these results, we observed negative effect of pelvic asymmetry on postural balance and it can cause asymmetric sitting posture. This paper suggested that measuring method using unstable board with accelerometer may be suitable for evaluation of postural asymmetry, and this system can be utilized to provide useful information about patients with pelvic asymmetry in clinical medicine.


Title of the Paper: Activity of a Neuron and Synchronization in a Neural Group

 

Authors: Atsushi Fukasawa, Yumi Takizawa

Pages: 35-43

Abstract: This paper presents activity of a neuron and synchronization in a neural group. Motion of electric charges is first presented at a boundary in electrolyte. A potential wall is formed by space charges and a depletion layer. Diffusion current is obtained across the boundary. An electro-physical modeling is given for a neuron with two depletion layers among three zones. An active neuron operates as an astable pulse generator. Synchronization of a neural group is then presented to be realized by mutual pulse injection among neurons. Synchronization provides a neural system with common clock for high performance signal processing.


Title of the Paper: Spectroscopic Determination of Methanol Content in Alcoholic Drinks

 

Authors: H. Vaskova

Pages: 27-34

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to introduce an innovative method for measuring the concentration of methanol in alcoholic beverages. The novel approach consists in using Raman spectroscopic data for methanol content detection. Raman spectroscopy is a powerful method for material identification giving information about the structure of examined sample. This analytical method enables rapid, noncontact and non-destructive analysis that can be performed through the glass. The method for quantitative determination of methanol in alcoholic beverages has been developed on the basis of diverse Raman spectra for methanol and ethanol, their mathematical processing and using PLS regression method for the calibration and prediction model of methanol. Development of this new method is related to the massive methanol poisonings which occurred in the Czech Republic in September 2012. A large amount of harmful toxic alcoholic drinks containing methanol in quantities many times over legal limit was illegally distributed. This event led up to serious problems with poisoned people and the losses in lives. However, it can be assumed the problems may occur in the future since about a third of the defective alcohol has not been traced. The detection limit of the method lies below the permitted and safe amount of methanol in the beverages regulated by the European Parliament and the Council.


Title of the Paper: Electro Osmosis and Bone Remodeling – A Numerical Simulation

 

Authors: J. M. Crolet, M. Racila, A. Marguier, O. Placide

Pages: 21-26

Abstract: The bone tissue is in permanent remodeling. It adapts to the biomechanical requests by building bone tissue in the zones with strong loadings and by destroying it in the zones with weak loadings. Thanks to these regenerative properties, when a bone is fractured, the realignment and the maintenance of the member are generally enough to generate new tissue. It’s the process of osteogenesis. Many research teams studied the stimuli which can induce the bony remodeling. The idea that the fluid plays an important role in the bony remodeling seems to be accepted by the scientific community. Indeed, a few studies showed that the activity of the osseous cells varies considerably according to the fluid flow inside the osseous matrix. In our previous studies one had studied the mechanism of the bony mechanotransduction, i.e. the way in which the cells receive the various stimuli and react, by building or destroying the bone tissue. The objective of this new study is a natural continuation of our previous works, by trying to determine in a numerical way if the induced consequences by the phenomenon of electrosmosis in the cylindrical unit structure of the bone which is the osteon, are able to stimulate the osteogenesis.


Title of the Paper: Classification of Functional Motions of Hand for Upper Limb Prosthesis with Surface Electromyography

 

Authors: Muhammad Asim Waris, Mohsin Jamil, Yasar Ayaz, Syed Omer Gilani

Pages: 15-20

Abstract: Significance of rehabilitation engineering is gaining popularity with the advancement in technology as more amputees desire to perform day to day tasks. Researchers are proposing designs and devices related to prosthesis which can achieve principle functions. Ideal upper limb prosthesis is one which can mimic actual hand. Control of Electromyography (EMG) based prosthesis is still in primitive stage as large number of channels is required even for the recognition of only few hand gestures. This study presents classification of essential hand movements for dexterous control of upper limb active prosthesis using surface Electromyography (EMG). Forearm muscles were used to detect these signals. Four pairs of surface electrodes were used with one reference electrode. Thus lesser number of channels used as compared to previous studies. Off-line analysis was used to figure out classification accuracy. Time domain feature extraction was done in the initial stage with support vector machine (SVM) analysis used for classification in the later stage. Results showed that hand movements were decoded accurately under latencies of 300ms. Five different movements were classified with the average accuracy between 84-90%.


Title of the Paper: Homeostatic Plasticity and Spike-Time-Dependent Plasticity in Computational Modeling of Tinnitus Generation and its Management by Sound Therapy

 

Authors: Hirofumi Nagashino, Yohsuke Kinouchi, Ali A. Danesh, Abhijit S. Pandya

Pages: 6-14

Abstract: Tinnitus is considered as an auditory perception in one ear, both ears or in the head without any external source. A very effective method of tinnitus management is referred to as sound therapy. Computational and dynamical models with plasticity using a neural oscillator or neuronal networks have been proposed by our team in order to investigate mechanisms of tinnitus generation and the clinical effects of sound therapy. In the present paper, two models are proposed, a neuronal network model with homeostatic plasticity (HP) and another model with both HP and spike-time-dependent plasticity (STDP). The results are compared in reference to their effects on inhibition of oscillations as a model of tinnitus management. The outcome data show that the model with both HP and STDP is more robust than the model with STDP only or HP only in the sense that oscillation can be inhibited in a larger range of the intensity of external constant input.


Title of the Paper: Ensembled Correlation between Liver Analysis Outputs

 

Authors: S. E. Seker, Y. Unal, Z. Erdem, H. Erdinc Kocer

Pages: 1-5

Abstract: Data mining techniques on the biological analysis are spreading for most of the areas including the health care and medical information. We have applied the data mining techniques, such as KNN, SVM, MLP or decision trees over a unique dataset, which is collected from 16,380 analysis results for a year. Furthermore we have also used meta-classifiers to question the increased correlation rate between the liver disorder and the liver analysis outputs. The results show that there is a correlation among ALT, AST, Billirubin Direct and Billirubin Total down to 15% of error rate. Also the correlation coefficient is up to 94%. This makes possible to predict the analysis results from each other or disease patterns can be applied over the linear correlation of the parameters.