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Brain-Computer Interface for Mental State Detection of Drivers /

By Arif, Saad . . 169p. , Background: Each year millions of vehicles suffer crashes on the roads globally due to deteriorated mental state of the drivers during driving tasks which result in higher casualties. Drowsy driving is the leading cause of high fatality rate which is instigated due to sleep deprivation, fatigue, and anxiety, etc. Vehicular, and driver’s behavioral data-dependent systems detect the drowsiness after its onset when an accident is more likely, and they are also subject to false identification. The drowsy mental state of drivers must be detected earlier for in-time warning to avoid fatal losses, and also the system must be less intrusive, and adaptable for normal driving tasks. Detection systems using physiological signals from human organs are comparatively underexplored in which bodily states of the subject can be identified earlier and with more reliability. It is postulated that all the bodily states are primarily originated from the human brain which could be a promising region to detect drowsiness at an earlier stage. Among many physiological signals, electroencephalography (EEG), and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) are chosen for this study because they are proved to be more portable, easy to use, non-invasive, and reliable brain modalities for human mental state detection. Aim and Objectives: This study aimed to design a passive brain-computer interface (pBCI) scheme for the earlier detection of driver drowsiness with minimum intrusion into the driving task. Design objectives for the pBCI scheme were to select the channel of interest (COI), online detection with a shorter time window, minimum recalibration and setup time, and development of a widely applicable standard as an inter-subject transfer framework (iSTF) to cater to the inter-subject variability. All these objectives lead to such a pBCI system that is readily available for any subject, anytime, easy to use with minimal design, and yet detecting the drowsiness correctly at an earlier stage to avoid life losses. Methodology: Multichannel EEG and fNIRS brain signals from anterior, posterior, and lateral brain regions of sleep-deprived drowsy subjects were acquired during the simulated driving task for post hoc analysis. Initial pBCIschemes used labeled EEG data acquired from prefrontal (PFC), frontal, and occipital cortices for extracting the eight spectral, and eight temporal xvi features of EEG signals. Seven supervised machine learning classifiers were used to do the cross-validated binary classification of drowsy, and alert brain states. Initial design only achieved a few objectives and generated the need to use different modalities to meet all the requirements. The final pBCI scheme used labeled fNIRS data acquired from PFC and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices (DLPFC) for extracting the six cerebral oxygen regulation (CORE) and three hemodynamic signal features. CORE states of wakefulness and non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep stages were used to design a novel standard framework for wide applicability, and sleep stage classification using the vector phase analysis (VPA) approach. VPA was used for classifying microsleep/lapse, and drowsiness detection was done using the proposed brain hemodynamic patterns. Results: 𝛿, 𝜃, 𝛼, 𝛽 band powers as EEG spectral features achieved 82% accuracy in 10 s detection window. Signal skewness, variance, mean, peak as EEG temporal features achieved 87.2% accuracy in 1 s detection window. Ensemble classifier declared F8 as COI for earlier drowsiness detection using both the EEG pBCI schemes. Only the objectives of the short detection window and COI were achieved with the initial designs. In the final design with fNIRS, the novel VPA features: CORE vector gradients, achieved 94.1% accuracy in 5 s detection window for NREM sleep stage classification using ensemble classifier with the least computation time of 44 ms. Precise spatial localization of fNIRS declared AF8 position in right DLPFC as COI. The novel sleep stages-based threshold criteria along with VPA were crossvalidated as a standard iSTF for online microsleep detection with the least recalibration and setup time. Feature selection and achieved results were validated with various statistical significance tests. All the design objectives were attained with the fNIRS-based pBCI scheme. Conclusion: The aim to detect the driver's drowsiness earlier with minimum intrusion into the driving task, is accomplished. The presented fNIRS-based adaptive pBCI scheme is readily available for any subject, anytime, easy to wear with minimal ergonomic design, capable of real-time, correct, and early detection of the driver drowsiness to lessen the life losses in vehicular driving scenarios. The recommended research directions will surely justify, improve, and broaden the application horizons of the presented design 30cm..

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Endocrine Dysregulation Adversely Effects Female Reproductive Health in South Punjab Pakistan /

By Rao, Marium Tufail . . 101p. , Endocrine disorders have severe consequences for reproductive health and, overall, the woman’s condition. The role of this research is to establish the level of hormonal imbalance resulting in reproductive and other diseases among women in south Punjab, Pakistan. Thus, the present study has adopted a cross-sectional, observational research design in choosing 430 females from Bahawalpur Victoria hospital. Serum samples were also taken from females and hormonal assays performed on the collected samples in endocrine lab. The collected data were analyzed statistically to compare hormonal levels with health status of the women. The findings of the study were that the common symptoms were fatigue, cravings for food, and the high level of obesity among the participants. Hormonal level was correlated with amenorrhea, oligomenorrhea, type 2 diabetes, and insomnia at the considerable level. Serum levels of CA- 125 and AFP were also raised significantly with ovarian cancer. Some other common manifestations were psychological, such as depression, anxiety, increased, and insomnia. Also, the most frequent reproductive symptoms identified were pain and swelling of the breasts, benign breast diseases, and night sweating. The survey work showed high prevalence of hair loss and hirsutism to above the norms, therefore pointing at dermatological consequences of hormonal disturbances. Another group of marriage-related problems that were also identified were fertility problems which were also common affecting a large percentage of the population. No significant associations were found between hormonal levels and certain conditions such as cardiovascular disease and liver disease. The hormonal testing showed dysregulation in FSH and LH and estrogen and progesterone and thyroid hormones. Women of south Punjab are undergoing hormonal imbalance, which includes reproductive health problems and other health related concerns. Focused education on symptoms, early checkups, and encompassing medical approaches are useful in reducing effects of hormonal fluctuations in this group of ladies. 30cm.

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Development Of Novel Diagnostic Angiographic Catheter, Evaluation of Its Efficacy, Precision, And Ease of Application /

By Inam, Hafsa . . 220p. , Cardiovascular diseases are a leading cause of death globally, accounting for approximately onethird of all deaths. The prevalence of coronary disease continues to rise, resulting in increased mortality rates and escalating healthcare costs. The gold standard for diagnosing coronary blockages and recommending therapeutic interventions is angiography. Currently, braided reinforced shafts are the most common construction material for catheters used in angiographic procedures. However, recent research has focused on the development of laser-cut reinforced shaft catheters. The aim of this study was to assess the potential usage of laser-cut reinforced shaft-based angiographic catheters for coronary angiographic procedures by analyzing their design, performance, and behaviour. The commercially available state-of-the-art angiographic catheters comprise of braidedreinforced shafts, while the laser-cut reinforced shaft technique has never been used to develop angiographic catheters despite its potential to reduce the wall thickness and consequently the profile of the catheters without compromising pushability and flexibility. Therefore, the objective of this study was twofold: (I) designing and manufacturing a laser-cut metallic reinforced shaft in a novel way and (II) configuring this novel laser-cut metallic shaft as a lasercut reinforced angiography catheter to improve the existing state-of-the-art (braided catheter) by reducing profile (wall-thickness), enhancing flow rate, flexural and tensile strength, and decreasing pushability force required. The developed laser-cut angiographic catheter (having an outer diameter of 2.00 mm) has a wall thickness of 0.2 mm which is approximately 33% less than that of the commercially available braided catheters (having a wall thickness of 0.3mm). Furthermore, the pushability force analysis results prove that laser-cut reinforced shaft catheter exerts a minimal resistive force (625g) which is approximately 1/3rd times less than that of the braided catheter. Needless to mention that the novel Laser-cut catheter exhibits 2x more tensile strength than the commercially available braided catheter. The fabrication route employed in this study also increased the catheter's hydrophilicity (contact angle of 71.3°); as a result, an additional hydrophilic coating is not required. The outcome of the comparative analysis, based on the results obtained from the manufacturing route and bench testing, clearly shows that the laser cutting method is an effective and rapid way of producing flexible, lower-profile reinforced shaft. It is also established that the use of this method to produce flexible lower profile reinforced shaft will overcome the problem of compromised radial strength during a diagnostic procedure xxvii and would help maintain continuous ovality throughout. Therefore, the developed laser-cut reinforced catheter may potentially be used as the next state-of-the-art angiographic catheter after further in vivo and clinical testing. 30cm..

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