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The detection of waterborne bacteria is crucial to prevent health risks. Current research uses soft computing techniques based on Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) for the detection of bacterial pollution in water. The limitation of only relying on sensor-based water quality analysis for detection can be prone to human errors. Hence, there is a need to automate the process of real-time bacterial monitoring for minimizing the error, as mentioned above. To address this issue, we implement an automated process of water-borne bacterial detection using a hybrid technique called Adaptive Neuro-fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS), that integrates the advantage of learning in an ANN and a set of fuzzy if-then rules with appropriate membership functions. The experimental data as the input to the ANFIS model is obtained from the open-sourced dataset of government of India data platform, having 1992 experimental laboratory results from the years 2003-2014. We have included the following water quality parameters: Temperature, Dissolved Oxygen (DO), pH, Electrical conductivity, Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) as the significant factors in the detection and existence of bacteria. The membership function changes automatically with every iteration during training of the system. The goal of the study is to compare the results obtained from the three membership functions of ANFIS- Triangle, Trapezoidal, and Bell-shaped with 35 = 243 fuzzy set rules. The results show that ANFIS with generalized bell-shaped membership function is best with its average error 0.00619 at epoch 100.

Mephentermine, a stimulant drug, is used as vasoconstrictor to maintain blood pressure in hypotensive states and shock, but due to its stimulant effects on the central nervous system, it has also been used for performance enhancement by athletes. Here, we discuss three cases where the patients had used mephentermine to enhance their work performance. Case 1: A male in his 30's, presented with palpitation, headache, and hypertension after 1 year of use of mephentermine which he had started using with the purpose of increasing his work performance. Case 2: A 22-year-old male presented with depressive symptoms following a 3-year history of use of mephentermine after being suggested by peers to enhance performance at gym. Case 3: A 22-year-old male with 2-year history of mephentermine, presented with withdrawal symptoms, after being introduced to mephentermine by his peers to improve physical performance and difficulty stopping its use on his own. It was found that the purpose of mephentermine abuse in all three discussed cases was to enhance performance, either at sports or workplace, which gradually lead to physical or mental complications or withdrawal symptoms. It thus seems imperative to create awareness about the harmful and addictive effects of mephentermine to masses, and simultaneously limiting its easy availability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Snakebite envenoming, a neglected tropical disease (NTD), is an important public health problem that is responsible for more than 1 lakh deaths annually across the world. However, the majority of the data in this regard is from health institutions and data from community settings are scarce. The aim of the current study was to develop valid and reliable qualitative tools for assessing the burden of snakebites and the health-seeking behavior of the community. The tools developed thus will serve in creating a community connection and thereby strengthen primary care teams engaged in managing snakebites at the primary care level. Methods: A four-step design was used; (a) review of the available literature on the burden of disease, tools used to assess the burden, and the guidelines on snakebite (b) development, laying out, and contextualization of questions/items for the tools (c) pilot testing and establishment of validity. Results: A focus group discussion guide, key informant interview schedule for health professionals, community leaders, and traditional faith healers were matured for the implementation. Conclusion: A reliable and valid qualitative tool was developed to discern the speculations related to snakebites and its management in rural field settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]