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5 Shifts That Change Your Physical and Mental Well-Being

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Throughout life, people are constantly concerned with the status of their physical and mental well being. Many people are resolved to make lifestyle shifts that they believe will change the quality of their lives, but shifts in health are often composed of many small habits that cater to the health of your body and your mind. When you are mentally aware and alert, you are more likely to make decisions that will be beneficial to you in the long run. In this article, we will share five shifts that will change your physical and mental well-being for good.

1. Lower Your Expectations

When you set sky high expectations for your diet and exercise regimens, you will likely fail. The key to an effective diet is sustainability. Rather than cutting out food groups and undereating, practice moderation. When you are not holding yourself to a standard of perfection, you will find success and encouragement.

2. Prioritize Consistency

Your body will be grateful when you practice consistency. You do not need to exercise for hours each day. Instead, you simply need to prioritize movement on a regular basis. Your routines can vary between 45-minute runs to 15-minute core movements. Integrate walking, yoga, stretching, and strength training into the mix. You will see growth when you regularly move your body.

3. Forgive Yourself

Nobody is perfect and everyone needs a rest day, you are not the exception to that rule. If you mess up your diet and workout routine, that is okay! We all have days that do not go as planned. Rather than beating yourself up, take the time to forgive yourself and look forward to being successful in the days ahead.

4. Keep a Journal

When you keep a journal, you are better able to remember the things that you have experienced in your life, allowing you have more compassion and grace towards your performance. By keeping a journal, you will have an outlet to process certain emotions while gaining the ability to reflect on the things you have experienced in the past

5. Get Help When You Need it

Many people have a difficult time asking for help. Unfortunately, if you do not seek help when you need it most, you may experience more excruciating pain than is necessary. As you age, there may be different physical discomforts or difficulties that you experience. If you experience physical discomfort, consult a physical therapist. If you have frequent headaches, you may want to get your eyes and ears checked. Helix Hearing Care helps patients find supportive solutions that are easily transferable to their lifestyle.

Summary

It is important to be honest with yourself and others if you want to continue looking and feeling your best. Many times, physical health is naturally aided when you invest time in bettering your mental health. Both categories have an overwhelming effect on one another. It is important to regularly assess your well-being and determine where you may need to make tweaks in your pursuit of wellness.

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What Should You Look for When Choosing a Medical Negligence Solicitor?

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What Should You Look for When Choosing a Medical Negligence Solicitor?

A medical negligence solicitor is somebody who specialises in the legal matters surrounding medical negligence. Essentially, if you have received inadequate care from a medical professional – which has caused you physical, psychological or financial harm – then you should contact a medical negligence solicitor. They are experts in the field, so they are best equipped to support you when seeking compensation for medical malpractice. This is a notoriously arduous and anxiety-inducing process, after all. As such, you will want the very best players on your team. But what exactly should you look for when choosing a medical negligence solicitor? Are there specific qualities which make one law firm better than the other? We think so. Keep reading to find out everything you need to know.

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The Right Accreditations

Before hiring a medical negligence solicitor, you are well advised to check that they have all the correct accreditations. You don’t want to hire somebody who isn’t properly qualified to deal with your case, after all. This is also helpful because it helps you to establish the difference between a personal injury lawyer and a medical negligence solicitor. If you hire the former, you will likely be wasting your money, as they aren’t specialists in medical malpractice. But what accreditations make a medical negligence solicitor different to the personal injury lawyer? Well, they should be certified by the Law Society’s Clinical Negligence Panel or the AvMA panel.

In-House Medical Professionals

What really makes a medical negligence solicitor stand out is having in-house medical professionals. As these professionals have worked in the medical field, they will have an insider’s knowledge of how practices and procedures should go. They will also have a better understanding of how your medical ailment will affect you in the future, making sure you get the full compensation to which you are entitled. Therefore, they are an excellent asset for assisting a case. Be sure to check out Gadsby Wicks Solicitors on their website (https://www.gadsbywicks.co.uk/medical-negligence/misdiagnosis-claims) as an example, as they have in-house medical professionals available for consultation.

Empathetic Towards Your Circumstances

There is no denying the fact that suffering an injury from medical negligence is horrible. We only go to the doctors to feel happier and healthier – and so, to have a medical professional inflict harm on you is both physically and mentally traumatising. Having to dredge up these emotions for a court battle can also be harrowing. A good medical negligence solicitor will recognise this. They will be empathetic towards your circumstances and try to make things as quick and easy for you as possible. 

Honest About the Prospects

You should also look for a medical negligence solicitor who is completely transparent with you. They won’t make false promises or get your hopes up – they’ll be honest about how successful they think your claim will be or how much compensation you will receive. This is important because it keeps your expectations grounded. After being disappointed by a medical professional, this is exactly what you need. 

We hope you have found this article helpful. Make sure to keep this information in mind when choosing your medical negligence solicitor. 

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The Role of A Quality Control Manager

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The Role of A Quality Control Manager

Quality control managers have a lot of pressure on their shoulders.  Working in a job that seems so self-explanatory is surprisingly complicated!  Instead of guessing at what the position entails, read about the parts that make up this rough job!

Types of Quality Control

There are four parts to quality control that all matter.  Although these roles are combined into one position for most companies, they may often be split up so that several people each hold one function of the four.  The first role is acceptance sampling!  This job entails taking a small portion of the product and running a statistical analysis on whether this would be good to pass on or not.  From here, process control takes over and carefully ensures the process is sticking to the regulations and rules defined by the company and local laws.  Process control then goes through and provides the items left live up to an excellent standard.  Finally, control charts mark down what was discovered, and the product moves on.

Importance of Quality Control

Quality control is a job that our society wouldn’t be able to function without.  From Kellogs ensuring their cereal isn’t toxic to Adare Pharmaceuticals taking the time to make sure every medication is high quality, there’s no margin for error.  Without quality control, companies risk making people sick because of faulty products and causing companies to lose massive customer amounts.  Protecting the company they work for and the general public at the same time is an intense job that shouldn’t get overlooked!

Nitpicking is Necessary

Without an eye for detail, most people won’t be considered for this position.  Training can take professionals only so far, but after that, they have to spot inconsistencies on their own through skill and practice.  Every company has its strict guidelines for these managers’ expectations, significantly since any slight mistake could cost human lives.

Industry Specific

For some positions, like overseeing a video game brand’s quality control, it can be a lot of fun!  On the other end of it, for cosmetic and medical companies, the meticulous details to check for are too much for some people to fathom.  Although working as a quality control manager is an excellent piece for your resume, it doesn’t transfer well between jobs unless you’re working for a similar company.

Always Changing

Quality demands, and our understanding of how specific products and materials react with us and our environments, are always changing.  This doesn’t mean that quality control managers have to roll out a new set of rules every day, but they have to be demanding when standards change.  Rising to the market’s challenge, the company’s rivals and the customers’ demands means that these managers have to keep sharp minds and a shrewd sense of purpose.  Without them, our world would be a far less safe and affordable place to live.

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Tips to Ensure Your Teeth Maintain a Good Condition

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Tips to Ensure Your Teeth Maintain a Good Condition

Keeping your teeth in a good condition from a very young age is important in order to maintain good hygiene. It is very easy for people to not maintain good teeth and gums which could lead to problems later in life. Sugary drinks and food are all too common and something that is difficult to avoid which is why there has been a lot more awareness of the damage this can to do peoples health in recent years.  You will find even countries like the UK have placed a “tax” on sugary drinks to try and encourage the big brands to reduce their sugar content. There are a lot of things that people can do in order to maintain good teeth or gums and here are some suggestions below.

Dentist Appointments

Attending a dentist on a regular basis is something that should be high on the agenda.  There are places like Vancouver dentist practices in Canada who pride themselves in a high quality service and ensure that people are put at ease. Attending practices like this regularly will help ensure that there are early warning signs in place if there are any parts of your teeth or gums needing attention. If the teeth are neglected and work not completed on them then it could in fact result in a lot of work to be completed which could also transpire into a large medical bill.  Dental appointments nowadays can be made at all different times and are not limited to daytime appointments.  Taking into consideration the families or individuals that work, most dentists are open evenings and weekends also.

Tips to ensure your Teeth maintain a good condition
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Regular Brushing

There is a lot of conflicting advice out there in terms of when and how to brush your teeth.  The important part is to do regularly, and most dentists will recommend this at least 2 times a day.  Some will recommend more, mostly after meals. If this is not completed correctly though, it could in fact cause more damage. As a result, it is important to not overdo it and brush too heavy.  This could cause damage to your teeth and remove protection. A good recommendation from most dentists would be to use an electric toothbrush with little pressure applied.

Mouthwash

There are many different mouthwash options on the shelf for people to choose from which include ones specifically to tackle things such as gum disease or sensitive teeth.  The effectiveness of mouthwash will generally last for up to 12 hours which would result in people who take this additional mechanism, completing it twice a day – generally once in the morning and once in the evening.  Make sure to store mouthwash in a safe place as if this is consumed by a child it could be dangerous.

Summary

Ensuring you brush your teeth regularly and attend a dentist frequently is the best advice in order to ensure that teeth are maintained in a good condition.  If teeth hygiene is neglected there could be a lot of longer term effects.

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Top Healthtech Trends in 2020 So Far

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Top Healthtech Trends in 2020 So Far

Throughout history, the healthcare industry has been falling behind when it comes to adopting modern technology. However, the next few years will bring significant changes to the industry, expanding it to the digital health market. 

By the end of 2020, this market is expected to reach $206 billion. Digital transformation is already redefining leading companies, allowing them to take a customer-centric approach and improve every main functional area. 

In such an improving environment, coping with the latest industry-specific tech trends is paramount. With that in mind, here are top health tech trends in 2020 so far. 

Top Healthtech Trends in 2020 So Far

Telemedicine

The evolution in telemedicine triggered one of the most significant changes in the US healthcare system. In large countries with limited access to providers, telemedicine is driving a massive transformation in service and availability. 

It helps reduce waiting times, but, more importantly, it improves patient treatment and diagnosing, allowing patients to reach specialists much more quickly than ever before. Telemedicine also made electronic medical records widely available, significantly simplifying the way of forwarding documents to specialists. 

The rise of data exchange platforms made telemedicine even better. Video chat platforms and telehealth services dominate the industry, unleashing a vast potential for taking healthcare to a whole new level. 

IoMT

The Internet of Medical Things is the result of combining telehealth and telemedicine technologies with IoT development. Thanks to this fantastic and immensely powerful combination, new mobile apps and various smart devices play crucial roles in diagnosing, tracking, and preventing chronic diseases for countless patients. 

This completely new approach has led to the development of new medical and health tech devices such as EKG and ECG monitors, an array of medical aids and wearable devices, etc. There are new devices that help with blood pressure, glucose level, and skin temperature readings. 

However, even though this kind of development is meant to improve hospitals’ way of treating patients, it isn’t without its challenges. Since all these IoMT devices require an internet connection to maintain effective and consistent, interconnected communication, providing this connection is one of the most challenging healthcare tasks. 

Then, there’s also cybersecurity to worry about. The entire industry relies on artificial intelligence and advanced technologies to provide solutions to these connectivity and security issues, improving data collection to avoid losses.

Healthcare Cloud Computing

There is a wide variety of hybrid, private, and public cloud-based platforms for storing, retrieving, and sharing data. Since healthcare organizations mostly struggle with addressing their ever-increasing record-keeping needs, they are making considerable efforts to develop, run, service, and maintain such an effective infrastructure. 

This is where the latest cloud computing technology can be of great use. It is the most appealing option for digital technology in healthcare. 

Cloud-based solutions give easy access to medical records to healthcare providers and patients, making the entire consultation, diagnosing, and treating process more streamlined, accurate, timely, affordable, and convenient. 

Even with this being so, these telemedicine applications require the most efficient asynchronous and synchronous messaging systems to work. It takes constant monitoring to ascertain the efficiency of cloud computing in healthcare, but the progress is more than evident.

MR/VR/AR in Healthcare

Healthcare technologies have advanced from the moment augmented & virtual reality solutions arrived. The solutions that are currently being implemented were nothing but fruits of our imagination a decade ago. 

From planning entire procedures and enhancing wound healing technologies to educating new generations of students, the area of VR and AR in healthcare offers an abundant source of potential that could revolutionize the entire healthcare industry. 

First of all, these technologies can create environments robust enough to foster significant improvement in every sphere of healthcare. 

These simulated and enhanced environments are more flexible, versatile, and diverse to enable the right interactions, allowing specialists to explore all possible scenarios and determine the best course of action. 

This can significantly help with gathering data to devise more customized care plans. The latest VR/AR headsets are already assisting patients with various conditions, ranging from cognitive impairments to dementia.

Still, augmented reality is probably the most intuitive option for enhancing healthcare practices. AR can render 3D data in real-time, allowing specialists to use all available data in actual procedures. 

They can compare that data to emerging technologies to plan for procedures and make more accurate diagnoses. This, among many other reasons, is why healthcare will contribute to the future of AR.

Conclusion

The more the technology evolves, the more the healthcare industry evolves with it. The progress we’re witnessing today was something unimaginable 20 years ago. It’s only safe to conclude that the future will bring many new developments that will take how patients are treated to a whole new level. 

The transformation has already begun. Healthcare services are more patient-centric than ever, and new technologies give way to the most advanced treatments and procedures. 

Thanks to technologies like artificial intelligence, people with amputations will replace their lost limbs, and there may even be a cure for the most lethal diseases. No one can say for sure what the future holds, but we are heading towards the most exciting times.

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5 Common Causes of Low Libido in Women

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5 Common Causes of Low Libido in Women

If you’re a woman that is struggling to get in the mood for sex, you’re not alone. There are many reasons why you might be battling with low libido, and each of these reasons is valid. It’s normal for women to have varying levels of libido throughout their course of life, and you can expect your libido to move in ebbs and flows over the course of your active sexual history. The fact is, most couples go through a period of tapering off, where they’re having less sex than they were in the beginning. With that in mind, here are five common causes of low libido in women: 

5 Common Causes of Low Libido in Women

Stress 

Stress can really work against your libido levels. Even worse, numerous studies have shown that women are more likely to stress than men and are more likely to have longer episodes of stress. If you’ve got a lot going on in your life, it’s easy to put your sex life on the backburner. On the other hand, you might find yourself in bed with someone and being unable to concentrate on that person; perhaps your mind might be wandering to other things even during intercourse. If you find yourself struggling to get intimate and know that you’ve been stressed, understand that stress may be the culprit. 

Pain 

If you’re experiencing pain during sex, this is a clear indicator that something isn’t quite right. There are many reasons why you might be having pain during sex, and you should examine these read flags. For example, vaginal dryness could be the result of too much drinking, douching, or many other habits, however, the end result might be pain during sexual intercourse. Other medical issues, like pelvic floor dysfunction or normal adjustments in the body such as hormonal changes, could also make intercourse painful. If you feel pain when you have sex, don’t simply write it off. There could be a larger problem lurking beneath the surface. 

Too Digitally Connected

It’s no secret that we live in a world where technology and social media dominate our lives. However, it’s certainly possible to be a little too hyper-connected to the digital world that exists in a small, box-shaped piece of tech. Think about: your cell phone is often the first and last thing you see during the day. 

In fact, one survey even found that 70% of couples agreed that their phones interfered with their sex lives. To get turned off, it’s time to turn on. Put your phone on silent and give your partner some quality time. On the same token, it’s important that you don’t let technology be a barrier in your relationship. 

You’re Insecure

Perceived body flaws are a major reason why you might be uncomfortable with sex. Your self-image has a huge effect on how you think and behave sexually. If you notice that you’re uncomfortable with your physical appearance, it’s time to work on building your self esteem. 

Challenge your negative beliefs, be more kind to yourself, improve your physical and mental health. When necessary, adjust your lifestyle to address the self-image issues you’re having. For a while, this might mean accepting that you aren’t ready to be intimate because you need more time with yourself to work on any negative perceptions that are stopping you from living a more fulfilling life. This is totally okay. 

Lack of Exercise

If you’re feeling sluggish and haven’t mustered up the energy for sex, the problem could be a lack of exercise. Exercise (or lack thereof) affects so many facets of our everyday lives. Not only does it help boost your mood and lessen stress, but it can also get your blood flow going and increase endorphins. The more that your body is able to produce those feel-good hormones, the better your blood flow will be, and the better your blood flow and endorphin production is, the more likely you are to be turned on in the bedroom. 

The biochemical foreplay that occurs in your body isn’t just a myth. Case in point: one study from the University of Texas at Austin found that a group of women who rode a stationary bicycle for 20 minutes were more likely to be aroused by a sexy film clip than a group of women who filled out paperwork before watching the same clip. In the end, a healthy workout routine helps maintain a healthy sex drive. 

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From Clinical Trials to Pharmacies: How Supply Chains Affect Healthcare Advancements

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From Clinical Trials to Pharmacies: How Supply Chains Affect Healthcare Advancements

On the surface, supply chain management might not seem like it plays such a crucial role in the healthcare industry’s ability to improve people’s lives but distributing medicine to those who need it is impossible without efficient shipping logistics.

From Clinical Trials to Pharmacies: How Supply Chains Affect Healthcare Advancements

And with the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines projected to be available for public use in the months ahead, supply chains are under renewed focus. As amazing as the work has been to create and verify a viable vaccine, that’s only one aspect of the work involved. “It’s just incredible. I think the vaccine supply chain is one of the most mind-bogglingly complex supply chains ever built,” Johns Hopkins University’s Tinglong Dai, an operations management professor who specializes in healthcare data, recently told USA Today.

Each vaccine candidate requires different storage requirements, and this adds complexity to the delivery process. Here are the solutions that supply chains will be used to meet these demands.

Cold Chain Monitoring to Deliver Medicines and Vaccines

Cold chain management is the process of maintaining the quality of perishable supplies. Examples of perishable products include food, sensitive industrial equipment, and medicines. In the medical supply chain, cold chain tech is indispensable, since certain drugs are ineffective if not stored properly. For example, insulin needs to be stored between 36F and 46F to remain effective.

There are different tools that companies use to implement and supervise the cold chain delivery process. The largest of these are freight vehicles carrying refrigerated containers. Companies can lease these containers fully from transportation firms, or they can rent a portion of them to transport their goods. 

Larger firms, as is the case with pharmaceutical companies, generally purchase fleets of trucks and containers for their use to monitor shipments. Sensors monitor the internal temperature of the container and also track other data such as vibration, changes in position, and spillage. These data are transmitted to control rooms that alert the fleet to possible damage.

Data can be captured by data logging software and by indicators on the scene, but transmitting the data back to the control room is a challenging process. Traditionally Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) instruments are used to carry out this process. These days, technology such as Logmore‘s data loggers, which display dynamic QR codes, do the job much more efficiently.

“Damaged vaccines can become ineffective or even harmful to the user. That alone is a big enough reason to make sure that no spoiled products make it to the end-user, whose life might depend on the medication,” Logmore CEO Janne Juhala recently told Tech Bullion.

“In addition to that, all the spoilage really adds up. Unusable products need to be disposed of, which often causes environmental harm. To consider a hard, cold ‘corporate’ worldview, every single mishap with products that led to issues is a hit on customer trust and could even lead to legal repercussions.”

Cold chain tech also comes in smaller sizes. Cooling gel packs, bricks, and bottles store smaller shipments of medicines. These solutions are used for last-mile deliveries. Last-mile refers to the supply of goods from warehouses to a customer’s doorstep. Monitoring the quality of goods throughout the process is essential for successful delivery. Vaccines and medical supplies are usually delivered using thermal boxes. They come as individual boxes or as full-sized carts that can transport supplies.

Condition Monitoring For Instrumentation

Medicines are what people usually think of when the word healthcare is used. However, healthcare items extend well beyond them. Medical labs require sophisticated equipment that can measure and log patient data. Doctors use these reports to arrive at diagnoses. Aside from medical reports, instruments are used heavily during drug trials, much like the ones the COVID-19 vaccine candidates are undergoing.

These devices are fragile and consist of a variety of sensors and meters. Transporting them is a sensitive task, and they require constant condition monitoring. Older supply chain tech focused on track-and-trace methods, which specifies where a product has been and where it’s headed. Modern supply chain tech uses predict-and-prevent technology, which implements artificial intelligence algorithms to predict potential disruptions. 

Condition monitoring extends to the entire fleet, instead of single containers, and the need for emergency backups reduces.

AI is also playing a role in helping companies reorient their supply chains. The pandemic has highlighted the need to bring manufacturing of essential supplies onshore, instead of relying on distant Asian factories. By predicting production timelines and monitoring en-route supplies’ conditions, medical instruments and drugs can be delivered in optimal shape.

Inventory and Order Management for Pharmacies

Order management is a collaborative effort between businesses and their supply chain partners. Accurate demand forecasts ensure that production timelines are optimized, and supply chains can align accordingly. When it comes to medicines, pharmacies project demand based on a variety of factors such as seasonality and local conditions.

The pandemic has changed consumer behaviors, and in-person visits have decreased. Online consultations and home delivery of medicines have increased. Such a change in demand patterns is unprecedented, and supply chain tech has helped pharmacies deal with the situation better.

“Any technology that enables the distribution of the pharmacist’s workload so they can focus more on patient care will have a major beneficial impact on society as a whole,” PerceptiMed CTO Ram Subramanian recently explained to Forbes. “We need to make sure we ride along with the wave of change and not behind it.”

Today, more medicines are stored on-site using cold chain technology such as thermal boxes. Online pharmacies use condition monitoring technology like QR codes and deliver goods using thermal boxes that monitor as well as prevent damage to their goods. Their inventory management systems are using AI algorithms similar to ones used to develop intelligent supply chains. All of these solutions help manage to change demand patterns and align supplies accordingly.

The Foundation of the Recovery

As the world deals with the pandemic and starts to move towards recovery, supply chain logistics will be at the heart of everything. As supply chains grow more intelligent, the delivery of medicines and vaccines are almost certain to be efficient, despite the challenges.

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TIPS TO PREPARE YOU FOR A HAIR TRANSPLANT

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TIPS TO PREPARE YOU FOR A HAIR TRANSPLANT

The continued advancement in medical technology has had vast effects on cosmetic procedures, such as hair transplants being named having low risks. Although branded as a very safe cosmetic procedure, there are some steps one can take to allow for an effective and fast healing process. This article will discuss some tips you can use.

TIPS TO PREPARE YOU FOR A HAIR TRANSPLANT

FINDING A GOOD CLINIC

Any procedure’s success will mainly depend on the facility they choose to perform for them the service. In your search for a clinic to perform your hair transplant, it is crucial that you look to find a certified facility and have qualified and authorized personnel who look out for your well-being and advise you accordingly such as Capilclinic.

STAYING HEALTHY

As staying healthy is vital in allowing a quick and effective recovery, it is advised that you keep fit and eat nutritious foods to develop healthy skin and proper blood flow in your body. Fair, healthy skin will hold on to the newly inserted hair follicles, and it heals quickly. Avoid supplements and vitamins such as vitamins B and E. These vitamins do thin the blood increasing the risk of over bleeding.

MASSAGING THE SCALP

As you draw near the procedure date, it is crucial to massage your head for about 10 to 30 minutes daily to enhance your head’s blood flow. Having good flow will allow the follicles to remain healthy and nourished during the healing process and in the following years.

AVOID SMOKING

You must refrain from smoking cigarettes, vape, or using nicotine products if you are a user. Some of these products will have significant effects on the blood flow and lower the healing rate and, at times, not heal effectively. Smokers’ bodies tend to take a longer time to heal and, at times, don’t heal adequately.

AVOID ALCOHOL

Drinking alcohol can risk a hair transplant procedure’s success, mostly because alcohol can thin the blood, bringing up the risk of over bleeding during the process and even after. Also, not forgetting that alcohol consumption will weaken your immune system. Alcohol consumption should stop at least two weeks before the procedure.

MEDICATION

In the weeks that come before your hair transplant procedure, your doctor will most likely restrain you from taking some medication as they will have the capability to thin your blood, which affects the operations. You should avoid drugs such as aspirin, ibuprofen, fish oil, and other medicines that thin the blood. If you already under a prescription, you should consult your doctor on how to go about it.

GROOMING YOUR HAIR

Wash your hair with shampoo in the weeks leading to your hair transplant to allow your hair follicles to remain healthy. By washing your hair and scrubbing your scalp, you wash off dead skin from your head.

By using these tips, you are assured that you will have a successful hair transplant, and you will heal in the best way possible. In case you experience complications, do consult your doctor.

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What Exactly is Volume Restoration?

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What Exactly is Volume Restoration?

You’ve heard all about it and why it’s important and how volume is such an important part of a young case. Or have you? You see it in advertisements for dermal fillers and other anti-age cosmetic treatments, statements like “Restore volume” or “More face volume for a younger look,” but what do these actually mean and what are they referring to? After all, if we’re talking about cosmetic treatments, which have a science behind them, we’re not referring to some abstract idea of what it means to be young.

What Exactly is Volume Restoration?

We’re literally talking about a very much physically existing face and its features, or the lack thereof. In this case the lack of volume which makes the face look older. So, let’s clear up any vagueness and take a plunge into the world of volume and dermal fillers.

What is Volume

When you think of a younger vs older face, what are some things that come to your mind? On an older face, you’ll probably imagine wrinkles and stretched out skin, whereas smooth and perfectly even surfaced on the young. What about the pigmentation? Generally, younger faces have a more smooth color pallet and nothing is out of place, though obviously, everyone’s skin is different and some people may naturally have a larger variety in their skin pigmentation. However, it’s no secret that as the skin gets older, it naturally attracts a whole bunch of dark spots called “sun spots” which are quite visible and are a telltale sign of aging.

Volume does not work in such a visible fashion, it’s a lot more nuanced. While wrinkles and skin pigmentation are straight-forward and don’t need any extra examination to understand and notice, the volume is much more subtle and works behind the scenes. 

Now, sure, the structure of your skull will not change and the shape of your head will stay the same all throughout your life. But the shape of your face can and will change at some point, as your skin gets looser and saggier with age. Part of having tight skin isn’t just about seeing no wrinkles, but also seeing those curves and contours of your face, like the cheekbones, that straight jawline, and chin. 

All of these make up the smooth-cut shape of your face and give it that youthful and fresh appearance. But as times goes on and with that little thing called gravity always weighing you down, you’ll find your skin getting weaker and saggier. Once it begins to droop in this fashion, the smooth edges created by all those curves on your face are lost under folds of older skin, and the shape of your face sags.

You’ll notice how older skin tends to have bags in various places, like above the chin, below the jawline, and under the eyes. This comes from a loss of volume or tightness of the face. Basically, the older you get the more volume you lose and the more volume you lose, the saggier your face gets, looking more tired and droopy as a result.

How It’s Restored

So, if you’re worried about people being able to tell whether or not you’ve gone through treatment, then you have very little to worry about. Thanks to the method of injections, as well as the compound itself, discerning between treated and untreated faces is very hard to do nowadays. Also, thanks to the advanced compound, you also don’t have to worry about long-lasting side-effects and recover times.

Most clients report that the side-effects wear off within the first week after the treatment and the side-effects themselves are said to be very light in nature. You can expect anything from a little swelling to itching and dryness immediately after the treatment and this will continuously go away within that initial week.

After the treatment, there is also very little to do in terms of skin maintenance. The only thing you’ll be asked to do is not put more strain on your skin, especially the treated area than you need to. This especially refers to other cosmetic treatments; don’t get them unless you know that your skin has completely recovered. 

Put Your Trust in the Right Clinic

Picking the right clinic will only make your experience with volume restoration that much better, so you need to pick the right place and the right treatment plan in order to maximize results and get the best out of your budget.

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The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Mental Health

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The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Mental Health

It was shocking for everyone. COVID-19 has turned from a small cluster of cases to a global pandemic. We were surprised, sometimes sad, often depressed, but also motivated and united. Just as in normal life – you can think. However, we cannot stress enough how hard and dangerous it was for mentally impaired or psychologically troubled individuals to overcome the time of the world health crisis. The impact of the pandemic on mental health might not be here right now but it definitely happening and we will all see it in the near future.

The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Mental Health

The world health crisis is not only about people dying in hospitals

The direct impact of COVID-19 infection is the loss of lives and we cannot neglect the difficult psycho-social impact of the loss of family members and friends. If you weren’t infected and any of your close ones were, besides forced staying at home, what else would keep you anxious? Forced lockdown depends hugely on your housing circumstances, but it’s never a paradise. It’s likely to feel like a prison, it’s likely to make you sad at times. When it comes to worldwide problems related to the pandemic, issues include affected economies, trades, businesses, livelihoods, and also the physical and mental well-being of all populations.

The lack of resources, insurance, persistent economic threat

If you are lucky enough to have the necessary support to economically survive a pandemic with no great anxiety, you are one of a few that sleep calmly. We shouldn’t forget that the physical distancing and lockdown measures implemented to contain the transmission of the virus come with the inherent risk of depriving poor households of being able to sustain their livelihoods. In fact, many, not only small businesses experienced forced closure. The economic impact of the pandemic on financial markets, micro-businesses, and vulnerable industries have increased the risk of unemployment. Uncertainty and financial concerns for the least well-paid, self-employed, and daily wage workers can be a real deal-breaker when it comes to getting into depression. The shortage of food and essential services can have devastating effects on people’s mental health. 

Man as a social animal

Let’s not overlook the effects of physical distancing measures and movement restrictions on mental health. We heard a lot about suddenly reinforced the quantity of domestic violence acts, abuses, and witnessing the violence of a family member. Being confined at homes can have a serious influence on mental health, both for the oppressor and for the victim. Even our heroes’ mental health, healthcare providers, and other essential workers who have been providing essential services while being susceptible to the infection represent cause for concern. 

Adapting to change as the key to survival

The duration of lockdowns and the international fight against the global pandemic is unclear. When person to person interaction has reduced, schedules and routines have been interrupted and access to care providers has become limited, many psychologists provide free online counseling. It’s useful to learn to make use of the various telephone hotlines available. Otherwise, we can be part of reliable support groups on social media, either as supporters, if we stand firm on the ground psychologically, or as the ones expecting support. 

Managing mental health in the chaotic time

What helps? Learn to have a structured schedule, establish a simple morning routine. Don’t force yourself to be super productive. It’s not possible, we are experiencing a worldwide trauma, and we need to be good for ourselves as well as for each other. Don’t forget about taking adequate rest, and practicing self-care (learn strategies such as breathing exercises, relaxation exercises, and cultivating hobbies). Minimize the time spent on watching, reading, or listening to news about COVID-19. Also, limit the sources of news to only the reliable ones.

Experiencing ostracization brings in even more tension

Some frontline workers and people of certain ethnicities and nationalities may experience ostracization due to stigma. It’s not hard to guess that it can be detrimental to mental well-being. Let’s talk about it openly and strongly counteract misconceptions leading to the stigmatization of any population. Also when it comes to health care providers, we must take good care of them. If you are a medical worker, don’t forget to rest between work-shifts, take care of basic needs, and stay in touch with family and friends. Pandemic tests our solidarity and our abilities to cope with change. It’s vital that we take care of our mental as well as physical health.

The Future of Workplaces: How Covid-19 Will Transform Office Life

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The Future of Workplaces: How Covid-19 Will Transform Office Life

Will offices reopen after the coronavirus pandemic, or will they turn into ghost towns? Covid-19 doesn’t stop surging the US. Currently, some companies let their employees re-enter the workplaces after months of working from home. After temporarily saying goodbye to work meetings and staff socials, now, with the temperature taken regularly and many other security measures followed, some of us can go back to work. But is this want we really want? And, even more interestingly, what we really need?

The Future of Workplaces: How Covid-19 Will Transform Office Life

Relying on an abundance of caution

Let’s call it the first step to fruitfully come back on the right work track. For those who are not going to transform their practice into online activity, here are some steps to make the office a safe place. In the absence of federal guidelines around the best practices, office managers will do what seems right to them. We will miss familiar gatherings by the water cooler and buzzing shared spaces. Such pleasures will surely disappear from office-spaces in the foreseeable future. The ‘social distancing’ of the future (a strongly abused term lately) now transforms into de-densifying. It is also used by many schools, and it refers to restricting the number of people who have access to a given space at any one time.

The concept of phased reopenings

Not all employees will return to a location at the same time. It will happen in waves over a while. In these after-pandemic new circumstances, business leaders will have to prioritize who returns when. Seems legit. What else will change? The physical layout of our offices. Submittable (the 100-person tech firm) reports experimenting with different seating arrangements to avoid cluttered workspaces. They are also planning staggered workdays. Teams will rotate between designated days in the office. Also, we should expect to have our temperature taken regularly.

The benefits of working out in nature 

There’s no doubt that working in open spaces positively affects your productivity. Currently, health officials predict another wave of the virus this fall. It means that this staggered standard will likely continue over the next six to twelve months. While big office meetings may not officially be a thing of the past yet, we will surely have smaller groups in large meeting rooms. Not to forget that everyone will be wearing a face mask. The new normal: the virtual meetings and social gatherings online in a more (one must admit) casual style that has developed over the last two months. Sanitary kits designed especially for companies include sanitizer, masks, gloves, tissues, soap, a stylus pen for use on high-touch surfaces like printers and elevator buttons, and brass antimicrobial hook-style keys that can open door handles. 

The new office normalcy

Offices will be, therefore, equipped with stations for personal protective accessories, safety kits, like hand sanitizer, masks, and gloves. Those articles will be new permanent fixtures in offices, placed at entrances, exits, and other strategic locations. Recycling masks and gloves mean taking this health practice even a step ahead. Workers will probably need to get into the habit of wiping down the surfaces of their desks and other office supplies. Employees will be forced to make health-dictated sacrifices, like taking the stairs instead of the elevator. Some businesses may spring for a body thermal scanner at office entrances, as Amazon has done at its warehouses. Willis Towers Watson’s research found that almost half of companies surveyed (47%) are enhancing healthcare benefits for employees in the face of Covid-19. Forty-five percent of respondents reported expanding wellbeing coverage, and 33% reported planning changes to paid time off policies. 

Everything has a price

Experts predict that health insurance premiums for employers will rise in 2021 anywhere from 4% to 40%. This forecast is based on recent filings from health insurance companies with the District of Columbia’s department of insurance, securities, and banking. A report from Covered California predicted employers ‘no longer being able to offer affordable coverage, or dramatically shifting costs to employees.

No State is Free From Covid-19 but Florida Got Seriously Hit

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No State is Free From Covid-19 but Florida Got Seriously Hit

As each state is under detailed observation and security measures are more or less strictly followed, Covid-19 existence should slowly but surely go down. In Florida, this is not the case. Let’s see how to come.

No State is Free From Covid-19 but Florida Got Seriously Hit

Sanjay Bharath, a 34 years old victim from Florida

Why is Florida becoming America’s coronavirus epicenter? The surge in the Sunshine State was associated with younger Americans. Along with Texas and Arizona, the state fast became one of the regions with the highest surges in the country. A hospital nurse in South Florida, Sanjay Bharath, claims that he caught the virus from a patient when the Covid-19 screening process for admissions was less strict. Symptoms like fever, dry cough, loss of taste, and chest pain appeared soon after he got infected. 34 years is not a virus-vulnerable age group, yet a young Mr. Bharath fell victim to Covid-19.

14 days after, he had coughed up blood and checked into the hospital as a result. Two days later, he had to be intubated. Still, Mr. Bharath hoped to be sent back home. He wasn’t so lucky, though. Due to events that followed up, as his symptoms worsened, he would wake up in a fever-sweat every six hours, feeling chills, breathless, and lightheaded. He would never respirate without coughing and choking, remaining on a ventilator for eight days. He claims that he felt as if he would be “running a marathon constantly just by sitting down”. In the course of the two weeks in hospital over Covid-19, Mr. Bharath lost 20 lbs – 9kg. Now, four months since his hospital stay, he is still recovering.

Last week in Florida, nearly 10,000 new cases per day!

The biggest daily rise in hospital admissions was on 9 July (more than 400 patients needing treatment, 120 residents, including an 11-year-old girl, dying due to the virus). Then, on 12 July, the state broke the national record – 15,300 cases in a single day. If Florida was a country, it would be fourth in the world for most new cases in a day – Reuters reports. The weekly average has risen to 81 people each day. Yet, Florida’s Disney World resort reopened with a limited capacity just recently, on 11 July. As for 14 July, over 4,400 Floridians died due to the virus, with the highest daily death toll on that day – 132 reported deaths. 

Critics say the number of deaths is probably higher than the one reported by the state

Florida doesn’t voluntarily report deaths suspected as having been caused by Covid-19. The state also has yet to report daily hospital admission rates. The positive test rate is nearing 20%, which is four times the standard for reopening set by the World Health Organization and double the recommendation by the Centers for Disease Control. This measure indicates how much the virus is spreading even with testing increases. It’s now the highest since early March when the pandemic hit the US. Florida hit the 100,000 case mark on 22 June, and 13 days later, that number had doubled. Now, there are more than 287,000 cases.

A lot of misinformation all over the web

When it comes to the seriousness of this outbreak – says Dr. Aileen Marty, a Florida International University infectious disease expert –  Florida is now among the worst-hit regions because of the disinformation and inconsistency in messages coming from both the government and the state. It confuses people. In May and June, Governor Ron DeSantis had said the reopening was feasible as cases had declined. As they began rising, Mr. DeSantis in June reversed his decision on reopening. But he has refused to require masks statewide and has joined President Donald Trump is emphasizing the importance of keeping the economy open.

The way that the state after our initial lockdown has perpetuated the problem,” Dr. Marty, a World Health Organization adviser, assures. What would be the right way? Establishing a contact tracing and isolating system while the state was in lockdown, early testing of asymptomatic individuals, and first of all preventing weeks of civil unrest, between anti-lockdown protesters and marches against racial inequality. Mr. DeSantis said last week he felt the state’s numbers had stabilized, telling residents: “There’s no need to be fearful.” It probably wasn’t the best move to take. “They’re putting a lot of people at risk,” Mr. Bharath says, “there’s always the fear that I might catch it again or bring it home to more vulnerable family members”.

AI Is Screening Billions of Molecules for Coronavirus Treatments

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AI Is Screening Billions of Molecules for Coronavirus Treatments

One of the best features of AI, especially when used for science, is that it’s fast and efficient. Due to the global coronavirus spread, these days, AI has been utilized in medicine often. Recently, AI is screening billions of molecules for coronavirus treatments.

AI Is Screening Billions of Molecules for Coronavirus Treatments

A staggering speed

How much time would take evaluating 1 billion small molecules for their ability to bind SARS-CoV-2 proteins on casual computers? On the largest of them, probably around a decade. AI has shown us an amazingly variated speed in that matter. The work moved quickly. In a pandemic, “there are many drug candidates people would like to screen and, even with the proliferation of cloud and supercomputers, there just wouldn’t be enough computing to test them all” – says Shantanu Jha, a computational scientist at Rutgers University and Brookhaven National Laboratory. Together with his colleagues, they have integrated machine learning into the simulations they run on the supercomputers. It allows the programs to adapt to new information that gets uncovered as they run, thereby producing lists of candidate small molecules, much faster than traditional supercomputing methods.

Pilot study

COVID-19 cases continue to rise. The common ground that physicians from all over the globe seem to follow is repurposing existing drugs. The goal is clear – we need to find a cure that will help patients immediately get better. In a pilot study at the end of March, twelve COVID-19-infected people were admitted to the hospital in Italy. They received a daily dose of the rheumatoid arthritis drug, baricitinib, and an anti-HIV drug combination of lopinavir and ritonavir. Another study group of 12 received only lopinavir and ritonavir. Both groups were using it for two weeks. After the treatment, the patients who received baricitinib had mostly recovered – no coughs, no fevers, no short breath. Seven of them had been discharged from the hospital. The group who didn’t get baracitinib was still exhibiting symptoms. An artificial intelligence (AI) company based in the United Kingdom, BenevolentAI, was crucial to conduct this study. 

The team completed the work in only a few days

Justin Stebbing, an oncologist at Imperial College London and BenevolentAI collaborator, claims AI “makes higher-order correlations that a human wouldn’t be capable of making, even with all the time in the world. It links datasets that a human wouldn’t be able to link”. BenevolentAI’s vice president of pharmacology, Peter Richardson, says that it took him only an afternoon of work to use the company’s knowledge graph – an enormous, digital storehouse of biomedical information and connections inferred and enhanced by ML – to identify two human protein targets to focus on, AP2-associated protein kinase 1 (AAK1) and cyclin g-associated kinase (GAK).

These kinases mediate endocytosis – a process by which cells engulf things, including viruses – and, if disrupted, might make it harder for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, to get into human cells. Having addressed those targets, they used another algorithm to find existing drugs that could hit the protein targets. The whole process took a few days – a situation impossible to imagine just a few decades ago when AI hasn’t been born yet. 

Next steps to succeed with AI-derived treatment

Eventually, the researchers cut the list of drugs for coronavirus down to about 30. Among the handful of those that showed the highest affinity for binding their targets (like toxic chemotherapy drugs, and others) baricitinib won clearly. The side effects were mostly benign and showed up after a longer period of treatment than COVID-19 patients need. It’s not metabolized by the liver and is instead excreted through the kidneys. It means that it might be safe to combine it with a traditional antiviral (such as lopinavir) that is metabolized by the liver. In addition to baricitinib’s predicted interactions with AAK1 and GAK, it’s a known Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor. Because JAK mediates cytokine signaling that leads to inflammation, inhibiting JAK suppresses inflammation, which, at first blush, might have been a problem. Baricitinib not only prevents the virus from getting into cells but also reduces the intense immune reaction that causes so many problems, even as viral titers start to fall.

The pharmaceutical company takes up the AI idea 

Eli Lilly, the pharmaceutical company that makes baricitinib, has agreed with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to study the drug’s effectiveness in COVID-19 patients in the US. The BenevolentAI team is one of several groups leveraging AI to find drugs that have already been approved by regulators and could, therefore, be repurposed to fight SARS-CoV-2.

What to believe in?

Coupling artificial intelligence techniques and algorithms with high-performance computing simulations to speed up the ability to screen billions of existing drugs for their interactions with and ability to disrupt SARS-CoV-2 proteins – this is what scientists do these days. Thanks to great minds and AI systems, the effectiveness of drugs against coronavirus will save a great number of lives.

Predicting The Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease With AI

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Predicting The Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease With AI

These days, armed with medical and scientific knowledge and with the newest digital tools, we are going to great lengths to fight every illness. No wonder that new Artificial Intelligence (AI) medical algorithms arise often. Alzheimer’s disease is the primary cause of dementia worldwide, with one in 10 people aged 65 and older exhibiting Alzheimer’s dementia. The newest AI systems can accurately predict and diagnose the risk of it. Let’s browse the scientists’ brand-new Alzheimer’s disease with AI, interesting discoveries. 

Predicting The Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease With AI

Current knowledge on treating Alzheimer’s disease

Pharmaceutical companies have invested hundreds of billions in Alzheimer’s research, however, the field has had little success over the years, with 146 unsuccessful attempts to develop drugs that prevent or treat the disease, between 1998 and 2017. Only four new medicines received approval and solely to treat symptoms. More than 90 drug candidates are still in development. Now, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers are looking to partner with pharmaceutical firms to get the model implemented in real-world clinical trials for Alzheimer’s. 

Alzheimer’s disease and AI

With the use of Artificial Intelligence, researchers from MIT took time to develop tools to determine whether patients at high risk of Alzheimer’s disease would experience cognitive decline. The algorithm was able to predict patient cognition test scores for up to two years in the future. The deep learning algorithm, developed by researchers at the Boston University School of Medicine, uses a combination of brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) testing to measure cognitive impairment, along with data on age and gender, which helps to accurately predict the risk of Alzheimer’s Disease. For new participants, researchers developed a second model that is personalized for each patient and continuously updates risk scores. 

Meta-learning scheme

To optimize the results of the personalized models, and to use newly recorded data at its best, researchers invented a “meta-learning” scheme. It learns to automatically choose which type of model works best, for any given participant, at any given time. While meta-learning has been used before for computer vision and machine translation tasks, the team said this is the first time when it’s used for Alzheimer’s. The meta-learning scheme helped to reduce the error rate for future predictions by fifty percent. “We wanted to learn how to learn with this meta-learning scheme. It’s like a model on top of a model that acts as a selector, trained using meta-knowledge to decide which model is better to deploy” – says Oggi Rudovic, a Media Lab researcher.

MRI scans at use. Expanding the use of neuroimaging data

How to create a useful database for treating Alzheimer’s medical predictions? The researchers collected MRI scans of the brain, demographics, and clinical information of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease as well as ones with normal cognition. Afterward, they developed a novel deep learning model to accurately predict Alzheimer’s disease status on the other independent cohorts.

This study has broad implications for expanding the use of neuroimaging data (among which MRI scans) to accurately detect risks. Researchers first trained a population model on an entire dataset that included clinically significant cognitive test scores and other biometric data from Alzheimer’s patients and healthy individuals between biannual doctor’s visits. The model analyzes data learning patterns that can help predict how patients will score on cognitive tests.

Preparing for the future

Why do we need these models? They could help with selecting candidate drugs and participants for clinical trials, and allow patients and their loved ones prepare for rapid cognitive decline. “Being able to accurately predict future cognitive changes can reduce the number of visits the participant has to make, which can be expensive and time-consuming. Apart from helping develop a useful drug, the goal is to help reduce the costs of clinical trials to make them more affordable and done on larger scales” – said Oggi Rudovic, a Media Lab researcher.

This algorithm can generate interpretable and intuitive visualizations of individual Alzheimer’s disease risk. These steps could be extended to other organs in the body, leading to improved drug development and care delivery. We can also already assume that it’s possible to diagnose other degenerative diseases with the help of AI. “If we have accurate tools to predict the risk of Alzheimer’s disease […], that is readily available and which can use routinely available data, such as a brain MRI scan, then they have the potential to assist clinical practice […]” – says Vijaya Kolachalama, Ph.D., assistant professor of medicine at Boston University School of Medicine.

What Makes Food Delivery Industry Bet Big on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

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What Makes Food Delivery Industry Bet Big on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

If you aren’t directly involved in the food-delivery industry (on the other hand, who isn’t, at least passively?), you don’t really think about how many cutting-edge technologies are being used for its upgraded functioning. It’s been years since we had to make exhausting calls at the pizza place, listing our favorite ingredients to the person on the other side of the phone. In the blink of an eye, things became so much easier and more comfortable. Not surprisingly, it’s quite a task to gain a front-liner advantage in this industry nowadays. 

What Makes Food Delivery Industry Bet Big on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Get in touch with experts 

Leading fast-food chains and food delivery companies are working on creating apps optimized by artificial intelligence and advanced machine learning algorithms to display the most relevant messages and offers to their users. If you are a professional operating in the business somehow related to food-delivery, you should talk to your analytics experts about the newest possibilities that AI and ML bring to the table. Specialists will provide you comprehensive insights on how artificial intelligence and machine learning for the food and beverage delivery industry are transforming the whole industry at its very core. Quantzig, global data analytics and advisory firm that delivers actionable analytics solutions, to resolve complex business problems, presents some comprehensive insights. The company has offices in the US, UK, Canada, China, and India, assisting clients across the globe with end-to-end data modeling capabilities to leverage analytics for prudent decision making.

The use of updated knowledge on AI and ML

Whether you are in it for a long haul or you’re not initially interested in this enigmatic topic, you should know a bit more. Get acknowledged with how you can use cases of machine learning for the food delivery industry, gain insights into factors driving innovation, and enhance performance by leveraging machine learning. Here are some reasons why machine learning for the food delivery industry is important. Such technologies deliver fact-based results to online food delivery companies that possess the data and the required analytics expertise. According to experts, “Food delivery industry players are now revolutionizing the food industry by leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning to enhance their market reach and customer satisfaction rates”. After several years of being confined to technology labs and the pages of sci-fi books, today AI and big data have become the dominant focal point for businesses across industries.

Enhancing market reach and customer satisfaction rates

The food delivery industry is immensely popular among millennials. It’s not hard to guess why. It’s convenient, and its usage is easy and comfortable. Along with that, there comes the increasing competition among food delivery industry players to improve customer retention rates and improve product quality. Exploring new ways of development in this direction became a must for companies. Big data, artificial intelligence, and machine learning came into the picture. What’s more, in the future, people don’t just want more technology in products and services. They want more human technology. 

Reasons why machine learning for food delivery industry is so important

AI and ML play an integral role in predicting food trends, helping online food delivery companies to identify and capitalize on the new flavors that are most preferred by their customers. They improve operational efficiency. ML for the food-delivery industry helps to understand customer behavior better and provide customized services. AI and ML analyze factors like the impact of temperature on food or the impact of market trends on consumption. The newest technologies enhance customer relationships. The proliferation of AI and machine learning in the food industry have contributed significantly to the growing popularity of chatbots. It is growing immensely popular due to its ability to drive better customer experiences. The new technology can drive online experiences and enhance market share by targeting tech-savvy users. 

Another reason for choosing brand-new technology for your service? Time matters.

AI and LM provide more than accurate delivery time estimates.  Machine learning for the food delivery industry helps to collect real-time data about traffic and route plans. Hence, it provides companies with an accurate estimation of the delivery time. What comes with it? The food delivery industry companies can take preventive measures for food wastage. Combined, AI and ML can predict the impact of factors, like being late with a delivery, on food items.   

Why opt for AI and ML? 

As cognitive technologies transform the way people use online services to order food, it becomes imperative for online food delivery companies to comprehend customer needs, identify the dents, and bridge gaps, by offering what has been missing in this business. The combination of big data, AI, and machine learning is driving real innovation, so don’t think twice before leveraging them.

Drones Vs. Covid-19: Ensuring Airspace Safety And Security With AI

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Drones Vs. Covid-19: Ensuring Airspace Safety And Security With AI

With the spread of COVID-19, few essential changes have been introduced to social behaviors. Whilst we often consider them as exaggerated, they are required to lower the rate of transmission and avoid overwhelming national healthcare systems. The Covid-19 pandemic has demonstrated not only that drastic measures are essential, but also that we urgently need to use the newest technology. Let’s take a look at Drones Vs. Covid-19 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/amirhusain/2020/06/10/drones-vs-covid-19-ensuring-airspace-safety-and-security-with-ai/?ss=ai#7297915a24b1

The most innovative measures across the globe

Across the globe, cutting-edge technology was used to efficiently knack Covid-19 over. Means include using 3D printers to produce face shields and ventilators, deploying hospital robots to transport equipment and protect doctors and nurses from the virus. Not less important are drones. For example, In India, the government is using drones to sanitize public spaces in areas with confirmed cases, such as hospitals and metro areas. They use 300 drones across the state to spray a disinfectant solution approved by the WHO. On the other hand, in France, Italy, and Spain, authorities use drones to monitor social distancing and enforce coronavirus restrictions with loudspeakers. With nearly 70,000 tests conducted so far, Ghana has one of the highest testing rates in Africa. How do they distribute them? Easy to guess, with drones! Drone delivery, sanitization, and enforcement measures enable a quicker response to the pandemic and help save lives.

Drones’ use in America

Where some of the similar actions taken by the government of the United States? These widespread protective measures just wait to be successfully copied. As for now, the challenge many businesses, nonprofits, and local authorities face is regulatory approval. The Federal Aviation Administration’s Part 107 rules for unmanned aerial systems include flying below 400 feet, in altitude within visual line of sight, during daylight hours. The FAA enables near real-time airspace authorization for flights that comply with these rules, but a Part 107 waiver is required to operate drones at night, over people, or beyond visual line of sight. Problems arise as these advanced operations are often core to missions that can help fight the coronavirus pandemic.

Official requirements

Nearly 4,000 waivers were granted for advanced drone operations since the Part 107 rules’ implementation in 2016. At the same time, less than 200 were permitted for flights over people or beyond visual line of sight. Naturally, there is a reason for that. Regulators need assurances regarding the safety and security of the airspace. Commercial drone operators must prove that they are equipped to minimize risks and manage unforeseen circumstances. It couldn’t be underlined more how complicated it is to assure officials that we are not going to cause troubles up there.

Issues with low altitude airspace

At low altitude airspace, we aren’t provided with the air traffic services. Operators must be well-equipped, in order to plan, execute, and adapt their flights, as changes occur in the airspace. They are obliged to monitor regulatory dynamics (like temporary flight restrictions) as well as local conditions (like weather shifts), ground risks, and temporary objects (like construction cranes). Moreover, they need to monitor airspace traffic to maintain separation from other aircraft, including drones, helicopters, and planes. Not to mention, they need to protect their drones from a hardware malfunction and cyber threats that could put public safety in danger.

This long list of responsibilities understandably feels daunting. Fortunately, this is where AI enters to help. Being the key to analyzing crucial data (such as weather forecasts), ground risks, and vehicle performance, selecting the right drones for each mission, generating the safest flight paths, and autonomously adapting flights as conditions change – AI perfectly plays its role. Moreover, by being able to recognize hazardous objects, it’s critical to detecting and avoiding obstacles that otherwise would pose a danger to unmanned flights. 

The USA is known for its technological innovation and entrepreneurship

An AI-based approach, in aircraft safety, enables to analyze sensor data, across a drone fleet, and predict maintenance needs, before a failure occurs. From a security standpoint, AI can protect drones from previously unseen zero-day attacks that traditional anti-malware wouldn’t detect. Artificial intelligence can help fill the gaps in today’s airspace systems. It minimizes the responsibility put on drone operators, and it provides the safety and security assurances that regulators need when considering waivers for Covid-19 drone missions. It’s important to consider every option that can help fight the global crisis.

Artificial Intelligence Examines ECGs Results. It Predicts Irregular Heartbeat and Death Risk.

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Artificial Intelligence Examines ECGs Results. It Predicts Irregular Heartbeat and Death Risk.

With all the AI innovations, it doesn’t surprise that sooner or later, we would have arrived at significantly sharpening medical science’s tools. The newest discovery which upgrades count? It looks like scientists have trained a computer (a neural network or artificial intelligence) to evaluate electrocardiograms (ECGs), to predict which patients are likely to develop an irregular heartbeat. What’s more, its predictions are effective even if human forecasts were different. The AI tool was finding predictions of heartbeat errors among those previously interpreted by doctors as normal. Researchers also created a neural network to examine ECGs, which identifies patients at increased risk of dying of any cause within the next year.

Artificial intelligence examines electrocardiogram (ECG) test results

This common medical test (ECG) serves doctors to make assumptions about the patients’ heart’s health. The new medical AI tool’s objective is to pinpoint patients at higher risk of developing a potentially dangerous irregular heartbeat, also known as arrhythmia, or of dying within the next year. The American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions is an annual, premier global exchange of the latest advances in cardiovascular science. Two preliminary studies on the above-mentioned newest AI discoveries were presented there, on November 16-18, 2019 in Philadelphia. 

Electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG) – What is it and how does it work?

An electrocardiogram (EKG or ECG) is a test that measures the electrical activity of the heartbeat. Each beat is an electrical impulse (‘wave’) that travels through the heart. This wave causes the muscle to squeeze and pump blood from the heart. A normal heartbeat on ECG will show the timing of the top and lower chambers. An ECG gives two major kinds of information.

By measuring time intervals on the ECG, a doctor can determine how long the electrical wave takes to pass through the heart, in other words, if the electrical activity is normal or slow, fast or irregular. Second, by measuring the amount of electrical activity passing through the heart muscle, a cardiologist may be able to find out if parts of the heart are too large or are overworked. The EKG testing doesn’t hurt, and there’s no risk associated with having it done. The machine records the ECG, but it doesn’t send electricity into the body.

The phase of gathering database

To conduct the research, scientists used more than 2 million ECG results from more than three decades of archived medical records in Pennsylvania/New Jersey’s Geisinger Health System. Subsequently, they trained advanced, multi-layered computational structures – deep neural networks. These studies are among the first to use AI to predict future events from an ECG, rather than to detect current ones. Brandon Fornwalt, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor, and chair of the Department of Imaging Science and Innovation at Geisinger in Danville, Pennsylvania: ‘This is exciting, and provides more evidence that we are on the verge of a revolution in medicine, where computers will be working alongside physicians to improve patient care’. Looks promising, indeed!

A deep neural network for predicting incident atrial fibrillation directly from 12-lead electrocardiogram traces

Can a deep learning model predict irregular heart rhythms, known as atrial fibrillation (AF), before it develops? – scientists speculated. As atrial fibrillation is associated with a higher risk of stroke and heart attack, they decided to use AI to dig deeper into this matter, creating room for innovation and effective forecasts. The number of analyzed samples was spectacular – 1.1 million ECGs that didn’t indicate the presence of AF in more than 237,000 patients.

With the use of highly specialized computational hardware, scientists trained a deep neural network to analyze 15 segments of data — 30,000 data points — for each ECG. As predicted by the neural network, within the top 1% of high-risk patients, 1 out of every 3 of them was diagnosed with AF within a year. These model predictions demonstrated a longer-term prognostic significance that we haven’t been conscious of before. Patients predicted to develop AF at 1-year had a 45% higher hazard rate in developing AF over a 25-year follow-up than the other patients. As senior author Christopher Haggerty, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Imaging Science and Innovation at Geisinger, said ‘many times, the first sign of AF is a stroke’. If this is the case, this cutting-edge AI tool seems to significantly change life’s opportunities.

Deep neural networks can predict one-year mortality directly from ECG signal even when clinically interpreted as normal

The results of 1.77 million ECGs and other records from almost 400,000 patients were analyzed to identify patients most likely to die of any cause within a year. Scientists compared machine learning-based models that either directly analyzed the raw ECG signals or relied on aggregated human-derived measures and commonly diagnosed disease patterns. What surprises is that the neural network was able to accurately predict the risk of death even in patients deemed by cardiologists to have a normal ECG. Sadly, these physicians were generally unable to recognize the risk patterns that the neural network detected. Fornwalt, who co-directs Geisinger’s Cardiac Imaging Technology Lab with Haggerty comments: ‘This could completely alter the way we interpret ECGs in the future’.

Keys for Healthcare Innovation? AI, Machine Learning, and Blockchain!

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Keys for Healthcare Innovation? AI, Machine Learning, and Blockchain!

There is namely one positive effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. It shows us, on a global scale, how important it is to be open to innovation in healthcare. Coronavirus is acting as a catalyst for the newest research and experimentations with technology in this field. It appears that AI, machine learning, and blockchain are vital to facilitating this change. Blockchain technology is one of the most disruptive technologies in the world. This rapidly evolving field provides fertile ground for proof-of-concept testing, experimentation, and investment.​ Let’s acquaint ourselves with the blockchain’s features that are going to change the future of the healthcare industry.

The importance of taking efficient action against COVID-19

What does blockchain technology in healthcare offer? A special edition of OMICS: A Journal of Integrative Biology, has highlighted the importance of key digital technologies for innovation in healthcare in response to the challenges posed by COVID-19. Multiple industries are adopting blockchain technology to innovate the way they function – the healthcare industry is one of them. Blockchain technology has the potential to transform health care, placing the patient at the center of the healthcare ecosystem. Blockchain has all that is necessary to increase the security, privacy, and interoperability of health data. Vural Özdemir, MD, Ph.D., Editor-in-Chief of OMICS: “COVID-19 is undoubtedly among the ecological determinants of planetary health. Digital health is a veritable opportunity for integrative biology and systems medicine to broaden its scope from human biology to ecological determinants of health. This is very important.” 

Healthcare industry and its development

It will be impossible for us to overstate the importance of the healthcare industry. What’s even weirder, it’s one of the slowest growing industries in the entire space. Compared to two decades ago, hospitals still function pretty much the same way, because of the lack of innovation. Considering that this branch of the industry has the smartest and best-educated people in the world, the idea of no significant progress makes us wonder why it is so?

Challenges that come with the use of blockchain technology

As we read in the article by Erik Fisher, Arizona State University, Tempe, ‘Blockchain for Digital Health: Prospects and Challenges’: ‘[…] By reshaping both the technological and social environment, the rise of blockchain in digital health can help reduce the disparity between the enormous technical progress and investments versus our currently inadequate understanding of the social dimensions of emerging technologies through commensurate investments in the latter knowledge domain’. Forecasts say that blockchain technology in the healthcare market will cross $1636.7m (€1513.46m) by the year 2025.

A major concern? Privacy.

A lot of storing and sharing health data is needed to make use of the newest technology. With current healthcare data storage systems, lacking top-end security, it becomes hard to have everything under control. Yet, there is a quick fix to it. Blockchain can provide a solution to vulnerabilities such as hacking and data theft. But that’s not all. A variety of benefits such as time reduction, effective communication system, enhanced operational efficiency, can be achieved thanks to it. The use of blockchain means interoperability, and enabling the exchange of medical data among the different systems securely. The blockchain technology could provide a new model for health information exchanges (HIE) by making electronic medical records more efficient, disintermediated, and secure.

Vertical and horizontal progress

However, stating that no innovations have been done in the medical field, isn’t correct either. In the end, the average life expectancy has significantly increased. What does the “lack of innovation” really mean? This industry is rife with vertical innovation. However, it always lags when it comes to the horizontal one. This diversification is crucial to understand its future roads of development. 

Which problems can be eliminated with the use of blockchain?

One of the burning problems nowadays is how to efficiently counter fake drug supplies. The use of blockchain technology for claims adjudication and billing management application will register 66.5% growth by 2025, owing to errors, duplications, and incorrect billing. In 2017, in the US, nearly 400 individuals including doctors have been convicted for $1.3bn (€1.2m) fraud. The need to mitigate these problems in the future will, most probably, encourage specialists to adopt new technologies in this application segment.

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