Choice of suitable referral hospital to improve the financial result of hospital operations and quality of patient care under a Neutrosophic Environment

The referral cooperation hospital choice has been studied to better rationalize the allocation of healthcare assets and enhance the efficacy of resource utilization. Choosing hospitals to work within a collaborative referral arrangement is a crucial step in the patient-referral process. A referral cooperative hospital is chosen after careful consideration of these aspects to guarantee that patients will get the kind of detailed treatment that is appropriate for their condition. The concept of multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) is used due to various criteria. The VIKOR method is the MCDM method used in this paper to rank the referral cooperation hospitals. The VIKOR method is integrated with the single-valued neutrosophic set to overcome uncertain information. The single-valued neutrosophic VIKOR method is applied to a case study in Egypt. We achieved quality of care as the best criterion from the eleven criteria used

Anomoeodus aegypticus n. sp. (Pisces, †Pycnodontiformes) from the late Cretaceous of the Dakhla Formation, Western Desert, Egypt

EnBased on a single right prearticular bone section with partial dentition collected from the lower part of the Beris member, Dakhla Formation (Egypt), dated to the Maastrichtian, the authors describe a new Pycnodont, Anomoeodus aegypticus. The planktonic foraminiferal assemblages indicate deposition in a marginal marine environment with open marine influx. The dental apparatus demonstrates the characteristic disposition of the teeth, which are typically semi-spherical, kidney-shaped and elliptical, as seen for the genus Anomoeodus. The new species is primarily characterised by the largest teeth not being those of the medial row (located near the symphysis; as seen for all Anomoeodus), but those of the primary lateral row.ItBasandosi su un osso pre-articolare destro frammentario, con dentatura parziale, raccolto dalla parte inferiore dei cosiddetti "strati di Beris" della Formazione di Dakhla (Egitto), datata al Maastrichtiano, gli autori descrivono il picnodonte Anomoeodus aegypticus n. sp. Il fossile è stato trovato in associazione con un'ampia varietà di vertebrati marini (mosasauri, plesiosauri, tartarughe marine, coccodrilli, denti di squalo, ossa e denti di pesci) e occasionali resti vegetali. Le associazioni di foraminiferi planctonici indicano la deposizione in un ambiente marino marginale, con afflusso sporadico dal mare aperto. L'apparato dentario descritto mostra la caratteristica disposizione dei denti, che sono peraltro tipicamente semisferici, allungati, reniformi, come si vede tipicamente nel genere Anomoeodus. La nuova specie è caratterizzata dal fatto che i denti di dimensioni maggiori non appartengono alla fila mediale (localizzati in prossimità della sinfisi), come avviene in tutti gli Anomoeodus, ma appartengono alla fila laterale primaria. Ulteriori caratteri sono: (i) I denti di maggiori dimensioni appartengono alla serie primaria laterale; (ii) assenza di diastema; (iii) bassissimo numero di serie dentarie preartcolari (tre); (iv) basso numero di elementi dentari per ciascuna serie prearticolare; (v) le due serie laterali (la primaria e la secondaria) formano fra loro un angolo diedro aperto buccalmente; (vi) la superfice occlusale è concava nei denti di entrambe le serie laterali (primaria e secondaria), convessa in quella dei denti della serie mediale. Anomoeodus aegypticus n. sp. ha le sue maggiori affinità anatomiche con Anomoeodus "specie B" descritto da Cooper and Mantill (2020) nel Cretaceo superiore del Marocco, che – pertanto – cade nella sinonimia della nuova specie Anomoeodus aegypticus

Perspective Chapter: The Toxic Silver (Hg)

In the late 1950s, residents of a Japanese fishing village known as “Minamata” began falling ill and dying at an alarming rate. The Japanese authorities stated that methyl-mercury-rich seafood and shellfish caused the sickness. Burning fossil fuels represent ≈52.7% of Hg emissions. The majorities of mercury’s compounds are volatile and thus travel hundreds of miles with wind before being deposited on the earth’s surface. High acidity and dissolved organic carbon increase Hg-mobility in soil to enter the food chain. Additionally, Hg is taken up by areal plant parts via gas exchange. Mercury has no identified role in plants while exhibiting high affinity to form complexes with soft ligands such as sulfur and this consequently inactivates amino acids and sulfur-containing antioxidants. Long-term human exposure to Hg leads to neurotoxicity in children and adults, immunological, cardiac, and motor reproductive and genetic disorders. Accordingly, remediating contaminated soils has become an obligation. Mercury, like other potentially toxic elements, is not biodegradable, and therefore, its remediation should encompass either removal of Hg from soils or even its immobilization. This chapter discusses Hg’s chemical behavior, sources, health dangers, and soil remediation methods to lower Hg levels

Maastrichtian calcareous nannofossils of the Indian Ocean and Shatsky Rise

The biotic effects of volcanism have long been the unknown factors in creating biotic stress, and the contribution of the Deccan volcanism to the K-T mass extinction remains largely unknown. Detailed studies of the volcanic-rich sediments of Indian Ocean Ninetyeast Ridge Sites 216 and 217 and Wharton Basin Site 212 reveal that the biotic effects of late Maastrichtian volcanism on planktic foraminifera and calcareous nannofossils are locally as severe as those of the K-T mass extinction. The biotic expressions of these high stress environments are characterized by the Lilliput effect, which includes reduced diversity by eliminating most K-strategy species, and reduction in specimen size (dwarfing), frequently to less than half their normal adult size of both r-strategy and surviving K-strategy species. In planktic foraminifera, the most extreme biotic stress results are nearly monospecific assemblages dominated by the disaster opportunist Guembelitria, similar to the aftermath of the K-T mass extinction. The first stage of improving environmental conditions results in dominance of dwarfed low oxygen tolerant Heterohelix species and the presence of a few small r-strategy species (Hedbergella, Globigerinelloides). Calcareous nannofossil assemblages show similar biotic stress signals with the dominance of Micula decussata, the disaster opportunist, and size reduction in the mean length of subordinate r-strategy species particularly in Arkhangelskiella cymbiformis and Watznaueria barnesiae. These impoverished and dwarfed late Maastrichtian assemblages appear to be the direct consequences of mantle plume volcanism and associated environmental changes, including high nutrient influx leading to eutrophic and mesotrophic waters, low oxygen in the water column and decreased watermass stratification

Comparative study between multi-detector CT angiography and digital subtraction angiography in evaluation of peripheral arterial occlusive disease

Objective: The aims of the study were the evaluation of peripheral arterial occlusive disease with multidetector or multi-slice CT angiography (MDCTA) and comparison of the results with the results of digital subtraction angiography (DSA), a standard reference. Patients and method: The written informed consent of the patients and ethics committee approval were obtained. The prospective study group consisted of 10 patients complaining of peripheral arterial disease. Using MDCT-A, the arterial tree of the lower extremity was evaluated for the presence of steno-occlusive lesions that might have led to luminal stenosis. The diagnostic accuracy of MDCTA was calculated and compared with that of DSA. Results: In the segment-based analysis, the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of MDCT angiography in determining significant stenoses were 100%, 99.3%, and 99.6.3%, respectively. The compatibility between MDCTA and DSA methods in grading stenosis was calculated as 0.896 (P < 0.007) and it was statistically significant. Conclusion: MDCT angiography is significantly compatible with DSA method in the evaluation of peripheral arterial diseases. It is a non-invasive method and can be an alternative to DSA