Average Energy Efficiency Contours for Single Carrier AWGN MAC

Energy efficiency has become increasingly important in wireless communications, with significant environmental and financial benefits. This paper studies the achievable capacity region of a single carrier uplink channel consisting of two transmitters and a single receiver, and uses average energy efficiency contours to find the optimal rate pair based on four different targets: Maximum energy efficiency, a trade-off between maximum energy efficiency and rate fairness, achieving energy efficiency target with maximum sum-rate and achieving energy efficiency target with fairness. In addition to the transmit power, circuit power is also accounted for, with the maximum transmit power constrained to a fixed value. Simulation results demonstrate the achievability of the optimal energy-efficient rate pair within the capacity region, and provide the trade-off for energy efficiency, fairness and maximum sum-rate

Topical Tacrolimus as an adjunct to Conventional Therapy for Stromal Herpetic Keratitis: a Randomized Clinical Trial

Purpose: This study investigates the effects of 0.05% topical tacrolimus as an adjunct therapy for patients with non-necrotizing herpetic stromal keratitis (HSK). Methods: Patients with non-necrotizing HSK, referred to the Cornea Clinic at Hospital in Rasht, Iran, between September 2016 and February 2018, were randomly assigned to two groups. The case group (N = 25) and the control group (N = 25) received conventional treatment with systemic acyclovir and topical prednisolone. The case group (N = 25) additionally received 0.05% tacrolimus eye drops four times a day for one month. Complete ocular examinations, including best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) assessment, intraocular pressure (IOP) measurement, slit lamp biomicroscopy, and photo slit lamp imaging, were performed before treatment, and 3, 7, 14, 21, and 28 days after the intervention. Results: The mean age of the patients was 46.2 ± 12.9 years, and 70% of the patients were male. There was no difference between the groups in terms of age, sex, and baseline ocular measurements (P > 0.05). The case group had a lower mean logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution (LogMAR) for BCVA, lower grading scores, and steeper decreasing trends for corneal haziness, edema, neovascularization, and epitheliopathy compared to the control group after the second week (P < 0.05), while IOP remained unchanged between groups (P > 0.05). Conclusion: The addition of 0.05% topical tacrolimus enhances visual acuity and reduces corneal inflammation, neovascularization, and scarring; thus, it can used as an appropriate adjunct treatment for patients with HSK

The Relationship Between Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder After Childbirth and Social Support and Marital Satisfaction

Background: Childbirth is among the most significant and pleasant events in a woman’s life. This event can be a traumatic event and a threat to the mother’s mental health. This study recognizes the relationship between Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) after childbirth and social support and marital satisfaction.Methods: This Cross-sectional analytical study was performed on a sample of 400 mothers who had delivered at Shohadaye-15-Khordad Hospital in Varamin (in two groups with & without PTSD). The research instruments include the Demographic, Midwifery, Neonatal Factors checklist, Enrich Marital Satisfaction, Weinfeld and Tigman Social Support, and the PTSD Symptoms Scale. We used SPSS to analyze the descriptive and Pearson correlation and logistic regression data. A P<0.05 was considered significant.Results: The prevalence of PTDS in this study was equal to 16.8%. There was no significant correlation between the mean of the total score of PTSD in all dimensions with social support (P>0.05). Marital satisfaction significantly affected the probability of PTSD after childbirth (P=0.001). There was a significant correlation between PTSD total score and dimension of avoidance symptoms and infant gender (P=0.038). There was also a significant correlation between gestational age and avoidance symptoms (P=0.001) and type of nutrition feeding and motivational symptoms (P=0.041) of PTSD dimensions.Conclusion: According to the relationship between marital satisfaction and PTSD, it is recommended to design suitable interventions to improve the marital status and promptly diagnose the susceptible mothers to prevent the spread of this complication

The Identification and Referral to Improve Safety Programme and the Prevention of Intimate Partner Violence

From MDPI via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: accepted 2021-05-21, pub-electronic 2021-05-25Publication status: PublishedIntroduction: Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is a global epidemic which 30% of women experience world-wide. Domestic violence has serious health consequences, with an estimated cost of 1.7 billion annually to the NHS. However, healthcare professionals remain uncertain on how to manage IPV. In 2007, the Identification and Referral to Improve Safety (IRIS) was introduced within primary care to address this shortcoming. The aim of this project is to analyse the impact of IRIS, whilst discussing the extension into secondary care. Materials and Methods: A literature review was conducted using PubMed, Cochrane Library and Google scholar. The official IRIS publication list for randomized controlled trial data. Results: General practices with IRIS displayed a threefold increase in the identification of IPV and sevenfold increase in referrals. IRIS is cost-effective and under the NICE threshold of GBP 20,000 per quality-adjusted life year gained. Additionally, a systematic review illustrated that one in six women presenting to the fracture clinic experienced IPV within the last year. Conclusions: The implementation of IRIS into general practice proved to be cost-effective. Orthopaedic fracture clinics are at the forefront of dealing with IPV, and therefore an adapted IRIS programme within this setting has potential in the prevention of IPV

Mortality rates due to Bladder cancer in Iran during 2001-2007: A national cancer registry-based study

Introduction: Bladder cancer is the ninth common cause of cancers in both sexes worldwide. Nevertheless, little is known about the descriptive and analytic epidemiology of bladder cancer in Iran. The present study aimed to describe the nationwide distribution of death due to bladder cancer in Iran.Methods: This cross-sectional study used data of bladder cancer cases who were registered in the national cancer-registry system by the Ministry of Health and Medical Education during 2001-2007. Age-standardized mortality rates due to bladder cancer were presented according to nine geographic poles across the country.Results: The overall mortality rate of bladder cancer (per 100,000 population) was 2.26 in men and 1.36 in women; while the rates were constantly higher for men across all age groups.  The highest and lowest age-standardized mortality rates in provinces (per 100,000 population) belonged to Mazandaran (6.126) and Tehran (1.112), respectively.Conclusion: Death from bladder cancer seems to increase by age in Iran, mainly among men. This association might be partially due to increased life expectancy, altered high-risk lifestyle behaviors and/or improvement in cancer registration system. Information on the distribution of mortality due to bladder cancer could be useful for local prevention strategies, where specific profile of communities and patients is taken into account.

Chemical Decellularization Methods and Its Effects on Extracellular Matrix

Background:  Extracellular matrix (ECM) produced by tissue decellularization processes as a biological scaffold due to its unique properties compared to other scaffolds for migration and implantation of stem cells have been used successfully in the field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine in the last years. The objective of this manuscript was to provide an overview of the chemical decellularization methods, evaluation of decellularized ECM and the potential effect of the chemical decellularization agents on the biochemical composition.Methods: We searched in Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus, and Science Direct. The literature search was done by using the following keywords: “ECM, biologic scaffold, decellularization, chemical methods, tissue engineering.” We selected articles have been published from 2000 to 2016, and 15 full texts and 97 abstracts were reviewed.Results:Employing an optimization method to minimize damage to the ECM ultrastructure as for a result of the lack of reduction in mechanical properties and also the preservation of essential proteins such as laminin, fibronectin, Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), growth factor is required. Various methods include chemical, physical and enzymatic technics were studied. However, on each of these methods can have undesirable effects on ECM.Conclusion: It is suggested that instead of the Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) which have high strength degradation, we can use zwitterionic separately or in combination with SDS. Tributyl phosphate (TBP) due to its unique properties can be used in decellularization process

Socioeconomic Inequalities in Metastasis, Recurrence, Stage and Grade of Breast Cancer: A Hospital-based Retrospective Cohort Study

Background: This study aims to estimate the Socio-Economic Status (SES) inequality on the metastasis, recurrence, stage and grade in Breast Cancer (BC).Methods: This retrospective cohort study conducted on 411 BC patients in Arak, Iran. Asset-based questionnaire used to estimate the household SES. For calculate of SES inequality was used from Concentration Index (C). Moreover for investigate the association between recurrence and metastasis with other variables were used from multilevel logistic regression and analysis of variance were used to investigate the relationship between SES and other variables. The data were analyzed with Stata (v.13) software.Results: Results of analysis of variance showed statistical significant relationship between SES with, insurance, surgery, grade, stage, recurrence and metastasis (p-value < 0.05). Moreover the Odds Ratio (OR) were significant of recurrence with age, academic level of education, supplementary insurance history of BC in first-degree relatives, stage and grade, also, metastasis with age of >80 years, insurance, supplementary insurance, history of BC in first-degree relatives, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, stage and grade four. The total C index obtained 0.015 (0.002, 0.026), 0.011 (0.003, 0.031), -0.014 (-0.034, -0.001) and -0.042 (-0.061, -0.002) for metastasis, recurrence, stage and grade of BC respectively.Conclusion: Our results showed evidence of inequality in the metastasis, recurrence, stage and grade in BC patients

Cost-Utility Analysis of Antibiotic Therapy versus Appendicectomy for Acute Uncomplicated Appendicitis

From MDPI via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: accepted 2021-08-06, pub-electronic 2021-08-11Publication status: PublishedBackground: Current UK National Health Service (NHS) guidelines recommend appendicectomy as gold standard treatment for acute uncomplicated appendicitis. However, an alternative non-surgical management involves administrating antibiotic-only therapy with significantly lower costs. Therefore, a UK-based cost-utility analysis (CUA) was performed to compare appendicectomy with an antibiotic-only treatment from an NHS perspective. Methods: This economic evaluation modelled health-outcome data using the ACTUAA (2021) prospective multicentre trial. The non-randomised control trial followed 318 patients given either antibiotic therapy or appendicectomy, with quality of life (QOL) assessed using the SF-12 questionnaires administered 1-year post-treatment. A CUA was conducted over a 1-year time horizon, measuring benefits in quality adjusted life years (QALYs) and costs in pound sterling using a propensity score-matched approach to control for selection based on observable factors. Results: The CUA produced an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of −GBP 23,278.51 (−EUR 27,227.80) per QALY. Therefore, for each QALY gained using antibiotic-only treatment instead of appendicectomy, an extra GBP 23,278.51 was saved. Additionally, two sensitivity analyses were conducted to account for post-operative or post-treatment complications. The antibiotic-only option remained dominant in both scenarios. Conclusion: While the results do not rely on a randomized sample, the analysis based on a 1-year follow-up suggested that antibiotics were largely more cost-effective than appendicectomy and led to improved QOL outcomes for patients. The ICER value of −GBP 23,278.51 demonstrates that the NHS must give further consideration to the current gold standard treatment in acute uncomplicated appendicitis

Radiobiological effects of wound fluid on breast cancer cell lines and human-derived tumor spheroids in 2D and microfluidic culture

Intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT) could abrogate cancer recurrences, but the underlying mechanisms are unclear. To clarify the effects of IORT-induced wound fluid on tumor progression, we treated breast cancer cell lines and human-derived tumor spheroids in 2D and microfluidic cell culture systems, respectively. The viability, migration, and invasion of the cells under treatment of IORT-induced wound fluid (WF-RT) and the cells under surgery-induced wound fluid (WF) were compared. Our findings showed that cell viability was increased in spheroids under both WF treatments, whereas viability of the cell lines depended on the type of cells and incubation times. Both WFs significantly increased sub-G1 and arrested the cells in G0/G1 phases associated with increased P16 and P21 expression levels. The expression level of Caspase 3 in both cell culture systems and for both WF-treated groups was significantly increased. Furthermore, our results revealed that although the migration was increased in both systems of WF-treated cells compared to cell culture media-treated cells, E-cadherin expression was significantly increased only in the WF-RT group. In conclusion, WF-RT could not effectively inhibit tumor progression in an ex vivo tumor-on-chip model. Moreover, our data suggest that a microfluidic system could be a suitable 3D system to mimic in vivo tumor conditions than 2D cell culture