Effect of Tetracaine on Intraocular Pressure in Normal and Hypertensive Rabbit Eyes

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of tetracaine on intraocular pressure (IOP) in normal and hypertensive rabbit eyes. Methods: The study was conducted on 12 healthy rabbits as controls and 6 healthy rabbits in which an experimental model of ocular hypertension (OHT) was induced by administration of 70 mL/kg of tap water through an orogastric tube. One drop of tetracaine was instilled in the left eye while a drop of normal saline (placebo) was applied to the right eye of the control group. IOP was measured before and 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40 minutes after drop administration in this group. The OHT group also received one drop of tetracaine and normal saline in the left eyes and right eyes respectively, immediately after water loading; the instillation of drops was repeated after 55 minutes. IOP was measured before and 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 55, 70, 85, 100 and 115 minutes after water loading in this group. Results: Tetracaine treated eyes in both groups (ocular hypertensive and normal controls) demonstrated significant IOP reduction at time zero (immediately after drop instillation) which was sustained up to 20 minutes, as compared to placebo treated eyes (P<0.05). In ocular hypertensive rabbits, repeat instillation of tetracaine significantly reduced IOP at 55 minutes up to 30 minutes thereafter. Conclusion: Topical tetracaine can reduce IOP; this fact should be considered in experiments evaluating IOP reducing agents

Improving Profitability of a Color Production Line by Breaking Down Bottlenecks: A Computer Simulation Approach

Bottlenecks are one of the controversial issues in manufacturing companies. Managers and designers attempt to manage this trouble to improve efficiency in different ways. For example, expanding capacity is a prevalent solution to get rid of bottlenecks. In this paper, a color production line is chosen, which faces several challenges in its production line. This company attempts to distinguish and diminish the bottlenecks in the production line. The objective of this paper is to build a developed model of a production line to improve its profitability by breaking down its bottlenecks. Besides, the optimum number of operators with different utilizations is investigated in this paper. Furthermore, we considered the construction of new quality control in the station, which is the most time-wasting operation in the production line. The current study aims to apply computer simulation to examine the production line bottlenecks. In doing so, arena 14.00 software is used. Then the results are analyzed, and several managerial implications are presented.Comment: 10 page

A sustainability approach to vehicle modular platform design: A mathematical model

Today, sustainability and its economic, social, and environmental pillars are the main elements of new product market development. Therefore, manufacturers, considering all stages of a product life-cycle, consider it necessary to have a framework for producing sustainable products. Moreover, new product design and development processes especially sub-process of product definition and detailed design processes can play a very critical role in developing product sustainability. This paper considers the role that the car platform can play in creating a family of products and with regard to various data related to the environmental, economic, and social pillars of each of the 15 modules of a car platform and also, using the best–worst method technique and multi-objective mathematical programming with the augmented epsilon constraint method, we were able to achieve a set of platforms with maximum sustainability. The present study explores the possibility of determining the most efficient combinations of modules for every one of the 23 cars’ platforms to produce a collection of products. Through these methods, the 54 efficient solutions in the Pareto front were achieved, and out of this number, after considering all the factors and weights of the objective functions, solution no. 51 was selected as the most efficient. Subsequently, all the 15 module variants of the 23 platforms were determined for solution no. 51. Finally, these variants were ranked on the basis of the SAW technique, and finally, sensitivity analysis is done

Multi-objective routing and scheduling for relief distribution with split delivery in post-disaster response

Abstract Following the occurrence of unexpected events and natural disasters, a highly important relief operation is the transferring of relief commodities from the distribution centers (DCs) to shelters. In this paper, a three-level network consisting of depot of vehicles, distribution centers,and shelters has been considered for routing and scheduling of relief vehicles through introducing a multi-objective model. The first objective function represents the total arrival time of vehicles to DCs and shelters. The second objective function illustrates the number of vehicles used. We use the TH method to deal with the multi-objective problem. During the relief commodities distribution, issues such as the feasibility of getting service from each distribution center with multiple vehicles and heterogeneous fleet of vehicles has been regarded. In order to solve the proposed model and represent its efficiency, we select the fourth region of Tehran city as a case study; run the model on it, and present solution results. Keywords: Disaster Management, Multi-objective optimization, Routing, Scheduling 1-Introduction The occurrence of natural and man-made disasters such as flood, earthquake, thunderstorm, etc. would cause drastic social and economic damages, as well as the displacement and even the death of thousands of people. Accordingly, in order to lower the casualties and economic losses in these disasters, certain relief operations should be considere

Serum levels of iron parameters and IL-17 in children with Helicobacter pylori infection compared to healthy group

ABSTRACT Helicobacter pylori is related to iron deficiency anemia (IDA) and inflammatory responses causing gastric and duodenal ulcer and carcinoma. Moreover, it leads to deficiency of factors associated with iron adsorption and transfer. In the present study, we recruited 100 children (50 infected with H. pylori and 50 controls) aged 3-14 years old (40% male and 60% female) to evaluate the effect of H. pylori on anemia and some of its related factors (i.e., total iron binding capacity [TIBC], ferritin, and transferrin) and also the amount of IL-17 expression. For the assessment of H. pylori, Euroimmune (Germany) kit was used for the ELISA test according to the instructions of manufacturer. Furthermore, for the measurement of IL-17 level, ELISA test (IBL commercial specific kit, Germany) was employed. The mean iron levels in the control and infected groups were 81.5 mg/dl and 43 mg/dl, respectively, which showed a significant difference between the two groups (P=0.007). The mean levels of transferrin in the control and infected children were 291 mg/dl and 249 mg/dl respectively, demonstrating a significant difference (P=0.008). Moreover, the ferritin levels were 64.5 ng/dl and 14 ng/dl in the control and infected groups, respectively (P=0.001). The TIBC levels were 329 mg/dl and 301 mg/dl, respectively (P=0.86). The mean levels of IL-17 in the healthy and infected children were 3.93±0.93 pg/ml and 8.887±1.46 pg/ml, respectively (P=0.002). Our findings revealed that H. pylori can play a role in anemia and induction of inflammatory responses through reducing iron-related parameters and significantly enhancing IL-17 level among the infected children compared to the healthy group

Understanding Non-Adherence to Treatment in Hypertension: A Qualitative Study

Background: Hypertension is a major public health issue. With regard to the current trend, it has been estimated that one out of three people will be suffering from hypertension by 2025. This study was designed to provide a better insight into the adherence to treatment and its underlying reasons. Methods: A directed qualitative content analysis approach was conducted in collaboration with 35 hypertensive patients and 3 cardiologists in the form of in-depth interviews and focused group discussions from October 2015 to February 2016. Sampling was carried out from patients with hypertension using purposeful and heterogeneous method. Some of the PRECEDE model structures were applied as the conceptual framework. Results: The reasons affecting adherence to hypertension treatment were analyzed in three general categories of predisposing, enabling and reinforcing factors based on the model structures. Factors such as “knowledge”, “belief and attitude”, “mental-personality traits”, “culture and lifestyle” were classified as the predisposing factors category. “Access to health service” and “access to facilities in the workplace, home and society” were fit in the enabling factor category. The reinforcing factors category addresses “individuals’ internal incentives” and “family and health service providers’ support”. Conclusion: Several reasons account for non-adherence to treatment in hypertensive patients. Diversity of these reasons is an indication that design and implementation of different kinds of interventions are required in order to increase the patients’ awareness, empower them and encourage self-efficacy

Enhancing Sustainability Attributes in New Product Design Insights from Automotive Industry

Product design is an innovative process that, through the stages of problem statement, concept, and initial and detailed design, meets the needs of customers, the requirements of companies, and their limitations. In the current process of product design and development, formulating design objectives plays a crucial role in objective setting, project implementation, product needs and requirements specification, and performing activities validation. Currently, the role of the design and development stages in the sustainability of products, identifying strategies for improving this stage is of particular significance, and paying attention to the product planning and definition process group and focusing on establishing sustainability principles in the target book and defining new attributes can be regarded as one of the sustainable product development strategies. Consequently, this research is a case study in the field of applying the sustainability principles in the target book as one of the deliverables at the stage of product planning. The present study proposes strategies towards developing the attributes of the target book as a tool for exerting sustainability pillars in the process of design and development by means of surveying automotive industry experts, applying the DEMATEL and Fuzzy ANP combined method, and evaluating and determining new attributes

Chemical Constituents of Donkey Dung (Anbarnasara): Questioning the Recent Claims Concerning Therapeutic Effects

Background: Various animal excrements have been used as a medicine for the treatment of different diseases in the past. Today, people still use some of these excrements, especially female donkey dung (Anbarnasara,) by smelling the smoke of burnt dung for some ailments like sinusitis and bronchitis. Recently, some studies have focused on the therapeutic activities of Anbarnasara but no one has studied the active ingredients of it.Objective: The aim of this study was to identify the chemical constituents and antibacterial activities of Anbarnasara and its smoke.Materials and Methods: Female donkey dungs were collected from Shahreza in May 2017. The substance was burnt and the smoke was led to a beaker of methanol by a distillation apparatus. Then, the methanolic extract was dried via a rotary evaporator. Antibacterial activity of the smoke and also the total methanolic extract of Anbarnasara were tested on Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli via well diffusion method. Chemical constituents were analyzed through gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS) .Results: The results showed that Anbarnasara and its smoke have a very weak antibacterial activity. Regarding chemical constituents, both total methanolic extract and smoke extract predominantly contained toluene, xylene, and dibutyl phthalate.Conclusion: Previous studies showed xylene as one of the major components of the smoke of Anbarnasara. These articles also reported the presence of some plant-based compounds such as glyoxal, syringol, and limonene in the smoke. The presence of these compounds is probably due to the donkeys’ diet. In our study, the presence of dibutyl phthalate, an industrial plasticizer, among the components is probably due to environmental factors. These evidences suggested that Anbarnasara is under the influence of environmental factors like vegetation and pollutions and therefore, should be used as a medicine with caution. Recent claims regarding the antibacterial, cytotoxic, and wound healing activities of Anbarnasara should be considered independent of these environmental factors

Immobilization of Laccase in Alginate-Gelatin Mixed Gel and Decolorization of Synthetic Dyes

Alginate-gelatin mixed gel was applied to immobilized laccase for decolorization of some synthetic dyes including crystal violet. The immobilization procedure was accomplished by adding alginate to a gelatin solution containing the enzyme and the subsequent dropwise addition of the mixture into a stirred CaCl2 solution. The obtained data showed that both immobilized and free enzymes acted optimally at 50°C for removal of crystal violet, but the entrapped enzyme showed higher thermal stability compared to the free enzyme. The immobilized enzyme represented optimum decolorization at pH 8. Reusability of the entrapped laccase was also studied and the results showed that ca. 85% activity was retained after five successive cycles. The best removal condition was applied for decolorization of seven other synthetic dyes. Results showed that the maximum and minimum dye removal was related to amido black 10B and eosin, respectively