Polymorphisms of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1, angiotensin converting enzyme and coagulation factor XIII genes in patients with recurrent spontaneous abortion

We investigated polymorphisms of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE ) and coagulation factor XIII (FXIII) genes and their association with recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA) in Iranian patients and normal healthy controls. Ten (18.5%) patients were homozygote (4G/4G) for PAI-1 polymorphism, in contrast with two (2%) controls (p = 0.001). Patients with homozygote 4G mutation were significantly more prone to RSA in contrast to others (odds ratio: 11.0, 95% CI: 2.3-52.4). Nineteen (30.2%) patients and 25 (26.6%) controls were homozygote (DD) for ACE polymorphism. We observed only two patients and one control with homozygosity (34leu) for FXIII polymorphism. 4G/4G polymorphism for PAI-1 gene could be a thrombophilic mutation leading to abortion in Iranian population

Mechanical stress and deformation analyses of pressurized cylindrical shells based on a higher-order modeling

In this research, mechanical stress, static strain and deformation analyses of a cylindrical pressure vessel subjected to mechanical loads are presented. The kinematic relations are developed based on higher-order sinusoidal shear deformation theory. Thickness stretching formulation is accounted for more accurate analysis. The total transverse deflection is divided into bending, shear and thickness stretching parts in which the third term is responsible for change of deflection along the thickness direction. The axisymmetric formulations are derived through principle of virtual work. A parametric study is presented to investigate variation of stress and strain components along the thickness and longitudinal directions. To explore effect of thickness stretching model on the static results, a comparison between the present results with the available results of literature is presented. As an important output, effect of micro-scale parameter is studied on the static stress and strain distributio

Promethazine and Treatment Refractory Agitation in Clonidine Toxicity

Background:Delirium is an acute and transient turmoil disorder in consciousness which is often caused by drugs.One of the adverse effects of clonidine is agitation. Clonidine is an agonist of α2-receptor which functionally overlaps with μ-receptor of opioids. Promethazine is H1-receptor antagonist and has antipsychotic properties. The necessary dose for initial control of agitation is 25-50 milligrams. Case Presentation: A 27 year old man has been sent to emergency department following consumption of clonazepam 1 milligram, clonidine 0.1 milligram and alprazolam 0.5 milligram. Upon arrival at the toxicity emergency of the hospital, the patient's pulse rate suddenly dropped to 20 per min along with widening of QRS and increase of QTc as well as severe agitation. At the end of the second day due to continuous bradycardia pace maker was devised. The patient showed hallucination. In the third day, the patient's delirium increased. Due to no control of agitation by benzodiazepine, haloperidol, Promethazine 25 milligram was injected then slept after 5 minute. Conclusion:In such patient with above restrictions, prescription of promethazine not only maintained blood pressure and caused no disorder in electrocardiogram, but also it immediately and certainly controlled patient's agitation

Non-linear Finite-Time Tracking Control of Uncertain Robotic Manipulators Using Time-Varying Disturbance Observer-Based Sliding Mode Method

In this paper, a time-varying chattering-free disturbance observer-based position tracking control law of serial robotic manipulators is presented to track a reference signal in a finite time. The key idea is to employ a positive-increasing function associated with the control/observer objectives to improve the control performance. First, the model of an uncertain robotic manipulator is presented as the case study of the proposed strategy. Then, the time-varying form of the robotic manipulator model is obtained to provide finite-time boundedness using the first-order sliding mode method. Moreover, without any knowledge about the upper bounds of the uncertainties, a reduced-order observer is presented to estimate the uncertainties in a finite time. Subsequently, a disturbance observer-based finite-time position tracking control law is designed. The time-varying gains are provided to converge the position tracking error to a neighborhood of zero in a finite time. Finally, comparative simulations are presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed scheme compared to other existing strategies

PERSIAN CUED SPEECH: THE EFFECT ON PHONOLOGICAL COMBINATION AND SEGMENTATION SKILLS OF CHILDREN WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY

The aim of this paper was to study the effect of a Persian Cued Speech training program for increasing the phonological combination and segmentation skills of intellectually disabled children. This study was a quasi–experimental study. A convenience sample was selected and divided in two groups, namely an experimental group and a control group (n = 5). The study used the Phonological Awareness Questionnaire as the tool of analysis. The Cued Speech training is a forty 90-minute session program, which was implemented on the experimental group. At the end of the program, they were again assessed with the questionnaire. The findings from the study show the efficacy of our intervention on increasing the Phonological Combination and Segmentation skills (P < 0/10, P < 0/05). Using Cued Speech with the intellectually disabled children can be helpful to develop their pre reading skills such as phonological awareness

The energy-water nexus: Renewable energy and water desalination

The essential connection between energy and water, also defined as the energy-water nexus, has been recognized by scientists and policy makers worldwide. Integrated solutions and policies that consider both energy and water aspects into future planning have been developing at a fast pace. In this paper, we review the state of the art of the energy-water nexus, with particular focus on the integration between renewable energy and desalination technologies. We also model the integration of reverse osmosis (RO) desalination and solar photovoltaics in an edge-of-grid coastal town in Western Australia. The current literature agrees on the sustainable use of renewable energy sources to improve the water-energy nexus in the context of water desalination. Although the integration of solar and wind energy with desalination technologies is a mature and well-proven solution at both small and large scales, the intermittency and fluctuating nature of wind and solar power still constitute the main technical challenge that has limited the diffusion of renewable energy powered desalination on a large scale. Several successful applications of renewable energy powered desalination in remote, off the grid, locations have tackled the issue of power intermittency by the use of batteries and diesel generators. Such systems often couple reverse osmosis desalination with solar photovoltaic energy. Large desalination plants have been successfully connected to wind farms and grid electricity to secure uninterrupted plant operations, thus meeting water targets in large-scale systems. Our review identifies a knowledge gap in the integration of decentralized energy systems, e.g. rooftop solar photovoltaic, with small scale RO desalination. Such configuration would benefit those regional towns that have historically suffered from weak and unreliable connections to the electricity grid, thus helping them secure both their energy and water requirements. The modelling exercise on a renewable energy powered RO plant in an edge-of-grid town in Western Australia has identified an operating strategy that maximizes the renewable energy fraction and secures the annual supply of water. The system involves operating the RO unit for six months of the year at a daily variable load and integrating solar energy with grid electricity. Careful evaluation of the RO performance under such operating conditions is necessary to ensure a safe and reliable water treatment process. A niche in the literature of the energy-water nexus has been identified in the integration of rooftop solar photovoltaic, grid electricity and desalination technologies applied in a regional context. A future study will consider the rollout of rooftop solar photovoltaic installations across the whole town, thus enabling the active engagement of the community by integrating the households’ energy demand response patterns to the operations of both rooftop photovoltaics and the desalination unit

The energy-water nexus: Renewable energy and water desalination

The essential connection between energy and water, also defined as the energy-water nexus, has been recognized by scientists and policy makers worldwide. Integrated solutions and policies that consider both energy and water aspects into future planning have been developing at a fast pace. In this paper, we review the state of the art of the energy-water nexus, with particular focus on the integration between renewable energy and desalination technologies. We also model the integration of reverse osmosis (RO) desalination and solar photovoltaics in an edge-of-grid coastal town in Western Australia. The current literature agrees on the sustainable use of renewable energy sources to improve the water-energy nexus in the context of water desalination. Although the integration of solar and wind energy with desalination technologies is a mature and well-proven solution at both small and large scales, the intermittency and fluctuating nature of wind and solar power still constitute the main technical challenge that has limited the diffusion of renewable energy powered desalination on a large scale. Several successful applications of renewable energy powered desalination in remote, off the grid, locations have tackled the issue of power intermittency by the use of batteries and diesel generators. Such systems often couple reverse osmosis desalination with solar photovoltaic energy. Large desalination plants have been successfully connected to wind farms and grid electricity to secure uninterrupted plant operations, thus meeting water targets in large-scale systems. Our review identifies a knowledge gap in the integration of decentralized energy systems, e.g. rooftop solar photovoltaic, with small scale RO desalination. Such configuration would benefit those regional towns that have historically suffered from weak and unreliable connections to the electricity grid, thus helping them secure both their energy and water requirements. The modelling exercise on a renewable energy powered RO plant in an edge-of-grid town in Western Australia has identified an operating strategy that maximizes the renewable energy fraction and secures the annual supply of water. The system involves operating the RO unit for six months of the year at a daily variable load and integrating solar energy with grid electricity. Careful evaluation of the RO performance under such operating conditions is necessary to ensure a safe and reliable water treatment process. A niche in the literature of the energy-water nexus has been identified in the integration of rooftop solar photovoltaic, grid electricity and desalination technologies applied in a regional context. A future study will consider the rollout of rooftop solar photovoltaic installations across the whole town, thus enabling the active engagement of the community by integrating the households’ energy demand response patterns to the operations of both rooftop photovoltaics and the desalination unit

Energy management strategy in dynamic distribution network reconfiguration considering renewable energy resources and storage

© 2010-2012 IEEE. Penetration of renewable energy sources (RESs) and electrical energy storage (EES) systems in distribution systems is increasing, and it is crucial to investigate their impact on systems' operation scheme, reliability, and security. In this paper, expected energy not supplied (EENS) and voltage stability index (VSI) of distribution networks are investigated in dynamic balanced and unbalanced distribution network reconfiguration, including RESs and EES systems. Furthermore, due to the high investment cost of the EES systems, the number of charge and discharge is limited, and the state-of-health constraint is included in the underlying problem to prolong the lifetime of these facilities. The optimal charging/discharging scheme for EES systems and optimal distribution network topology are presented in order to optimize the operational costs, and reliability and security indices simultaneously. The proposed strategy is applied to a large-scale 119-bus distribution test network in order to show the economic justification of the proposed approach

An Investigation of the Wiener Approach for Nonlinear System Identification Benchmarks

We evaluate the effectiveness of the Wiener model structure in modeling of the given benchmark problems. Two different approaches are proposed for parameter estimation. The results are compared for three problems, i.e. Silver Box, Wiener-Hammerstein, and Wiener-Hammerstein with noise. The aim is to evaluate the capability of the algorithms on the other benchmark problems in future works as well