Antimicrobial effects of chlorhexidine, matrica drop mouthwash (chamomile extract), and normal saline on hospitalized patients with endotracheal tubes

Background: The functions and use of mouthwashes are variable depending on their type. Oral care in patients with endotracheal tubes is important to prevent side effects such as pneumonia. The aim of this study was to determine the antimicrobial effects of chlorhexidine, drop of Matrica mouthwash (chamomile extract), and normal saline on hospitalized patients with endotracheal tube in an intensive care unit (ICU). Materials and Methods: In this clinical trial, 39 patients admitted to the ICU were selected by convenience sampling, were matched based on age and sex, and randomly assigned to three groups (chlorhexidine, Matrica, saline). Mouth washing was performed every 8 to 48 hours. The samples were taken at time zero (before the intervention) and 48 hours after the intervention for bacterial culture. Antibacterial activity of each mouthwash on microorganisms was measured based on the growth of Staphylococcus aureus, Pneumococcal, Enterococcus, Pseudomonas, and Escherichia coli. The obtained data were then analyzed using Chi-square and Fisher's exact tests with the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences Package version 18. Results: Chlorhexidine mouthwash was more effective in preventing colonization of bacteria in the mouth (point probability = 0.06) in comparison with chamomile and saline mouthwashes. Nevertheless, none of the tested mouthwashes were able to remove pathogens, including Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas, Klebsiella, and Acinetobacter. Conclusions: 0.2% chlorhexidine mouthwash has a significant effect on the bacterial colonization rate in comparison with Matrica and normal saline mouthwashes in ICU hospitalized patients with endotracheal tube

Seroprevalence of toxocariasis in children aged 1-9 years in western Islamic Republic of Iran, 2003

We determined the seroprevalence of Toxocara canis infection in 544 children under 10 years randomly selected from urban and rural areas of Hamadan, An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used for detection of antibodies to T. canis excretion - secretion antigens. Using a questionnaire, epidemiological factors associated with infection were examined, including age, sex, residence. Antibodies to T. canis were detected in 29 children (5.3%) and 19 children (3.5%) were categorized as borderline positive; thus together this gave a prevalence of toxocariasis of 8.8%. No significant differences were found in terms of sex, age and residence

Multiple Scattering and Attenuation Phenomena in Diffraction Imaging

The problem of cross sectional (tomographic) imaging bf objects with diffracting sources is addressed. Specifically the area of investigation is the effect of multiple scattering and attenuation phenomena in diffraction imaging. The validity of either the Born or the Rytov approximations is the basic assumption behind all the inverse scattering techniques in diffraction tomography. To test these techniques When these assumptions are not satisfied, we have developed a computational procedure for the calculation of the “ true” scattered fields from a multi-component object. Using this procedure, the performance of two available diffraction reconstruction techniques is examined in the presence of multiple scattering effects. The simulation results show the superiority of the Synthetic Aperture technique. We have also studied the role of attenuation in the reconstruction techniques. To calculate the scattered fields from an object in the presence of attenuation, new computer simulation programs are developed. These codes are used in a simulation study of the effect of the attenuation parameter on the object reconstuctions. [reconstruction

بررسی میزان انواع خشونت خانگی و عوامل مرتبط با آن در مادران باردار منطقه کلاله

یافته‌ها: 312 نفر معادل 78 درصد از مادران باردار به اشکال مختلف مورد خشونت قرار گرفته بودند. شایع‌ترین نوع خشونت علیه مادران باردار، عاطفی بود و 78 نفر از زنان از خشونت جسمی و 53 نفر از خشونت جنسی شکایت داشتند. همچنین با افزایش تحصیلات خشونت علیه مادران کاهش پیدا کرد. بین خشونت خانگی و مصرف سیگار و عدم اشتغال همسر رابطه معناداری مشاهده شد Introduction: Violence against women is a universal phenomenon which has negative impact on the mental health of the family and society, and the consequences such as increased health care costs, reduced productivity and labor force of women are another results of this health and social cultural problem. So, this study was performed with aim to determine types of domestic violence and its related factors in pregnant women. Methods: This descriptive-analytic study was performed on 368 pregnant mothers in area of Kalaleh in 2014. Data were collected by simple sampling and using a questionnaire. Data was analyzed with SPSS software (version 19) and descriptive statistics and Fisher's exact test, Chi-square, independent t-test, and Pearson correlation test. Results: 312 pregnant women (84.78%) had been exposed to different types of violence. The most common type of violence against pregnant women was emotional with 181 cases (49.18%) and 78 (21.20%) complained of physical violence and 53 (14.40%) of sexual violence. Increased education reduced violence against women. There was a significant relationship between domestic violence, smoking and lack of husband's employment (P <0.05). Conclusion: According to high rate of domestic violence, it is recommended to screen violence in the all health and therapy centers. Also, life skills training and counseling culture among couples is important

Two-dimensional block processors - structures and implementations

Includes bibliographical references.Two-dimensional (2-D) block processing technique for linear filtering of digital images is introduced. New 2-D block structures are derived for 2-D recursive digital filters realized by difference equations and state-space formulations. Several special cases have also been considered and the relevant 2-D block structures are given. The computational costs of different implementation techniques employing high-speed convolution algorithms such as fast Fourier transform, number theoretic transform and polynomial transform have been studied. A comparison among the relative efficiencies of these implementation schemes is made and a suitable method is then proposed using short convolution algorithm which results in a minimized computational time

Rational invariant subspace approximations with applications

Includes bibliographical references.Subspace methods such as MUSIC, Minimum Norm, and ESPRIT have gained considerable attention due to their superior performance in sinusoidal and direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation, but they are also known to be of high computational cost. In this paper, new fast algorithms for approximating signal and noise subspaces and that do not require exact eigendecomposition are presented. These algorithms approximate the required subspace using rational and power-like methods applied to the direct data or the sample covariance matrix. Several ESPRIT- as well as MUSIC-type methods are developed based on these approximations. A substantial computational saving can be gained comparing with those associated with the eigendecomposition-based methods. These methods are demonstrated to have performance comparable to that of MUSIC yet will require fewer computation to obtain the signal subspace matrix

Detection and classification of buried dielectric anomalies using neural networks–further results

Includes bibliographical references.The development of a neural network-based detection and classification system for use with buried dielectric anomalies is the main focus of this paper. Several methods of data representation are developed to study their effects on the trainability and generalization capabilities of the neural networks. The method of Karhonen-Loeve (KL) transform is used to extract energy dependent features and to reduce the dimensionality of the weight space of the original data set. To extract the shape-dependent features of the data, another data preprocessing method known as Zernike moments is also studied for its use in the detector/classifier system. The effects of different neural network paradigms, architectural variations, and selection of proper training data on detection and classification rates are studied. Simulation results for nylon and wood targets indicate superior performance when compared to conventional schemes.This work was supported by the U.S. Army Belvoir RDandE Center under contract No. DAAL03-86-D-0001

Two-dimensional block transforms and their properties

Includes bibliographical references.For two-dimensional (2-D) digital filters implemented by a block recursive equation, explicit relations between their frequency characteristics and those of scalar filter are obtained. Specifically, these include the relation between the discrete-time Fourier transform (DTFT) of the block recursive equation and that of the scalar 2-D difference equation, and the relation between the block matrix transfer function of the block processor and the scalar transfer function. These relations that are independent of the type of realization of the block processor have been obtained using the eigenvalue properties of a special type of circulant matrix introduced in this correspondence

Effect of replacement of Caspian Sea gammarus meal by partial kilka fish meal on growth performance, feed conversion ratio and survival of juveniles of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

The effects of using different of gammarus meal levels (0, 5, 10 and 20%) instead of kilk fish meal as a protein source on growth performance, feed conversion ratio and survival of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) fingerlings were studied over 8 weeks. Rainbow trout fingerlings (mean body weight 5.48 ± 0.32g) were reared in a completely randomized design with three replications in the same conditions. Based on the results, no significant difference was observed in the final length and weight and specific growth rate among treatments. Increase of gammarus meal in diet led to increase of feed conversion ratio and decrease of survival, but the difference was not significant among treatments. Commercial analysis showed that the cost price of feed increased with increase of gammarus meal in diet, significantly. Thus, results of our study showed that adding up to 10% of gammarus meal instead of kilka fish meal in rainbow trout fingerlings diet is suitable, considering gammarus abundance in the shores of south Caspian Sea and lack of significance in difference on growth, feed conversion ratio and survival