Development and characterization of polyvinyl chloride-graphite membrane

196-200Graphite dispersed polyvinyl chloride membrane has been prepared by scalable solution blending technique in different compositions. The obtained composite has been characterized by infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and microscopic techniques. Results reveal the formation of intercalated composite with improved properties like solvent retaining capacity, porosity, swelling capacity, hardness, and tensile strength. Further, ion exchange ability has been determined by ASTM method and observed values are in range 10-1 (meq/g), which is comparable to industrial membrane and indicate its suitability for commercial application. Further, durability and mechanical strength is studied and compared with standard membrane, which reveals compatible to the commercially available membrane and confirms suitability for technical applications

Thermo-catalytic conversion of waste polyethene bags into value added products

95-99An integrated and sustainable approach has been proposed for materials management for waste polythene bags(WP). In this context, a thermo catalytic degradation of WP yields liquid and solid residue at optimised conditions. The obtained liquid product (LP) and solid residue(SR) has been characterized for structural and different physical properties like flash point, viscosity(dynamic and kinematic), molecular weight, etc using ASTM methods. Thus, obtained results of LP is flash point 265ᵒC, dynamic viscosity 11.99 cp and kinematic viscosity 10.55 cp. These results were compared with existing literature data and suitable application has been projected. Further, SR has also been also characterised as carbon materials with high adsorption capacity along with some metallic impurities. In net conclusive findings of this piece of works expedite the sustainable use of waste plastic with effective ways as a source of value added products

Polypharmacy in the Elderly: A Multicenter Study

WOS: 000270438400009PubMed: 19716065Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the polypharmacy issue and its correlations with socio-economic variables in Turkish elderly patients. Design: Cross-sectional Setting: Outpatient clinics of the medical schools, departments of physical medicine and rehabilitation from 12 provinces. Participants: A total of 1430 elderly in different geographical regions of Turkey during January 2007 to January 2008 were included. Measurements: Patients were interviewed using a questionnaire that included demographic characteristics, current medical diagnosis, and pharmaceuticals that are used by elderly. Demographical parameters were gender, age, marital status, number of children, level of education, province, and status of retirement. Results: The mean number of drugs was found to be higher in the females. There was a significant difference among age groups, marital status groups, and the number of children categories. The distribution of the number of drugs among education levels did not differ significantly, whereas the distribution of the number of drugs between the status of retirement and presence of chronic disease differed significantly. Conclusions: Polypharmacy is correlated with various factors including age, sex, marital status, number of children, status of retirement, and presence of chronic medical conditions but not educational status in our study group. (J Am Med Dir Assoc 2009; 10: 486-490

The Validity And The Reliability Of Turkish Version Of The Self-Stigma Of Depression Scale

Objective: In this study, we aimed to the Self-Stigma of Depression Scale (SSDS), which evaluates self-stigmatization that can prevent both treatment consultation and compliance by depressed patients run Turkish adaptation, validity and reliability study of. Method: The study included a total of 173 subjects consisting of 131 outpatients of the Psychiatry Polyclinic with past or recent major depression disorder (MDD) diagnosis and 42 non-depressed outpatients consulting the Geriatrics Polyclinics for other medical complaints. Each participant was evaluated with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM IV Axis I Disorders (SCID-I), the Standardized Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Turkish Self-Stigma of Depression Scale (SSDS-TR) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). The MDD patients were further evaluated with the Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness (ISMI) scale. Test-retest reliability of the SSDS-TR was assessed with 27 participants 8-12 weeks after the first test. All analyses were carried out using the IBM-SPSS Statistics version 25 and the IBM SPSS AMOS version 25. Results: In the exploratory factor analysis, the factor structure of SSDS TR differed from the original form. The structural validity of the 4-factor model formed after excluding one problematic item was tested by confirmatory factor analysis and proven to meet the goodness of fit criteria. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient of the SSDS-TR was 0.847, and a moderate correlation (r=0.436 p=0.023) was obtained by the test-retest analysis. The SSDS-TR scores moderately correlated with the ISMI scores (r=0.485, p<0.001) and weakly correlated with the BDI scores (r=0.246, p<0.001). Conclusion: The SSDS-TR formed by excluding one item from the original scale was demonstrated to be a valid and reliable psychometric tool and is expected to fill a gap in the assessment of self stigmatization of MDD patients in Turkey.WoSScopu

Detailed Analysis Of Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma Patients: A Single-Center, Retrospective Study

The aim of this single-center, retrospective study was to investigate the impact of rituximab, reconsider the validity of International Prognostic Index (IPI), and evaluate the prognostic role of the cell of origin (CoO) in a relatively young cohort. Three hundred twelve diffuse large B cell lymphoma patients (median age: 52) were included. Rituximab significantly improved the 3- and 5-year progression free survival (PFS) (70% versus 65% and 41% versus 36%, resp.; P < 0.001) but led only to a slight, insignificant increase in 3- and 5-year overall survival (OS) (71% versus 77.3% and %67 versus 74.5%, resp.; P = 0.264). In the young, low risk patient subgroup (aaIPI = 0&1; n = 129), rituximab improved 3- and 5-year PFS and OS rates (P < 0.001 and P = 0.048, resp.). The efficacy of rituximab in young high risk patients was comparable to the literature. CoO data were available in 190 patients. The OS at 3 years was 79% for GC and 64% for non-GC subgroups (P = 0.014). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study which investigated the impact of R-CHOP in the context of CoO and IPI in a relatively young cohort. CoO was not an independent risk factor for prognosis in the multivariate analysis although patients with GC showed a significant survival advantage in the univariate analysis. CoO was also found to be a significant determinant of response in refractory/relapsed patients. Our results confirm the efficacy of rituximab in low and high risk, young patients outside of a randomized clinical trial setting.PubMe