Heavy Metals Can either Aid or Oppose the Protective Function of the Placental Barrier

BACKGROUND: In developing countries, toxic heavy metals are a threatening catastrophe to human health, particularly in the vulnerable group of pregnant mothers and their fetuses. Fortunately, the placenta can be a protective barrier to the fetuses. AIM: To explore the relationship between serum lead, cadmium and arsenic levels in pregnant mothers and their newborns, to address the placental barrier in this situation. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 100 pregnant mothers at the time of labour and their newborns. Serum cadmium, lead, and arsenic levels were measured using the Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry. RESULTS: All the studied heavy metals concentrations showed a significant elevation in the maternal blood relative to the cord blood. There was a significant association between the maternal lead and both fetal lead and arsenic. Meanwhile, a negative but insignificant correlation was recorded between the maternal cadmium and each of the fetal cadmium, lead, and arsenic. CONCLUSION: The study findings indicated a weak relation between maternal and fetal blood heavy metals, except for the influence of maternal lead, so it can be assumed that the placental barriers are partially protective against those toxic pollutants, putting into consideration the influence of their different natures

Prospect of Post-Combustion Carbon Capture Technology and Its Impact on the Circular Economy

The sudden increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere due to the high dependency on fossil products has created the need for an urgent solution to mitigate this challenge. Global warming, which is a direct result of excessive CO2 emissions into the atmosphere, is one major issue that the world is trying to curb, especially in the 21st Century where most energy generation mediums operate using fossil products. This investigation considered a number of materials ideal for the capturing of CO2 in the post-combustion process. The application of aqueous ammonia, amine solutions, ionic liquids, and activated carbons is thoroughly discussed. Notable challenges are impeding their advancement, which are clearly expatiated in the report. Some merits and demerits of these technologies are also presented. Future research directions for each of these technologies are also analyzed and explained in detail. Furthermore, the impact of post-combustion CO2 capture on the circular economy is also presented

Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P < 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely

q-Non uniform difference calculus and classical integral inequalities

Abstract We first establish q-non uniform difference versions of the integral inequalities of Hölder, Cauchy–Schwarz, and Minkowski of classical mathematical analysis and then integral inequalities of Grönwall and Bernoulli based on the Lagrange method of linear q-non uniform difference equations of first order. Finally, we prove the Lyapunov inequality for the solutions of the q-non uniform Sturm–Liouville equation

Stability of First Order Linear General Quantum Difference Equations in a Banach Algebra

The general quantum difference operator Dβ is defined by Dβ y(t ) = (y(β (t )) − y(t )) /(β (t ) − t ), β (t ) ̸= t where the function β(t) is strictly increasing continuous on an interval I ⊆ R and has a unique fixed point s0 ∈ I. In this paper, we establish the characterizations of stability of the first order linear β -difference equations, associated with Dβ , in a Banach algebra E with a unit e and norm ∥ · ∥. We prove the uniform stability, asymptotic stability, exponential stability and h-stability of these equations

On homogeneous second order linear general quantum difference equations

Abstract In this paper, we prove the existence and uniqueness of solutions of the β-Cauchy problem of second order β-difference equations a 0 ( t ) D β 2 y ( t ) + a 1 ( t ) D β y ( t ) + a 2 ( t ) y ( t ) = b ( t ) , t ∈ I , $$a_{0}(t)D_{\beta}^{2}y(t)+a_{1}(t)D_{\beta}y(t)+a_{2}(t)y(t)=b(t),\quad t \in I,$$ a 0 ( t ) ≠ 0 $a_{0}(t)\neq0$ , in a neighborhood of the unique fixed point s 0 $s_{0}$ of the strictly increasing continuous function β, defined on an interval I ⊆ R $I\subseteq{\mathbb{R}}$ . These equations are based on the general quantum difference operator D β $D_{\beta}$ , which is defined by D β f ( t ) = ( f ( β ( t ) ) − f ( t ) ) / ( β ( t ) − t ) $D_{\beta}{f(t)}= (f(\beta(t))-f(t) )/ (\beta(t)-t )$ , β ( t ) ≠ t $\beta(t)\neq t$ . We also construct a fundamental set of solutions for the second order linear homogeneous β-difference equations when the coefficients are constants and study the different cases of the roots of their characteristic equations. Finally, we drive the Euler-Cauchy β-difference equation

Theory of nth-order linear general quantum difference equations

Abstract In this paper, we derive the solutions of homogeneous and non-homogeneous nth-order linear general quantum difference equations based on the general quantum difference operator Dβ $D_{\beta }$ which is defined by Dβf(t)=(f(β(t))−f(t))/(β(t)−t) $D_{\beta }{f(t)}= (f(\beta (t))-f(t) )/ (\beta (t)-t )$, β(t)≠t $\beta (t)\neq t$, where β is a strictly increasing continuous function defined on an interval I⊆R $I\subseteq \mathbb{R}$ that has only one fixed point s0∈I $s_{0}\in {I}$. We also give the sufficient conditions for the existence and uniqueness of solutions of the β-Cauchy problem of these equations. Furthermore, we present the fundamental set of solutions when the coefficients are constants, the β-Wronskian associated with Dβ $D_{\beta }$, and Liouville’s formula for the β-difference equations. Finally, we introduce the undetermined coefficients, the variation of parameters, and the annihilator methods for the non-homogeneous β-difference equations