Study of two-phase flow in helical and spiral coils

The principal purposes of the present study were to: (1) observe and develop a fundamental understanding of the flow regimes and their transitions occurring in helical and spiral coils; and (2) obtain pressure drop measurements of such flows, and, if possible, develop a method for predicting pressure drop in these flow geometries. Elaborating upon the above, the general intent is to develop criteria (preferably generalized) for establishing the nature of the flow dynamics (e.g. flow patterns) and the magnitude of the pressure drop in such configurations over a range of flow rates and fluid properties. Additionally, the visualization and identification of flow patterns were a fundamental objective of the study. From a practical standpoint, the conditions under which an annular flow pattern exists is of particular practical importance. In the possible practical applications which would implement these geometries, the working fluids are likely to be refrigerant fluids. In the present study the working fluids were an air-water mixture, and refrigerant 113 (R-113). In order to obtain records of flow patterns and their transitions, video photography was employed extensively. Pressure drop measurements were made using pressure differential transducers connected across pressure taps in lines immediately preceding and following the various test sections

Timely diagnosis of left ventricular posterior wall rupture by echocardiography: A case report

Left ventricular free wall rupture is responsible for up to 10 of in-hospital deaths following myocardial infarction. It is mainly associated with posterolateral myocardial infarction, and its antemortem diagnosis is rarely made. One of the medical complications of myocardial infarction is the rupture of the free wall, which occurs more frequently in the anterolateral wall in hypertensives, women, and those with relatively large transmural myocardial infarction usually 1-4 days after myocardial infarction. We herein present the case of a 66-year-old man suffering inferior wall myocardial infarction with abrupt hemodynamic decompensation 9 days after myocardial infarction. Emergent transthoracic echocardiography revealed massive pericardial effusion with tamponade, containing a large elongated mass measuring 1 x 8cm suggestive of hematoma secondary to cardiac rupture. In urgent cardiac surgery, the posterior wall between the left coronary artery branches was ruptured

The factor structure of the mood disorder questionnaire in Tunisian patients

Background: The Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ) is a frequently used screening tool for the early detection of Bipolar Disorder (BD), which is often unrecognized or misdiagnosed at its onset. In this study, data from Tunisia has been used to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Arabic MDQ. Methods: The sample included 151 patients with a current major depressive episode. The Arabic adapted version of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV-TR was used to formulate a diagnosis, yielding 62 patients with BD and 89 with unipolar Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). Principal component analysis with parallel analysis was used to establish the spontaneous distribution of the 13 core items of the MDQ. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was used to check the available factor models. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to assess the capacity of the MDQ to distinguish patients with BD from those with MDD. Results: Cronbach’s α in the sample was 0.80 (95%CI: 0.75 to 0.85). Ordinal α was 0.88. Parallel analysis suggested two main components, which explained 59% of variance in the data. CFA found a good fit for the existing unidimensional, the two-factor, and the three-factor models. ROC analysis showed that at a threshold of 7, the MDQ was able to distinguish patients with BD from those with MDD with extraordinary negative predictive value (0.92) and a positive diagnostic likelihood ratio of 3.8. Conclusion: The Arabic version of the MDQ showed good measurement properties in terms of reliability, factorial validity and discriminative properties

Effect of introduction of a standardised peri-operative protocol on CSF shunt infection rate: a single-centre cohort study of 809 procedures

PURPOSE: Shunt infection is a major problem in paediatric neurosurgery. Our institution introduced a mandatory shunt protocol with the aim of reducing infection rate. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study including consecutive patients undergoing permanent shunt operations (primary insertion and revision) across two study periods: 3 years immediately prior (2009-2012) and 3 years immediately after (2012-2015) protocol introduction. Absolute and relative risk reductions (ARR/RRR) and Chi-square statistical analysis was used alongside logistic regression, where any single factor with p ≤ 0.20 included in the multivariate model, producing an odds ratio (OR). RESULTS: Eight hundred nine operations in 504 children were identified (442 pre-protocol, 367 post). Overall infection rate decreased from 5.43% (24/442) pre-protocol to 3.27% (12/367) post-protocol (ARR = 2.16%, RRR = 39.8%, NNT = 46.3, p = 0.138), which did not reach statistical significance. For primary shunt insertions, infection rate reduced from 3.63 to 2.55% (ARR = 1.08%, RRR = 29.8%, NNT = 92.6, p = 0.565), whilst for revisions, it reduced from 6.83 to 3.81% (ARR = 3.02%, RRR 44.2%, NNT = 33.1, p = 0.156). Multivariate logistic regression showed that surgeon experience was a statistically significant predictor of infection, whilst responsible pathogens and latency were similar across the pre- and post-protocol groups. CONCLUSION: The protocol reduced overall infection rate in primary and revision shunt operations and we recommend paediatric units consider introducing a similar protocol for these procedures

Accuracy of the Arabic HCL - 32 and MDQ in detecting patients with bipolar disorder

Background: Studies about the two most used and validated instruments for the early detection of Bipolar Disorder (BD), the 32 - item Hypomania Checklist (HCL - 32) and the Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ), are scarce in non-Western countries. This study aimed to explore the reliability, factor structure, and criterion validity of their Arabic versions in a sample of Tunisian patients diagnosed with mood disorders. Methods: The sample included 59 patients with BD, 86 with unipolar Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and 281 controls. Confirmatory factor analysis was applied to show that a single global score was an appropriate summary measure of the screeners in the sample. Receiver Operating Characteristic analysis was used to assess the capacity of the translated screeners to distinguish patients with BD from those with MDD and controls. Results: Reliability was good for both tools in all samples. The bifactor implementation of the most reported two-factor model had the best fit for both screeners. Both were able to distinguish patients diagnosed with BD from putatively healthy controls, and equally able to distinguish patients diagnosed with BD from patients with MDD. Conclusion: Both screeners work best in excluding the presence of BD in patients with MDD, which is an advantage in deciding whether or not to prescribe an antidepressant

Composition and production rate of dental solid waste and associated management practices in Hamadan, Iran

The objective of this study was to identify the components, composition and production rate of dental solid waste and associated management practices in dental offices in Hamadan. A total of 28 offices, including ten general dentist offices, eight specialist dentist offices, five practical dentist offices and five denture maker offices were selected in a random way. Three samples from each selected type were taken and the waste was manually separated into 74 sub-fractions and each sub-fraction was weighed. The results showed that the total annual dental waste production in dental offices was 41947.43 kg. Domestic type, potentially infectious, chemical and pharmaceutical and toxic waste constituted 71.15, 21.40, 7.26 and 0.18, respectively of this amount. Only seven fractions including gypsum, latex gloves, nylon, dental impression material, used medicine ampoules, saliva-contaminated paper towels and saliva ejectors constituted about 80 of the waste. It was also indicated that there were no effective activity for waste minimization, separation, reuse and recycling in dental offices and the management of sharps, potentially infectious waste and other hazardous waste was poor. © The Author(s) 2012

Accuracy of the Arabic HCL - 32 and MDQ in detecting patients with bipolar disorder

BACKGROUND: Studies about the two most used and validated instruments for the early detection of Bipolar Disorder (BD), the 32 - item Hypomania Checklist (HCL - 32) and the Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ), are scarce in non-Western countries. This study aimed to explore the reliability, factor structure, and criterion validity of their Arabic versions in a sample of Tunisian patients diagnosed with mood disorders. METHODS: The sample included 59 patients with BD, 86 with unipolar Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and 281 controls. Confirmatory factor analysis was applied to show that a single global score was an appropriate summary measure of the screeners in the sample. Receiver Operating Characteristic analysis was used to assess the capacity of the translated screeners to distinguish patients with BD from those with MDD and controls. RESULTS: Reliability was good for both tools in all samples. The bifactor implementation of the most reported two-factor model had the best fit for both screeners. Both were able to distinguish patients diagnosed with BD from putatively healthy controls, and equally able to distinguish patients diagnosed with BD from patients with MDD. CONCLUSION: Both screeners work best in excluding the presence of BD in patients with MDD, which is an advantage in deciding whether or not to prescribe an antidepressant. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12888-023-04529-x

Effects of intravenous Semelil (ANGIPARS�) on diabetic foot ulcers healing: A multicenter clinical trial

Some diabetic foot ulcers, which are notoriously difficult to cure, are one of the most common health problems in diabetic patients .There are several surgical and medical options which already have been introduced for treatment of diabetic foot ulcers, so some patient will require amputation. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of intravenous Semelil (ANGIPARS�), a naive herbal extract to accelerate healing of diabetic foot ulcers. A multi-centric randomized controlled trial was conducted to evaluate intravenous Semelil for healing of diabetic foot ulcers. Sixteen diabetic patients were treated with intravenous Semelil, and nine other patients were treated with placebo as control group. Both groups were otherwise treated by wound debridement and irrigation with normal saline solution, systemic antibiotic therapy and daily wound dressing. Before and after intervention, the foot ulcer surface area was measured, by digital photography, mapping and planimetry. After 4 weeks, the mean foot ulcer surface area decreased from 479.93±379.75 mm2 to 198.93±143.75 mm2 in the intervention group (p = 0.000) and from 766.22±960.50 mm2 to 689.11±846.74 mm2 in the control group (p = 0.076). Average wound closure in the treatment group was significantly greater than placebo group (64 vs. 25, p= 0.015). This herbal extract by intravenous rout in combination with conventional therapy is more effective than conventional therapy by itself probably without side effect. However, further studies are required in the future to confirm these results in larger population