Investigation of the efficacy of colorimetric capnometry method used to verify the correct placement of the nasogastric tube

WOS: 000390741900007PubMed ID: 27843027Objectives: This present study was designed to determine the efficacy of the colorimetric capnometry method used to verify the correct placement of the nasogastric tube. Methods: The present study comprised forty patients who had a nasogastric tube inserted and were being monitored in the adult intensive care unit. After the insertion of the nasogastric tube, 40 colorimetric capnometry and 40 auscultation measurements were performed. Auscultation and colorimetric capnometry results were compared with tube placement results confirmed radiologically. Results: In the confirmation of the placement of the nasogastric tube, the consistency was 97.5% (p 0.05) between the auscultatory method and the radiological method. The oesophageal placement of the nasogastric tube was detected with the colorimetric capnometry method, but the gastric and duodenal insertions were not determined. White the sensitivity and specificity of the colorimetric capnometry method in determining the correct placement of the nasogastric tube were 1.00 and 0.667 respectively, those of the auscultatory method were 0.89 and 0.0 respectively. Conclusion: As a result, for the confirmation of the NGT placement, the colorimetric capnometry method is considered more reliable than the auscultatory method and is compatible with the radiological method. However, the colorimetric capnometry method is inadequate to distinguish between the gastric or duodenal insertion. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Growth of ZnO nanoflowers: effects of anodization time and substrate roughness on structural, morphological, and wetting properties

Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoflowers were grown on pure zinc plates through electrochemical anodization. Prior to anodization, zinc plates were artificially roughened by sanding with emery papers #1000, #1500, and #2000 grits so as to obtain varying substrate surface profiles. Thus, the effect of zinc plates' roughness on the structural, morphological, and wetting properties was investigated by means of anodization time. X-ray diffraction measurements showed that the grown nanostructures were of wurtzite structure. Scanning electron microscope images revealed that anodization time increased the fraction of anodized surface. Additionally, increasing anodization time yields an increase in the aspect ratio of the micrometer long nanoflower spines, as well as, by increasing anodization time, from 0 to 600 s, contact angle gradually decreases for all substrate surface roughness values. The best wettability performance with the lowest contact angle with 13.46 degrees was recorded for the sample with highest roughness (sanded with #1000) and anodized for 600 s. It is expected that the electrochemical anodization method which enables rapid and controlled formation of metal oxide nanostructures can further be a promising way to develop structures with tunable wettability

Vacuum arc melted and heat treated AlCoCrFeNiTiX based high-entropy alloys: Thermodynamic and microstructural investigations

The AlCoCrFeNi alloy system is one of the commonly studied high-entropy alloys (HEA). The additional elements like Ti affect the properties of HEAs. In order to predict these effects on the microstructure and the properties of HEAs, a suitable phase diagram is needed. The phase diagrams can be plotted by using thermodynamic software and databases. But experimental studies should be done to control whether this phase diagram is suitable or not. The aim of this study is to propose a phase diagram suitable for the AlCoCrFeNiTiX system by using ThermoCalc software and to compare it with the experimental results. In this work, HEAs were produced by a vacuum arc melting (VAM) method followed by a heat treatment (H-T) process. The stoichiometric amount of Ti was varied-(X = 0.0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, and 1.0). Its effects on the microstructure evaluations and phase transformations in HEAs were investigated. The H-T processes were realized at different temperatures and cooling conditions. The thermodynamic investigations were per-formed to predict the phases present within as-cast (AC) and heat-treated (HT) HEAs by using Thermo-Calc 2021a Software and its TCHEA4 database. The Calculation of Phase Diagram (CALPHAD) studies were also utilized to plot the phase diagrams for the AlCoCrFeNiTiX system under both equilibrium and non-equilibrium cooling conditions. AC and HT HEAs were characterized by various techniques: scanning electron microscope (SEM) with an energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS), X-ray diffractometer (XRD), differential thermal analysis (DTA), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The phases and the microstructures of AC HEAs were detected as similar to the theoretically obtained alloys under non-equilibrium cooling conditions. While the phases and the microstructures of HT HEAs were detected as similar to the theoretically obtained alloys under equilibrium cooling conditions. As a result, the target alloy composition and production process can be designed depending on the desired properties using the proposed phase diagrams. For example, if the Sigma phase is not desired in the structure, HEAs with Ti1.1 and above contents should be studied. (C) 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Effects of the Starch Types and the Grafting Conditions on the In Vitro Mucoadhesiveness of the Starch-graft-Poly(Methacrylic Acid) Hydrogels

In the present study, grafting of poly(methacrylic acid) (PMAA) onto various types of starches (maize; rice; wheat; potato) is realized in the aqueous media for the first time using methacrylic acid as monomer and ammonium cerium-IV-nitrate as initiator system. The effects of the gelatinization pretreatment and the use of a crosslinker in the grafting reactions are investigated. The formation of the starch-graft-poly(methacrylic acid) (S-g-PMAA) is confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis. The grafting amounts (GA%) of the S-g-PMAAs are determined. The swelling and the erosion characteristics of the S-g-PMAAs are examined in deionized water and pH = 5 lactate buffer solution as an in vitro vaginal medium. Mechanical and in vitro mucoadhesiveness of the S-g-PMAAs are also investigated using ewe vaginal mucosa. The results demonstrate that the gelatinization pretreatment and crosslinking significantly affect the GA% values, swelling, erosion, mechanical, and mucoadhesive characteristics of the S-g-PMAAs depending on the types of starches. S-g-PMAAs with different mechanical and reasonable mucoadhesiveness can be obtained by manipulating the grafting conditions and using various types of starches. It is concluded that S-g-PMAAs could be appropriate candidates for applications as vaginal drug delivery systems

A novel gypsum-based lightweight composite: a combined investigation of technical and self-cleaning properties

In recent years, the focus in building facades has been on the development of self-cleaning ability in building environments for environmental remediation. However, other technical properties must not deteriorate in order to gain self-cleaning ability. Assessing other technical requirements along with self-cleaning performance, for which such studies are very limited, may reveal their potential under real conditions more clearly. This study presents the production and detailed characterization of self-cleaning gypsum-based lightweight composite materials. The main goal of this study was to evaluate both self-cleaning abilities and other technical characteristics (physical, mechanical, and particularly thermal and acoustic) of this type of composite building materials together. In this study, nano-sized anatase TiO2 was added to the composite structures at different ratios (0, 1, 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10, 15, and 20 wt.%, based on the replacement of anhydrite binder) to obtain photocatalytic activity. The results reveal that even at low ratios such as 1 and 2.5 wt.%, the incorporation of TiO2 provides a high contribution to the self-cleaning effect. In addition, some technical features also improve at these levels, and some of them remain almost the same as the TiO2-free control specimen or within the standards. It has been determined that the use of TiO2 increases the porosity of the composites, thus improving the thermal and acoustic properties. In addition, the compressive strength of the specimens improved up to the usage level of 2.5% TiO2. It was also confirmed that the excess of TiO2 had a negative effect on self-cleaning as well as other technical properties. Additionally, the possible reasons for the unexpected decrease in photocatalytic rate (19.6 x 10(-3) min(-1)) after 10 wt.% TiO2 ratio, which enables the highest photocatalytic activity, has been also explained in this study

An experimental approach to a cementitious lightweight composite mortar using synthetic wollastonite

Synthetic wollastonite (SW) has been produced with a special green route being made up of three steps by using industrial marble and quartz wastes. Due to the acicular and fibrous shape, SW has been tried to improve en-gineering characteristics of cementitious lightweight composite mortar (CLCM). In this experimental study, ecofriendly CLCM was developed with SW as a cement replacement material. Physical and chemical properties of SW were specified with XRF, XRD and SEM analysis. The cement replacement levels were evaluated as 0, 0.5, 1, 2, 5, 10 and 20 %. Setting time, normal consistency, and mineralogical investigation with XRD analysis were investigated on cementitious pastes. Flowability, unit weight, water absorption, flexural and compressive strength, ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV), and thermal conductivity analysis were carried out on CLCMs. Morphological observations reveal that SW grains were quite finer than cement particles, fibrous and acicular in shape, have a high aspect ratio, and have rough surfaces. Depending on the physical properties of SW, the water requirement of the cementitious paste increased and the setting times were delayed. Similarly, the workability of CLCMs decreased slightly, but a significant improvement was observed in the mechanical properties of the mortars at 2 % and 5 % replacement levels. Also, thermal conductivity of the mortars decreased as the SW replacement level increased. This research verifies the technical feasibility of SW application as a cement replacement in CLCM and may further promote the utilization of waste materials in production of SW

THE EFFECT OF COLD STORAGE ON THE BIOACTIVE COMPONENTS AND PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF CAUCASIAN WHORTLEBERRY (Vaccinium arctostaphylos L.). A PRELIMINARY STUDY

Ozturk, Burhan/0000-0002-0867-3942;WOS: 000375886700007In this study, antioxidant activity (AA), total phenolics (TP), total flavonoids (TF), individual phenolic compounds (IPCs), vitamin C and six other fruit characteristics including weight loss, flesh firmness, color, soluble solids content (SSC), dry matter and titratable acidity (TA) of Caucasian whortleberry fruits (Vaccinium arctostaphylos L.) were determined at harvest and at a week postharvest intervals throughout the cold storage at 0 C for 4 weeks. Significant decreases were observed in fruit weight and flesh firmness during the cold storage period. While L* and chroma values decreased significantly, an increase was observed in hue angle values. Significant increases were observed in dry matter, but decreases were observed in SSC, TA and vitamin C contents. Caucasian whortleberry fruits had quite high polyphenol contents. Total phenolics (TP), total flavonoids (TF), antioxidant activity (AA) (according to ABTS(+), DPPH- and FRAP antioxidant tests) and individual phenolic compounds (IPCs) significantly decreased throughout the cold storage. Chlorogenic acid was the major phenolic in Caucasian whortleberry fruits. It was concluded that Caucasian whortleberry fruits with high phenolic compound and flavonoid levels might serve a potential antioxidant source