Older adults' and nurses perception of dignity in the setting of Iranian hospitals: A cross-sectional study

Aim: This study was designed to investigate the perceptions of hospitalized older adults and nurses regarding the importance and observance of dignity, and, in addition, to address the relationship between the importance and observance of dignity and individual social variables in nurses and hospitalized older adults, and the relationship between importance and observance of dignity in older adults and hospital wards and bed layouts. Design: A cross-sectional study. Methods: Convenience sampling was used to select 400 hospitalized older adults and 146 nurses in Kashan University of Medical Science hospitals, Iran. Data were collected using a demographic questionnaire, and a dignity scale including three fields: privacy, communication, and autonomy. The data were described using descriptive statistics, and analyzed via the one-way ANOVA, t- test, Pearson correlation coefficient, and linear regression model. Results: Over half of the older adults were female (57), and 76.5 were married. More than 60 of older adults believed that dignity had a high degree of importance and that observance of dignity was at a good level. The majority of nurses rated the importance and observance of dignity at weak to moderate levels (p < 0.0001). Conclusion: Due to the difference in viewpoints between older adults and nurses regarding dignity, barriers to the observance of dignity as perceived by nurses should be surveyed. © 2019 Central European Journal of Nursing and Midwifery

The Effect of Massage With Lavender Oil on Restless Leg Syndrome in Hemodialysis Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: Restless leg syndrome (RLS) is a common problem in patients with chronic renal failure. It can reduce the quality of life and sleep disturbances. This disorder is usually treated pharmacologically. Recently, complementary medicine methods have been suggested because of chemical drugs adverse effects. There is not enough evidence about the effect of aromatherapy on RLS. Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the effects of massage with lavender oil on RLS symptoms in hemodialysis patients. Patients and Methods: This randomized clinical trial study included 70 hemodialysis patients with RLS that were randomly assigned into two groups in 2014. The experimental group received effleurage massage using lavender oil and control group received routine care for three weeks. Data was collected with RLS questionnaire and analyzed using independent and paired t-test and Chi-square test. Results: The mean RLS scores were not significantly different in the two groups at the start of study (22.41 ± 7.67 vs. 22.90 ± 4.38, P = 0.76). At the end of study, the mean RLS score significantly decreased in the intervention group, while this score remained relatively un-changed in the control group (12.41 ± 5.49 vs. 23.23 ± 4.52, P < 0.0001). Conclusions: Lavender oil massage was effective to improve RLS in hemodialysis patients. It has no adverse effects, is practical and cost-effective. It is suggested to be used along with routine treatment of RLS in hemodialysis patients

Cleveland Adolescent Sleepiness Questionnaire (CASQ): a translation and validation study of the Persian version

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to assess the validity and reliability of the Persian version of the Cleveland Adolescent Sleepiness Questionnaire (CASQ) in Iranian adolescents. Methods: The CASQ consists of 16 items measuring extreme sleepiness during the day in adolescents aged 11�17 years old. The questionnaire includes two dimensions: Sleepiness Statements and Alertness Statements. This study was a descriptive cross-sectional study. The original English text of CASQ was translated into Persian using backward-forward translation. Then, 310 secondary school adolescents aged 11�17 years old completed that in Kashan. The internal validity of the questionnaire was determined two times at an interval of two weeks using Cronbach's alpha coefficient. The concurrent validity was determined using Spearman correlation coefficient. Factor analysis was used by performing principle component analysis for assessing construct validity. Results: 199 (47.1) of the adolescents participated in this study, were male and 111 (52.9) were female. Mean and standard deviation of the age of adolescents were 14.31 ± 0.9. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the entire CASQ was the satisfactory value of 0.8. The intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC coefficient) of the tool was 0.78, which confirmed the repeatability of this test. Spearman�s correlation coefficient between CASQ and Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS) was equal to 0.21, and the correlation coefficient between CASQ and Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was 0.25. Both were significant at P < 0.05 level. Conclusions: Based on the present study findings, we concluded that the Persian version of CASQ has an appropriate validity and reliability for assessing the sleepiness of adolescents in the Persian language community. © 2020, Japanese Society of Sleep Research

Shelter models for consequence and risk assessment of CO2 pipelines

Pipelines are acknowledged as one of the most efficient and cost-effective methods for transporting large volumes of various fluids over long distances and therefore the majority of proposed schemes for Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) involve high pressure pipelines transporting carbon dioxide (CO2). In order to be able to design and route pipelines safely, it is a code requirement that a separation distance, or safety zone, is defined between the pipeline and any habitable dwellings along the route. Safety zones are generally defined on the basis of a Quantitative Risk Assessment (QRA). The purpose of a QRA is to assess the risks posed by a pipeline failure to people in the vicinity and to ensure that consistent levels of risk are applied along the pipeline route. The risk levels are normally calculated along a transect drawn perpendicular to the pipeline. These levels are then compared with defined acceptance criteria to determine the safety zone i.e. the distance from the pipeline within which the risk to the public from a pipeline failure is considered to be unacceptable. The calculation of the risk level requires the determination of both the probability of a failure occurring in the pipeline and the consequences of that failure to the population. For natural gas pipelines, existing and accepted QRA techniques can be implemented to define the consequences of failure based on the thermal hazards. However for CO2 pipelines, the consequences of failure need to be considered differently, as they relate to a toxic hazard rather than a thermal hazard. Therefore in order to conduct a consequence analysis, what is required is a determination of the concentration of CO2 to which an individual may be exposed during a release event. This type of data can be generated either using dispersion models. These models will produce a profile of the change in CO2 concentration with time at various distances from the release, see for example [1, 2], that can then be used in the QRA to determine the toxic dose and therefore the level of harm experienced by an individual. However, none of these approaches consider the effect of shelter on the dose experienced by an individual who is within a building at the time of the release or is outside and enters a building to seek shelter. The work described in this paper seeks to address this gap and describes the application of two models ̶ an analytical and a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model ̶ that can be used to determine the effects of shelter on the toxic dose received by an individual during a pipeline release event. The motivation behind this work was: i) to develop a validated and computationally efficient shelter model, which had been tested against experimental data and CFD models, ii) to use both CFD and analytical models to demonstrate how shelter should be considered as part of the QRA procedure for a CO2 pipeline. A description of the analytical model has been published previously [3]. Therefore, the current paper concentrates on an explanation of the development and application of the CFD model. Using a case study scenario for a single roomed building, engulfed by a transient cloud of CO2, comparisons are made between the output of the analytical models and the CFD models for the same scenario. A sensitivity analysis indicates the input parameters that most affect the resultant toxic effects within the building. The paper further demonstrates how both models can be extended to investigate the effects of partial coverage of the building with the cloud of CO2 and the impact of partitions within the building. Predictions of toxic dose are made for both models and it is demonstrated how these results can be used in a QRA analysis. This work has been funded by the UK Carbon Capture and Research Centre within the framework of the S-Cape project (Shelter and Escape in the Event of a Release of CO2 from CCS Transport Infrastructure UKCCSRC-C2-179). References [1] M. Molag, C. Dam, Modelling of accidental releases from a high pressure CO2 pipelines, in:  10th International Conference on Greenhouse Gas Control Technologies, Amsterdam, 2011, pp. 2301-2307. [2] J. Koornneef, M. Spruijt, M. Molag, A. Ramírez, W. Turkenburg, A. Faaij, Quantitative risk assessment of CO2 transport by pipelines - A review of uncertainties and their impacts, Journal of Hazardous Materials, 177 (2010) 12-27. [3] C.J.Lyons, J.M.Race, H.F.Hopkins, P Cleaver, Prediction of the consequences of a CO2 pipeline release on building occupants. in Hazards 25: Edinburgh International Conference Centre, Edinburgh; United Kingdom; 13 May 2015 through 15 May 2015. vol. 160, Institution of Chemical Engineers Symposium Series, Red Hook, Hazards 25, Edinburgh, 201

Continuous atom laser with Bose-Einstein condensates involving three-body interactions

We demonstrate, through numerical simulations, the emission of a coherent continuous matter wave of constant amplitude from a Bose-Einstein Condensate in a shallow optical dipole trap. The process is achieved by spatial control of the variations of the scattering length along the trapping axis, including elastic three body interactions due to dipole interactions. In our approach, the outcoupling mechanism are atomic interactions and thus, the trap remains unaltered. We calculate analytically the parameters for the experimental implementation of this CW atom laser.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure

A proposal for continuous loading of an optical dipole trap with magnetically guided ultra cold atoms

The capture of a moving atom by a non-dissipative trap, such as an optical dipole trap, requires the removal of the excessive kinetic energy of the atom. In this article we develop a mechanism to harvest ultra cold atoms from a guided atom beam into an optical dipole trap by removing their directed kinetic energy. We propose a continuous loading scheme where this is accomplished via deceleration by a magnetic potential barrier followed by optical pumping to the energetically lowest Zeeman sublevel. We theoretically investigate the application of this scheme to the transfer of ultra cold chromium atoms from a magnetically guided atom beam into a deep optical dipole trap. We discuss the realization of a suitable magnetic field configuration. Based on numerical simulations of the loading process we analyze the feasibility and efficiency of our loading scheme.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure

The main factors affecting heat transfer along dense phase CO2 pipelines

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) schemes will necessarily involve the transportation of large volumes of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the capture source of the CO2 to the storage or utilisation site. It is likely that the majority of the onshore transportation of CO2 will be through buried pipelines. Although onshore CO2 pipelines have been operational in the United States of America for over 40 years, the design of CO2 pipelines for CCS systems still presents some challenges when compared with the design of natural gas pipelines. The aim of this paper is to investigate the phenomenon of heat transfer from a buried CO2 pipeline to the surrounding soil and to identify the key parameters that influence the resultant soil temperature. It is demonstrated that, unlike natural gas pipelines, the CO2 in the pipeline retains its heat for longer distances resulting in the potential to increase the ambient soil temperature and influence environmental factors such as crop germination and water content. The parameters that have the greatest effect on heat transfer are shown to be the inlet temperature and flow rate, i.e. pipeline design parameters, that are within the control of the pipeline operator rather than environmental parameters. Consequently, by carefully controlling the design parameters of the pipeline it is possible to control the heat transfer to the soil and the temperature drop along the pipeline

Association between PM2.5 and risk of hospitalization for myocardial infarction: A systematic review and a meta-analysis

Background: It is generally assumed that there have been mixed results in the literature regarding the association between ambient particulate matter (PM) and myocardial infarction (MI). The aim of this meta-analysis was to explore the rate of short-term exposure PM with aerodynamic diameters �2.5 μm (PM2.5) and examine its potential effect(s) on the risk of MI. Methods: A systematic search was conducted on databases like PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Embase with components: "air pollution" and "myocardial infarction". The summary relative risk (RR) and 95 confidence intervals (95CI) were also calculated to assess the association between the PM2.5 and MI. Results: Twenty-six published studies were ultimately identified as eligible candidates for the meta-analysis of MI until Jun 1, 2018. The results illustrated that a 10-μg/m 3 increase in PM2.5 was associated with the risk of MI (RR = 1.02; 95 CI 1.01-1.03; P � 0.0001). The heterogeneity of the studies was assessed through a random-effects model with p &lt; 0.0001 and the I2 was 69.52, indicating a moderate degree of heterogeneity. We also conducted subgroup analyses including study quality, study design, and study period. Accordingly, it was found that subgroups time series study design and high study period could substantially decrease heterogeneity (I2 = 41.61, 41.78). Conclusions: This meta-analysis indicated that exposure-response between PM2.5 and MI. It is vital decision makers implement effective strategies to help improve air pollution, especially in developing countries or prevent exposure to PM2.5 to protect human health. © 2020 The Author(s)

Active Galactic Nuclei under the scrutiny of CTA

Active Galactic Nuclei (hereafter AGN) produce powerful outflows which offer excellent conditions for efficient particle acceleration in internal and external shocks, turbulence, and magnetic reconnection events. The jets as well as particle accelerating regions close to the supermassive black holes (hereafter SMBH) at the intersection of plasma inflows and outflows, can produce readily detectable very high energy gamma-ray emission. As of now, more than 45 AGN including 41 blazars and 4 radiogalaxies have been detected by the present ground-based gamma-ray telescopes, which represents more than one third of the cosmic sources detected so far in the VHE gamma-ray regime. The future Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) should boost the sample of AGN detected in the VHE range by about one order of magnitude, shedding new light on AGN population studies, and AGN classification and unification schemes. CTA will be a unique tool to scrutinize the extreme high-energy tail of accelerated particles in SMBH environments, to revisit the central engines and their associated relativistic jets, and to study the particle acceleration and emission mechanisms, particularly exploring the missing link between accretion physics, SMBH magnetospheres and jet formation. Monitoring of distant AGN will be an extremely rewarding observing program which will inform us about the inner workings and evolution of AGN. Furthermore these AGN are bright beacons of gamma-rays which will allow us to constrain the extragalactic infrared and optical backgrounds as well as the intergalactic magnetic field, and will enable tests of quantum gravity and other "exotic" phenomena.Comment: 28 pages, 23 figure