Investigation of Inhibition Effect and Determination of Some Quantum Chemical Parameters of an Organic Compound on the Carbon Steel in Sulfuric Acid Medium

The inhibition ability of [3-(4-methyl-pyridin-2-y1)-4-oxo-2-phenylimino-thiazolidin-5-ylidene]-acetic acid ethyl ester (MOTAE) on the corrosion behavior of carbon steel in 0.5 M sulfuric acid solution was investigated using weight loss and potentiodynamic polarization techniques. The inhibition efficiencies increased as the concentration of the compound was increased. The calculated inhibition efficiencies from the investigated methods were in good agreement. Potentiodynamic polarization measurements indicate that MOTAE acts as a mixed type inhibitor. The adsorption of inhibitor on the steel surface obeys Langmuir adsorption isotherm. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM)‎ were used to characterize the surface of the alloy. The structure of inhibitor was optimized using three quantum chemical levels. Some quantum chemical parameters as well as Mulliken charge densities for this molecule were computed and discussed

A distributed wind downscaling technique for wave climate modeling under future scenarios

The aim of this study is to develop a Weibull-based distributed downscaling technique for wind field as forcing for the wave models to investigate the wave climate under future scenarios. For this purpose, the statistical downscaling approach modifies Weibull distribution parameters of the global circulation model wind speeds based on the corresponding features of wind data of ECMWF (European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts). The proposed technique has the advantage of modifying the wind components in each grid point based on the corresponding values in the same grid point of ECMWF wind field. Hence, it is superior to other existing models due to considering the spatial variation. The previous models using inverse distance weighting suffer from heterogeneity and ignoring spatial variation in areas with high gradient of wind speed. Moreover, the Weibull-based technique outperforms the existing statistical downscaling techniques in terms of accuracy. Prior to investigate future distribution of wave characteristics, performance of the selected GCM was evaluated and compared against the corresponding models obtained from the available regional climate models. Future projections of wind fields (RCP4.5, RCP8.5) were downscaled for the period of 2081 to 2100 with the proposed model as driving force for wave modeling in the Persian Gulf. To investigate the impacts of climate change on wave characteristics, results of the wave simulations from a third generation wave model (SWAN) for future scenarios are compared with those of the historical period (1981–2000) in monthly, seasonal, and annual scales. Generally, for RCP8.5, the results indicate a decrease in future significant wave height and peak wave period about 15% and 5%, respectively. However, the change of wave direction is marginal. Moreover, wave models forced with RCP4.5 wind data provide slightly higher average values in terms of wave height and peak wave period compared to those of RCP8.5

Popularity and Harms of Aural Foreign Bodies: A Descriptive Study of Patients in Baqiyatallah University Hospital, Tehran, Iran.

peer reviewed[en] OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the prevalence of external ear complications among Iranian aural foreign body users attending to otolaryngology clinic of our hospital. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study patients attending to Otolaryngology clinics of Baqiyatallah hospital were enrolled regardless of their age, gender and reason of attending. Patients between 15 and 60 years of age were included in the present study. Those with positive history of chronic ear diseases, ear surgery, congenital ear disorders, trauma to ear or head and neck region or shock wave trauma were excluded from the study. Demographic information as well as data on chief complaint, educational level, frequency and type of used foreign body and findings of physical examination and Otoscopy by a single otolaryngologist were recorded in a predesigned checklist. RESULTS: Eventually 362 patients (232 male and 130 female) with a mean age of 40.32 ± 16.90 years underwent analysis. Of all patients 244 (67.2%) were using a kind of aural foreign body frequently and Cotton bud was the most popular (63.5%) used foreign body among patients. Drying ear canal was the most common (54.9%) reason of using AFBs among study individuals followed by itching (29.5%) and pyorrhea (11.06%). Also 11 (4.5%) patients were using AFBs as a habit with no specific reason. Itching was the most prevalent symptom reported by both aural foreign body users (78%) and non-users (45.5%); however it was significantly higher among AFB users (p = 0.026). Also hearing loss was significantly more reported by AFB users (p = 0.033). A majority of patients had normal physical examination in both AFB users and non-users group. Inflammation of ear canal was significantly more detected in AFB users (p = 0.004). In addition, rate of right ear wax impaction was higher among AFB users (p = 0.016). CONCLUSION: In conclusion we realized that 67.2% of patients attending to Otolaryngology clinic of our hospital were using a kind of aural foreign bodies and itching was the most common chief complaint of these patients

Diagnostic Accuracy of Rapid Antigen Tests for COVID-19 Detection: A Systematic Review With Meta-analysis

Introduction: Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to detect SARS-CoV-2 is time-consuming and sometimes not feasible in developing nations. Rapid antigen test (RAT) could decrease the load of diagnosis. However, the efficacy of RAT is yet to be investigated comprehensively. Thus, the current systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of RAT against RT-PCR methods as the reference standard. Methods: We searched the MEDLINE/Pubmed and Embase databases for the relevant records. The QUADAS-2 tool was used to assess the quality of the studies. Diagnostic accuracy measures [i.e., sensitivity, specificity, diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), positive likelihood ratios (PLR), negative likelihood ratios (NLR), and the area under the curve (AUC)] were pooled with a random-effects model. All statistical analyses were performed with Meta-DiSc (Version 1.4, Cochrane Colloquium, Barcelona, Spain). Results: After reviewing retrieved records, we identified 60 studies that met the inclusion criteria. The pooled sensitivity and specificity of the rapid antigen tests against the reference test (the real-time PCR) were 69% (95% CI: 68–70) and 99% (95% CI: 99–99). The PLR, NLR, DOR and the AUC estimates were found to be 72 (95% CI: 44–119), 0.30 (95% CI: 0.26–0.36), 316 (95% CI: 167–590) and 97%, respectively. Conclusion: The present study indicated that using RAT kits is primarily recommended for the early detection of patients suspected of having COVID-19, particularly in countries with limited resources and laboratory equipment. However, the negative RAT samples may need to be confirmed using molecular tests, mainly when the symptoms of COVID-19 are present. Keywords: COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, rapid antigen test, specificity, sensitivity, meta-analysi

Construct validity of the quality of life in life-threatening illness-patient questionnaire (QOLLTI-P) in cancer patients

Quality of life (QOL) optimization is an important issue during the process of care for patients suffering from a life-threatening illness such as cancer. The Quality of Life in Life-Threatening Illness-Patient questionnaire (QOLLTI-P) is a self-administered questionnaire based on the McGill Quality of Life questionnaire (MQOL) with domains added to enhance content validity. This study's main objective was to assess the construct validity of QOLLTI-P in cancer patients. Cancer outpatients were asked to complete a set of questionnaires including QOLLTI-P and the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy- Spiritual well-being scale (FACIT-Sp). An 8-factor structure was suggested for QOLLTI-P. In general, QOLLTI-P Total and subscale scores are highly correlated with their corresponding FACIT-Sp scores. In conclusion, QOLLTI-P is a valid instrument to assess the QOL of cancer patients.L'optimisation de la qualité de vie (QOL, quality of life) est un enjeu important lorsqu'on donne des soins aux patients atteints d'une maladie grave telle que le cancer. Le Questionnaire de qualité de vie pour patient gravement malade (QOLLTI-P, Quality of Life in Life-Threatening Illness – Patient) est un questionnaire auto-administré basé sur le Questionnaire de qualité de vie de McGill (MQOL, McGill Quality of Life), avec des domaines supplémentaires ajoutés pour augmenter la validité du contenu. Le but principal de cette étude était d'évaluer la validité conceptuelle du QOLLTI-P pour les patients atteints de cancer. On a demandé aux patients des cliniques externes en oncologie de compléter une série de questionnaires comprenant le QOLLTI-P et le Bilan fonctionnel de la thérapie pour une maladie chronique – Échelle de bien-être spirituel (FACIT-Sp, Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy – Spiritual well-being scale). Une structure de 8 facteurs a été suggérée pour le QOLLTI-P. En général, les cotes des sous-échelles et les cotes totales du QOLLTI-P sont fortement corrélées avec les cotes du FACIT-Sp correspondantes. En conclusion, le QOLLTI-P est, un instrument valable pour évaluer la qualité de vie des patients atteints de cancer

An analytical model and ANN simulation for carbon nanotube based ammonium gas sensors

As one of the most interesting advancements in the field of nano technology, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been given special attention because of their remarkable mechanical and electrical properties and are being used in many scientific and engineering research projects. One such application facilitated by the fact that CNTs experience changes in electrical conductivity when exposed to different gases is the use of these materials as part of gas detection sensors. These are typically constructed on a Field Effect Transistor (FET) based structure in which the CNT is employed as the channel between the source and the drain. In this study, an analytical model has been proposed and developed with the initial assumption that the gate voltage is directly proportional to the gas concentration as well as its temperature. Using the corresponding formulae for CNT conductance, the proposed mathematical model is derived. An Artificial Neural Network (ANN) algorithm has also been incorporated to obtain another model for the I-V characteristics in which the experimental data extracted from a recent work by N. Peng et al. has been used as the training data set. The comparative study of the results from ANN as well as the analytical models with the experimental data in hand show a satisfactory agreement which validates the proposed models. It is observed that the results obtained from the ANN model are closer to the experimental data than those from the analytical mode

More comprehensively measuring quality of life in life-threatening illness: the McGill Quality of Life Questionnaire – Expanded

Background: Domains other than those commonly measured (physical, psychological, social, and sometimes existential/spiritual) are important to the quality of life of people with life-threatening illness. The McGill Quality of Life Questionnaire (MQOL) – Revised measures the four common domains. The aim of this study was to create a psychometrically sound instrument, MQOL – Expanded, to comprehensively measure quality of life by adding to MQOL-Revised the domains of cognition, healthcare, environment, (feeling like a) burden, and possibly, finance. Methods: Confirmatory factor analyses were conducted on three datasets to ascertain whether seven new items belonged with existing MQOL-Revised domains, whether good model fit was obtained with their addition as five separate domains to MQOL-Revised, and whether a second-order factor representing overall quality of life was present. People with life-threatening illnesses (mainly cancer) or aged > 80 were recruited from 15 healthcare sites in seven Canadian provinces. Settings included: palliative home care and inpatient units; acute care units; oncology outpatient clinics. Results: Good model fit was obtained when adding each of the five domains separately to MQOL-Revised and for the nine correlated domains. Fit was acceptable for a second-order factor model. The financial domain was removed because of low importance. The resulting MQOL-Expanded is a 21-item instrument with eight domains (fit of eight correlated domains: Comparative Fit Index = .96; Root Mean Square Error of Approximation = .033). Conclusions: MQOL-Expanded builds on MQOL-Revised to more comprehensively measure the quality of life of people with life-threatening illness. Our analyses provide validity evidence for the MQOL-Expanded domain and summary scores; the need for further validation research is discussed. Use of MQOL-Expanded will enable a more holistic understanding of the quality of life of people with a life-threatening illness and the impact of treatments and interventions upon it. It will allow for a better understanding of less commonly assessed but important life domains (cognition, healthcare, environment, feeling like a burden) and their relationship to the more commonly assessed domains (physical, psychological, social, existential/spiritual).Medicine, Faculty ofOther UBCNon UBCFamily Practice, Department ofPopulation and Public Health (SPPH), School ofUrologic Sciences, Department ofReviewedFacult