Comparison of closure of subcutaneous tissue versus non-closure in relation to wound infection and disruption after cesarean section delivery in obese patients.

چکیده: زمینه و هدف: باز شدگی زخم یکی از عوارض مهم بعد از سزارین است و چاقی یکی از ریسک فاکتورهای عفونت زخم به همراه سایر عوارض می باشد. این مطالعه با هدف مقایسه اثر دوختن یا ندوختن بافت زیر جلد در ایجاد عفونت و باز شدگی زخم بعد از عمل سزارین در افراد چاق انجام شده است. روش بررسی: در یک مطالعه کارآزمایی بالینی در شهرستان یزد 100 نفر از زنان چاقی (که بافت زیر جلد آنها حداقل cm2 بود) و با روش سزارین زایمان می کردند به دو گروه 50 نفری تقسیم شدند، در گروه مورد بعد از دوختن فاشیای شکم بافت زیر جلد با نخ ویکریل 2/0 سوچور شد و گروه شاهد بعد از دوختن فاشیا، زیر جلد را باز گذاشته و جلد ترمیم شد. بیماران هر دو گروه از نظر ترشحات عفونت و باز شدگی زخم بررسی شدند. نتایج مطالعه با تست های آماری t-student و کای دو بررسی شد. یافته ها: هر دو گروه از نظر سن، تعداد زایمان، نوع بیهوشی و نوع انسزیون یکسان بودند. عفونت چرکی (کشت مثبت) در 2 نفر ازگروه مورد و 5 نفر از گروه شاهد مشاهده شد (05/0

Comparative Effects of Diazepam Infusion and Divided Doses of Diazepam on the Treatment of Absence Status Epilepticus

ObjectiveAbsence status epilepticus (ASE) is a common form of nonconvulsive status epilepcticus. It is  characterized by loss of consciousness with spike and wave discharges in EEG simultaneously. The most effective treatment of ASE is diazepam, either infusion or in divided doses; the former is more expensive since patients must be admitted in an Intensive Care Unit. The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the efficacy of diazepam infusion and parenteral diazepam in divided doses in the treatment of ASE.Materials & MethodsThis randomized controlled clinical trial, enrolled 20 patients with absence status epilepticus. Diagnosis was made based on the clinical manifestations and electroencephalogram (EEG). Prior to treatment, all patients underwent EEG and imaging. Patients were randomized to receive 0.2 mg/kg/h diazepam infusion or 0.2 mg/kg in six daily doses. Clinical and EEG improvements were considered to be optimal responses.ResultsOf the 20 patients studied, 13 (65%) were boys and the remaining 7(35%) were girls. There were no differences between the two groups regarding age and sex (non-significant). Following treatments after 48 hours, 1 week and 1 month respectively, clinical improvement in previous problems (loss of consciousness, ataxia, behavior and speech problems) and EEGs was similar in both groups (p=1). There were controlled seizures in 18 (90%), abnormal CT scans in 5 (25%), abnormal EEGs after treatments in 6 (30%) cases; however no significant differences were seen between the two groups.ConclusionThis study demonstrates that there are no significant differences between treatments of ASE with diazepam infusion and parenteral diazepam in divided doses. Treatment of ASE, with divided doses of diazepam is easier, less expensive and patients do not require to be hospitalized in an Intensive Care unit

Tween 80 coated alumina: An alternative support for solid phase extraction of copper, nickel, cobalt and cadmium prior to flame atomic absorption spectrometric determination

AbstractThe potential of coated alumina as a sorbent for the simultaneous separation and preconcentration of copper, nickel, cobalt and cadmium ions has been investigated. Copper, nickel, cobalt and cadmium were adsorbed quantitatively on coated alumina in the pH of 6. The main factors such as pH, amount sorbent, sample and eluent flow rate, type and volume of elution solution and interfering ions on the sorption of metal ions have been investigated in detail. Under the optimum experimental conditions, the detection limits (3Sb) of this method for Cu(II), Ni(II), Co(II) and Cd(II) ions were 0.4, 1.0, 1.2 and 0.2ngmL−1 in the original solution, respectively. Seven replicate determinations of a mixture of 5.0μg of Cu(II), Ni(II), Co(II) and 1.0μg of Cd(II) ions in the original solution gave a mean absorbance of 0.093, 0.071, 0.066 and 0.049 with relative standard deviations 1.9%, 2.3%, 2.6% and 2.1%, respectively. The method has been applied for the determination of trace amounts of Cu(II), Ni(II), Co(II) and Cd(II) ions in tobacco, brewed tea and water samples with satisfactory results

Increasing the Spatial Coverage of Atmospheric Aerosol Depth Measurements Using Random Forest and Mean Filters

Aerosols play a critical role in atmospheric chemistry, and affect clouds, climate, and human health. However, the spatial coverage of satellite-derived aerosol optical depth (AOD) products is limited by cloud cover, orbit patterns, polar night, snow, and bright surfaces, which negatively impacts the coverage and accuracy of particulate matter modeling and health studies relying on air pollution characterization. We present a random forest model trained to capture spatial dependence of AOD and produce higher coverage through imputation. By combining the models with and without the mean filters, we are able to create full-coverage high-resolution daily AOD in the conterminous U.S., which can be used for aerosol estimation and other studies leveraging air pollutant concentration levels.Comment: IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium 2023 6 Pages, 2 Figure

Affordability assessment from a static to dynamic concept: A scenario�based assessment of cardiovascular medicines

The out�of�pocket payments for prescription medications can impose a financial burden on patients from low� and middle� incomes and who suffer from chronic diseases. The present study aims at evaluating the affordability of cardiovascular disease (CVD) medication in Iran. This includes measuring affordability through World Health Organization/Health Action International (WHO/HAI) methodology. In this method, affordability is characterized as the number of daysʹ wages of the lowest�paid unskilled government worker. The different medication therapy scenarios are defined in mono�and combination therapy approaches. This method adds on to WHO/HAI methodology to discover new approaches to affordability assessments. The results show the differences in the medicines affordability when different approaches are used in mono�and combination therapy between 6 main sub�therapeutic groups of CVD. It indicates the medicine affordability is not a static concept and it changes dynamically between CVD therapeutic subgroups when it used alone or in combination with other medicines regarding patients� characteristics and medical conditions. Hypertension and anti�arrhythmia therapeutic groups had the most non-affordability and hyperlipidemia had the most affordable medicines. Therefore, affordability can be considered as a dynamic concept, which not only affected by the medicine price but significantly affected by a patient�s characteristics, the number of medical conditions, and insurance coverage. © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland

Evolution of hepatitis B virus surface gene and protein among Iranian chronic carriers from different provinces

Background and Objectives: Iranian chronic HBV carrier�s population has shown a unique pattern of genotype D distribution all around the country. The aim of this study was to explore more details of evolutionary history of carriers based on structural surface proteins from different provinces. Materials and Methods: Sera obtained from 360 isolates from 12 Different regions of country were used for amplification and sequencing of surface proteins. A detailed mutational analysis was undertaken. Results: The total ratio for Missense/Silent nucleotide substitutions was 0.96. Sistan and Kermanshah showed the lowest rate of evolution between provinces (P = 0.055). On the other hand, Khorasan Razavi and Khoozestan contained the highest ratio (P = 0.055). The rest of regions were laid between these two extremes. Azarbayjan and Guilan showed the highest proportion of immune epitope distribution (91.3 and 96, respectively). Conversely, Sistan and Tehran harbored the least percentage (66.6 and 68.8, respectively). Kermanshah province contained only 5.2, whereas Isfahan had 54.5 of B cell epitope distribution. In terms of T helper epitopes, all provinces showed a somehow homogeneity: 22.58 (Fars) to 46.6 (Khuzestan). On the other hand, distribution of substitutions within the CTL epitopes showed a wide range of variation between 6.6 (Khuzestan) and 63 (Kermanshah). Conclusion: Further to low selection pressure found in Iranian population, the variations between different regions designate random genetic drift within the surface proteins. These finding would have some applications in terms of specific antiviral regimen, design of more efficient vaccine and public health issues. © 2015, Tehran University of Medical Science. All rights reserved

The United States COVID-19 Forecast Hub dataset

Academic researchers, government agencies, industry groups, and individuals have produced forecasts at an unprecedented scale during the COVID-19 pandemic. To leverage these forecasts, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) partnered with an academic research lab at the University of Massachusetts Amherst to create the US COVID-19 Forecast Hub. Launched in April 2020, the Forecast Hub is a dataset with point and probabilistic forecasts of incident cases, incident hospitalizations, incident deaths, and cumulative deaths due to COVID-19 at county, state, and national, levels in the United States. Included forecasts represent a variety of modeling approaches, data sources, and assumptions regarding the spread of COVID-19. The goal of this dataset is to establish a standardized and comparable set of short-term forecasts from modeling teams. These data can be used to develop ensemble models, communicate forecasts to the public, create visualizations, compare models, and inform policies regarding COVID-19 mitigation. These open-source data are available via download from GitHub, through an online API, and through R packages