Simultaneous Modeling of Young's Modulus, Yield Stress, and Rupture Strain of Gelatin/Cellulose Acetate Microfibrous/Nanofibrous Scaffolds Using RSM.

Electrospinning is a promising method to fabricate bioengineered scaffolds, thanks to utilizing various types of biopolymers, flexible structures, and also the diversity of output properties. Mechanical properties are one of the major components of scaffold design to fabricate an efficacious artificial substitute for the natural extracellular matrix. Additionally, fiber orientations, as one of the scaffold structural parameters, could play a crucial role in the application of fabricated fibrous scaffolds. In this study, gelatin was used as a highly biocompatible polymer in blend with cellulose acetate (CA), a polysaccharide, to enhance the achievable range of mechanical characteristics to fabricated fibrous electrospun scaffolds. By altering input variables, such as polymers concentration, weight ratio, and mandrel rotation speed, scaffolds with various mechanical and morphological properties could be achieved. As expected, the electrospun scaffold with a higher mandrel rotation speed shows higher fiber alignment. A wide range of mechanical properties were gained through different values of polymer ratio and total concentration. A general improvement in mechanical strength was observed by increasing the concentration and CA content in the solution, but contradictory effects, such as high viscosity in more concentrated solutions, influenced the mechanical characteristics as well. A response surface method was applied on experimental results in order to describe a continuous variation of Young's modulus, yield stress, and strain at rupture. A full quadratic version of equations with the 95% confidence level was applied for the response modeling. This model would be an aid for engineers to adjust mandrel rotation speed, solution concentration, and gelatin/CA ratio to achieve desired mechanical and structural properties

Application of data mining techniques to predict students' mental health status to improve educational performance

Background and Objective: Student mental health data has been recorded in the information systems of the universities across the country for several years, and due to its high volume, conventional statistical and psychoanalytic methods to predict patterns and factors affecting students' mental health are not effective. This is where data mining technology comes in handy and helps to predict and identify those at high risk based on the recorded data set of students 'physical and especially mental health status, and to make appropriate and timely decisions to improve students' condition. One of the main objectives of every managers of educational centers is making improvements in students’ educational performance. Besides the educational factors, physical and mental health is considerable which has a significant effect on students’ behavior. Therefore, some rules and patterns are required to make the best decisions, based on the prediction of students’ mental health state. This paper proposes a data mining approach for analyzing and extracting patterns in terms of new students’ mental health, which means whether they need to visit a psychologist. Our effort was on extracting hidden rules in new students’ mental health examination by employing classification approach. Methods:Techniques used in this study are decision tree, rule based classifier, neural network, logistic regression and support vector machine. Moreover, a parameter tuning process is done for all the techniques mentioned and the results presents the list of symptoms of individuals who need detailed examination. Findings:The results of the research represent that one can predict the status of students’ mental helath based on propsed model. One of the outcomes of decision tree is that if a person severely feels disappointed or seems to be obsessive by others, or feels that life is worthless, definitely a consultaion is needed. Conclusion: Considering that most of the existing research in the field of health data mining have focused on physical health, it is suggested that for future studies, all levels of health, i.e dimensions of students' health, including physical, social and spiritual health, as well as a combination of these dimensions be considered. In addition, a review of the various approaches and techniques appropriate to the psychological data set should be conducted with the aim of creating an appropriate classification for the existing techniques in this field. It is also suggested that the present data set or similar data sets (student health monitoring information) be examined with other classification techniques and the results be compared with the results of the present study. In general, it is suggested that data mining technology be used to extract hidden patterns in the mental health data set of school students at different levels of education, office workers and organizations. Finally, it is recommended that future research in this field first implement the clustering approach on the psychological data set and then use the classification and forecasting approaches.   ===================================================================================== COPYRIGHTS  ©2019 The author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, as long as the original authors and source are cited. No permission is required from the authors or the publishers.  ====================================================================================

Differences in Ocular Blood Flow Between People of African and European Descent With Healthy Eyes

Purpose: To investigate differences in ocular blood flow between people of African descent (AD) and European descent (ED) with healthy eyes. Materials and Methods: Retrobulbar and retinal capillary blood flow was assessed in 1 eye of 58 participants (24 AD, 34 ED) with healthy eyes with systemic blood pressure lower than 140/90. Retrobulbar blood flow was measured in the ophthalmic artery (OA), central retinal artery (CRA), nasal posterior ciliary artery (NPCA) and temporal posterior ciliary artery (TPCA). Peak systolic velocity (PSV), end diastolic velocity (EDV), and resistive index (RI) were assessed. Retinal capillary blood flow was assessed using mean retinal flow and avascular space defined as the percent of area measured with no blood flow. Groups were compared using t tests and Pearson correlations were compared using Fisher r-to-z transformation. Results: Compared with people of ED, people of AD had significantly lower EDV in the NPCA (P=0.01), and higher RI in the CRA (P=0.04) and TPCA (P=0.01). No significant differences were observed in mean retinal capillary flow or avascular area. In the CRA, a significant negative correlation was observed between pattern standard deviation and peak systolic velocity (P=0.02) in the AD group and this correlation was significantly different from that observed in the ED group (P=0.01). A significant correlation was also observed between pattern standard deviation and EDV (0.04) in the AD group. Conclusions: This study suggests that retrobulbar blood flow is lower in healthy eyes in persons of AD compared with ED. This may provide a mechanism through which people of AD are at increased risk for ophthalmic diseases such as glaucoma

Racial differences in correlations between optic nerve head morphology and ocular blood flow in healthy eyes

poster abstractPurpose: To assess differences in the relationship between optic nerve head (ONH) morphology and ocular blood flow between persons of African descent (AD) and European descent (ED) with healthy eyes. Methods: 46 participants (20 AD, 26 ED) with normal fundoscopic exam and intraocular pressure were included. Each participant was assessed for disc area (DA), rim area (RA), linear cup to disc ratio (CDR), mean retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness by Heidelberg retina tomograph. Retrobulbar blood flow was assessed by color Doppler imaging in the ophthalmic (OA), central retinal (CRA), nasal short posterior ciliary (NPCA) and temporal short posterior ciliary (TPCA) arteries. Peak systolic velocity (PSV), end diastolic velocity (EDV) and the resistive index (RI) were assessed in each artery. Mean retinal capillary blood flow and % of the area with no blood flow in both hemifields were measured with Heidelberg retinal flowmeter. Correlations between ONH morphology and ocular blood flow were derived using Pearson correlations. Differences between the correlations in the AD and ED groups were assessed using the Fisher r-to-z transformation method. Results: Age, gender, IOP and blood pressure were not significantly different between groups. Significant differences in correlations were observed between groups in the CRA. In this artery, PSV and DA were positively correlated in AD (r=0.43) and negatively correlated in ED (r=-0.35) (Δr=0.78; p=0.01). A similar finding was observed for PSV and RA (AD: r=0.39; ED: r=-0.22; Δr=0.61; p=0.04). Significant negative correlations between RI and CDR were observed in all arteries in the ED group (r coefficients range=-0.48 to -0.39), but not in the AD group (r coefficients range=-0.14 to 0.17). No significant differences were observed in the correlations of ONH morphology and capillary blood flow. Conclusion: ONH morphology and ocular blood flow relationship was significantly different in the healthy eyes of AD compared to ED

Determinants of timely initiation of breastfeeding among mothers in Goba Woreda, South East Ethiopia: A cross sectional study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Although breastfeeding is universal in Ethiopia, ranges of regional differences in timely initiation of breastfeeding have been documented. Initiation of breastfeeding is highly bound to cultural factors that may either enhance or inhibit the optimal practices. The government of Ethiopia developed National Infant and Young Child Feeding Guideline in 2004 and behavior change communications on breast feeding have been going on since then. However, there is a little information on the practice of timely initiation of breast feeding and factors that predict these practices after the implementation of the national guideline. The objective of this study is to determine the prevalence and determinant factors of timely initiation of breastfeeding among mothers in Bale Goba District, South East Ethiopia.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A community based cross sectional study was carried out from February to March 2010 using both quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection. A total of 608 mother infant pairs were selected using simple random sampling method and key informants for the in-depth interview were selected conveniently. Descriptive statistics, bivariate analysis and multivariable logistic regression analyses were employed to identify factors associated with timely initiation of breast feeding.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The prevalence of timely initiation of breastfeeding was 52.4%. Bivariate analysis showed that attendance of formal education, being urban resident, institutional delivery and postnatal counseling on breast feeding were significantly associated with timely initiation of breastfeeding (P < 0.05). After adjust sting for other factors on the multivariable logistic model, being in the urban area [AOR: 4.1 (95%C.I: 2.31-7.30)] and getting postnatal counseling [AOR: 2.7(1.86-3.94)] were independent predictors of timely initiation of breastfeeding.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The practice of timely initiation of breast feeding is low as nearly half the mothers did not start breastfeeding with one hour after delivery. The results suggest that breast feeding behavior change communication especially during the post natal period is critical in promoting optimal practice in the initiation of breast feeding. Rural mothers need special attention as they are distant from various information sources.</p

Size-Tailored Physicochemical Properties of Monodisperse Polystyrene Nanoparticles and the Nanocomposites Made Thereof

The latex monodisperse polystyrene (PS) colloids are important for different advanced applications (e.g. in coating, biotechnology etc.). However, the size dependency of their structural properties that impacts the characteristics of the nanocomposites composed thereof is largely unknown. Here, monodisperse PS nanoparticles (MPNPs) are synthesized via emulsion polymerization in five sizes (50, 150, 300, 350, and 450 nm). The size of the PS MPNPs is tailored by controlling the reaction time, temperature, and amount of surfactant and initiator. The correlation between the particle size and structural properties of the PS MPNPs is established by different thermomechanical and optical characterizations. The smaller particles (50 and 150 nm) show a lower glass transition (Tg) and thermal decomposition temperature and a lower Raman peak intensity. Yet, they trigger a higher IR absorption, thanks to a larger surface area. When incorporated in a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) matrix, the smaller particles impart the resulting nanocomposite a higher tensile strength, and elastic and storage moduli. Whereas, they decline the elongation and loss factor. The very few examples of the MPNPs incorporated polymeric nanocomposites have been unstudied from this perspective. Thus, these tangible knowledge can profit scalable production of this kind of nanocomposite materials for different applications in a cost/energy efficient manner.Peer reviewe