On CSO-Compact Space

The aim of this paper is to introduces and study the concept of CSO-compact space via the notation of simply-open sets as well as to investigate their relationship to some well known classes of topological spaces and give some of his properties

Injustice perceptions about pain: parent–child discordance is associated with worse functional outcomes

Pain is experienced within and influenced by social environments. For children with chronic pain, the child–parent relationship and parental beliefs about pain are particularly important and may influence pain outcomes. Pain-related injustice perceptions have recently been identified as an important cognitive–emotional factor for children with pain. The current study aimed to better understand the pain-related injustice perceptions of children with chronic pain and their parents. The sample consisted of 253 pediatric chronic pain patients (mean age = 14.1 years, 74% female) presenting to a tertiary pain clinic. Patients completed measures of pain intensity, pain-related injustice perceptions, stress, functional disability, and quality of life. Parents completed a measure of pain-related injustice perceptions about their child's pain. Child–parent dyads were categorized into 1 of 4 categories based on the degree of concordance or discordance between their scores on the injustice measures. One-way analysis of variances examined differences in pain intensity, stress, functional disability, and quality of life across the 4 dyad categories. Our findings indicated that both the degree (concordant vs discordant) and direction (discordant low child–high parent vs discordant high child–low parent) of similarity between child and parent injustice perceptions were associated with child-reported pain intensity, stress, functional disability, and quality of life. The poorest outcomes were reported when children considered their pain as highly unjust, but their parents did not. These findings highlight the important role of parents in the context of pain-related injustice perceptions in pediatric chronic pain

Pain intensity and attribution mediate the impact of patient weight and gender on activity recommendations for chronic pain

Background and purpose: Despite the notable benefits of physical activity for chronic pain, a large proportion of patients with chronic pain report that they do not receive activity-related recommendations from their providers. Research suggests that patient factors such as weight and gender influence activity-related recommendations for chronic pain. Research also suggests that appraisals of the intensity and cause of pain may explain these weight and gender effects. We investigated the influence of patient weight and gender on observers' likelihood of recommending activity-related treatments for pain. We also explored the mediating effects of observers' ratings of pain severity and the extent to which pain was due to medical and lifestyle factors (pain attribution). Patients and methods: Healthy young adults (N=616; 76% female) viewed videos (Ghent Pain Videos of Daily Activities) and vignettes of 4 patients with chronic back pain performing a standardized functional task. Patients varied by gender (female, male) and weight (normal, obese), but were otherwise equivalent on demographic characteristics and pain behaviors. Participants rated how much pain they perceived the patients to be experiencing, the extent to which they attributed the pain to medical and lifestyle factors, and their likelihood of recommending exercise, physical therapy (PT), and rest. Results: Patient weight and gender significantly interacted to influence exercise, PT, and rest recommendations. Both pain intensity and pain attribution mediated the relationships between patient weight and activity recommendations; however, these mediation effects differed across gender and recommendation type. Conclusion: Patient weight and gender influenced laypeople's activity recommendations for chronic pain. Moreover, the results suggest that observers' perceptions of pain intensity and pain attributions are mechanisms underlying these effects. If these findings are replicated in providers, interventions may need to be developed to reduce provider biases and increase their recognition of the benefits of physical activity for chronic pain

Interaction between amphiphillic ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium octyl sulfate and anionic polymer of sodium polystyrene sulfonate

The physicochemistry of interaction of the ionic liquid (IL), 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium octylsufate (C4mim) (C8OSO3) with the anionic polymer sodium polystyrene sulfonate, (NaPSS) has been studied using tensiometry, conductometry and fluorimetry. The critical aggregation concentration (cac), the standard Gibb’s free energy, the standard enthalpy change, and standard entropy change, upon aggregation for the IL in solutions have been derived from the conductance data. Further to get the deeper insights into the aggregation process spectroscopic study using fluorescence measurements have been carried out. The aggregation behaviour observed from conductance, surface tension and fluorescence probe has been found to be in good agreement with each other.  Behaviour of fluorescence probe confirms the binding interactions between IL and the polyelectrolyt

Perceived Injustice Is Associated With Pain and Functional Outcomes in Children and Adolescents With Chronic Pain: A Preliminary Examination

Chronic pain is prevalent in children/adolescents and contributes to high rates of healthcare utilization. Research suggests injustice perceptions about pain are important in adult patients and a possible treatment focus. We conducted a preliminary evaluation of the psychometric properties of the Injustice Experiences Questionnaire (IEQ) and the relationship between injustice perceptions, pain, and functioning in chronic pain patients (N = 139, mean age = 15 years, 72% female) presenting to a pediatric pain clinic. Patients completed measures assessing pain intensity, injustice perceptions about pain, catastrophizing, overall functional disability, emotional functioning, social functioning, and school functioning. The IEQ showed good reliability and validity. Higher levels of perceived injustice were associated with higher levels of pain intensity, catastrophizing, and functional disability, and with poorer emotional, social, and school functioning. Additionally, perceived injustice remained significantly associated with pain intensity, functional disability, emotional functioning, social functioning, and school functioning after accounting for relevant demographic and clinical factors. This is the first study to suggest that injustice perceptions are important in the experience of pediatric chronic pain patients. Future studies should more thoroughly examine the psychometric properties of the IEQ in children/adolescents and elucidate the causal nature of these relationships, which will inform treatment efforts to improve pediatric pain care. Perspective This initial investigation suggests that injustice perceptions about pain can be reliably and validly measured and are tied to important clinical outcomes in children/adolescents. Future studies that replicate and extend these preliminary results are necessary to determine the extent to which injustice perceptions are an important target for intervention

When Can You Pick Up Fallen Fruit?

A poster discussing applying ideas from the Talmud to business

Behavioral Despair in the Talmud

We solve two "unsolvable" (teyku) problems from the Talmud that had remained unsolved for about 1,500 years. The Talmudic problems concern the implied decision-making of farmers who have left some scattered fruit behind, and the alleged impossibility of knowing whether they would return for given amounts of fruit over given amounts of land area if we aware of their behavior at exactly one point. We solve the problems by formalizing the Talmudic discussion and expressing five natural economic and mathematical assumptions

Assessment of Thyroid Function in Infertile Iraqi Females

Infertility is one of the medical, social and psychological burdens in Iraqi society. Thyroid dysfunction can lead to menstrual disturbance, anovulatory cycle and decreased fertility. The study was designed to evaluate the role of thyroid disorders in infertility with emphasis on autoimmunity by Measuring T3, T4, TSH, & anti Thyroid peroxidase antibody in infertile females comparing the results with matching fertile controls. The study was conducted during the period from March 2015 to September 2015 at Karbala Maternity Hospital, infertility unit, and some private clinics. This study included a total number of 143 women in the reproductive age; ranging between (15- 43) years; divided into: The patients group included 92 infertile females; while controls were 51fertile females. The following parameters were measured for all study groups: T3, T4, TSH, &anti-TPO using ELISA device. The results showed that there were 60.8% of patients with primary infertility (n =56) while 38.2% were with secondary infertility (n= 36). There was a significant difference in T3, and Anti-TPO between patients and controls being higher in patients; (p-value <0.05). In addition; Anti-TPO level was significantly higher in secondary infertile patients compared to primary infertile patients. In conclusion; Thyroid disorders are closely related to infertility in Iraqi females; and Anti-TPO may be used as a biochemical indicator of subclinical thyroid disorders and may help in assessment of thyroid function as a cause of infertility whether primary or secondary. Keywords: Infertility, Thyroid disease, T3, T4, Anti-TP