10 research outputs found
The Effectiveness of Integrative Group Therapy on the Sexual Function of Women with Systemic Scleroderma
Get PDFAims: Systemic scleroderma is a multiple chronic autoimmune disease that has important clinical and psychological consequences, including sexual dysfunction. The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of integrated treatment group on sexual function and its domains in women with scleroderma.
Materials & Methods: This research was a semi-experimental design with pre-test, post-test, and follow-up with the experimental and control groups. The statistical population included women with scleroderma referred to Shariati Hospital in Tehran and Iran's Rheumatism Center in the second half of 2017. Of these, 30 patients were selected as available samples and randomly were placed in the control and the experimental groups. The experimental group was subjected to an integrated approach intervention in 9 sessions of 90-minutes, where as the control group did not receive such an intervention. The instrument of this study was the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) Questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS24 software and repeated measures ANOVA.
Findings: Unilateral psychotherapy intervention significantly increased the mean post-test of sexual function and its six sub-components in both control and experimental groups (p<0.01, F=19.59). The satisfaction component with 0.82 (p<0.01, F=125.35) and psychological stimulation with 0.74 (F=77.9, p<0.01) had the most effect on intervention, and the component of orgasm with 0.33 (F=13.54, p<0.01) had the least effect among the components. After three months, there was no statistically significant difference between the post-test and the follow-up of the experimental group, which indicated the stability of intervention effects.
Conclusion: Unified psychotherapy is effective in increasing the sexual function of patients with systemic sclerosis and can play a significant role in improving the quality of life of these people
Impact of clinical phenotypes on management and outcomes in European atrial fibrillation patients: a report from the ESC-EHRA EURObservational Research Programme in AF (EORP-AF) General Long-Term Registry
Get PDFBackground: Epidemiological studies in atrial fibrillation (AF) illustrate that clinical complexity increase the risk of major adverse outcomes. We aimed to describe European AF patients\u2019 clinical phenotypes and analyse the differential clinical course. Methods: We performed a hierarchical cluster analysis based on Ward\u2019s Method and Squared Euclidean Distance using 22 clinical binary variables, identifying the optimal number of clusters. We investigated differences in clinical management, use of healthcare resources and outcomes in a cohort of European AF patients from a Europe-wide observational registry. Results: A total of 9363 were available for this analysis. We identified three clusters: Cluster 1 (n = 3634; 38.8%) characterized by older patients and prevalent non-cardiac comorbidities; Cluster 2 (n = 2774; 29.6%) characterized by younger patients with low prevalence of comorbidities; Cluster 3 (n = 2955;31.6%) characterized by patients\u2019 prevalent cardiovascular risk factors/comorbidities. Over a mean follow-up of 22.5 months, Cluster 3 had the highest rate of cardiovascular events, all-cause death, and the composite outcome (combining the previous two) compared to Cluster 1 and Cluster 2 (all P <.001). An adjusted Cox regression showed that compared to Cluster 2, Cluster 3 (hazard ratio (HR) 2.87, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.27\u20133.62; HR 3.42, 95%CI 2.72\u20134.31; HR 2.79, 95%CI 2.32\u20133.35), and Cluster 1 (HR 1.88, 95%CI 1.48\u20132.38; HR 2.50, 95%CI 1.98\u20133.15; HR 2.09, 95%CI 1.74\u20132.51) reported a higher risk for the three outcomes respectively. Conclusions: In European AF patients, three main clusters were identified, differentiated by differential presence of comorbidities. Both non-cardiac and cardiac comorbidities clusters were found to be associated with an increased risk of major adverse outcomes
Development of an alternative test procedure to 'BS 812' for accelerated polishing of roadstones
No full textSIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DXN037819 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo
REINFORCING ROLLER COMPACTED CONCRETE WITH METAL AND POLYMERIC FIBERS TO REDUCE REFLECTIVE CRACKING IN COMPOSITE PAVEMENT
No full textDue to increase in bitumen prices in the last few years in the country and romotion of the usage of concrete pavements, particularly the usage of Roller Compacted Concrete RCC in urban and suburban roads construction the application of combined pavement has been developed. Also the usage of asphalt overlay to
create a suitable surface for deriving on the concrete surface is suggested.
The methodology proposed in this study is using metal fibers and polymer
fibers, separately, to strengthen the RCC. To increase the bending, tensile and
compressive strength of concrete to reduce cracking and failure of the concrete
RCC could be a preventive agent. For this study, first, roller concrete mix
design was developed and was built as an indicator of tensile strength and
compressive and flexural tests were performed on it. The obtained results were
recorded as index Results. The following two types of metal fibers with
consumption 0.5\% and 1\% in unit volume and polymer fibers with the use of 0.3
and 0.6\% in unit volume in the plans mixture was used this fiber to mix design
base were added. Fibers made from blends of standard cylindrical samples with
dimensions of 30 x 15 and 50 x 15 x 15 cm prismatic beam samples were made and after processing all the sample tests to determine the compressive strength,
flexural and tensile were. The 28 days results indicate that the metal fibers
to the RCC at a rate of 0.5\% and 1\% respectively per unit volume increases the
compressive strength of concrete roller 10.1\% and 13.9\% respectively and
increases the tensile strength 29.5\% and 45\% and increased bending strength up
to the 40.6\% and 66.5\%. And with the addition of polymer fibers at a rate of
0.3\% and 0.6\% per unit volume increases the compressive strength of RCC by
5.06\% and 6.32\% and increase the tensile strength of the order of 21.1\% and 31\%
and increased the bending strength of the 29.1\% and 42.7\% lead
Optimization of turbojet engine cycle with dual-purpose PSO algorithm
No full textIn this article, the J85-GE-21 turbojet engine for an altitude of 1000–8000 m, with the speed of 200 m/s and at 10, 20, and 40 °C, was provided, and then, based on the objective functions, the above system was optimized using particle swarm optimization method. For the purpose of optimization, the Mach number, compressor efficiency, turbine efficiency, nozzle efficiency, and compressor pressure ratio were assumed to be in the range of 0.6–1.4, 0.8–0.95, 0.8–0.95, 0.8–0.95, and 7–10, respectively. The highest exergy efficiency of 73.1% for different components of the engine at sea level and speed of 200 m/s belonged to the diffuser. Second and third to it were nozzle and combustion chamber with 68.6 and 51.5%, respectively. The lowest exergy efficiency of 4% belonged to the compressor, and the second to it was the afterburner with 11.6%. Also, the values of entropy production and efficiency of the second law of thermodynamics were 1176.99 and 479 K/W, respectively, prior to optimization, which were respectively changed to 1129 and 51.4 K/W postoptimization. Obviously, the entropy production is reduced, while the efficiency of the second law of thermodynamics is increased
EVALUATION OF INTERACTION BETWEEN MECHANICAL PARAMETERS OF UNBOUND GRANULAR MATERIALS IN BASE LAYER OF ASPHALT PAVEMENT
No full textIn a majority of methods used for designing asphalt pavements, the base and
sub-base layers have not received enough attention; instead, most researches
have focused on the asphalt layers. These layers play a key role in reducing
stress on the base layer. Light Weight Deflectometer (LWD) test is commonly
used for assessing the bearing capacity of unbound layers of pavements. The
present study aims to investigate the simultaneous effects of different variables such as sample thickness, wet content, weight, and compaction on the base layer surface modulus and deflection through LWD test results on the 150\times150\times60 cm sample. The results indicated that the maximum compaction value was 97\% with a thickness of 40 cm and the minimum compaction value was 10 Kg weight with 20 cm thickness. Furthermore, according to the findings, an increase in the compaction and thickness of the layer led to a decrease in the deflection and an increase in the mass of weight; however, moisture did not significantly influence the mentioned factor
COMPARING THE PERFORMANCEOF HOT MIX ASPHALT BASED ONMECHANISTIC - EMPIRICALPAVEMENT DESIGN GUIDE(MEPDG) AGAINST CREEP ANDCOMPUTING MINIMUM SPEED OFHEAVY VEHICLES
No full textCreeps of flexible pavement are common failures in hot climates. One of the aggravating factors in this type of failure is the speed of the vehicles. This study aims to evaluate the rutting at different speeds based on Mechanistic-Empirical approach test of the AASHTO pavement structure deals. For this purpose, 48 samples of hot mix asphalt were made in accordance with the No. 5 seed based on issue 234 of Iranian code. Samples at 40 and under stress of 100 and 200 kpa were tested, in 3 different loading times and 2 rest times. Test results and Matlab software were used to produce permanent deformation model based on the AASHTO 2002 model. As a result, the numerical model was obtained with a correlation coefficient of 0.9077. Based on the analysis carried out on the results, it was found that the most influential factor in the development of deterioration in flexible pavement is temperature and changes in loading and stress. Despite the positive effect of the increase in rest time on reducing asphalt pavement failure, this parameter can cope with the devastating effects of stress on the sample and speed deceleration of the vehicle. The growth of about 76\% in the rut depth associated with increasing loading time of 100 ms to 1000 ms was observed. Finally, to reduce damage of asphaltic pavements in the tropics, minimum speed of vehicles was determined 20 kilometers per hour
