Antibiotical Susceptibility of Acinetobacter Species Isolated from Nosocomial Infections in Sina Hospital, Tabriz (2000-2008)

Abstract: Introduction: Acinetobacter species are one of important causes of nosocomial infections in many hospitals. The aim of this study is to evaluate the incidence of acinetobacter infection and identifying pattern of antibiotical susceptibility in different species of acinetobacter in Sina hospital. Methods: In a analytic cross sectional study all patients hospitalized from year 2000 to year 2008 were studied. Study population was those with isolated acinetobacter from blood, urine, respiratory tract discharges, sputum, wound discharges and burnings after 48 hours of hospitalization. Then, antimicrobial susceptibility tests were done on acinetobacter isolates. Results: Resistance rate to aminoglycosides, third generation cephalosporins and quinolones were high in years 2006, 2007 and 2008 respectively. Burning and surgery ICU wards had the most isolation of acintobacters. Resistance rate to carbapenems were 25% in year 2005, 37.5% in year 2007 and 64.7% in year 2008. Isolation of acintobacters was mainly from the burning wounds, respiratory tract discharges, blood, wounds, urine or Foley catheter. Conclusion: According to multi drug resistance of acintobacters, physicians usually face problems in controlling the nosocomial infections due to this organism. Complete resistance of acinetobacter to third generation cephalosporins and quinolones and increasing resistance to aminoglycosides are indicative of inappropriate use of these types of antibiotics in this period. If we did not avoid administering antibiotics none principally, soon should expect complete resistance to other types of antibiotics certainly carbapenems

Analytic philosophy for biomedical research: the imperative of applying yesterday's timeless messages to today's impasses

The mantra that "the best way to predict the future is to invent it" (attributed to the computer scientist Alan Kay) exemplifies some of the expectations from the technical and innovative sides of biomedical research at present. However, for technical advancements to make real impacts both on patient health and genuine scientific understanding, quite a number of lingering challenges facing the entire spectrum from protein biology all the way to randomized controlled trials should start to be overcome. The proposal in this chapter is that philosophy is essential in this process. By reviewing select examples from the history of science and philosophy, disciplines which were indistinguishable until the mid-nineteenth century, I argue that progress toward the many impasses in biomedicine can be achieved by emphasizing theoretical work (in the true sense of the word 'theory') as a vital foundation for experimental biology. Furthermore, a philosophical biology program that could provide a framework for theoretical investigations is outlined

Transformer-Based Deep Learning Model for Stock Price Prediction: A Case Study on Bangladesh Stock Market

In modern capital market the price of a stock is often considered to be highly volatile and unpredictable because of various social, financial, political and other dynamic factors. With calculated and thoughtful investment, stock market can ensure a handsome profit with minimal capital investment, while incorrect prediction can easily bring catastrophic financial loss to the investors. This paper introduces the application of a recently introduced machine learning model - the Transformer model, to predict the future price of stocks of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), the leading stock exchange in Bangladesh. The transformer model has been widely leveraged for natural language processing and computer vision tasks, but, to the best of our knowledge, has never been used for stock price prediction task at DSE. Recently the introduction of time2vec encoding to represent the time series features has made it possible to employ the transformer model for the stock price prediction. This paper concentrates on the application of transformer-based model to predict the price movement of eight specific stocks listed in DSE based on their historical daily and weekly data. Our experiments demonstrate promising results and acceptable root mean squared error on most of the stocks.Comment: 16 Pages, 14 Figures (including some containing subfigures

Exploring micro aerial vehicle mechanism and controller design using webots simulation

Quadrotor Micro Aerial Vehicle (MAV) is one of the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) which very versatile with their capabilities for specific purposes. Understanding and controlling MAV is important for various applications, from surveillance and delivery services to disaster response and entertainment. In engineering education, providing a hardware platform for understanding MAV mechanism and the controller design is very challenging in terms of cost and safety issue. This paper presents a study on drone mechanisms and controller design using Webots, a versatile robot simulation environment. The primary objectives of this research were to simulate and analyze the behavior of drones in a line following task, employing PID controller as the control strategies, and to evaluate the suitability of Webots as a simulation tool for drone-related teaching and learning as well as research. In the methodology section, the setup of the Webots-based drone simulation, including the selection of a suitable drone model, sensor configurations, and the implementation of control algorithms will be explained. Line following task will be focused to analyze the drone mechanism and the controller design. Data on the drone performance will be collected through the experiment and will be analyzed rigorously. The findings reveal the effectiveness of Webots as a platform for simulating drone behavior. The advantages of using simulation tools like Webots, including cost-effectiveness, safety, and the ability to test and refine control algorithms before deployment on physical drones was proved in this study. It is shown that Webots can be leveraged to teach and train individuals in drone technology without the need for physical hardware

A review on chlorination of harvested rainwater

The supply of safe drinking water to rural communities has always been challenging, unlike in most large cities where government authorities have constructed central water supply systems. In many rural areas, primary water sources such as surface water and groundwater are at risk of contamination with rapid agricultural and industrial growth and climate change-related issues. Rainwater harvesting is an ancient practice for rural communities, and the momentum around its use is continually growing in recent years. However, the lack of sustainable treatment facilities on a small scale encourages dwellers to consume harvested rainwater (HRW) without any treatment even though drinking untreated HRW may have multiple health impacts in many cases. There are several methods of treating HRW. While chlorination is extensively used to disinfect water in large volumes, e.g., central drinking water supply systems), it has not been widely adopted for treating water on a small scale. We present a scoping review to explore whether chlorination could be a viable option for disinfecting HRW at a domestic level. It is found that inadequate treatment prior to chlorine disinfection could produce chlorine disinfection byproducts (DBPs). Limited data on DBP concentrations in HRW are available to assess its health implications. Based on this review, it is argued that chlorination could be an option for treating HRW at a domestic level when limitations associated with this method (such as safe storage, appropriate sustainable technology, and lessening DBPs by lowering total organic carbon before chlorination through other treatment methods) are resolved

Review of geometries and coating materials in solid phase microextraction: Opportunities, limitations, and future perspectives

The final publication is available at Elsevier via http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aca.2017.05.035 © 2017. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/The development of new support and geometries of solid phase microextraction (SPME), including metal fiber assemblies, coated-tip, and thin film microextraction (TFME) (i.e. self-supported, fabric and blade supported), as well as their effects on diffusion and extraction rate of analytes were discussed in the current review. Application of main techniques widely used for preparation of a variety of coating materials of SPME, including sol-gel technique, electrochemical and electrospinning methods as well as the available commercial coatings, were presented. Advantages and limitations of each technique from several aspects, such as range of application, biocompatibility, availability in different geometrical configurations, method of preparation, incorporation of various materials to tune the coating properties, and thermal and physical stability, were also investigated. Future perspectives of each technique to improve the efficiency and stability of the coatings were also summarized. Some interesting materials including ionic liquids (ILs), metal organic frameworks (MOFs) and particle loaded coatings were briefly presented

Borg CR-10 scale as a new approach to monitoring office exercise training

Background: There are many potential training exercises for office workers in an attempt to prevent musculoskeletal disorders. However, to date a suitable tool to monitor the perceived exertion of those exercises does not exist. Objective: The primary objective of this study was to examine the validity and reliability of the Borg CR-10 scale to monitor the perceived exertion of office exercise training. Methods: The study involved 105 staff members employed in a government office with an age range from 25 to 50 years. The Borg CR-10 scale was self-administered two times, with an interval of two weeks in order to evaluate the accuracy of the original findings with a retest. Face validity and content validity were also examined. Results: Reliability was found to be high for the Borg CR-10 scale (0.898). Additionally a high correlation between the Borg CR-10 scale and Visual Analog Scale (VAS) was identified (rs = 0.754, P < 0.01). Conclusions: This study found the Borg CR-10 scale to be a reliable and valid tool for monitoring the perceived exertion of office exercise training and may potentially be useful for occupational therapists to measure physical activity intensity levels

HIGH TEMPERATURE TRIBOLOGY PERFORMANCE of NICKEL ALLOYS under HELIUM ATMOSPHERE

Currently the health and well-being of the global society are affected by energy source efficiency, reliability and enviromental impact. Nuclear power is one of the realiable energy resources with low greenhouse gas emissions per unit energy generated. Findings from the current research directly result in more reliable and efficient nuclear power plants. The objective of this research is to systematically evaluate the tribological response of 800HT and 617 alloys at relevant reactor operating temperatures (700-950 °C) and in the presence of helium (He) coolant. This research aims to address the need for a clear and inclusive understanding of the tribological performance of Nickel (Ni) based alloys in high temperature (HT) gas cooled reactors HTGR/VHTR operational environment that will clarify the necessity of further enhancement in HT durability and environmental compatibility of tribological components operating in HTGR-He coolant. The fundamental knowledge in high temperature tribology, especially in controlled gas atmosphere is limited, mainly due to complexity of experimental tests and analytical/numerical methods. The present work is pushing the boundaries of in-situ multiscale (nano/micro/macro) characterization of tribological materials in air/non-air ambient conditions at very high temperatures through novel experimental setups (e.g., very high temperature tribometer and very high temperature nano-indenter, under controlled Helium conditions). Also, comprehensive surface layer composition studies using advanced electron microscopy and other material characterization techniques, provide insght into prevention and failure mechanisms. Using a custom-built high temperature tribometer, helium cooled reactor environment was simulated at room and 950 oC temperatures. Microscopy and chemical analyses are carried out to explain the tribological performance of the alloys. At elevated temperatures, both alloys show higher friction in helium, compared to air environment. Both alloys exhibit high wear resistance in all experimental conditions, except at high temperature helium environment. The formation of glazed and mechanically mixed layers of oxides were found to be important causes for the lower friction and wear in high temperature air atmosphere. The in-depth chemical analysis of the oxide layer using techniques like EDS, XRD, RAMAN and SIMS were performed to link the tribochemical aspects to the evolution of mechanical properties under contact. This work provides new knowledge in the form of scientific papers, technical reports, and presentations that benefits a wide range of communities, and individuals. Most importantly this work is showcasing the important tribological issues encountered in suture state-of-the-art nuclear reactors

Reviews in Clinical Medicine Sonography as a new modality in the management of shoulder dislocation ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

The need for both pre-and post-reduction radiographs has recently been questioned when treating shoulder dislocation. Several case reports and case series have suggested that ultrasonography might be useful bedside diagnostic modality for evaluating shoulder dislocation. The purpose of this review was to evaluate studies that questioned necessity of radiographs for shoulder dislocation and also studies that evaluated bedside ultrasound as an alternative modality in shoulder dislocation. Ultrasonography can be used in patients with suspected shoulder dislocation. It cannot replace radiography because of possible associated fractures but it can be used before and after reduction to confirm successful relocation to reduce the risk of repeated sedation. It can also increase the certainty of physicians in cases that shoulder dislocation management needs to be performed without X-ray assessment. Please cite this paper as: Ahmadi K, Hashemian AM, Sineh Sepehr K. Sonography as a new modality in the management of shoulder dislocation. Rev Clin Med. 2015;2(2):100-102