Heuristic methods for the periodic Shipper Lane Selection Problem in transportation auctions

none3siopenTriki, Chefi; Mirmohammadsadeghi, Seyedmehdi; Piya, SujanTriki, Chefi; Mirmohammadsadeghi, Seyedmehdi; Piya, Suja

Evaluating the Frequency of Postoperative Fever in Patients with Coronary Artery Bypass Surgey

<p><strong>BACKGROUND</strong>: Nowadays, coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) is a frequent surgery in treatment of coronary artery disease. According to high expense of this surgery and its important role in patients&rsquo; quality of life, high survival rate of patients and success of surgery are necessary.<strong> </strong>The aim of this study was the evaluation of fever incidence (febrile events) due to incidence of pneumonia, wound infection, bacteremia, urinary tract infection and inflammatory response without infection after CABG.</p> <p><strong>METHODS</strong>: In an intergrades descriptive-analytical study, 107 patients who underwent coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) were enrolled in the study.</p> <p>The patients then were examined by the febrile events and also their characteristics including age, sex, duration of surgery, underlying diseases, and frequency distribution of antibiotics consumptions in pre-surgical and postsurgical periods, and incidence of infectious syndromes.</p> <p><strong>RESULTS</strong>: Frequency distribution of febrile events after CABG was 29.9 percent. The most common administered antibiotic before the surgery was cephalothin (Keflin) and then, cefazolin. The most common administered antibiotic after the surgery was cephalothin (Keflin) and cephalexin (47.7%) and then, cephalothin-gentamicin-cephalexin (31.8%). The average age of patients without febrile syndrome was 60.53 years and in those with febrile syndrome was 59.31 years. In terms of gender, 74.8% of the patients were males. So that 32.5% of males and 22.2% of females had fever. The incidence time of fever in most cases was in the postoperative fourth day. In terms of underlying diseases, 13 percent of them had hypertension and hyperlipidemia, 14 percent had only hypertension, 11.2 percent had only hyperlipidemia and 6.5 percent had diabetes.</p> <p><strong>CONCLUSION</strong>: This study showed that the prevalence of fever in patients undergoing CABG was 29.9 percent and the most common cause of fever was sternal infections. There was a significant correlation between administered antibiotics in preoperative and postoperative periods and febrile syndrome.</p> <strong>Keywords</strong>: Antibiotic, Infection, Coronary Artery Bypass Graft, Feve

Investigation of diesel-ethanol and diesel-gasoline dual fuel combustion in a single cylinder optical diesel engine

This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University LondonEver growing population and increased energy consumption across all industries has resulted in higher atmospheric concentration of the greenhouse gases (GHG) and therefore an increase in the planet’s average temperature, which has led to increasingly demanding and more strict legislations on pollutant sources, and more specifically, the automotive industry. As a consequence of all this, the demand for research into alternative energy sources has greatly increased. In this study combustion characteristics, engine performance, and exhaust emission of diesel-ethanol and diesel-gasoline are investigated in an optical direct injection diesel engine. In particular, effects of different substitution ratios and diesel injection strategies are studied when the total fuel energy is kept constant. The three main substitution ratios used in this study include 45% (45% of fuel energy from port-injected ethanol/gasoline and 55% from direct injection diesel), 60%, and 75%. The engine used for this investigation is a Ricardo Hydra single cylinder optical engine running at 1200 rpm. In-cylinder pressure measurement is used for calculating all engine parameters, heat release rate, and efficiency. In addition to the thermodynamic analysis of the combustion parameters, high speed camera was used alongside with a copper vapor laser or the high speed image intensifier in the high speed video imaging for the optical analysis of the effect of the above-mentioned parameters on autoignition and combustion processes, while Horiba particulate analyser and AVL smoke meter were utilized in monitoring and recording emissions for every tested condition. Depending on the testing conditions, such as injection strategy and intake conditions, both dual-fuel operations were able to deliver high efficiency and improved emissions compared to that of a pure diesel engine operation, with the diesel-gasoline operation offering more consistency in improved thermal efficiency, and the diesel-ethanol operation delivering lower emission output. The optical analysis of the combustion represents the main difference in the flame propagation, distribution and quality for each substitute fuel and its substitution percentage, as well as the condition under examination

A comparative study of stored arterial versus venous blood collected using the acute normovolemic hemodilution method in coronary artery bypass grafting patients in Iran

Background In the present study, arterial and venous blood was collected from patients who were candidates for elective coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG); the blood was stored for 28 days and cellular, biomechanical, and hematological changes in blood were compared to determine whether stored arterial blood is superior to stored venous blood. Methods The present follow-up comparative study included 60 patients >18 years of age, with hemoglobin >14 mg/dl and ejection fraction >40% who were candidates for CABG. After induction of anesthesia, 250 ml of arterial or venous blood was drawn from patients (arterial blood group and venous blood group). Laboratory blood samples were taken at specified times from the collected blood and re-injected into the patients after CABG. Results Significant differences were observed in pH, partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PCO2), partial pressure of oxygen (PO2), bicarbonate (HCO3), and glucose values at several time points between the groups. Other parameters such as urea and creatinine did not show any significant differences between the groups. Conclusions Twenty-eight days of storage can have a negative effect on some of the cellular, biochemical, and hematological components of arterial and venous blood; however, the quality of stored arterial blood and venous blood does not differ significantly

Comparison of academic and nonacademic surgeons in treatment planning for CIII borderline case

Objectives In borderline class III malocclusions, the patients can be successfully treated by the orthodontic or surgical modalities, however; there is no consensus about the method with the best results regarding functional and esthetic parameters. The present study aimed to assess the treatment plans provided by academic and non-academic surgeons regarding borderline class III patients.Methods In this cross-sectional descriptive study, diagnostic records of 20 borderline class III patients were assessed by 8 academic and 8 non-academic surgeons. The treatment plans suggested by the surgeons for patients were compared with the standard treatment plan based on case presentation. The data were analyzed by paired t-test, Wilcoxon test, Kappa coefficient, independent t-test and Chi-square test.Results No significant differences were found between academic and non-academic orthodontists when suggesting orthodontic treatment (p=0.54), orthognathic surgery (p=0.1), single or double jaw orthognathic surgery (p=0.68) and the treatment plans in total (p=0.78) when compared with the standard treatment plan. The mean rate of agreement between the standard treatment plan and the academic and non-academic surgeons’ treatment plan for borderline class III patients was 75.0%±17.41% and 80.0%±17.73% for the orthodontic treatment plan, 80.0%±7.56% and 80.0%±17.73% for the surgical treatment plan, 70.55%±9.4% and 68.61%±9.08% for single or double jaw orthognathic surgery treatment plan, and 79.83%±7.76% and 80.63%±9.79% for the treatment plans in total, respectively.Conclusion Academic and non-academic surgeons both showed higher agreements with the standard treatment plan when suggesting orthodontic and orthognathic surgery treatment plans for borderline class III patients

Investigation of Climatic Adaptation of Regions for Rosa Damascena Cultivation Using Network Analysis Method (Case Study: Isfahan Province)

Sustainable agriculture requires identification and development of scientific methods that have an important role in optimizing water use, employment and income, community health, and non-oil exports. Significant economical and therapeutic value, market demand and high processing level of medical plants have caused the daily increasing growth of these plants around the world. Considering the climatic and geographical conditions in Iran, the development of these crops, especially in arid areas and semi-arid has doubled. Therefore, in the present study, climatic, topographic and socioeconomic criteria were selected as effective measures in the cultivation of Rosa Damascena and were weighed using the network analysis process and then the ArcGIS was used to digitize and combine the layers. After the formation of the regional spatial database, descriptive information of the maps was added, weighted overlapping in the GIS environment, and finally zoning the areas susceptible to cultivating Rosa Damascena. The results showed that three factors including annual rainfall, altitude, and mean annual temperature had maximum impact and slope parameter had the least impact on the quality and quantity of Rosa Damascena. Moreover, the zoning map showed that 38 percent of northern parts, 15.6 percent of central pats and 11 percent of western parts of the province, have the most suitable sites for Rosa Damascena cultivation

Posttraumatic Endophthalmitis: Responsible Microorganisms and Rate of Resistance

Purpose: To identify the microorganisms responsible for the posttraumatic endophthalmitis and evaluate their resistance to seven antibiotics. Patients and Methods: Aqueous and vitreous samples were obtained from 49 patients who underwent vitrectomy for posttraumatic endophthalmitis and were inoculated into blood agar, chocolate agar, and Sabouraud agar media. Susceptibility testing was performed using the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method for seven antibiotics (vancomycin, ceftazidime, ciprofloxacin, oxacillin, azithromycin, imipenem, and rifampin).Results: Twenty patients (40.8 %) had intraocular foreign bodies. The cultures were positive in 18 patients (36.7 %). In all patients (except for one case), one species was isolated. The most frequent isolated microorganism was staphylococcus epidermidis in 9 patients (47.4 %), followed by staphylococcus aureus, bacillus species, streptococcus viridans, streptococcus pneumonia, enterococcus, diphtheroid species, and pseudomonas aeruginosa. No case with fungal growth was found. Microorganisms showed higher sensitivity to different antibiotics: all gram-positive cocci were sensitive to vancomycin and 71.4 % were sensitive to ceftazidime or rifampin. All gram-positive bacilli were sensitive to vancomycin, ciprofloxacin and azithromycin. The gram-negative bacillus (pseudomonas) was sensitive to ceftazidime, ciprofloxacin, imipenem, and rifampin. Conclusion: No single antibiotic was effective against all groups of bacteria present in patients undergoing vitrectomy for posttraumatic endophthalmitis. The conventional intravitreal regimen (vancomycin + ceftazidime) seems to be still valuable in treatment of bacterial endophthalmitis among this group of patients.Keywords: Endophthalmitis; Microorganisms; Posttraumatic; Drug resistance

AN ASSESSMENT ON STABILIZATION OF EOLIAN FINE-GRAINED SOILS USING WIND TUNNEL

ABSTRACT: Control of soils wind erosion particularly in arid and semi-arid regions has been seriously paid into attention due to several causes including to prevent the destruction natural resources, reducing air pollution, reducing aerosol transmission and the problems it causes in transportation. Measurement of factors affecting on wind erosion in field conditions is difficult and uncontrollable. Hence, use of wind tunnel device is addressed as one of feasible methods. In fixed wind tunnels, in order to measure soil erosion, trays containing soil shall be placed in the tunnel floor and the wind blows with a given specification. Tray weight difference between the two times of weighing indicates erosion rate of a given level. In present research, wind tunnel was manufactured and launched in laboratory. Wind speed in the tunnel is in 0-40 km/h range. Experimental results showed that the rate of soil erosion and loss is reduced with increased other soil particles versus wind erosion. General and localized erosion phenomena on soil surface were investigated according to soil particles size and uniformity of the samples coating surface

Rare post-operative complications of large mediastinal tumor resection

Background: There are some reports in the literature, which suggest that cardiac tamponade drainage may transiently affect systolic function and also cause acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). We did not find any reports of acute ventricular failure and ARDS secondary to mediastinal tumor resection without tamponade. Case Report: Here we report a 48-year-old woman presenting with massive pericardial effusion without tamponade in whom tumor was resected through median sternotomy using cardiopulmonary bypass. ARDS and acute heart failure were two rare complications that happened at the end of the operation secondary to a sudden decompression of the heart from tumor pressure. Conclusion: ARDS and acute heart failure are two rare complications, which can happen after large mediastinal tumor resection.</p