The use of geotextiles for the treatment of surface water

Various substances have been discharged into water areas from the shore and rivers through human activity. Suspended solids (SS) are examples of such substances. SS have the potential to adsorb various substances such as heavy metals and nutrients. In addition, SS which exist in the water as contaminated SS, form contaminated sediments by sedimentation. These contaminated sediments will influence human health through the food chain. Eutrophication is also one of the biggest environmental problems caused by organic matter and nutrients residing in enclosed water areas. Therefore, removal of the substances such as SS, and decreasing the amount of chemical oxygen demand (COD) present in the water and organic matter play an important role in environmental treatment. In this study, laboratory filtration tests were performed to develop a technique for water treatment. A non-woven filter was used as the filter medium. The pore size and the thickness of the filter are 150 om and 0.2 cm, respectively. The results showed that SS were removed to levels of 2 mg/L or less by filtration. A SS removal efficiency of 84.3% was obtained. By filtration, COD was also removed. The results revealed that there is a linear relationship with the regression coefficient (R 2 ) of 0.6 to 0.9 between the elimination of SS and COD. In addition, dissolved COD results also showed a decreasing trend through the filtration process. Therefore, SS removal improved the quality of water in terms of COD

The Relationship between Academic Underachievement and Problematic Cell Phone Use among Medical Students

Background: Academic underachievement is a growing phenomenon among medical students, influenced by several factors. Objectives: This study investigated the relationship between academic underachievement and problematic cell phone use among medical students at Kerman University of Medical Sciences. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 300 medical students at KUMS during the academic year 2019. The Persian version of Problematic Cellular Phone Use Questionnaire was used for data collection. Also, the demographic data of the students were recorded, and they were asked to declare if they had a history of academic underachievement in the previous year. Data were analyzed by SPSS software version 20.0 using Chi-square test and logistic regression. Results: The mean age of medical students was 22.41±2.6 years, and the majority (74.3 %) of them were female. The chance of academic underachievement was 6.37 times higher in medical students who have problematic cellular phone use compared to those without it (OR=6.37, P=0.001). Also, this chance was 4.45 times higher in medical students who had a history of psychological disorders compared to those without (OR=4.45, P=0.02). Conclusion: The current study revealed that the chance of academic underachievement was higher in medical students with problematic cellular phone use and a history of psychological disorders. Given that academic underachievement is not uncommon, its related factors must be appropriately identified and intervened on time. Keywords: Academic ,Underachievement, Cell Phone Use, Medical Student

Minimizing Water Invasion into Kazhdumi Shale Using Nanoparticles

Fluid invasion from water-based drilling mud (WBDM) into the shale formations causes swelling, high pressure zone near the wellbore wall, and eventually wellbore instability problems during drilling operations. For the stability of the wellbore, physical plugging of nanoscale pore throats could be considered as a logical approach toward avoiding the fluid invasion into the shale formation. This paper reports the effect of silica nanoparticles (NPs) as a physical sealing agent on the water invasion into Kazhdumi shale. To this end, pressure penetration apparatus was implemented. Typical WBDM in contact with Kazhdumi shale at different concentrations of NPs with different sizes was studied. The results indicated that the addition of NPs to the WBDM decreased water invasion into Kazhdumi shale. WBDM having 10 wt.% of 25 nm NPs reduced fluid invasion up to 72.76%

Prenatal pregabalin exposure alters postnatal pain sensitivity and some behavioral responses in adult offspring rats

Background: Prenatal antiepileptic drug exposure could demonstrate both congenital malformations and behavioral impairments in offspring. Objective: This study was performed to assess the effects of prenatal exposure to pregabalin (PGB) on pain response, anxiety, motor activity and some behavior of adult offspring rats. Methods: Pregnant Wistar rats received PGB (7.5, 15 and 30 mg/kg/ip) during embryonic days 9.5-15.5. The pain response, anxiety-like behaviors, locomotor activity, motor balance and coordination and anhedonia of adult offspring were examined by tail-flick and hot plate test, open field test, ele-vated plus maze (EPM), beam balance test and sucrose preference test in their 60th day of life, re-spectively. Results: Prenatal exposure to PGB revealed significant dose-dependent reduction in pain sensitivity (increase in pain latency response) in the hot plate test, especially in females, while anxiety-like behavior assessed in EPM and open field significantly reduced in males. In the open field, locomotor activity reduced significantly after exposure to PGB 30 mg/kg and motor coordination decreased dose-dependently, especially in males. Anhedonia, as an indication of sucrose preference or pleas-ure response, was not changed. Conclusion: These findings suggest that prenatal PGB exposure could be associated with significant changes in pain response, anxiety, locomotor activity and coordination in adult offspring rats. © 2020 Bentham Science Publishers

Peritoneal benign cystic mesothelioma in a patient with presentation of ascites, a case report

Abstract Cystic mesotheloma is an uncommon lesion of the peritoneum occurring predominantly in women of reproductive age. The case was a 21 years girl presented with 4 years history of mild abdominal distension and periodic pain. The results of the clinical examinations were normal. Sonography and CT scan confirmed gross ascites. The results of paraclinical tests were normal without any positive findings for etiology of ascites. During laparoscopy multiple transparent cysts were found in pelvic and culdesac. All cysts were removed by laparoscopy. Histology confirmed benign cystic mesotheloma. Reviewing the records revealved that this case is the second case of mesothelial cysts that presented with ascites