Experimental study of photothermal conversion using gold/water and MWCNT/water nanofluids.

This work experimentally investigated photothermal conversion behavior of Gold/water and MWCNT/water nanofluids at different volumetric concentrations (0.0001–0.004% and 0.0001–0.03%, respectively) in a direct absorption solar collector (DASC). The experiments were conducted for ~10 h outdoor on each test day, without interruptions. The results show that the tested nanofluids have excellent photothermal conversion capability even under very low concentrations. Specific absorption rate (SAR) presented an exponential decay with increasing volumetric concentration of nanoparticles in the sample while both the total energy stored by the fluid sample during the heating period and the stored energy ratio (SER) increased with the increase in nanoparticles concentration. The results indicate the existence of an “optimal” volumetric concentration, above which further nanoparticle addition becomes indifferent or infeasible. This optimal nanoparticle volumetric concentration was found to be 0.002% for the gold nanofluid and 0.001% for the MWCNT samples for the setup used in this work

Social exclusion of older persons: a scoping review and conceptual framework

As a concept, social exclusion has considerable potential to explain and respond to disadvantage in later life. However, in the context of ageing populations, the construct remains ambiguous. A disjointed evidence-base, spread across disparate disciplines, compounds the challenge of developing a coherent understanding of exclusion in older age. This article addresses this research deficit by presenting the findings of a two-stage scoping review encompassing seven separate reviews of the international literature pertaining to old-age social exclusion. Stage one involved a review of conceptual frameworks on old-age exclusion, identifying conceptual understandings and key domains of later-life exclusion. Stage two involved scoping reviews on each domain (six in all). Stage one identified six conceptual frameworks on old-age exclusion and six common domains across these frameworks: neighbourhood and community; services, amenities and mobility; social relations; material and financial resources; socio-cultural aspects; and civic participation. International literature concentrated on the first four domains, but indicated a general lack of research knowledge and of theoretical development. Drawing on all seven scoping reviews and a knowledge synthesis, the article presents a new definition and conceptual framework relating to old-age exclusion

Molecular Detection of Carbapenem Resistance in Acinetobacter Baumannii Isolated From Patients in Khorramabad City, Iran

BACKGROUND: Acinetobacter baumannii is an opportunistic pathogen, which causes a wide range of infections in hospitals, especially in intensive care units. Nowadays, due to the high resistance of Acinetobacter bumanni to antibiotics, this study, in addition to the phenotypic and genotypic investigations of drug resistance, focused on determining the molecular types of Acinetobacter baumannii isolated from patients in Khorramabad city by the pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) method. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 50 samples of Acinetobacter baumannii were collected from educational hospitals in Khorramabad city, Iran, from January to August 2015. They were identified in the laboratory using biochemical tests and culture methods. After determining the drug resistance pattern by the disc diffusion method and percentage of resistance genes to carbapenems, Acinetobacter baumannii isolates were analyzed using the PFGE method using the Apa1 enzyme. RESULTS: The highest antibiotic resistance observed for Acinetobacter baumannii strains was against ampicillin-sulbactam (100) and aztreonam (98). The highest sensitivity was to polymixin B (100) and colistin (94), and also to the OXA-51-like gene present in all samples. The OXA-23-like gene was positive in 44 (88) samples. PFGE results showed that Acinetobacterbaumannii strains had 33 different pulsotype patterns, of which 27 patterns had more than one strain and 23 had only one strain. CONCLUSION: Due to the high resistance of Acinetobacter baumannii and its ease of spread and its ability to transfer resistance genes, resistance control methods should be used in the disinfection of hospital areas. Hospital staff should observe hygiene standards and there should also be a reduction in antibiotic use

Existence and Uniqueness of Fixed Points of Generalized F-Contraction Mappings

The newest generalization of the Banach contraction through the notions of the generalized F-contraction, simulation function, and admissible function is introduced. The existence and uniqueness of fixed points for a self-mapping on complete metric spaces by the new constructed contraction are investigated. The results of this article can be viewed as an improvement of the main results given in the references

Systematic review and meta-analysis of carbapenem-resistance of Acinetobacter baumannii in Iran

INTRODUCTION: The prevalence of carbapenem resistance in Acinetobacter baumannii (A. baumannii) has been increased in worldwide. Thus therapeutic options are extremely limited. We performed a systematic review to evaluate of phenotypic and genotypic carbapenem resistance in A.baumannii reported in Iran. METHODS: We systematically searched Pub Med, Web of Science direct and Google scholar databases to identify studies addressing the carbapenem resistance of A. baumannii. From the first 71 papers. Selected papers were published between 2005 and November 2016 .Although sample collection year, between 2002 and 20116. To estimate the prevalence of the DerSimonian and Laird randomized models, 95 confidence interval was used. For heterogeneity check, I2 was used. The Egger test was used to check the propagation bias. RESULTS: Analysis of data exposed that there was an increase in resistance to carbapenems from 4.5 to 2005 year until 100 to 2016 year prevalence rate 65.4 (95 CI: 58.8 - 71.6). CONCLUSION: According to result of this study, the rate of resistance to carbapenem in A.baumannii the increasing in Iran. Present of carbapenem resistant isolates are major concern because carbapenems are main drug against MDR isolates

First Report on the Characteristics of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Capitis Isolates and a NRCS-A-clone Related Isolate Obtained from Iranian Children

BACKGROUND: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus capitis (MRSC) NRCS-A clone (Multi-resistant and vancomycin-non susceptible) has been recently described as an emerging cause of nosocomial bacteremia especially in neonatal intensive-care units (NICUs). OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to evaluate the antibiotic and antiseptic resistance patterns, biofilm producing ability and the prevalence of SCCmec and ACME types among MRSC isolates as well as to check the possible presence of NRCS-A clone at Tehran's Children's Medical Center, Iran. METHODS: A total of 256 coagulase negative Staphylococcal isolates were collected, of which 10 S. capitis isolates were obtained and tested for susceptibility against 13 antimicrobial and 3 antiseptic agents, as well as biofilm production. The presence of 15 distinct resistance genes, staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec), and arginine catabolic mobile elements (ACMEs) were tracked. RESULTS: Seven out of 10 S. capitis isolates were MRSC (MIC90 van=8mug/mL) and resistant to trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, produced biofilm, (3 as strong biofilm producers) and carried ACME types I and II. Despite the identification of mec and ccr complexes in some isolates, all the SCCmec cassettes were untypeable (UT). CONCLUSION: According to the studied features, only one isolate belonged to the NRSC-A clone. The results indicate that MRSC with high antibiotic resistance and unknown SCCmec might become a serious problem in the future for the treatment of patients particularly children

Deciphering systemic lupus erythematosus-associated serum biomarkers reflecting apoptosis and disease activity

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a severe chronic inflammatory autoimmune connective tissue disease. Despite major efforts, SLE remains a poorly understood disease with unpredictable course, unknown etiology and complex pathogenesis. Apoptosis combined with deficiency in clearing apoptotic cells is an important etiopathogenic event in SLE, which could contribute to the increased load of potential autoantigen(s); however, the lack of disease-specific protein signatures deciphering SLE and the underlying biological processes is striking and represents a key limitation. In this retrospective pilot study, we explored the immune system as a specific sensor for disease, in order to advance our understanding of SLE. To this end, we determined multiplexed serum protein expression profiles of crude SLE serum samples, using antibody microarrays. The aim was to identify differential immunoprofiles, or snapshots of the immune response modulated by the disease, reflecting apoptosis, a key process in the etiology of SLE and disease activity. The results showed that multiplexed panels of SLE-associated serum biomarkers could be decoded, in particular reflecting disease activity, but potentially the apoptosis process as well. While the former biomarkers could display a potential future use for prognosis, the latter biomarkers might help shed further light on the apoptosis process taking place in SLE