Performance evaluation of Cu-Ni 90/10 alloyed structures exposed to various seawater compositions and their remaining service life estimation

The Cu-Ni 90/10 alloy is extensively used in seawater applications mainly because of its excellent heat transferability, resistance toward corrosion and marine fouling. The corrosion resistance of Cu-Ni 90/10 has been found to be far superior in open natural seawater, however, several premature failures have often been reported during their exposure in the pollutant-rich seawater typically found near harbours, jetties and coastlines. This paper investigates the corrosion behaviour of Cu-Ni 90/10 alloyed coupons exposed to natural seawater, and pollutant-rich harbour seawater in a submerged position. Moreover, this research also investigates the corrosion mechanism on marine heat exchanger tubes of material that failed prematurely while operating in similar seawater compositions. The field experimental results for short-term corrosion results from coupons, and the long-term corrosion results from heat exchanger tubes have been evaluated, to formulate a relationship and corrosion modelling

THE INCIDENCE OF ALCOHOL USE DISORDERS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has introduced a myriad of challenges to healthcare systems and public health policies across the globe. Individuals with alcohol use disorders are at peaked risk due to mental, socio-demographic, and economic factors leading to hindered mental health service access, misinformation and adherence. Methods: Keywords including “alcohol use”, “death”, “hand sanitizer", "overdose" and "COVID-19" were used to obtain 8 media reports for case analysis. A review of 34 manually extracted records were also conducted using PubMed, MEDLINE, Scopus, and the Embase database with no time and language restrictions. Results: A total of 2,517 individuals with alcohol overdose across the United States, India, Canada, and Iran were presented. The majority of cases were male, ages 21-65. Common contributors were linked to socio-economic changes, disruption to mental health services, and physical isolation. Conclusion: While original studies are essential to evaluate the etiologies of alcohol use and misuse during pandemics, the dissemination of misinformation must be curbed by directing vulnerable individuals towards accurate information and access to mental health services

The influence of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) on Parkinson’s disease: An updated systematic review

Background: COVID-19 has affected global communities with multiple neurological complications in addition to other critical medical issues. COVID-19 binds to the host\u27s angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptors, which are expressed in the neurons and glial cells, acting as an entry port to the central nervous system (CNS). ACE2 receptors are abundantly expressed on dopamine neurons, which may worsen the prognosis of motor symptoms in Parkinson\u27s disease (PD). SARS-CoV-2 may lead to an indirect response via immune-mediated cytokine storms and propagate through the CNS leading to damage. In this systematic review, we aim to provide thorough analyses of associations between COVID-19 and neurological outcomes for patients with PD.Methods: Using PRISMA statement 2020, a systematic review was conducted to isolate confirmed COVID-19 patients and analyze the PD-associated neurological outcomes using the following databases: PubMed, Science Direct, Google Scholar, and Cochrane databases. The following keywords were used COVID19, SARS-CoV-2, Parkinson\u27s disease, Pandemic, Mortality. A modified Delphi process was employed.Results: Of the 355 studies located during the initial round of screening, 16 were included in the final synthesis. Of PD patients who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, worsening motor symptoms and other viral-associated symptoms were reported. These symptoms included bradykinesia, tremors, gait disturbances, delirium and dementia, and severe spasms of arms and legs. Encephalopathy was presented in 2 of the included studies. Increased mortality rates were identified for hospitalized patients due to COVID-19 and PD as compared to other patient groups.Conclusion: Patients with PD may experience substantial worsening of symptoms due to COVID 19. Given the novelty of neurological-viral associations, clinical studies in the future ought to explore the disease severity and neurological outcomes in COVID-19 positive patients with PD as compared to non-PD patients, in addition to understanding the role of ACE2 in increased vulnerability to contracting the infection and as a treatment modality

USCID fourth international conference

Presented at the Role of irrigation and drainage in a sustainable future: USCID fourth international conference on irrigation and drainage on October 3-6, 2007 in Sacramento, California.Includes bibliographical references.The irrigation network of this study consists of three branch canals (the Machai Branch Canal, the Pehure High Level Canal (PHLC) and the Maira Branch Canal) connected to each other in such a way that the Machai Branch and the PHLC feed the Maira Branch Canal for providing a reliable irrigation service. The Machai Branch Canal has limited and erratic discharges and cannot fulfill the peak water requirements of the Maira Branch Canal and therefore any deficiency in the supplies to the Maira Branch Canal is automatically compensated by the PHLC. PHLC is an automatic canal and has been equipped with Proportional Integral Derivative (PID) discharge controllers at its head whereas the Machai Branch Canal has fixed supply based operations. The Maira Branch Canal is also an automatically downstream controlled irrigation canal, which is operated according to crop water requirements using Crop Based Irrigation Operations (CBIO) model. Under this scheme of operations the flows remain changing most of the time following the crop water requirements curve. The frequent changes in discharges keep the canal in unsteady state conditions, which affect the functioning of automatic discharge and water level regulation structures. Efficient system operation is a prerequisite for getting better water productivity and the precise understanding of the behavior of the structures and canal's hydrodynamics against such changes is a key for getting effective system operations. In this paper the canal's hydrodynamic behavior and the automatic structures' functioning have been assessed and suggestions have been provided to fine tune the automatic discharge controllers in order to avoid the oscillatory and abrupt hydrodynamic behavior in the canal. The guidelines have been provided for the operation of the secondary system for achieving smooth and sustainable operations of the canals. In addition to this the effects of any discharge variation in the Machai Branch Canal on the automatic discharge controller's behavior also has been assessed

Global variation of COVID-19 mortality rates in the initial phase

Objectives: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has caused devastation in over 200 countries. Italy, Spain, and the United States (US) were most severely affected by the first wave of the pandemic. The reasons why some countries were more strongly affected than others remain unknown. We identified the most-affected and less-affected countries and states and explored environmental, host, and infrastructure risk factors that may explain differences in the SARS-CoV-2 mortality burden. Methods: We identified the top 10 countries/US states with the highest deaths per population until May 2020. For each of these 10 case countries/states, we identified 6 control countries/ states with a similar population size and at least 3 times fewer deaths per population. We extracted data for 30 risk factors from publicly available, trusted sources. We compared case and control countries/states using the non-parametric Wilcoxon rank-sum test, and conducted a secondary cluster analysis to explore the relationship between the number of cases per population and the number of deaths per population using a scalable EM (expectation–maximization) clustering algorithm. Results: Statistically significant differences were found in 16 of 30 investigated risk factors, the most important of which were temperature, neonatal and under-5 mortality rates, the percentage of under-5 deaths due to acute respiratory infections (ARIs) and diarrhea, and tuberculosis incidence (p < 0.05) Conclusion: Countries with a higher burden of baseline pediatric mortality rates, higher pediatric mortality from preventable diseases like diarrhea and ARI, and higher tuberculosis incidence had lower rates of coronavirus disease 2019-associated mortality, supporting the hygiene hypothesis

Adverse reactions following COVID-19 vaccination: An Ecuadorian experience

Background: Limited large-scale studies have been conducted to investigate the adverse effects of COVID-19 vaccine in Latin America, particularly among the healthcare worker (HCW) population in Ecuador. The objective of this study was to assess a cohort of Ecuadorian healthcare workers for adverse reactions following vaccination with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.Methods: We conducted an observational cross-sectional study to assess the potential adverse reactions to the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine among a sample of healthcare workers (HCWs) in the city of Guayaquil, Ecuador, from March to May 2021.Results: The sample comprised 1291 patients, with a mean age of 39.3 years (SD, 13.5). In general, 79% (N = 1020) of participants presented an adverse effect of any type at first dose, while 75.1% (N = 969) did so at the second dose. Pain at the puncture site was the most common adverse effect overall after either the first (68.4%) and second (55.6%) dose. Regarding anaphylaxis, no participant developed the condition after the first dose, and only 0.2% (N = 2) developing it at the second dose. No fatalities were reported.Conclusion: Our findings suggest that adverse reactions following COVID-19 vaccination with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine are relatively common, albeit often mild and self-limited. Consistent with the literature there were few cases of anaphylaxis, and no deaths that could be attributed to the inoculation with the vaccine. We hope our findings can help to reassure the public that benefits of vaccination highly outweigh the risks and contribute to the effort of reducing vaccine hesitancy among those who are concerned about the safety and potential side effects

Prevalence of Muscle Dysmorphia and Associated Health Activities in Male Medical Students in Karachi, Pakistan

Background: Muscle Dysmorphia (MD) is a subtype of body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) and is currently classified under anxiety disorders (subheading: Obsessive-compulsive disorder) in DSM 5. MD is hypothesized to affect the self-esteem and social outlook of the younger generation. MD shows a higher rate in males and may influence their self-confidence rendering them more prone towards using steroids, supplementary proteins and other drugs to alter their physical outlooks as shown in previous studies. This problem has been on the rise lately due to revolutionary advancement in the media and film industry and the abrupt changes about the standards of physical good looks and body shapes. With the lack of studies done in our population, our study will be helpful to consider the prevalence of the disease in our setting and increase awareness in the general public and clinicians. We hope to help clinicians/ therapists find better options in managing the disease. Materials: We performed a cross-sectional study with a sample size of 246 medical school students in Karachi to collect data through self-administered questionnaires. We used the DSM 5 criteria for the diagnosis of BDD and additional questions on the presence of MD. Nutritional habits, exercise routines, use of supplements and drugs were also obtained for exploratory analysis. Results: Our study predicted the prevalence of MD to be 25%. Other main findings included statistical significant associations between MD and the thoughts and practice of steroid use for muscularity. Conclusion: MD is an underdiagnosed and often unrecognized disease that we believe has significant consequences for the young male population. Further work is needed on this in our part of the world. Our research, we believe, can be a stepping stone for further studies that would incorporate wider populations

Physicochemical, in vitro and in vivo evaluation of flurbiprofen microemulsion

Flurbiprofen, a potent nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, is widely used for relief of pain in patients suffering from rheumatic diseases, migraine, sore throat and primary dysmenorrheal. However, this drug has many gastrointestinal side effects produced by its oral administration, such as gastric bleeding and peptic ulcer. These effects were responsible for non-compliance among patients, which ultimately results in treatment failure. The physicochemical properties of flurbiprofen, make it a suitable candidate for transdermal drug delivery, which can overcome the drawbacks of oral administration. In this sense, microemulsions have been proved to increase the cutaneous absorption of lipophilic drugs when compared to conventional drug delivery systems. The purpose of this study was to formulate and characterize gel based microemulsions, for topical delivery of flurbiprofen. Different gel bases, containing microemulsion and hydro-alcoholic solution of flurbiprofen, were developed and compared. In vitro study showed that gels containing microemulsion had a higher permeation rate than those containing hydro-alcoholic solutions. Additionally, formulation of Carbopol-I (microemulsion) showed higher percent of inhibition of inflammation than others bases. Further, skin irritation study demonstrated that Carbopol-I was none irritating. Flurbiprofen microemulsion incorporated on Carbopol-I showed physicochemical, in vitro and in vivo characteristics suitable for the development of alternative transdermal delivery formulation87

Resuspendable Powders of Lyophilized Chalcogen Particles with Activity against Microorganisms

Many organic sulfur, selenium and tellurium compounds show considerable activity against microorganisms, including bacteria and fungi. This pronounced activity is often due to the specific, oxidizing redox behavior of the chalcogen-chalcogen bond present in such molecules. Interestingly, similar chalcogen-chalcogen motifs are also found in the elemental forms of these elements, and while those materials are insoluble in aqueous media, it has recently been possible to unlock their biological activities using naturally produced or homogenized suspensions of respective chalcogen nanoparticles. Those suspensions can be employed readily and often effectively against common pathogenic microorganisms, still their practical uses are limited as such suspensions are difficult to transport, store and apply. Using mannitol as stabilizer, it is now possible to lyophilize such suspensions to produce solid forms of the nanoparticles, which upon resuspension in water essentially retain their initial size and exhibit considerable biological activity. The sequence of Nanosizing, Lyophilization and Resuspension (NaLyRe) eventually provides access to a range of lyophilized materials which may be considered as easy-to-handle, ready-to-use and at the same time as bioavailable, active forms of otherwise insoluble or sparingly substances. In the case of elemental sulfur, selenium and tellurium, this approach promises wider practical applications, for instance in the medical or agricultural arena