Generalized relation between the relative entropy and dissipation for nonequilibrium systems

Recently, Kawai, Parrondo, and Van den Broeck have related dissipation to time-reversal asymmetry. We generalized the result by considering a protocol where the physical system is driven away from an initial thermal equilibrium state with temperature $\beta_0$ to a final thermal equilibrium state at a different temperature. We illustrate the result using a model with an exact solution, i.e., a particle in a moving one-dimensional harmonic well.Comment: 4 page

Adaptation of the Parent Readiness for Hospital Discharge Scale with Mothers of Preterm Infants Discharged from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Aims and objectives To evaluate the psychometric properties of a new Persian translation of the Readiness for Hospital Discharge Scale. Background Globally, one in 10 newborns are born preterm and many require care in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). A primary role of NICU nurses is to assure parents are well prepared to take their newborns home from the hospital. Assessment of parent perception of discharge readiness provides important input into discharge decisions. The availability of reliable and valid instruments tested within the geographical and cultural context is needed for a comprehensive assessment of predischarge readiness, so that parent needs can be identified and the necessary interventions designed and implemented. Design This psychometrics study included a convenience sample of 200 mothers with preterm infants being discharged from the NICU of Shahid Sadoughi Hospital in Yazd, Iran. The original 29‐item version of the Readiness for Hospital Discharge Scale—Parent questionnaire was translated into Persian using the standard forward–backward method. Face, content and construct validity (principal components analysis), and reliability (internal consistency—Cronbach\u27s alpha) were assessed. Methods followed STROBE criteria as applicable (see Appendix S1). Results The content validity index and content validity ratio were both 0.93. Construct validity testing identified 6 factors (mother and infant physical–psychological readiness, expected support, knowledge of future events and care, knowledge of infant personal care, pain and therapeutic interventions). Using Cronbach\u27s alpha coefficient, the reliability of the whole instrument was estimated to be 0.87. Conclusion The Persian Readiness for Hospital Discharge—Parental Form for use with mothers of preterm infants being discharged from an Iranian NICU has acceptable validity and reliability. Relevance to Practice This tool can be used before discharge to determine the needs of mothers and design the necessary measures to improve quality of discharge care

The effect of eucalyptus vapor on cough after coronary artery bypass surgery

Cough is postoperative complication following endotracheal intubation as well as inflammation of the pharynx, larynx and trachea. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of eucalyptus vapor on cough after tracheal extubation in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG). In this randomized controlled trial, 100 patients undergoing CABG were randomly divided into two groups by accessible sampling. Before the intervention and after tracheal extubation, demographic and clinical data, as well as data on cough by a scoring system were collected from interventional and control groups. The patients in the interventional group after tracheal extubation were exposed to eucalyptus vapor for about 10 min. This treatment was performed at 1 and 12 h after extubation. The severity of cough was recorded in both interventional and control groups at 0, 1, 6, 12 and 24 h after extubation. The present study showed that the severity of cough after extubation in the patients undergoing CABG in the interventional group had no significant difference at the times of immediate to 24 hours after extubation. Risk of cough had respectively 9.5% increase in the control group as compared to the interventional group

Assessment of Patient Radiation Dose in Interventional Procedures at Shahid Madani Heart Center in Khorramabad, Iran

Introduction: Coronary angiography is the most common angiographic procedure for diagnosis and treatment of the heart diseases. Herein, we aimed to evaluate the entrance surface dose (ESD), dose area product (DAP), as well as cancer risk in interventional cardiology procedures. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted during July-December 2015 at Shahid Madani Heart Center in Khorramabad, Iran. A total of 225 adult patients including 122 females and 103 males regardless of the risk factors for coronary diseases were participated. Of them, 199 and 26 patients underwent diagnostic coronary angiography (CA) and percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA), respectively. Each patient underwent CA or PTCA separately. All the procedures were carried out using Siemens angiography system with the pulsed fluoroscopy of 10-30 pulses/s and cine frame rate of 15 frames/s. DAP, ESD, fluoroscopy time (FT), as well as the number of sequences and frames per sequence were collected for each 199 CA and 26 PTCA procedures. Results: The median values of DAP were 19.77±14.88 and 57.11±33.36 Gy.cm2 in CA and PTCA, respectively. In addition, the median values of ESD were 323.12±245.39 and 1145.22±594.42 mGy in CA and PTCA, respectively. FTs were 114.59±74.33 s in CA and 424.15±292.93 s in PTCA. Conclusion: The average patient dose and cancer risk estimates in both CA and PTCA were consistent with the reference levels. However, in agreement with other interventional procedures, dose levels in the interventional cardiology are influenced by staff and clinical protocols, as well as the type of equipment

Evaluation of hydrogen storage technology in risk-constrained stochastic scheduling of multi-carrier energy systems considering power, gas and heating network constraints

The operation of energy systems considering a multi-carrier scheme takes several advantages of economical, environmental, and technical aspects by utilizing alternative options is supplying different kinds of loads such as heat, gas, and power. This study aims to evaluate the influence of power to hydrogen conversion capability and hydrogen storage technology in energy systems with gas, power, and heat carriers concerning risk analysis. Accordingly, conditional value at risk (CVaR)-based stochastic method is adopted for investigating the uncertainty associated with wind power production. Hydrogen storage system, which can convert power to hydrogen in off-peak hours and to feed generators to produce power at on-peak time intervals, is studied as an effective solution to mitigate the wind power curtailment because of high penetration of wind turbines in electricity networks. Besides, the effect constraints associated with gas and district heating network on the operation of the multi-carrier energy systems has been investigated. A gas-fired combined heat and power (CHP) plant and hydrogen storage are considered as the interconnections among power, gas and heat systems. The proposed framework is implemented on a system to verify the effectiveness of the model. The obtained results show the effectiveness of the model in terms of handling the risks associated with multi-carrier system parameters as well as dealing with the penetration of renewable resources

Evaluating the Impact of Multi-Carrier Energy Storage Systems in Optimal Operation of Integrated Electricity, Gas and District Heating Networks

Various energy networks such as electricity, natural gas, and district heating can be connected by emerging technologies for efficient application of renewable energy sources. On the other hand, the pressure shortage in the natural gas network and increasing heat loss in the district heating network by growth of gas and heat load in winter might play a significant role in the participation of combined heat and power units in the energy markets and operation cost of the whole integrated energy system. Hence, this paper presents a multi-network constrained unit commitment problem in the presence of multi-carrier energy storage technologies aiming to minimize the operation cost of an integrated electricity, gas and district heating system while satisfying the constraints of all three networks. In addition, an information gap decision theory is developed for studying the uncertainty of energy sources under risk-seeker and risk-averse strategies with no need for probability distribution function. Moreover, the role of multi-carrier energy storage technologies in integrated networks is investigated, which indicates decrement of total operation cost and reduction of the effect of wind power uncertainty on total operation cost in presence of the storage technologies