Fogarty® catheter dilatation of veins smaller than 2.5 mm after completion of the anastomosis during arteriovenous fistula creation

Introduction. Risk of failure after surgical creation of the AVF was linked to the diameter and flow dynamics of the vessel that is to be quantified by preoperative ultrasound mapping. We aimed to report our results using a different technique consisting of Fogarty® catheter dilatation of the cephalic vein after completion of the anastomosis. Material and methods. A total of 23 patients, aged between 35 to 70 years, with a cephalic vein diameter of ≤ 2.5 mm received a dilatation technique for arteriovenous creation. Patients having reoperations, aneurysmatic or thrombosed veins and multiple risk factors were not considered eligible and access failure within 60 days was defined as early fistula failure. Results. Mean cephalic vein diameter was 2.03 ± 0.28 mm and mean radial artery diameter was 2.33 ± 0.16 mm. At 15th day visit, 21 of 23 patients (91.3%) had patent arteriovenous fistula. Mean time of follow-up was 7.2 ± 1.67 months and was complete in 20 of 21 patients with a patent fistula. Overall patency was 18/23 (78.2%) in patients with survived AVFs. Conclusion. Fogarty® catheter dilatation of the cephalic vein after completion of the anastomosis during arteriovenous fistula creation is effective and safe in patients with small calibrated veins

Green marketing at lodging enterprises from sustainable tourism perspective: Calista luxury resort hotel

Sürdürülebilir turizm, yerel kaynakların korunması, yaşam kalitesinin yükseltilmesi, turistik tüketicilerin ve bölge halkının ihtiyaçlarının gelecek düşünülerek karşılanması, ülkenin kültürel bütünlüğüne ve çevresine uygun turizm kapasitelerinin geliştirilmesidir. En çok enerji tüketen sektörlerden biri olan turizm, enerji tasarrufu, doğal kaynakların korunması ve çevresel yönetim gibi konulara ağırlık vermelidir. Böylece turizm işletmelerinin değişen tüketici tercih ve beklentilerine uygun, çevreye saygılı ürünler sunabilmeleri ve tüketici gözünde iyi bir imaj oluşturmaları sağlanmalıdır. Rekabet avantajı olarak çevre kalitesi, turizm işletmeleri için çok önemlidir. Tüketici istek ve gereksinimlerini karşılamaya yönelik her türlü çevre dostu pazarlama faaliyetlerini ifade eden yeşil pazarlama, çevresel ürünlerin çevresel stratejilerle pazarlanmasını gerektirir. Çevre dostu turizm işletmeleri, yeşil pazarlama stratejilerini uygulayarak sektörde farklı bir konumlandırmaya gidebilmektedir. Bu çalışmada turizmin çevresel boyutları ele alınmış, sürdürülebilirliğin sağlanması için turizm sektöründe yer alan birey, yatırımcı, kurum ve kuruluşların yapması gerekenler üzerinde durulmuş ve turizmde yeni bir pazar olan yeşil pazarlama faaliyetleri ile somut bir örnek olarak "Calista Luxury Resort"e ait çalışmalar değerlendirilmiştir.  Sustainable tourism means to protect local resources, to increase life quality, to provide needs of tourism consumers and local people by considering needs of future generations, and to develop tourism types which are suitable to country's cultural integrity and environment. As one of the most energy consuming sectors, tourism should give importance to conservation of energy, protection of natural resources, and environmental management. Therefore, tourism enterprises enable to offer environment friendly products adjusted to changing consumer preferences and expectations and create a good image in consumers' mind. Environment quality offers an important source of competitive advantage to tourism enterprises. Green marketing which can be defined as all type of environment friendly marketing activities aiming to satisfy consumer's wants and needs is needed to market environment friendly products by environmental strategies. Environment friendly tourism enterprises can position themselves uniquely by applying green marketing strategies. In this study, environmental aspects of tourism are evaluated, responsibilities of individuals, investors, and organizations are examined, and green marketing applications of "Calista Luxury Resort" are analyzed as a case&nbsp

Determination of permanent deformation of flexible pavements using finite element model

Nevezani zrnati materijal koji se koristi u savitljivim kolničkim konstrukcijama ponaša se elastoplastično pod utjecajem ponavljanih prometnih opterećenja. Trajne deformacije koje se javljaju na površini kolnika uslijed prometnog opterećenja jedan su od osnovnih problema koji negativno utječu na ponašanje kolničkih konstrukcija. Zbog toga su u novije vrijeme razvijeni brojni modeli za analizu trajnih deformacija, tj. za izračunavanje pojave kolotraga na kolnicima. Većina istraživanja koja se bave tim pitanjem temelje se na provedbi dinamičkih troosnih ispitivanja. U ovom je istraživanju deformabilnost nevezanih zrnatih materijala određena ispitivanjem prema metodi rezonantnog stupca. Također, umjesto određivanja ukupnih trajnih deformacija zbrajanjem izračunanih deformacija pojedinačnih slojeva kolnika, u ovom se radu na četiri različita tipa kolničkih konstrukcija provode dinamičke dvodimenzionalne osnosimetrične analize metodom konačnih elemenata kako bi se predvidjela ukupna trajna deformacija koja se javlja na površini kolnika nakon određenog broja ciklusa opterećenja. Nevezani slojevi za prvi modelirani tip kolničke konstrukcije sastoje se od prirodnog agregata. Nevezani nosivi sloj i/ili tamponski sloj preostalih triju kolničkih konstrukcija sastoji se od otpadnog materijala čelične zgure. Odnos trajnih deformacija i broja ciklusa opterećenja za sva četiri tipa kolničkih konstrukcija prikazan je na polulogaritamskim dijagramima. Za svaki je analizirani tip kolničke konstrukcije prikazana jednadžba trajnih deformacija.The unbound granular material used in flexible road pavements exhibits an elastoplastic behaviour under repetitive traffic loads. Permanent deformation occurring on pavement surface under traffic load is one of the main road pavement problems affecting road performance. Therefore, many permanent deformation models for calculating road pavement rutting have recently been developed by researchers. Most of these studies involve performance of dynamic triaxial tests. In this study, deformation characteristics of unbound granular materials are determined using the resonant column test. Then, instead of determining the total permanent deformation by summing up the calculated permanent deformations obtained in each pavement layer, dynamic 2D axisymmetric finite element analyses are performed for four different pavement cross sections to predict the total permanent deformation occurring on pavement surface under certain load cycles. The first modelled cross section of unbound granular material consists of natural aggregate. The base and/or subbase of remaining three cross sections consists of steel slag waste material. The permanent deformation versus load cycle is presented for four multi-layer road cross sections using semi logarithmic graphs. Finally, the permanent deformation model equation is developed for each pavement cross section using their fitting curves

Dizajn maske za lice s UVC-LED zračenjem i njezina djelotvornost protiv uobičajenih klica

During the Covid-19 pandemic, one of the best means of personal protection was using face masks. In this context, the World Health Organization has declared the attempts to produce masks inactivating airborne virus species a welcome initiative. This preliminary study aimed to prove that airborne germs passing through a mask filter cartridge can be destroyed by the rays emitted from UVC LEDs placed in such cartridge. We therefore designed such a face mask and tested the efficiency of UVC LEDs placed in its cartridge against common contaminants, gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus, gram-negative Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and the influenza A/Puerto Rico/8/1934 virus because of its similarity with SARS CoV-2. Eight UVC LEDs with a total power of 75 mW provided sufficient germicidal effect for all three germs. In terms of safety, ozone production released during UVC LED emission was negligible. Our findings are promising, as they show that well-designed UVC-based face masks can be effective against airborne germs, but further research on a greater sample may help us learn more and optimise such face masks.Tijekom pandemije Covida-19 jedan od najboljih oblika osobne zaštite bilo je nošenje maski za lice. U tom je smislu Svjetska zdravstvena organizacija pozdravila pokušaje izrade maski koje ubijaju virusne vrste koje se prenose zrakom. Cilj je ovoga preliminarnog istraživanja bio dokazati da se zrakom nošene klice koje prolaze kroz filtarske uloške mogu uništiti zračenjem UVC ledica smještenih u takve uloške. Stoga smo osmislili masku za lice s tom namjenom i iskušali djelotvornost UVC ledica protiv uobičajenih izvora zaraza: gram-pozitivnoga Staphylococcus aureus, gram-negativnoga Pseudomonas aeruginosa i virusa influence A/Puerto Rico/8/1934 zbog njegove sličnosti s virusom SARS CoV-2. Osam UVC ledica ukupne snage 75 mW iskazale su dovoljan germicidni učinak protiv svih triju klica. U smislu sigurnosti primjene, ozon proizveden tijekom UVC-LED zračenja pokazao se zanemarivim. Naši su rezultati obećavajući jer pokazuju da dobro osmišljene maske za lice s UVC zračenjem mogu biti djelotvorne protiv zrakom nošenih klica, ali će tek daljnja istraživanja na većem uzorku pomoći da doznamo više i usavršimo takve maske za lice

Effect of curing time on selected properties of soil stabilized with fly ash, marble dust and waste sand for road sub-base materials

The properties of sub-base filling materials in highway construction are essential, as they can determine the performance of the road in service. Normally, the existing materials are removed and replaced with new materials that have adequate load-bearing capacity. Rising environmental concern and new environmental legislations have made construction professionals consider other methods. These methods include stabilizing the existing materials with other additives to improve their performance. Additives can be waste materials generated by different industries. In this work, the existing excavated soil is stabilized with waste materials. The wastes consisted of fly ash, marble dust and waste sand. The percentage addition of waste materials was 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% (by mass) of the existing soil. The soil/waste specimens were cured for 1, 7, 28, 56, 90 and 112 days before testing. Testing included the dry unit weight and unconfined compressive strength ( qu) as well as X-ray diffraction analysis and scanning electron microscopy observation. Also, the California Bearing Ratio values were obtained and are reported in this investigation. The results showed that the qu values increased with the increase in waste materials content. Also, there is tendency for the dry unit weight to increase with the increase in waste materials

EPIdemiology of Surgery-Associated Acute Kidney Injury (EPIS-AKI) : Study protocol for a multicentre, observational trial

More than 300 million surgical procedures are performed each year. Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common complication after major surgery and is associated with adverse short-term and long-term outcomes. However, there is a large variation in the incidence of reported AKI rates. The establishment of an accurate epidemiology of surgery-associated AKI is important for healthcare policy, quality initiatives, clinical trials, as well as for improving guidelines. The objective of the Epidemiology of Surgery-associated Acute Kidney Injury (EPIS-AKI) trial is to prospectively evaluate the epidemiology of AKI after major surgery using the latest Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) consensus definition of AKI. EPIS-AKI is an international prospective, observational, multicentre cohort study including 10 000 patients undergoing major surgery who are subsequently admitted to the ICU or a similar high dependency unit. The primary endpoint is the incidence of AKI within 72 hours after surgery according to the KDIGO criteria. Secondary endpoints include use of renal replacement therapy (RRT), mortality during ICU and hospital stay, length of ICU and hospital stay and major adverse kidney events (combined endpoint consisting of persistent renal dysfunction, RRT and mortality) at day 90. Further, we will evaluate preoperative and intraoperative risk factors affecting the incidence of postoperative AKI. In an add-on analysis, we will assess urinary biomarkers for early detection of AKI. EPIS-AKI has been approved by the leading Ethics Committee of the Medical Council North Rhine-Westphalia, of the Westphalian Wilhelms-University Münster and the corresponding Ethics Committee at each participating site. Results will be disseminated widely and published in peer-reviewed journals, presented at conferences and used to design further AKI-related trials. Trial registration number NCT04165369

The influence of extraction method on antioxidant potential of Tilia argentea flowers and bracts

The objective of this work was to compare the extraction of phenolic compounds from Tilia argentea flowers and bracts by using conventional (solvent extraction) and novel (ultrasound assisted) extraction methods. Ethanol (70 %) extracts were analyzed for their antioxidant activities. Total phenolic content was determined using Folin-Ciocalteu method and the antioxidant potential was determined by DPPH radical scavenging and Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power (FRAP) assays. To determine the effect of ultrasound treatment on the extraction, same extraction parameters were applied in both methods. The results showed that extracts obtained by ultrasound assisted extraction have higher total phenolic content and antioxidant activity