Antiphospholipid Antibodies in Women with Recurrent Urinary Tract Infection

Background: A variety of infections, including acute and recurrent urinary tract infections (UTIs), can trigger production of antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL).  These antibodies in women can lead to recurrent pregnancy loss. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of aPL in recurrent UTI patients.Materials and Methods: A total 52 subjects who had positive urine culture and 50 healthy individuals as controls were evaluated for presence of lupus anticoagulant (LA), anticardiolipin, anti-β2 GPI(anti-2-glycoprotein I) autoantibodies  IgM and IgG and Interleukin-8 levels. Determination of lupus anticoagulant was done by Activated Partial Thromboplastin Time (aPTT). Anticardiolipin and anti-β2 GPI autoantibodies were evaluated by ELISA method. Interleukin-8 values were also evaluated using ELISA method. Results: Escherichia coli (86.61%) and Proteus mirabilis (1.92%) had the highest and lowest frequency respectively. The prevalence of anti- β2 GPI IgG and IgM isotypes and anticardiolipin IgG and IgM isotypes or LA in UTI patients and healthy controls was 0.0%. There was significant association between neutrophil counts and IL-8 levels at the p < 0.01.Conclusion: Our results showed that in the UTI group and controls evaluated antiphospholipid antibodies were not present. The production of antiphospholipid antibodies is influenced by various genetic and environmental factors and chronic urinary tract infection alone is not the cause. This can affect the prevalence of antiphospholipid antibodies in various populations. However, other factors, such as the type of antiphospholipid antibody, sampling season and methodology can affect the results

Improving energy efficiency considering reduction of CO2 emission of turnip production:A novel data envelopment analysis model with undesirable output approach

Modern Turnip production methods need significant amount of direct and indirect energy. The optimum use of agricultural input resources results in the increase of efficiency and the decrease of the carbon footprint of turnip production. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approach is a well-known technique utilized to evaluate the efficiency for peer units compared with the best practice frontier, widely used by researches to analyze the performance of agricultural sector. In this regard, a new non-radial DEA-based efficiency model is designed to investigate the efficiency of turnip farms. For this purpose, five inputs and two outputs are considered. The outputs consist turnip yield as a desirable output and greenhouse gas emission as an undesirable output. The new model projects each DMU on the strong efficient frontier. Several important properties are stated and proved which show the capabilities of our proposed model. The new models are applied in evaluating 30 turnip farms in Fars, Iran. This case study demonstrates the efficiency of our proposed models. The target inputs and outputs for these farms are also calculated and the benchmark farm for each DMU is determined. Finally, the reduction of CO2 emission for each turnip farm is evaluated. Compared with other factors like human labor, diesel fuel, seed and fertilizers, one of the most important findings is that machinery has the highest contribution to the total target energy saving. Besides, the average target emission of turnip production in the region is 7% less than the current emission

Development of Chitosan/Gelatin/Keratin Composite Containing Hydrocortisone Sodium Succinate as a Buccal Mucoadhesive Patch to Treat Desquamative Gingivitis

The aim of this research was to develop chitosan/gelatin/keratin composite containing hydrocortisone sodium succinate as a buccal mucoadhesive patch to treat desquamative gingivitis, which was fabricated through an environmental friendly process. Mucoadhesive films increase the advantage of higher efficiency and drug localization in the affected region. In this research, mucoadhesive films, for the release of hydrocortisone sodium succinate, were prepared using different ratios of chitosan, gelatin and keratin. In the first step, chitosan and gelatin proportions were optimized after evaluating the mechanical properties, swelling capacity, water uptake, stability, and biodegradation of the films. Then, keratin was added at different percentages to the optimum composite of chitosan and gelatin together with the drug. The results of surface pH showed that none of the samples were harmful to the buccal cavity. FTIR analysis confirmed the influence of keratin on the structure of the composite. The presence of a higher amount of keratin in the composite films resulted in high mechanical, mucoadhesive properties and stability, low water uptake and biodegradation in phosphate buffer saline (pH = 7.4) containing 104 U/ml lysozyme. The release profile of the films ascertained that keratin is a rate controller in the release of the hydrocortisone sodium succinate. Finally, chitosan/gelatin/keratin composite containing hydrocortisone sodium succinate can be employed in dental applications

Oxidized multi walled carbon nanotubes for improving the electrocatalytic activity of a benzofuran derivative modified electrode

In the present paper, the use of a novel carbon paste electrode modified by 7,8-dihydroxy-3,3,6-trimethyl-3,4-dihydrodibenzo[b,d]furan-1(2H)-one (DTD) and oxidized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (OCNTs) is described for determination of levodopa (LD), acetaminophen (AC) and tryptophan (Trp) by a simple and rapid method. At first, the electrochemical behavior of DTD is studied, then, the mediated oxidation of LD at the modified electrode is investigated. At the optimum pH of 7.4, the oxidation of LD occurs at a potential about 330 mV less positive than that of an unmodified carbon paste electrode. Based on differential pulse voltammetry (DPV), the oxidation current of LD exhibits a linear range between 1.0 and 2000.0 μM of LD with a detection limit (3σ) of 0.36 μM. DPV was also used for simultaneous determination of LD, AC and Trp at the modified electrode. Finally, the proposed electrochemical sensor was used for determinations of these substances in human serum sample

Energy management in crop production using a novel fuzzy data envelopment analysis model

Data envelopment analysis is a relatively “data oriented” approach to measure the efficiency of a set of decision making units which transform multiple inputs into multiple outputs. However, some production processes may generate undesirable outputs like smoke pollution or waste. On the other hand, in many situations, such as a manufacturing system, a production process or a service system, inputs and outputs can be considered as a fuzzy variable. Thus, this paper has presented a new non-radial DEA model based on a modification of Enhanced Russell Model (ERM model) in the presence of an undesirable output in a fuzzy environment. Hereafter, a method for solving the proposed fuzzy DEA model based on the concept of alpha cut and possibility approach is presented. A useful stochastic closeness coefficient is also proposed to present a complete ranking. The proposed methodology is applied to evaluate the efficiencies of barley production farms in 22 provinces in Iran

Energy efficiency and congestion considering data envelopment analysis and bounded adjusted measure: A case of tomato production

Auditing energy usage of farming operations is a key step towards agricultural sustainability. The current systems of tomato production use a considerable quantity of energy. As a result, improving energy efficiency is a crucial stage in decreasing energy consumption in tomato production. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) model is an established methodology to assess energy efficiency in crop production. In this study, the bounded adjusted measure (BAM) is applied for improving the efficiency of tomato production as well as decreasing the carbon footprint. In this regard, the overall, environmental, production, and pure emission efficiency of tomato production in 24 provinces of Iran are investigated. The nine overall efficient tomato producing provinces recognized that showed they had no input excesses and/or output shortfalls. Also, similar to the overall efficiency, nine out of the 24 DMUs were recognized as environmental, production, and pure emission efficient. Finally, in order to measure the probable amounts of excessive investments in inputs, with the aim of obtaining more outputs, a new approach of determining congestion is proposed based on BAM model

Thiosemicarbazide derivative-functionalized carbon nanotube for simultaneous determination of isoprenaline and piroxicam

Abstract Background Piroxicam (PX) is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug of the oxicam category that has been known worth as a chemopreventative, anti-tumor agent, for acute and chronic musculoskeletal. To the best of our knowledge, no paper has been published until now reporting the simultaneous electrocatalytic detection of isoprenaline and PX by using any type of modified electrodes. Methods The glassy carbon electrode modified with multiwalled carbon nanotubes chemically modified with (z)-1-(3,4-dihydroxybenzylidene)-2-methylthiosemicarbazide (DBT–CNT/GCE). The electrocatalytic behavior of analytes was examined using cyclic voltammetry (CV), chronoamperometry, and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) on the modified electrode. Results In order to determine kinetic parameters such as the anodic transfer coefficient (α = 0.47) and the electron transfer rate constant between the nanocomposite and glassy carbon electrode (ks/s = 0.51), cyclic voltammetry was applied. The results represented a linear relationship versus isoprenaline concentrations in the wide range of 0.5–1500.0 μM and a detection limit of 0.35 μM. Furthermore, DPV was applied successfully for the simultaneous determination of isoprenaline and piroxicam. Conclusions This proposed sensor has been successfully applied to determine the IP and PX in blood serum human, which demonstrates that it has excellent potential application for detection of different concentrations of IP and PX

The effectiveness of the comprehensive corrective exercise program on kinematics and strength of lower extremities in males with dynamic knee valgus: a parallel-group randomized wait-list controlled trial

Highlights The CCEP can improve lower extremity kinematics and muscle strength in people with DKV. Proximal and distal segments should be considered simultaneously for improving DKV. The CCEP is recommended to improve DKV