Modelling of Adsorption Kinetic Processes—Errors, Theory and Application

Adsorption has become a competitive method in the field of wastewater and air treatment. Adsorption kinetics is one of the main factors that must be understood before the applicability of any adsorbent. In every adsorption process, linear or non-linear analysis of the kinetics is applied. The goodness of fit index (coefficient of correlation or sum of squares) is applied to access the best model. The usage of linear or non-linear from of the adsorption kinetics has an impact on the distribution of error function. Almost in every adsorption study, linear forms have been used to conclude the best kinetic model that influence the adsorption mechanism—which might be an error. Therefore, this review highlights the mistakes in the usage of linear and non-linear models. The applicability of the adsorption kinetics in wastewater treatment is also illuminated

Effect of Educational Level on Oral Health in Peritoneal and Hemodialysis Patients

Background. In previous studies, the oral and dental health statuses were compared in hemodialysis (HD) and peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients without taking into account the effect of educational levels on oral health. Hence we aimed to make a comparison of these parameters based upon the subjects educational levels. Patients and Methods. 76 PD (33 males, 43 females-mean age: 44 ± 12 years) and 100 HD (56 males, 44 females-mean age: 46 ± 14 years) patients were included. The number of decayed, missing and filled teeth were detected, DMFT index was calculated and plaque index (PI) values were assessed. Results. Significantly higher numbers of filled teeth (P < .001) and lower PI values (P < .01) in the PD group were detected with higher educational levels, whereas no significance was detected in the HD group. Higher DMFT index values were assessed in the lower educated and high school levels in PD than HD patients (P < .05). Higher numbers of filled teeth (P < .05) were detected in the secondary school level in PD patients. This difference was even more significant in the high school level (P < .001). Conclusion. We assume that PD patients, who were found to be in a higher educational level, are more caring for their oral health as compared to HD patients

Nonpreserved amniotic membrane transplantation for bilateral toxic keratopathy caused by topical anesthetic abuse: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Corneal damage associated with abuse of topical anesthetics is a rare clinic entity. Topical anesthetic abuse is one of the causes of ring keratitis. Ring keratitis is easily overlooked because it can mimic acanthamoeba keratitis or other infectious keratitis. The outcome is often poor, leading to persistent epithelial defects, corneal scarring, and perforations.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We report the clinical presentation, diagnosis, and treatment of a 65-year-old Caucasian man, who worked as a health care worker, with bilateral toxic keratopathy caused by topical anesthetic abuse. Nonpreserved amniotic membrane transplantation was performed for both eyes of the patient.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>It is important to identify and treat patients who abuse topical anesthetics before permanent vision loss ensues. Nonpreserved amniotic membrane transplantation may be useful in relieving pain and improving corneal surface in anesthetic agent abusers.</p

Modélisation des flux et de la qualité des eaux dans les systèmes karstiques à l'aide des méthodes "soft computing" (réseaux de neurones, logique floue)

Karstic aquifers present a great extension throughout the world (12 % of the emerged grounds) and in particular in countries around the Mediterranean sea (from 20 to 90 % of the surface of the Mediterranean countries). These aquifers represent important groundwater potentialities. In both countries (France and Turkey), these karstic aquifers are exploited for drinking water supply and other economic activities (agriculture, pisciculture,...) and constitute the single water resource in certain areas of these countries. The role of these karstic hydrosystems in the social and economical context of some areas is extremely crucial. These aquifers are very vulnerable to contaminations and are overexploited, taking into account the increase in water requirements. Karstic aquifers are very complex and show very particular characteristics (strong heterogeneity, anisotropy, discontinuity of the medium, hierarchization of the flows), which make difficult any classical approach of identification of these systems and management of their water resources. The difficulty of modeling comes owing to the fact that these karstic systems are highly non-linear and are little adapted to the classical methods of identification (flow and transport modeling based on Darcy law). Soft computing methods (Artificial neural networks and fuzzy logic) are playing a key role in the modelling of complex and nonlinear problems. The uncertainty associated with the data, the immense size of the data to deal with, the diversity of the data type and the associated scales are important factors to rely on unconventional mathematical tools such as soft computing. In this thesis, the three pilot experimental sites are: the karst of La Rochefoucauld in France which is used in particular for the supply of the regional capital Angouleme; Orbe karstic spring which supplies the rural city of Arette (Southwestern France) and the karst of Safranbolu in Turkey which supplies the town of Safranbolu. The principal objective of this work is to test the ability of soft computing methods for modeling of complex karstic systems and predicting the discharge rates and quality of water at the outlets of these systems. The results show the ability of Soft computing method to model these highly non linear systems. All the modelling work was carried out using the Matlab programming environment.POITIERS-BU Sciences (861942102) / SudocSudocFranceF

ACUTE NECROTISING ULSERATIVE GINGIUITIS

ANUG is the severe inflammatory periodantal disorder caused by plaque bacteria associated with diminished systemic resistance. This type of gingivitis is limited tolesions involving gingival tissue with no loss of periodontal attachment and bone loss. Three specific clinical signs must be present to diagnose ANUG pain necrosis of interdental papillae and bleeding. Development of ANUG is closely associated with spesific predisposing factors immune suppression acute psychologieal stress, smoking, malnutrition, pre-exisiting gingivitis, tissue trauma and AIDS favors the occurance of opportunistic infections. A 39 -year -old female patient with acute gingival lesions was refferd to our clinics at the Department of Periodontology, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Istanbul. The patient used to smoke two packs of cigarettes daily. In the first medical visit she was documented thoroughly and ornidazole (s. 2*2), etodolac (2*1), vifarnth B (2*1), 3% H2O2 (2*1), was prescribed to the patient. At the second and third visits supragigival scaling was perfomed under local anesthesia. Because of show remission of the lesions another prescription wasgiven including amoxicillin and clavulanate potassium (2*1), and chlothexidine mouthrinse (2*1) at the fourth visit except of this the patient was referred to the biochemical laboratory for further analysis. At subsequent visits, with short periods, sub and supragingival scaling was continued. The patient was taken to maintanance theraphy and no other clinical signts of inflanmation has been observed. At the final stage of treartment plan the patient was advised to continue her visits periodically. Special attention was given to imform the patient about oral hygiene procedures and adverse effects of smoking

Augmentation of Third Generation Instrumentation with Sublaminar Titanium Wiring in Late Onset Idiopathic Scoliosis - The Surgical Results and Analysis of Trunk Balance

In recent years, 3rd generation instrumentation systems which achieve correction by maneuvers like derotation and translation, have been widely used in the treatment of idiopathic scoliosis. To increase correction, additional procedures that increase stability, such as screw application for every segment, have been used. In this study, as a new technique, the effects of combined translation and derotation maneuver with augmentation by using titanium double crimp Songer cable applied on apical region, on trunk balance, sagittal and frontal planes have been examined. 45 idiopathic scoliosis patients operated between 1996 and 2002 have been included in the study. Mean age was 14.5±1.7 years and female/male ratio was 30/15. Mean follow up time was 51.9±22.7 months. According to King Classification, 15 patients had Type II, 18 patients Type III and 12 patients had Type IV curves. One of the apical cables has been tensioned and translation has been performed. At the second step, derotation has been applied to the vertebra, which is firmly attached to the rod. Sagittal and frontal Cobb angles have been measured in preoperative, postoperative and recent radiographic examinations. Trunk balance has been examined both clinically and radiographically. Also, secondary curves have been measured in every examination for decompensation findings. In overall frontal plane measurements, postoperative correction was 79.9±13.5 %, loss of correction 2.9°±3.2°and final correction 74.3 % ± 14.3 %. In postoperative measurements, normal physiological contours have been achieved in 97.8 % of the patients for the thoracic region (30°-50°) and 80.7 % of the patients for the lumbar region (40°-60°). In secondary curves, 75.2±34.4 % postoperative correction has been observed. No decompensation findings have been observed in the last examination. In postoperative and last follow up examinations, balanced and totally balanced vertebral column has been achieved in every patient of the study group. Solid fusion mass has been observed in every patient. No early or late, local or systemic postoperative complications have been observed. Given these findings, we conclude that derotation-translation combined maneuver performed with 3rd generation instrumentation reinforced sublaminar wires is a good choice in the treatment of the late-onset idiopathic scoliosis

Elevated levels of vitamin B12 in chronic stable heart failure: a marker for subclinical liver damage and impaired prognosis

WOS: 000434357200002PubMed: 29922067Background: Elevated vitamin B12 is a sign for liver damage, but its significance in chronic stable heart failure (HF) is less known. The present study investigated the clinical correlates and prognostic significance of vitamin B12 levels in stable systolic HF. Methods: A total of 129 consecutive patients with HF and 50 control subjects were enrolled. Data regarding demographics, clinical signs, therapeutic and conventional echocardiographic measurements were recorded for all patients. Right-sided HF was defined as the presence of at least one of the typical symptoms (ankle swelling) or specific signs (jugular venous distention or abdominojugular reflux) of right HF. Cox proportional hazards regression analyses were performed to determine the independent prognostic determinants of mortality. Results: Baseline B12 levels in HF patients (n=129) with and without right sided HF were significantly higher compared to healthy controls (n=50): Median 311 pg/mL and 235 pg/mL vs 198 pg/mL, respectively (P=0.005). Folic acid levels were similar between the study groups. Age, ejection fraction, left atrial size, estimated glomerular filtration rate, and direct and indirect bilirubin levels were significantly correlated to serum B12 level in univariate analysis. In multivariate analysis, independent correlates of B12 were direct bilirubin (R=0.51, P= 270 pg/mL had 80% sensitivity and 58% specificity for predicting all-cause mortality (area under the curve=0.672, 95% CI=0.562-0.781; P=0.003). However, in Cox regression analysis, only left atrial diameter, level of direct bilirubin, and the presence of abdominojugular reflux were independent predictors of death. Conclusion: Increased B12 in stable HF patients is associated with increased direct bilirubin due to right HF, indicating a cardiohepatic syndrome, but neither B12 nor folic acid are independently associated with mortality

Augmentation of Third Generation Instrumentation with Sublaminar Titanium Wiring in Late Onset Idiopathic Scoliosis - The Surgical Results and Analysis of Trunk Balance

In recent years, 3rd generation instrumentation systems which achieve correction by maneuvers like derotation and translation, have been widely used in the treatment of idiopathic scoliosis. To increase correction, additional procedures that increase stability, such as screw application for every segment, have been used. In this study, as a new technique, the effects of combined translation and derotation maneuver with augmentation by using titanium double crimp Songer cable applied on apical region, on trunk balance, sagittal and frontal planes have been examined. 45 idiopathic scoliosis patients operated between 1996 and 2002 have been included in the study. Mean age was 14.5±1.7 years and female/male ratio was 30/15. Mean follow up time was 51.9±22.7 months. According to King Classification, 15 patients had Type II, 18 patients Type III and 12 patients had Type IV curves. One of the apical cables has been tensioned and translation has been performed. At the second step, derotation has been applied to the vertebra, which is firmly attached to the rod. Sagittal and frontal Cobb angles have been measured in preoperative, postoperative and recent radiographic examinations. Trunk balance has been examined both clinically and radiographically. Also, secondary curves have been measured in every examination for decompensation findings. In overall frontal plane measurements, postoperative correction was 79.9±13.5 %, loss of correction 2.9°±3.2°and final correction 74.3 % ± 14.3 %. In postoperative measurements, normal physiological contours have been achieved in 97.8 % of the patients for the thoracic region (30°-50°) and 80.7 % of the patients for the lumbar region (40°-60°). In secondary curves, 75.2±34.4 % postoperative correction has been observed. No decompensation findings have been observed in the last examination. In postoperative and last follow up examinations, balanced and totally balanced vertebral column has been achieved in every patient of the study group. Solid fusion mass has been observed in every patient. No early or late, local or systemic postoperative complications have been observed. Given these findings, we conclude that derotation-translation combined maneuver performed with 3rd generation instrumentation reinforced sublaminar wires is a good choice in the treatment of the late-onset idiopathic scoliosis

Comparative metal (Cu, Ni, Zn, total Cr, and Fe) removal from galvanic sludge by molasses hydrolysate

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to evaluate the chemical extraction efficiency of five metals (Cu, Ni, Zn, total Cr, and Fe) from galvanic sludge using molasses hydrolysate produced from molasses, a by-product of the sugar industry. The study was also aimed to compare the extraction efficiency of the molasses hydrolysate with those of nitric acid and EDTA

ORAL HEALTH AND INFLAMMATION IN PATIENTS WITH END-STAGE RENAL FAILURE

Background/Aims: End-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients have an increased risk of atherosclerotic complications. In both hemodialysis (HD) patients and the general population, it has become evident that inflammation plays an important role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerotic complications. Oral and dental problems in ESRD patients could be an important source of inflammation, thus treatment of these problems is important to protect these patients from potential infections. The decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT) index is an indicator of oral and dental health status. Our aim was to analyze and compare salivary flow rate (SFR), salivary pH (SpH), salivary buffering capacity (SBC), and DMFT index and plaque index (PI) values in PD patients to HD patients and healthy controls (C) and establish the relationship between these parameters and C-reactive protein (CRP)