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"nBackground: Vascular complications, as the most common complications of diagnostic catheterization and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), are important factors in the morbidity of patients undergoing such procedures; thus, this study was done to evaluate the prevalence of these complications and their related factors."n "nMethods: This is a descriptive study composed of 2097 consecutive patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention in Shahid Rajaei Cardiovascular Center in Tehran, Iran from January 2008 to January 2009. Occurrence of vascular complications in course of hospitalization and the related factors leading to the complications were investigated."n "nResults: Out of 2097 patients, 1544 (73.6%) were male and 553 (26.4%) were female, and the mean age of the participants was 57±10 years. Vascular complications from the time of PCI to the time discharge were observed in 19 (0.9%) patients. The other complications included: hematoma in 10 cases (52.6%), pseudoaneurysm in five cases (26.3%), retroperitoneal hemorrhage and arteriovenous fistula in 2 (10.5%) patients each. The complications were significantly more common in female patients (P=0.003), in patients with a history of hypertension (P=0.02), people of shorter stature (P=0.004), and being on gp IIIa/IIb inhibitors (P=0.003)."n "nConclusion: The rate of vascular complications post-percutaneous coronary interventions is low and it is considered to be a good treatment option for patients with coronary stenosis; provided that sufficient compression is applied on the vascular access point in the right time after removal of the arterial sheath. PCI is of fewer vascular complications, especially in female patients, history of hypertension, and higher anticoagulant concentrations.

Adsorption of imazethapyr, an imidazolinone herbicide, was measured from dilute suspensions onto montmorillonite clay and complexes of montmorillonite with Cu and humic acid. Adsorption of imazethapyr was found to be greater for the Cu-montmorillonite and Cu-humic acid-montmorillonite complexes than by montmorillonite alone. Isotherm shape was similar for all supports studied. Adsorption of imazethapyr varied with pH for montmorillonite and for Cu-humic acid-montmorillonite complex. The pH had no apparent effect on imazethapyr adsorption to the Cu-montmorillonite complex. This might be due to imazethapyr retention at high pH by Cu ions linked to the clay. Imazethapyr adsorption kinetics was faster for Cu-montmorillonite (15 min) and Cu-humic acid-montmorillonite (30 min) than for montmorillonite (240 min). The copper-humic acid complexes with montmorillonite might be used to detoxify water contaminated with imazethapyr.

Background: Medical induction abortion is an acceptable alternative to surgical abortion for pregnancy termination. Misoprostol is an inexpensive PGE1 analogue that can be used easily and safely as a single agent for first- and second-trimester pregnancy termination. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of two different doses of vaginal misoprostol for pregnancy termination with gestational age up to 16 weeks.Methods: This clinical trial included 100 pregnant women with gestational age up to 16 weeks requesting legal termination of pregnancy. The subjects were randomized in two equal groups, and received either 200 (group 1) or 400 µg (group 2) misoprostol vaginally every 6 hours with a maximum of four doses. Response to treatment was defined as complete or incomplete abortion within 48 hours after initial dose. Curettage was performed for patients with heavy bleeding or incomplete abortion. The abortion outcome and side-effects were assessed.Results: The groups were similar in maternal age, gestational age, parity and obstetrical history and indication for pregnancy termination. The side effects in group 2 were significantly higher than in group 1 (P

To determine the digestive capacity of larvae in Caspian brown trout and Rainbow trout, activity of digestive enzymes including pepsin, trypsin, chymotrypsin, a-amylase, lipase and alkaline phosphatase in 2/3 and complete yolk-sac absorption stages were assessed. Results showed enzyme activity was significantly higher in Rainbow trout than in Caspian brown trout at 2/3 yolk-sac absorbtion stage (P0.05). At the start of feeding, activity of pepsin, trypsin, chymotrypsin and alkaline phosphatase were higher in Rainbow trout than in Caspian brown trout but the difference was not significant for pepsin (P>0.05) whereas trypsin, chymotrypsin and alkaline phosphatase were significant different between the two (P0.05). Lipase was similar in both fish. Higher enzyme activity in Rainbow trout than in Caspian brown trout at 2/3 yolk-sac absorption shows the high ability for digesting food in rainbow at this stage. Also, low enzyme activity in Caspian brown trout at this stage is believed to be one of the reasons for low food intake and digestion at this stage.

Semiconductor photocatalysts have been widely used to catalyse photochemical reactions for the remediation of wastewater contaminated with organic dyes. This study aimed to synthesise and characterise manganese-doped Dy2O3 (Dy2O3/Mn) nanostructures as possible catalysts with improved photocatalytic properties. A low-cost hydrothermal method was used to fabricate materials with optimal morphological and structural properties. Before characterisation, Dy2O3/Mn nanostructures were subjected to heat treatments in the range 300–600 °C. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that all samples exhibited a cubic phase structure; the crystallite size varied between 30.7 and 40.2 nm with the calcination temperature. Scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive spectroscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy were used to examine the morphology and chemical content of the nanostructures, and the efficacy of the elaboration approach was validated. Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy demonstrated the visible-light absorption of the samples, and the bandgap energy was determined to be approximately 2.9 eV. Methylene blue (MB) dye was used to examine the photocatalytic activity of the Dy2O3/Mn nanostructures under visible-light irradiation. After 360 min, 92% of MB was degraded. The doping of Dy2O3 with Mn improved both the photocatalytic activity and the overall properties of the catalyst. Therefore, Dy2O3/Mn nanostructures could replace current catalysts for the degradation of organic dyes in wastewater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, calcium-doped zinc oxide (Ca/ZnO) nanopowders were elaborated via a the sol–gel process. X-ray diffraction analysis of Ca/ZnO nanopowders shows a hexagonal wurtzite structure and that the calcium atoms are successfully inserted into the ZnO lattice. The morphological study reveals that these Ca/ZnO nanopowders are made up of nanoparticles and confirms the hexagonal plane to the prepared nanopowders. The Ca doping of the Ca/ZnO nanopowders considerably improved their crystalline quality and allowed us to make dielectric measurements. During the dielectric processes in the sample, the physical parameters of Ca/ZnO nanopowders at various temperatures 300–450 K such as real part (ε′), imaginary part (ε″) and loss tangent (tanδ) were examined. Obviously, the optical results reveal that the band gap of Ca/ZnO nanopowders prepared by sol–gel process varies in the range of 3.34 to 3.29 eV. In addition, the composition developed by the sol–gel technique exhibits an evolution of the band gap which can be useful for various applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]