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OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical and demographic characteristics and some laboratory findings of hospitalized patients with acute opioid toxicity and rhabdomyolysis. METHODS This cross-sectional study investigated 354 patients hospitalized at Baharloo Hospital in Tehran in 2014 with acute illicit drug toxicity. Data were collected using an investigator-made checklist. The collected data (such as mortality rate, demographic data, and renal function tests, as well as serum biochemical findings) were analyzed by descriptive statistics and the chi-square test. RESULTS A total of 354 patients were admitted to the hospital in 2014 with acute illicit drug toxicity, including 291 males and 63 females. The total number of patients with rhabdomyolysis was 76 (21.5% of the total), of whom 69 (90.8%) were male and 7 (9.2%) were female. Most cases of rhabdomyolysis were associated with methadone abuse, followed by opium abuse. Rhabdomyolysis was most common in those 20-29 and 30-39 years old, with methadone and opium the most commonly abused illicit drugs. The mean blood urea level was 3.8±1.0 mg/dL, and the mean serum potassium and sodium levels were 3.8±0.3 mg/dL and 140.4±4.0 mg/dL, respectively. Five patients, all of whom were male, passed away due to severe renal failure (6.5%). CONCLUSIONS Toxicity caused by opioids is associated with clinical complications and laboratory disorders, such as electrolyte disorders, which can lead to lethal or life-threatening results in some cases. Abnormal laboratory test findings should be identified in patients with opioid toxicity in order to initiate efficient treatment.

Cancer is a disease affecting humans around the world. Exploring a deep understanding of the state/parameter estimation based on the drug prescription provides an awareness of the patient's experience during the treatment. Applying controllers to such systems with the primary aim of reducing cancer cells with the fewest side effects is a very interesting field in the past decade. The usual assumptions followed when designing a controller are that all system parameters are constant and all states are measurable. However, this is not the case in reality. In this article, based on a five-states differential equation model, which models a combined therapy of chemotherapy and anti-angiogenic, the state and/or parameters are estimated using an unscented Kalman filter while a nonlinear adaptive controller produces drug injection rate as the control signals utilizing the estimated state/parameter. The advantage of this estimation method is that, unlike in the traditional extended Kalman filter, nonlinear dynamics can be used without any linearization. The results show that the state and parameter estimation with UKF was successful. This idea can be used to assign a mathematical cancer dynamic for any individual, and state/parameter estimation can be studied and verified throughout a patient's treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, size-dependent static bending and also free and forced vibration analyses of composite microplates are studied based on the modified couple stress theory (MCST) and quasi-3D sinusoidal shear deformation theory. The composite microplate is composed of epoxy reinforced with functionally graded graphene nanoplatelets (GPLs). The governing equations are derived utilizing Hamilton's principle and are solved for simply supported microplate using Navier's approach. The accuracy of the presented solution is confirmed and the effects of various parameters on the static and dynamic deflections and natural frequencies of the microplate are investigated including material length scale parameter and surface area, thickness, mass fraction, and distribution pattern of the GPLs. Numerical results confirm that subjoining the GPLs to the polymer reduces the static and dynamic deflections of the microplates and increases the natural frequencies. It is concluded that to achieve the highest reduction in the static and dynamic deflections and the highest growth in the natural frequencies, it is more helpful to use the GPLs with the larger surface areas and put them as far as away from the neutral surface of the microplate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present work, the general stiffness matrix method is extended in the case of a functionally graded magneto-electro-elastic plate to analyze the free vibration response of a functionally graded composite plate. The material properties are assumed to be continuously graded in the thickness direction. The novelty of this paper is to utilize this efficient method to the dynamic analysis of a wide range of composite (multilayer) plates, with linear or non-linear thickness profiles, and functionally graded in the thickness, without any limitation. The convergence of this method is thoroughly discussed. Here, the converged results are obtained when the number of sub-layer is $ N \le 11 $ N ≤ 11. A parametric study was also conducted to show the effect of gradation of mechanical properties of the composite on the phase velocity and the modal shape. The dynamic model developed here can be used in the graded material design of the functionally graded piezoelectric-piezomagnetic (noted FGPPM) composite plate for achieving specified dynamic characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]