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BACKGROUND: Vogt–Koyanagi–Harada (VKH) disease is a vision-threatening inflammatory disorder that is challenging in diagnosis and management. METHODS: Retrospective, record-based analysis of 54 eyes belonging to 27 adult patients that fulfilled the revised diagnostic criteria for VKH between January 2018 and January 2021. Demographic, clinical, and imaging data on presentation and during follow-up visits were collected for each patient. Available imaging studies included B-scan ultrasonography (B-scan US), spectral domain optical coherence tomography (OCT), fundus fluorescein angiography (FFA), and OCT angiography (OCT-A). RESULTS: The female-to-male ratio was 2.38:1. Nineteen patients (70.37%) presented during an initial attack, while eight patients (29.63%) presented during recurrence. The most commonly presenting sign in the posterior segment was exudative retinal detachment (44 eyes, 81.48%). B-scan US was utilized in 4 eyes (7.41%), OCT was utilized in 48 eyes (88.89%) with the most common finding being subretinal fluid (43 eyes, 89.58%), FFA was performed in 39 eyes (72.22%) with the most common finding being punctate hyperfluorescence and late dye pooling (33 eyes, 84.62%), and OCT-A was performed in 30 eyes (55.56%), in which choriocapillaris flow deficit that correlated with disease activity was detectable in 25 eyes (83.33%). Improved visual acuity was noted in 85% of the eyes that were followed up. CONCLUSION: Early diagnosis and treatment of VKH result in favorable visual outcome. Multimodal imaging, with the recent addition of OCT-A, provides complementary data that could serve in diagnosis and monitoring.

Ischemic optic neuropathy (ION) resulting in perioperative vision loss (POVL) is a rare occurrence following nonocular procedures. Bilateral simultaneous anterior ION (AION) is even rarer, and no cases have been reported after central neuraxial block. We report a case of bilateral simultaneous AION, confirmed by multimodal imaging, in a 66-year-old male patient who underwent total knee arthroplasty under epidural anesthesia in which episodes of hypotension—one intraoperatively and one late postoperatively—had occurred. Hypotension is the most common adverse effect to epidural block, and counseling about POVL should extend beyond general anesthesia to include those undergoing procedures with central neuraxial block.

The latest study aimed to identify the effects of organic manure (sheep manure) with four concentrations (0, 5, 10, and 15 g seedling-1) and nano-zinc four levels (0, 1, 2, and 3 g L-1) on the growth of peach cultivar Hollywood seedlings. The experiment began in 2022 at private nurseries in Babylon province, Iraq. The nano-zinc application with three foliar sprays transpired at 30-day intervals. The experiment continued in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. The addition of organic manure treatment (15 g seedling-1) excelled in traits of seedling length, stem diameter, number of leaves, chlorophyll content, shoot dry weight, leaves area, and zinc in the leaves, with highest averages of 62.03 cm, 8.08 mm, 51.20 leaf seedling-1, 43.8 SPAD, 57.35 g seedling-1, 1322.3 cm², and 56.40 mg kg-1, respectively, compared with the control treatment. The addition of nano-zinc (3 g L-1) was significantly superior in performance and excelled other treatments by revealing the highest values for the above growth traits, i.e., 60.45 cm, 7.83 mm, 50.90 leaves seedling-1, 42.35 SPAD, 54.85 g seedling-1, 1251.90 cm², and 53.63 mg kg-1, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Determining the effects of organic fertilizer and foliar application of mallow leaf extract on the growth and yield of eggplant was the aim of this latest study held in spring 2021 in the Al-Najaf Province, Iraq. The treatments comprising adding decomposed palm waste to the soil at three levels (0, 16, and 32 mg ha-1), foliar application of mallow leaf extract at three concentrations (0, 0.2, and 0.4 gm.l-1), and their interactions incurred probing in eggplants. The experiment began in a randomized complete blocks design (RCBD) with factorial arrangement and three replications. The results obtained through the analysis of variance continued to further evaluation through the least significant difference test to compare and separate the various means. The results showed that organic fertilization with decomposing palm residues at 32 mg ha-1 significantly outperformed the other treatments for plant height, total leaves, dry weight of vegetative growth, fruits per plant, yield per plant, total yield, nitrogen (%), and total chlorophyll content in the leaves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microemulsions (MEs) and nanoemulsions (NEs) are dispersions of two immiscible liquids which are usually transparent/translucent. Several reports are available on uses of MEs/NEs to increase efficacy of the loaded active ingredient(s) in topical dosage forms. This review aims to describe brief applications of MEs/NEs in common skin diseases as well as skincare products. Advantages of MEs/NEs in comparison with the traditional bulk form, including their improved efficacy and safety, have been discussed to highlight the importance of use of such delivery systems. The review briefs mechanism of action of MEs/NEs in enhancing delivery of the cargo. Furthermore, applications of MEs/NEs in common skin diseases including infectious rashes, pigmentation disorders (hyperpigmentaion and hypopigmentation), wound healing, skin cancers and scaling patches and plaques/papulosquamous disorders (psoriasis, atopic dermatitis and acne) have been discussed. MEs/NEs in skin care products have also been reviewed here.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the significance of burn injuries as a critical public health challenge, demanding the exploration of effective strategies for prevention and care, particularly for individuals with burns. This retrospective observational cohort study aimed to analyze the characteristics of adult burn patients admitted to three reference centers in Iran from October 2020 to October 2023. The study focused on patients and burn wound characteristics, complications and morbidities, and treatment plans. Among the 382 patients aged 20 to 84, our findings suggested that being male decreased the likelihood of COVID-19 infection by about 77 %. Thermal burns accounted for 50.2 % of COVID-19-positive patients and 49.8 % of COVID-19-negative patients. Notably, the risk of COVID-19 infection increased with higher degrees of burn (p = 0.006) in both groups. Among the complications, pneumonia (p = 0.003) and paralytic ileus (p = 0.015) were significantly more common in COVID-19-positive patients. Additionally, COVID-19-positive patients underwent more frequent interventions such as skin grafting (p = 0.035) and surgical debridement (p = 0.030). These findings emphasize the importance of a carefully planned and proactive multidisciplinary management strategy to ensure optimal care for burn patients.

BACKGROUND: Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) disease is a vision-threatening inflammatory disorder that is challenging in diagnosis and management. METHODS: Retrospective, record-based analysis of 54 eyes belonging to 27 adult patients that fulfilled the revised diagnostic criteria for VKH between January 2018 and January 2021. Demographic, clinical, and imaging data on presentation and during follow-up visits were collected for each patient. Available imaging studies included B-scan ultrasonography (B-scan US), spectral domain optical coherence tomography (OCT), fundus fluorescein angiography (FFA), and OCT angiography (OCT-A). RESULTS: The female-to-male ratio was 2.38:1. Nineteen patients (70.37%) presented during an initial attack, while eight patients (29.63%) presented during recurrence. The most commonly presenting sign in the posterior segment was exudative retinal detachment (44 eyes, 81.48%). B-scan US was utilized in 4 eyes (7.41%), OCT was utilized in 48 eyes (88.89%) with the most common finding being subretinal fluid (43 eyes, 89.58%), FFA was performed in 39 eyes (72.22%) with the most common finding being punctate hyperfluorescence and late dye pooling (33 eyes, 84.62%), and OCT-A was performed in 30 eyes (55.56%), in which choriocapillaris flow deficit that correlated with disease activity was detectable in 25 eyes (83.33%). Improved visual acuity was noted in 85% of the eyes that were followed up. CONCLUSION: Early diagnosis and treatment of VKH result in favorable visual outcome. Multimodal imaging, with the recent addition of OCT-A, provides complementary data that could serve in diagnosis and monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In thermoforming, flat sheets of plastics are transformed into complex shapes by first softening the sheet, and then by shaping it. While softening, the sheet can extend under its own weight, making it concave. Called sag, this affects how each element of the sheet surface views the heater bank. This can worsen the variations in the heat flux distribution across the sheet. It can also cause the heat flux over and under each element on the sheet to differ. The resulting temperature gradients, either across the sheet or through its thickness, can complicate processability. To suppress sag, practitioners stretch the sheet laterally, using cambered transfer rails to keep the sheet taut. In this article, we model sag analytically, using transport phenomena in cylindrical coordinates, for a thin wide rectangular Newtonian isothermal sheet. We uncover a universal dimensionless relation between sag and time, and a useful dimensionless group that we call sagability. We find that the middle of the sagging sheet, unsuppressed, descends, to leading order, with the cube root of time, and our experiments confirm this. Also, we discover that at a particular time the sag increases rapidly without bound, and we call this phenomenon sag runaway. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 50:2060-2068, 2010. [C] 2010 Society of Plastics Engineers, INTRODUCTION In thermoforming, flat plastic sheet is transformed into complex shapes by first softening the sheet and then shaping it. After softening but before shaping, the sheet extends under its [...]

Introduction Due to global warming and climate change, droughts and extreme precipitation events are increasing. Therefore, it is of special importance to know the characteristics of precipitation in the region in order to manage water resources effectively especially during torrential rainfall events. This can help to reduce the risk of these events and increase water reserves with proper management. These precipitation characteristics which are the objectives of the present study, include the temporal-spatial distribution of precipitation in different parts of the study area, as well as the number of days with and without precipitation and the maximum precipitation occurring in the region. Also, these precipitation characteristics should give us information about extreme precipitation events. Materials and Methods This research analyzed the characteristics of precipitation in Markazi province over a 30-year period (from the crop year 1991-1992 to 2020-2021) using statistical methods and the spatial distribution was drawn and analyzed with ArcGIS software. This province includes the 12 meteorological stations of Arak, Mahalat, Saveh, Tafresh, Ashtiyan, Komeijan, Khondab, Shazand, Khomein, Delijan, Farmahin and Gharqabad, which the precipitation data of these stations were investigated. The trend of precipitation changes in monthly, seasonal, and annual time scales were also examined using the Mann-Kendall test. Moreover, extreme precipitation was assessed using four indices: total extreme precipitation (R95p), number of days with precipitation above the station’s extreme precipitation threshold (R95d), absolute intensity of extreme precipitation (AEPI) and the fraction of total rainfall from events exceeding the extreme threshold (R95pT). The latter index represents the ratio of extreme precipitation to annual precipitation in rainy days (daily rainfall above 1 mm). Results and Discussion This study reveals that, on average, 53% of the annual precipitation is accounted for by the maximum index of R95pT, which indicates the percentage of extreme precipitation that occurred at each station relative to its the precipitation of the corresponding year. Knowing the timing of these extreme events can help to manage floods and optimize water resources. More than 20% of these precipitations occurred in March. The spatial distribution of rainfall in Markazi province shows that the south-west regions have the highest average annual and seasonal rainfall, except for the summer season, while the eastern regions have the lowest. The winter season has the highest rainfall on average, followed by spring and autumn. March is the rainiest month with a coefficient of variation of 0.8 and an average monthly rainfall of 55.6 mm during the studied period. Due to most extreme precipitation events occurring in this month, it has the highest importance for water storage and management throughout the year. The average precipitation in March ranges from 32.6 mm (Saveh station) to 91.6 mm (Shazand station) across the stations of the province. The maximum rainfall in this month varies from 124.4 to 254.6 mm among the stations of the Markazi province, which is a considerable amount compared to the provincial average crop year. The standard deviation of precipitation in this month is between 28.7 and 61.3 mm, and the coefficient of variation at the stations of the province is between 0.6 and 0.9. Moreover, in terms of average monthly rainfall 22Nov-21Dec, 20Feb-19Mar, and 23Oct-21Nov are the next priority months for water storage management after 20Mar-19Apr, with average monthly rainfall of 39.3, 38.2, and 36.3 mm, respectively. The Mann-Kendall non-parametric test results did not reveal a consistent trend, but it showed that most of the meteorology stations in Markazi province had a significant decreasing trend in the rainfall in 21Jan-19Feb at a 90% confidence level. The analysis of extreme precipitation indices indicated that Shazand station had the highest extreme precipitation threshold value (28 mm), while Saveh and Delijan stations had the lowest (15 mm). The extreme precipitation threshold average of 30 years in other meteorological stations of Markazi province are 21mm in Arak, 17mm in Tafresh, 21mm in Khomeyn, 19mm in Mahallat, 17mm in Komeijan, 16mm in Farmahin, 21mm in Khondab, 17mm Gharqabad and 18mm in Ashtiyan. Conclusion The spatial distribution of rainfall in Markazi Province shows that the southwest regions have the highest average annual and seasonal precipitation, except for summer, while the east regions have the lowest. The average monthly rainfall also indicates that March has the highest rainfall among all months of the year, and that about 20% of the annual extreme precipitation occurs in this month.

The study provides an intuitive investigation into the disposition effect within frontier markets such as Bangladesh, particularly focusing on its behavior during various market conditions. The study’s novelty lies in its application of a methodological framework of the disposition effect measure of Weber and Camerer, aiming to understand the disposition effect through different market conditions. Dow Theory is applied to disparate bullish and bearish intermediate periods. Disposition effects persist for the entire study period, as well as the different market conditions except for the bearish Bangladesh equity market. The bullish and crisis markets exhibit a rather high disposition effect due to their respective market volatility. Stronger disposition effects are more pronounced for a crisis market in relation to a bullish market. In addition, the disposition effect in Bangladesh’s equity market oscillates in crisis periods. The documentation of the disposition effect in the Bangladesh equity market across market conditions suggests that investors’ psychology plays a crucial role in their decision processes. Individuals and professional investors should carefully design an appropriate strategy to control their decision-making process since the presence of disposition effects may impair the risk-return payoffs.

Background: Malaria has remained the most dreadful vector-borne disease; hence, vector control is the most affordable and achievable approach to mitigate the disease burden. Due to the emergence of resistance and environmental pollu­tion, herbal larvicides are considered an alternative to chemical types. Also, nanotechnology has been proposed as a promising solution to improve the efficiency of plant larvicides. This study aimed to develop an effective herbal larvi­cide. Methods: The chemical composition of Elettaria cardamomum essential oil (EO) was first investigated. Nanolipo­somes containing the EO were then prepared using the ethanol injection method. After that, the larvicidal efficacy of the EO and its liposomal state were compared against Anopheles stephensi in laboratory conditions. Results: Alpha-terpinyl acetate (77.59%), eucalyptol (4.38%), nerolidol (2.96%), linalool (1.77%), and limonene (1.69%) were the five major compounds of the EO. Nanoliposomes containing the EO with a particle size of 73±5 nm and a zeta potential of -16.3±0.8 mV were prepared. Additionally, the ATR-FTIR analysis verified the successful load­ing of the EO into nanoliposomes. The larvicidal activity of nanoliposomes exhibited remarkable potency, with an LC50 value of 14.35 (10–18) µg/mL, significantly more potent than the non-formulated EO, which had an LC50 value of 33.47 (28–39) µg/mL against Anopheles stephensi larvae. Conclusion: The nanoliposomes containing E. cardamomum EO showed promising efficacy against An. stephensi lar­vae. It could thus be considered for further application against other species of mosquitoes.

BackgroundLimited attention is devoted to the improvement of the quality of life of patients suffering from the negative consequences of Sickle cell disease (SCD). Our study focuses on the evaluation of the performance of the WHOQOL-BREF as a tool to measure the quality of life of SCD Patients in Bahrain.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional study that enrolled 273 SCD patients selected using a simple random sampling technique from primary health-care centers in Bahrain in 2019. A designed questionnaire including the WHOQOL-BREF was filled by the patients in the health centers. The reliability of the WHOQOL-BREF was assessed by standardized Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, and the validity was measured by convergent validity, principal component analysis and confirmatory factor analysis.ResultsThe WHOQOL-BREF had good internal consistency as Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for the overall scale was 0.91. The convergent validity results indicated that the correlation coefficients values for all scale domains are significantly correlated at α

Single mode is one of the most practical applications in microwave propagations because of its high mode resolution and low transmission loss. In this paper, the single mode graphene material was implemented in slab waveguide to study the performance and optical properties of graphene material; the parameters that affect these models were found to be the cut-off frequency, attenuation wavenumbers, modes numbers, skin depth, angles incident, and propagation wave numbers. The effectiveness of these factors was simulated and analyzed using MATLAB software program. In this paper, the carriers were generated using nano-graphene; the optical carrier source provided seven carriers with the frequency spacing of 4.9682 GHz. After splitting the carriers using optical demultiplexer, these carriers were modulated independently using optical Quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) modulators at symbol rate equal to 4.9682 Gsymbol/s; this matches the frequency spacing of the carriers. Under this argument, the total data rate was equal to 2*7*4.9682 Gsymbol/s = 69.5548 Gbit/s, and the total bandwidth was 34.774 GHz. These carriers were found to work in optical communication with high data rate.

تعد الخدمات التعليمية اهم المرتكزات الاساسية في بناء المجتمع وتطوره، فهي مقياس التطور الحضاري والتكنولوجي والثقافي، ومن تحليل ومعرفة واقع الخدمات التعليمية في مدينة الكرابلة، بينت الدراسة وجود اربع مراحل دراسية متمثلة بالمرحلة الابتدائية والمرحلة المتوسطة والمرحلة الاعدادية، وافتقار وغياب مرحلة رياض الاطفال عن المدينة، كما كشفت الدراسة عن وجود (28) مدرسة ابتدائية ينتظم فيها (12735) طالب وطالبة، وتحتوي 332 شعبة تعليمية وبعدد كوادر تربوية يصل الى 365 تربوياً، كما بينت الدراسة من تحليل واقع الدراسة المتوسطة ان مجموع طلبة المرحلة يصل الى (2510) طالب وطالبة وعدد مدارس المرحلة يبلغ (6) مدارس تحتوي (66) شعبة وان الكوادر التربوية فيها بلغ عددهم (78) تربويا، فيما بينت الدراسة ان المرحلة الثانوية كانت بواقع (2) مدرسة وعدد طلبتها يبلغ (877) طالباً وطالبة، وبمجموع شعب يبلغ (18) شعبة و(39) تربوياً، بينما بلغ عدد المدارس للمرحلة الاعدادية (5) مدارس وضمت (1759) طالباً وطالبة، وفيها (72) تربوياً وتتكون من (68) شعبة تعليمية. مما يعني ان العدد الكلي للمدارس في مدينة الكرابلة بلغ مجموعها (41) مدرسة ومجموع الطلبة في المدينة لكافة المراحل الدراسية بلغ (17881) طالباً وطالبة ويشكلون نسبة (31،7%) من المجموع الكلي لسكان المدينة، كما كشفت الدراسة الى الحاجة الفعلية للأبنية المدرسية اللازمة لفك الضغط الحاصل من نظام الدوام المزدوج، والحاجة الفعلية مستقبلا حتى سنة الهدف عام 2030 والبالغة (72) مدرسة لمختلف المراحل التعليمية بما فيها مرحلة رياض الاطفال والبالغة (18) مدرسة.

Physical activity (PA) and obesity are effective interventions for hypertension. The current study is a review to explain possible mechanisms related to the effects of PA and obesity on hypertension. To this end, several scientific databases were searched using the keyword "hypertension" and also some English articles related to obesity and PA were investigated. Then, the mechanisms of obesity and PA associated with hypertension were extracted from the collected articles. Overall, obesity causes an increase in renin-angiotensin-aldosterone (RAA) systems, harmful changes in lipid and lipoprotein profile, a decrease in insulin sensitivity, as well as harmful changes in adipokines, oxidative stress, and inflammatory factors. PA improves the above-mentioned changes caused by obesity. Overall, PA mainly via an effect on oxidative stress, inflammation, endothelial cells, the elasticity of arteries, body weight, the activity of the RAA system, activity of parasympathetic and renal function as well as improve the insulin sensitivity has positive effects on hypertension. It should be noted that the effects of PA against hypertension is highly variable and they are related to PA modes, environmental and genetic factors.

Background:. Skin lesions and traumas can affect the skin by leaving scars. The purpose of this study was evaluating the results of a new technique in reconstructive surgery of scars on the nose. In this technique, extra skin remaining from reduction rhinoplasty is applied to the defect remained from removing the scar. Methods:. This is a retrospective cross-sectional study performed on 33 patients who underwent reduction rhinoplasty from 2013 to 2018 due to scars on the dorsal nasal skin. Five sets of standards, criteria, and questionnaires were used to evaluate the cosmetic outcomes, scars, and nasal function. These included the Cakir concept, visual analogue scale, patient reported outcome measurement, Stony Brook scar evaluation scale, and sino-nasal outcome test-22. Results:. According to the surface polygon concept, or Cakir concept, the number of affected polygons due to scars decreased in all included patients (P < 0.05). In addition, constant improvement in patients’ satisfaction, based on patient reported outcome measurement (P < 0.001) and visual analogue scale (P ≤ 0.05), as well as physicians’ satisfaction, based on Stony Brook scar evaluation scale, were determined. Furthermore, evaluating the patients’ breathing, based on sino-nasal outcome test-22 criteria (P < 0.09), indicated no adverse effects. Conclusion:. Excision of scars from dorsal nasal skin and conducting rhinoplasty surgery from the same access can be considered an option for reconstructing nasal scars.