144 research outputs found
PROTOTYPE DEVELOPMENT AND EXPERIMENTAL VERIFICATION OF A CAST MODULAR CONNECTOR FOR SEISMIC-RESISTANT STEEL FRAMES.
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Experiments with non-uniform sediment in case of bed-load transport
No full textAn experimental study was carried out in the framework of a research project concerning the development of a mathematical model for morphological computations in rivers in case of non-uniform sediment. The study consists of a series of laboratory experiments in a straight flume under steady, uniform (equilibrium) conditions with a restriction to bed-load transport and dune regime. The flume was fed upstream by different mixtures of two very narrow sieved size fractions. During one experiment the total amount and composition of the input mixture, the water discharge and the downstream water level were kept constant. When equilibrium was reached besides regular registrations of water and bed level the dunes were extensively sampled. The latter occurred in such a way that vertical probability distributions of the size fractions could be determined. The main results of the experiments are: (i) Vertical sorting of the size fractions occurred in all experiments: at the steep lee side of the dunes the coarse size fraction is generally deposited at a lower level than the fine size fraction. Differences in volume concentration per size fraction until 30% occur between upper and lower layers. (ii) A transition layer was found which is generally below the propagating dunes; it has a relatively coarse composition (vertical sorting:) and has a thickness of 0.1 - 0.5 H (H = average dune height). Exchange of size fractions between this layer and the upper bed layer occurs at a time scale much larger than the dune period. (iii) Because of the phenomena described above several assumptions in a mathematical model for non-uniform sediment (Ribberink, 1980) concerning the transport layer and the deposition/erosion of size fractions to/from non-moving bed are generally not fulfilled. (iv) Data are obtained for the verification and development of semi empirical components in the mathematical model (i.e. transportformula per size fraction, predictors for dune height and bed roughness).The theory of Egiazaroff (1965) concerning the critical bed shear stress per size fraction seems to be useful in a bed-load formula per size fraction of the type of Meyer-Peter & Mueller (1948). (v) A bed sampling technique was developed and suggestions are made concerning the conditions of a non -equilibrium experiment which has the aim to verify the above-mentioned mathematical model for non-uniform sediment.Hydraulic EngineeringCivil Engineering and Geoscience
Plasmodium falciparum and Salmonella Typhi Co-Infection: A Case Report
No full textMalaria and salmonella infections are endemic especially in developing countries, however malaria and salmonella co-infection is a rare entity with high mortality. The basic mechanism in developing salmonella co-infection is the impaired mobilization of granulocytes through heme and heme oxygenase which are released from haemoglobin due to the breakdown of erythrocytes during malaria infection. Thus, a malaria infected person becomes more susceptible to develop infection with Salmonella spp. In this report a case with Plasmodium falciparum and Salmonella Typhi co-infection was presented. A 23-year-old male patient was admitted to hospital with the complaints of diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, fatigue and fever. Laboratory findings yielded decreased number of platelets and increased ALT, AST and CRP levels. Since he had a history of working in Pakistan, malaria infection was considered in differential diagnosis, and the diagnosis was confirmed by the detection of P.falciparum trophozoites in the thick and thin blood smears. As he came from a region with chloroquine-resistant Plasmodium, quinine (3 x 650 mg) and doxycycline (2 x 100 mg/day) were started for the treatment. No erythrocytes, parasite eggs or fungal elements were seen at the stool microscopy of the patient who had diarrhoea during admission. No pathogenic microorganism growth was detected in his stool culture. The patient's blood cultures were also taken in febrile periods starting from the time of his hospitalization. A bacterial growth was observed in his blood cultures, and the isolate was identified as S. Typhi. Thus, the patient was diagnosed with P.falciparum and Salmonella Typhi coinfection. Ceftriaxone (1 x 2 g/day, 14 days) was added to the therapy according to the results of antibiotic susceptibility test. With the combined therapy (quinine, doxycycline, ceftriaxone) the fever was taken under control, his general condition improved and laboratory findings turned to normal values. However, on the fifth day of his anti-malaria therapy sudden bilateral hearing loss developed due to quinine use. Thus, the treatment was replaced with an artemisinin-based (arthemeter/lumefantrine) combination therapy. No adverse effects were detected due to artemisinin-based therapy, and the patient completely recovered. In conclusion, if a patient is diagnosed with malaria, he/she should be closely monitored in terms of having co-infections and appropriate diagnostic methods including blood cultures taken in febrile episodes should be performed
Notae theologicae pro tutela probabilismi sine sua culpa graviter accusati in animadversionibus theologicis Plur. Rev. P. F. Dominici Reichard
No full textTraining to prevent healthcare associated infections
No full textObjectives. Aim of this study was to investigate pre-education information level, efficiency of training, persistence of acquired information, and factors affecting information level of recently employed nurses about healthcare associated infections. Methods. One hundred and thirty-two nurses who have just started work were trained about healthcare associated infections and infection control measures. Tests were performed pre, post training and one year after training. Factors affecting test success were investigated. Results. Nurses who continued education after high school were more successful (p0.002). Duration of work-hours, unit where they work and presence of previous training didn't affect test success (p0.705, p0.040, p0.105; respectively). Test results were assessed over 100 points. Mean score before the training was 67.95±10.5 and it increased to 85.06±7.6 after the training (p0.000). Mean test score at test repeated one year later was 80.04±8.77. Unit where they have worked during previous year, application of isolation in their unit and presence of training didn't affect general success in the test (p0.344, p0.316, p0.259; respectively). Conclusions. Training programs using individualized, regularly repeated and approved training methods should be conducted in accordance with needs determined by these studies. Next target after knowledge increase will be reflection of this increase to daily practice and behaviour change
Chronic Hepatitis C in the Pandemic
No full textCorona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus, affected all the world and has been a major cause for significant morbidity and mortality. COVID-19 represents with pulmonary manifestations, but in more than half of the cases, other organs, especially hepatic involvement, are observed. Chronic hepatitis C (CHC) is an important public health problem worldwide. Sustained virological response (SVR) can be achieved and HCV-related mortality and morbidity can be prevented with direct-acting antiviral agents (DAAs), which have been used in recent years. However, if CHC is not diagnosed, it can cause cirrhosis and liver cancer. Since the diagnosis and treatment of these patients require follow-up, they are among the most affected chronic diseases during the pandemic. It does not seem possible to predict when the COVID-19 outbreak will end. Diagnosis and treatment need of CHC patients should be met in special areas where protection measures are taken in health institutions. In patients who undergo DAA treatment, the follow-up should be carried out by health institutions that do not provide pandemic services, and if necessary, telemedicine should be used
Investigating Alfvénic wave propagation in coronal open-field regions
No full textThe physical mechanisms behind accelerating solar and stellar winds are a long-standing astrophysical mystery, although recent breakthroughs have come from models invoking the turbulent dissipation of Alfvén waves. The existence of Alfvén waves far from the Sun has been known since the 1970s, and recently the presence of ubiquitous Alfvénic waves throughout the solar atmosphere has been confirmed. However, the presence of atmospheric Alfvénic waves does not, alone, provide sufficient support for wave-based models; the existence of counter-propagating Alfvénic waves is crucial for the development of turbulence. Here, we demonstrate that counter-propagating Alfvénic waves exist in open coronal magnetic fields and reveal key observational insights into the details of their generation, reflection in the upper atmosphere and outward propagation into the solar wind. The results enhance our knowledge of Alfvénic wave propagation in the solar atmosphere, providing support and constraints for some of the recent Alfvén wave turbulence models
B cell aplasia and hypogammaglobulinemia associated with levetiracetam
No full textLevetiracetam (LEV) is a second-generation antiepileptic drug approved for the treatment of several types of epilepsy. We report a 45-year-old female who developed hypogammaglobulinemia and B cell aplasia during LEV treatment. The Naranjo probability score for an adverse drug reaction was 6. After LEV discontinuation, the number of B cells gradually increased and reached normal levels within two months. This case suggests that monitoring of immunoglobulin levels and lymphocyte subsets analysis is important in patients treated with LEV, especially in cases of prolonged infections
Argilla. Archeologia della terra cruda nel Paese di Sumer e di Accad (IV e III Millennio a.C.)
No full textArgilla, terra cruda, terra rossa. Nei miti di moltissime culture archeologiche, antropologiche ed etnologiche è questa la materia della creazione, matrice e al tempo stesso corpo della forma, come a dire figura e sostanza della natura. Da questa, in primo luogo, la replica, la possibilità di riprodurre l’uno in molteplice, l’analogo e il simile, l’unico e il diverso. Quando però da questa metafora che risiede nelle idee più remote del «pensiero creatore di miti» passiamo ad osservare le proprietà dell’argilla è sulla sua essenza plastica che la nostra attenzione si ferma: contempla quell’infinità di modi che assume nello spazio e nel tempo ogni grumo di terra, come se dalla zolla dissodata fosse stata concessa alla mano anche la capacità di creare, costruire, modellare e rifinire. È in questo ripetersi di passaggi e gesti, nel loro organizzarsi, che alcuni storici dell’arte intravedono lo stile delle culture e, d’altronde, queste sono ritenute tanto più ‘materiali’ quanto più vicine alla terra. Materiale – ricordiamolo – è però un termine equivoco, difficile da cogliere fuori dalla sua storiografia; qualcuno (più sensibile o fortunato) lo riconosce ancora per opposizione all’ideale, altri lo pone al grado zero dell’evoluzione spirituale, ed altri ancora lo intende come un calco del pensiero umano. Eppure per quanto attiene l’argilla seguire ciecamente ed esclusivamente una qualsiasi di queste traiettorie, credere troppo nella capacità di una sola teoria di separare il materiale dall’ideale nei manufatti accresce solo la nostra miopia, rendendola una distorsione cronica; alla fine, quanto rimane della nostra fiducia nell’onniscienza del metodo è sempre, inevitabilmente, un lavoro preliminare, introduttivo. D’altronde, proprio nel Vicino Oriente antico l’argilla compare subito come il materiale e l’ideale d’ogni processo creativo, è – in altri termini – un’inscindibile compresenza di valori e tecniche che compongono e producono infiniti significati: tattili e psichici, allusivi e metaforici, storici e metastorici. Per queste ragioni, nella Mesopotamia del IV e del III Millennio a. C., e più specificatamente nel Paese di Sumer e di Accad, le più arcaiche tradizioni letterarie indicheranno l’argilla come un’essenza al tempo stesso concreta e teorica della creazione, e racconteranno la genesi dell’uomo dalla terra come protesi dell’azione e della volontà divine. Ogni manipolazione dell’argilla verrà così concepita e trasmessa per oltre tre millenni quasi fosse un rito capace di animare, fondare e restaurare l’umanità. E d’altronde questa ritualità sulla materia della creazione sembra aver coinvolto anche i primi scribi che trasformarono alcuni semplici pani di argilla cruda in supporti della scrittura, in tavolette che recavano impresse idee figurate prima (gli ideogrammi) e parole cuneiformi poi (il cuneiforme). Da quel momento, nella Bassa Mesopotamia della fine del IV Millennio a. C., l’argilla come materia della creazione e come supporto del linguaggio diverrà un archetipo della mitogenesi e della memoria storica antico orientale. Ma, allo stesso tempo, la medesima argilla che ha plasmato l’umanità mesopotamica e che ne ha conservato la parola sarà anche interiormente vissuta come materia privilegiata della costruzione. Così, non solo le maggiori istituzioni economiche, culturali, religiose e politiche della Babilonia (magazzini, archivi, templi e palazzi) saranno innalzate con i mattoni di terra cruda e cotta, ma diverranno anche le unità fisiche principali delle città sumeriche, accadiche ed eblaite (Tall). Non deve stupire, allora, che proprio l’argilla sia stata posta al fondamento e dell’etica e della retorica nelle culture dei paesi di Sumer, di Accad e di Ebla; in quanto materia della creazione, supporto del linguaggio e materiale della costruzione, l’ideologia dell’argilla trasborda ovunque e compare nelle cosmogonie (che organizzano il comportamento sociale) negli epiteti regali (che compiono la retorica della propaganda) nell’azione civica (che qualifica il buon governo).
A questo punto, avremmo potuto celebrare un elogio dell’argilla, ma questo lavoro sarebbe divenuto un’ecloga, piuttosto che un saggio storico e archeologico centrato sulla scoperta sumerica, accadica ed eblaita della materia della creazione, del linguaggio e della costruzione. Una scoperta che, per quanto ci è noto, è avvenuta nell’antichità di molte altre regioni del globo e – oggi – continua a ripetersi quasi senza tempo divenendo, nell’età contemporanea, età della tecnica, un’implicita denuncia. Si, una denuncia, perché il rapporto tra l’uomo e la terra non è più simbiotico come ... un tempo, perché in argilla non si crea quasi più, e perché le stesse costruzioni in terra sono divenute rare come fossili. Alla terra – quasi ovunque – è stato sostituito il cemento, la pietra, il metallo, e al plasticismo dei gesti creativi della mano sulla terra si è sovrapposta la manipolazione industriale di immagini già note, circolanti. Allo stesso modo, seguire le strade dell’argilla nell’Archeologia e nella Storia dell’Arte del Vicino Oriente antico ci aiuterà a fuggire dall’intendere i sumeri, gli accadi, gli eblaiti (e gli altri popoli del mondo antico) misteri da svelare per risalire alle origini della civiltà; la loro cultura artistica e materiale è visibile, concreta e sfugge ad uno studio frettoloso e superficiale sulle origini delle civiltà, origini troppo spesso allestite e istruite dalle moderne ideologie dominanti. Queste strade dell’argilla sono, inoltre, piene di crepe ed ostacoli ma ci riportano ad avere i piedi sulla terra e, se volete, a negare l’idea stessa di una ‘rivelazione’ delle civiltà antico orientali che sempre serpeggia nella pericolosa mistica del senso comune. Ma queste strade dell’argilla mesopotamica ci aiuteranno ad esaminare anche la scorza di altri paradigmi interpretativi delle culture antiche orientali e tra questi quello della loro esaltazione preposizionale. Infatti, nel senso comune, questi popoli antico orientali sarebbero stati vicini al nostro mondo per quanto avrebbero scritto prima di noi (come inventori della scrittura), oppure per come avrebbero pensato l’universo prima di noi (in quanto autori delle primi miti), e infine per quanto avrebbero influenzato le culture loro vicine (come distributori di saggezza, spiritualità e civiltà). Tuttavia, questa esaltazione preposizionale, per quanto suggestiva, ci ha allontanato da una storicizzazione concreta, ovvero misurata, della loro presenza. Banalizzando in negativo questi primati è, infatti, evidente come gli altri stereotipi della loro interpretazione siano stati quello di offrirne un’immagine prettamente mitica e talora aleatoria, e quello di considerarne la pre-esistenza come arcaismo delle culture più vicine al mondo occidentale, la cultura ideografica di livello inferiore a quella semitica e indoeuropea, l’interpretazione che diedero al loro cosmo come una forma pre-classica del più fiorente panteismo greco-ellenistico, e la loro saggezza come l’aneddotica pre-esistente alla fioritura del pensiero politico classico.
In questo lavoro, dunque, noi torneremo all’argilla, o meglio ... ai suoi piedi, ai piedi di quel gigante che – tetragono – lascia correre ogni interpretazione storico-archeologica quasi fosse un soffio di vento che penetra le sue crepe, scherza con la perfezione dei metodi che neppure graffiano la sua arida pelle e – sempre – siede pesante, in attesa di essere scoperto, rifondato, restaurato e musealizzato. Il nostro gigante, nel ‘Paese di Sumer e di Accad’, sa bene che può restare infinito: la sua presenzaClay, loam, clay. In the myths of many cultures, archaeological, anthropological and ethnological this is the matter of creation, the matrix and at the same time the body of the form, as if to say shape and substance of nature. From this, in the first place, the replication, the ability to play the one in the manifold, the analog and the like, the one and the other. When, however, this metaphor lies in the remotest ideas of 'thought creator of myths, "let us look at the properties of the clay is the essence of plastic that our attention is: split up into that infinity of ways that takes in space and time every lump of earth, as if the plate had been granted to the hand tilled the ability to create, build, shape and finish. It is in this repetition of steps and gestures, in their organized, that some art historians glimpsed the style of the cultures and, moreover, these are considered much more 'material' as close to the ground. Material - let us remember - but is equivocal, difficult to pick out of his historiograph
Evaluation of Depression, Anxiety Level and Quality of Life in Patients With Chronic Hepatitis B and Inactive Hepatitis B Virus Carriers
No full textObjective: The objective of this study was to compare the anxiety, depression and quality of life scores of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients and inactive hepatitis B virus (HBV) carriers with healthy control subjects and to demonstrate the need for a multidisciplinary approach in the follow-up and treatment of patients with HBV infection. Methods: The study was carried out by comparing 200 subjects including 100 CHB patients and 100 inactive HBV carriers, who were admitted to the Outpatient Clinic of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Selcuk University between August 2013 and August 2014 with 100 healthy control subjects. All subjects were given Hospital Anxiety and Depression (HAD) Scale and Short Form-36 (SF-36) to assess their quality of life. Results: Based on the HAD Scale, anxiety risk among the carriers was higher than the control group (p=0.031). Depression risk in the patient (p=0.031) and carrier groups (p=0.046) were higher than the control group. There was no significant difference between the patient and carrier groups with regard to anxiety risk or depression risk (p>0.05). Females had higher anxiety risk in the patient (p=0.015), carrier (p=0.035) and control (p=0.001) groups. Depression risk was also higher in females in the patient (p=0.037) and carrier (p=0.038) groups. There were no significant relations between marital status, family type, place of living and anxiety and depression risks (p>0.05). Three quality of life parameters including general health, role limitations due to physical health and vitality scores in the inactive HBV carriers and CHB patients were lower than those of the control group (p<0.05). Conclusions: Psychological state of the patients who are chronically infected with HBV should not be neglected during treatment and follow-up. If a psychiatric disturbance is identified, effective treatment will increas
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