The effect of posture in premature infants on the arterial oxygen saturation, fraction of inspired oxygen and abdominal distension

Background: Putting infants in a posture that reduces oxygen requirement and the complications of the continuous positive airway pressure method is very important. This study aimed at examining the effect of the posture on the arterial oxygen saturation, fraction of inspired oxygen (FIO2) and abdominal distension in premature infants with the respiratory distress syndrome under nasal continuous positive airway pressure. Materials and Methods: In this clinical trial study, 41 premature infants were selected by the simple random sampling and one-group before-after design. The amounts of arterial oxygen saturation, FIO2 and abdominal distension in supine and prone positions were recorded in a data-collection form. Results: There was a significant difference between the mean FIO2 and between the mean abdominal circumference in the prone and supine positions (P=0.022, P<0.001, respectively). There was no significant difference in the mean of arterial oxygen saturation between the two positions (P=0.749). Conclusion: According to the results of the present study, the neonates’ abdominal distension and FIO2 decreased in the prone position. Thus, this supportive, free of charge and effective method can be recommended for these neonates

Highly sensitive C-reactive protein levels in Iranian patients with pulmonary complication of sulfur mustard poisoning and its correlation with severity of airway diseases

Background: Sulfur mustard (SM) is a chemical warfare agent that can cause serious pulmonary complications. This study was designed to determine serum highly sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and evaluate its correlation with lung function parameters in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) due to SM poisoning. Methods: Fifty consecutive SM patients with stable COPD and a mean age 46.3 + 9.18 years were enrolled in this cross sectional study. Thirty healthymen were selected as controls. Lung function parameters were evaluated. Serum hs-CRP by immunoturbidometry assay was measured in both the patients and controls. Results: In the case group, the mean forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) was 2.14 + 0.76 L (58.98%+17.51% predicted). The mean serum hs-CRP was 9.4+6.78 SD and 3.9+1.92 SDmg/L in the cases and controls, respectively, with significant statistical differences (p < .001). There was negative correlation between the serum hs-CRP and FEV1 levels (p ¼ .01). The serum hs-CRP levels were also correlated with Global Initiative for ChronicObstructive Lung disease (GOLD) stages (r ¼ .45, p < .001). Conclusions:Our findings suggest that the serum hs-CRP level is increased in SM patients with COPD and may have a direct correlation with disease severity. It may then be used as a marker for the severity of COPD in patients with SM poisoning

Chronic health effects of sulphur mustard exposure with special reference to Iranian veterans

The widespread use of sulphur mustard (SM) as an incapacitating chemical warfare agent in the past century has proved its long-lasting toxic effects. It may also be used as a chemical terrorist agent. Therefore, all health professionals should have sufficient knowledge and be prepared for any such chemical attack. SM exerts direct toxic effects on the eyes, skin, and respiratory tissue, with subsequent systemic action on the nervous, immunological, haematological, digestive, and reproductive systems. SM is an alkylating agent that affects DNA synthesis, and, thus, delayed complications have been seen since the First World War. Cases of malignancies in the target organs, particularly in haematopoietic, respiratory, and digestive systems, have been reported. Important delayed respiratory complications include chronic bronchitis, bronchiectasis, frequent bronchopneumonia, and pulmonary fibrosis, all of which tend to deteriorate with time. Severe dry skin, delayed keratitis, and reduction of natural killer cells with subsequent increased risk of infections and malignancies are also among the most distressing long-term consequences of SM intoxication. However, despite a lot of research over the past decades on Iranian veterans, there are still major gaps in the SM literature. Immunological and neurological dysfunction, as well as the relationship between SM exposure and mutagenicity, carcinogenicity, and teratogenicity are important fields that require further studies, particularly on Iranian veterans with chronic health effects of SM poisoning. There is also a paucity of information on the medical management of acute and delayed toxic effects of SM poisoning—a subject that greatly challenges health care specialists

Rotating reduced Kiselev black holes: Shadows, Energy emission and Deflection of light

In this paper, we generate a rotating solution of the reduced Kiselev black hole through the Newman-Janis formalism. Based on such solution, we remark different shadow behaviors by varying the involved parameters $r_k, a, \alpha$. Concretely, we observe that the allowed values of the spin parameter $a$ are much less than the usual rotating black holes. By deeply analysing the shadow shapes, we show that comparable shadow shapes emerge for the same ratio $a/r_k$. On the other hand, we recognize that the parameters $a$ and $\alpha$ governs the shadow geometry while the parameter $r_k$ rules the size of such a quantity. Besides, we notice that an elliptic shadow geometry appears for certain range of relevant parameters. By making contact with the observational side, we provide a constraint on the rotating reduced Kiselev (RRK) black hole parameters. In particular, we find a good compatibility between the theoretical and experimental results. Regarding Hawking radiation, we note that the Kiselev radius $r_ k$ shows a similar behavior to the quintessence filed intensity $\mathbf{c}$. Concerning the light motion in the vicinity of a RRK black hole, we investigate deeply the deflection by varying the relevant parameters. In particular, we remark that such a quantity decreases by increasing the parameters $a$ and $\alpha$ while the opposite effect is observed when increasing $r_k$.Comment: 23 pages, 6 figure

Indirect search for light charged Higgs bosons through the dominant semileptonic decays of top quark t→b(→B/D+X)+H+(→τ+ντ)t\to b(\to B/D+X)+H^+(\to \tau^+\nu_\tau)

In this work we introduce a new channel to indirect search for the light charged Higgs bosons, which are predicted in several extensions of the standard model (SM) such as the two-Higgs-doublet models (2HDMs). We calculate the ${\cal O}(\alpha_s)$ QCD radiative corrections to the energy distribution of bottom- and charmed-flavored hadrons ($B/D$) produced in the dominant decays of the polarized top quark in the 2HDM, i.e. $t(\uparrow)\longrightarrow b(\to B/D+\text{jet})+H^+(\to \tau^+\nu_\tau)$. %This analysis is studied in a specific helicity coordinate system where the polarization vector of the top quark is evaluated with respect to the momentum direction of the bottom quark. Generally, the energy distribution of hadrons is governed by the unpolarized rate and the polar and the azimuthal correlation functions which are related to the density matrix elements of the decay $t(\uparrow)\rightarrow bH^+$. In our proposed channel, any deviation of the $B/D$-meson energy spectrum from its corresponding SM predictions can be considered as a signal for the existence of charged Higgs at the LHC. We also calculate, for the first time, the azimuthal correlation rate $\Gamma_\phi$ at next-to-leading order which vanishes at the Born level.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, published in NPB 932 (2018) 50

Conformational effects on the Circular Dichroism of Human Carbonic Anhydrase II: a multilevel computational study

Circular Dichroism (CD) spectroscopy is a powerful method for investigating conformational changes in proteins and therefore has numerous applications in structural and molecular biology. Here a computational investigation of the CD spectrum of the Human Carbonic Anhydrase II (HCAII), with main focus on the near-UV CD spectra of the wild-type enzyme and it seven tryptophan mutant forms, is presented and compared to experimental studies. Multilevel computational methods (Molecular Dynamics, Semiempirical Quantum Mechanics, Time-Dependent Density Functional Theory) were applied in order to gain insight into the mechanisms of interaction between the aromatic chromophores within the protein environment and understand how the conformational flexibility of the protein influences these mechanisms. The analysis suggests that combining CD semi empirical calculations, crystal structures and molecular dynamics (MD) could help in achieving a better agreement between the computed and experimental protein spectra and provide some unique insight into the dynamic nature of the mechanisms of chromophore interactions

Taxonomic Study of Six Sargassum Species (Sargassaceae, Fucales) with Compressed Primary Branches in the Persian Gulf and Oman Sea Including S. binderi Sonder a New Record Species for Algal Flora, Iran

Six species of Sargassum C. Agardh (Sargassaceae) with compressed primary branches, including: S. binderi Sonder, S. aquifolium (Turner)C. Agardh, S. oligocystum Montagne, S. swartzii (Turner)C. Agardh, S. crassifolium J. Agardh and S. cristaefolium C. A. Agardh, were identified in the Persian Gulf and Oman Sea coasts, among which S. binderi is reported as newly recorded species in Iran for the first time. The specimens were collected from 15 stations along the Iranian southern shores in the autumn, winter and spring from 2010 to 2012. Anatomical and morphological studies were performed according to the valid identification keys. In taxonomy studies, 47 quantitative and qualitative morphological characters were selected. In order to analyze of data, clustering analysis was performed by UPGMA and PCA analyses. The results revealed that there were more qualitative than quantitative traits in species identification.  The shape of receptacles, leaves, vesicles and stems were the most diagnostic characteristics in the species identification. The species including: S. binderi, S. crassifolium and S. cristaefolium have flattened triangular receptacles; while S. crassifolium and S. cristaefolium have duplicated leaves with fine teeth; S. swartzii has linear lanceolate leaves, pointed or crowned vesicles and S. oligocystum has broader lanceolate leaves with an acute to rounded apex, and often entire and spherical vesicles. S. oligocystum and S. crassifolium belong to the section Acanthocarpicae. Also, S. cristaefolium belongs to section Sargassum and S. binderi, S. aquifolium and S. swartzii belong to section Binderianeae