Screening of von willebrand disease in iranian women with menorrhagia

Results: Mean age of our patients was 32.5 ± 10.6 years. The level of von Willebrand factor in 22.5 and von Willebrand activity in 19.6 of patients was abnormal. The prevalence of vWD among patients with menorrhagia was 24. Conclusions: The high prevalence of vWD among our patients was the same as other previous reports, suggesting low awareness about this disease and under diagnosis of mild cases. Background: Menorrhagia is a common health problem in women, particularly those with bleeding disorders. Little is known about the course of menorrhagia or other bleeding symptoms in women with the most common congenital bleeding disorder, von Willebrand disease (vWD). Objectives: The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of vWD in women with diagnosed menorrhagia. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a total of 460 consecutive patients, presenting menorrhagia, were analyzed. The initial screening and confirmation tests for the diagnosis of vWD included determination of prothrombin time (PT), partial thromboplastin time (PTT), bleeding time (BT), fibrinogen, factor VIII, vWF antigen, and vWF activity. A questionnaire was filled for every patient. The data were then analyzed using the SPSS software. © 2015, Iranian Red Crescent Medical Journal

Preparation and Evaluation of Pt-Ru/CNTs Catalysts for Direct Methanol Fuel Cell

The most widely used electro-catalyst material in direct methanol fuel cell (DMFCs) are Pt-Ru bimetallic electro-catalysts, which show the best performance among other bimetallic catalysts. Many methods exist to prepare catalysts with bimetallic surfaces, and the properties and performance of these catalysts vary widely. Previous studies have shown that combining strong electrostatic adsorption (SEA) and electroless deposition (ED) methods can increase the surface area of the Pt particles by lowering the particle sizes of the bimetallic particles [1]; however, decreasing particle sizes can result in other problems such as thermal stability. Therefore, new routes for development of highly active and stable catalyst supports have become important to study. Among the different forms of carbon support, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are especially known for their crystallinity which not only imparts structural uniformity and high electrical conductivity, but also assures stability of the nanomaterials deposited on the support. In addition, they fulfill the properties of high surface area, high thermal conductivities, extraordinary strength, and resilience to an acidic environment, all of which can prove highly important for improving the performance of a fuel cell catalyst. In this work we have investigated the effect of CNTs support for the methanol electro-oxidation reaction. The combination of SEA and ED methods have been used for deposition of Pt-Ru bimetallic catalysts on CNTs and to predict the effect of support on DMFC performance. The materials synthesized will be characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectroscopy for crystal structure and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) will be employed to examine elemental analysis and distribution. To observe surface morphology HRTEM images will be used, and BET surface areas and pore volume measurements will be carried out to evaluate porosity and pore size distributions. References Tengco, J.M.M., et al., Synthesis and Electrochemical Evaluation of Carbon Supported Pt-Co Bimetallic Catalysts Prepared by Electroless Deposition and Modified Charge Enhanced Dry Impregnation. Catalysts, 2016. 6(6). </jats:p

Sampling Plan for the Kavya–Manoharan Generalized Inverted Kumaraswamy Distribution with Statistical Inference and Applications

In this article, we introduce the Kavya–Manoharan generalized inverse Kumaraswamy (KM-GIKw) distribution, which can be presented as an improved version of the generalized inverse Kumaraswamy distribution with three parameters. It contains numerous referenced lifetime distributions of the literature and a large panel of new ones. Among the essential features and attributes covered in our research are quantiles, moments, and information measures. In particular, various entropy measures (Rényi, Tsallis, etc.) are derived and discussed numerically. The adaptability of the KM-GIKw distribution in terms of the shapes of the probability density and hazard rate functions demonstrates how well it is able to fit different types of data. Based on it, an acceptance sampling plan is created when the life test is truncated at a predefined time. More precisely, the truncation time is intended to represent the median of the KM-GIKw distribution with preset factors. In a separate part, the focus is put on the inference of the KM-GIKw distribution. The related parameters are estimated using the Bayesian, maximum likelihood, and maximum product of spacings methods. For the Bayesian method, both symmetric and asymmetric loss functions are employed. To examine the behaviors of various estimates based on criterion measurements, a Monte Carlo simulation research is carried out. Finally, with the aim of demonstrating the applicability of our findings, three real datasets are used. The results show that the KM-GIKw distribution offers superior fits when compared to other well-known distributions

Grafting of Wool with Alginate Biopolymer/Nano Ag as a Clean Antimicrobial and Antioxidant Agent : Characterization and Natural Dyeing Studies

There is a continuous search for green and sustainable materials and processes in textile dyeing and finishing. In the current study, wool yarns were grafted with Sodium Alginate-Silver nanoparticles (SA-Ag NPs) and consecutively dyed with Cochineal or Madder. The weight gain of the samples was measured to find the optimized SA-Ag NPs initial concentration, and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) was used to study their surface morphology. The effects of the initial dye concentration, pH, temperature on the color strength of the dyed samples were investigated. It was found that the pretreatment enhanced the dye-ability, antimicrobial, and antioxidant characteristics of the samples noticeably. Under the same dyeing conditions, the fixation of dyes on the treated wool fibers was noticeably higher than that of the untreated wool fibers. The colorfastness characteristics of the treated samples dyed with Cochineal or Madder were slightly improved. The results clearly showed that the application of SA-Ag NPs on the wool samples could be considered as a green finishing process with promising antioxidant and antimicrobial activities. A very high level of antimicrobial efficiency (99%) was achieved after the pretreatment, which remained as high as 90% even after ten repeated washing cycles.Peer reviewe

Using Newly Developed Software to Enhance the Efficiency of the Nursing Process in Patient Care: A Randomized Clinical Trial

The nursing process is a systematic decision-making method of problem-solving that increases the quality of patient care. Implementation of modern technology in nursing can reduce documentation time, make nursing care safer, and improve the quality of patient care. This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of applying newly developed nursing process software on the efficiency of the nursing process in patient care. In this randomized clinical trial, 80 nursing students were randomly allocated into intervention (n = 40) and control (n = 40) groups. The student in the intervention group used the software to care for patients for two semesters. Students in the control group used routine hospital protocol to care for their patients. Modified Brooking nursing process measuring scale was used to evaluate the effectiveness of software before and after the intervention. The results showed a statistically significant difference in the mean efficiency score of the nursing process in the two groups after the intervention (P < .001). Using nursing process software leads to increasing the efficiency of the nursing process in patient care. Thus, providing executive support and electronic resources with relevant training for nursing students can be beneficial in students' education and be a practical application of the nursing process in caring for patients

Synthesis of Active Bimetallic Catalysts for Direct Methanol Fuel Cells

The direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) uses methanol as fuel and has significant advantages over hydrogen-fed proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells for mobile applications, particularly in terms of fuel storage and supply. Platinum (Pt) catalysts are effectively able to catalyze the oxidation of methanol to carbon dioxide in this system. However, one of the main challenges of making DMFCs commercially feasible is that the surface of Pt sites become rapidly poisoned by strongly adsorbed carbon monoxide (CO) that is produced during the oxidation process, limiting the overall rate of methanol oxidation. Studies have shown that bimetallic catalysts composed of platinum (Pt) and a second metal (i.e., Ru or Ni) are more active for the oxidation of methanol compared to catalysts composed of only Pt. Results suggest the Ru or Ni component provides sites that chemisorb H2O in the moist environment which reacts with strongly adsorbed CO on an adjacent Pt site to form easily desorbed CO2 [1]. In this study, we focus on the preparation of nanometer sized Pt-Ru and Pt-Ni particles supported on carbon by using the methods of strong electrostatic adsorption (SEA) and electroless deposition (ED). The method of SEA has been used to prepare ultra-small Pt nanoparticles with high dispersions and a narrow size distribution. Catalysts prepared by SEA were then used as seed nuclei for addition of a secondary metal (Ru or Ni) using Electroless Deposition (ED). These compositions form bimetallic surfaces where Pt and Ru (or Ni) are in intimate contact to facilitate the interaction of adsorbed CO with adsorbed H2O to form CO2 during evaluation for methanol oxidation. These bimetallic catalysts show higher activity towards methanol oxidation than the analogous, commercial catalysts. Finally, the catalysts have been characterized by XRD, STEM, and temperature programmed methods to confirm the compositions of the bimetallic particles. References Ehteshami, S.M.M. and S.H. Chan, A review of electrocatalysts with enhanced CO tolerance and stability for polymer electrolyte membarane fuel cells. Electrochimica Acta, 2013. 93: p. 334-345. </jats:p