Chromium oxide (Cr2O3)-doped borosilicate (BS) glasses were prepared by melt quenching of mechanically alloyed Cr2O3 and BS powders. The structural properties of the BS glass doped with different ...amounts of Cr2O3 (0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1, 3, and 5 wt%) were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy techniques. In addition, the radiation shielding properties of the Cr2O3-doped BS glasses were determined at photon energies in the range of 22.10–59.54 keV using an HPGe detector with a resolution of 182 eV at 5.9 keV. The XRD analyses showed that BS glass samples containing 0–1 wt% Cr2O3 were completely amorphous, whereas at Cr2O3 contents > 1 wt%, eskolaite (Cr2O3) crystal phase was observed. Furthermore, the BS glass sample containing 5 wt% Cr2O3 shielded X and gamma radiations more effectively than other samples.
•Chromium oxide (Cr2O3; 0.25–5 wt%) doped glass was prepared by melt quenching.•Borosilicate glass samples containing 0–1 wt% Cr2O3 are completely amorphous.•Radiation shielding properties were determined in the range of 22.10–59.54 keV.•Borosilicate glass with 5 wt% Cr2O3 exhibited good radiation shielding properties.
In this study, the obsidian (Ob) that is a natural glass were doped with and Cerium oxide (CeO2) and Erbium Oxide (Er2O3) in different amount (0.5%, 1%, 3%, and 5%). Obsidian was grinded and glass ...powder was doped with CeO2 and Er2O3 via mechanical alloying. The doped glass samples were prepared with melting-quenching method. Radiation shielding properties of obsidian doped with CeO2 and Er2O3 were determined at 22.16–59.54 keV photon energies by using an HPGe detector with a resolution of 182 eV at 5.9 keV. It was observed that the radiation absorption tended to increase with the increasing doping amount to obsidian samples. The mass attenuation coefficients both of CeO2 and Er2O3 doped obsidian glass decrease with increasing photon energy. The Er2O3 doped obsidian glasses are better the radiation shielding material than CeO2 doped obsidian glasses.
•Doped obsidian glasses are better radiation shielding materials than ordinary obsidian glass.•µm and Zeff values increase whereas MFP, HVL and TVL parameters decrease with the increasing doping concentration.•The doping with Er2O3 of the obsidian glass increases the effectiveness of the radiation shielding.
Process capability indices (PCIs) have been widely used to analyze capability of the process that measures how the customer expectations have been conformed. Two of the well-known PCIs, named indices ...C_{pm} and C_{pmk} have been developed to consider customers' ideal value that called target value ( T ). Although, these indices have similar features of the well-known indices C_{p} and C_{pk} , one of the most important differences is to consider \textit{T}. In real case problems, we need to add some uncertainties related with human's evaluations into process capability analysis (PCA). One of the uncertainty modelling methods called neutrosophic sets (NSs), have an important role in modeling uncertainty based on incomplete and inconsistent information. For this aim, the PCIs have been designed by using NSs to manage the uncertainties of systems and to increase sensitiveness, flexibility and to obtain more detailed results of PCA in this paper. For this aim, the indices C_{pm} and C_{pmk} have been performed and re-designed by using single valued neutrosophic numbers for the first time in the literature. Additionally, specification limits (SLs) have been re-considered by using NSs. The neutrosophic state of the SLs provide us to have more knowledge about the process and easily applied for engineering problems that includes uncertainty. Finally, the neutrosophic process capability indices (NPCIs) \widetilde{\dddot{C}}_{pm} and \widetilde{\dddot{C}}_{pmk} have been obtained and the main formulas of them have been produced. Additionally, the proposed \widetilde{\dddot{C}}_{pm} and \widetilde{\dddot{C}}_{pmk} have been applied on real case studies from manufacturing industry. The obtained results show that the indices \widetilde{\dddot{C}}_{pm} and \widetilde{\dddot{C}}_{pmk} include more informative and flexible results to evaluate capability of process.
Maternal anthropometry offers a rapid, inexpensive, and non-invasive method for assessing nutritional status during pregnancy. We aimed to assess the changes in maternal anthropometric measurements ...in the first month after delivery and to investigate the factors associated with longitudinal changes in maternal postpartum nutritional status.
This prospective longitudinal study included 147 mothers who were on the 5th postpartum day applied to outpatient clinics, from January 2018 through January 2020. Each mother completed a structured questionnaire and baseline anthropometric measurements were performed at the postpartum 5th day and re-evaluated at the end of the first month after delivery.
Mother-infant pairs (n = 147).
At the end of the first postpartum month, maternal body weight (relative change -5.1%, 95% CI: -5.6%;-4.6%), muscle mass ratio (-1.6%, 95% CI: -2.4%;-0.9%) and body fluid ratio (-2.4%, 95% CI: -3.1%;-1.7%) decreased, whereas fat mass ratio increased (10.3%, 95% CI: 9.0%;11.6%).There was a significant association between infants' feeding type and maternal BMI, weight, muscle mass ratio, body fluid ratio, triceps, and biceps skinfold thickness in mothers (p < .05). We also found a significant relationship between maternal smoke exposure and BMI, maternal weight, fat-mass ratio (p < .05).
There are some important alterations in maternal anthropometric parameters during the postpartum period. This study will help further our understanding of the factors influencing changes in maternal body composition after delivery.
Abstract
Background
Asthma is a common respiratory disorder; some data were present on the correlation between increased levels of some elements and the risk of asthma development. It was aimed to ...evaluate the levels of 13 selected blood and tooth elements (magnesium, phosphorus, calcium, chromium, manganese, iron, copper, zinc, strontium, molybdenum, cadmium, lead, mercury) in a well-controlled asthma group and the control group.
Methods
During the study period, 17 asthma patients and 26 age and gender-matched healthy children donated shed deciduous teeth having neither decay nor filling and enrolled for the study. The element levels in blood and teeth matrixes were analyzed with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Differences in blood and tooth elements in groups were evaluated with generalized linear models after adjusting confounding factors.
Results
After adjusting the child’s “z scores of body mass index for age”, history of iron deficiency anemia, and status of parental smoking, the generalized linear model revealed significantly lower tooth magnesium levels, lower blood zinc levels, and lower blood zinc/copper ratio in the asthma group than the control group (
p
= 0.042,
p
= 0.034,
p
= 0.002, respectively). Other studied elements for tooth and blood matrixes were similar in groups.
Conclusion
Our study revealed some differences in tooth and blood element levels in the asthma group. Further studies on zinc and magnesium levels of severe asthma cases are necessary for the interpretation of the results.
With the dramatic decrease in fossil fuel stocks and their detrimental effects on the environment, renewable energy sources have gained imminent importance in the mitigation of emissions. As ...lipid-enriched energy stocks, cyanobacteria are the leading group of microorganisms contributing to the advent of a new energy era. In the present study, the impact of Nanofer 25 s nanoscale zero-valent iron nanoparticles (nZVIs) and ampicillin on lipid production and cellular structural changes in Fremyella diplosiphon strain B481-SD were investigated. Total lipid abundance, fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) compositions, and alkene production as detected by high-resolution two-dimensional gas chromatography with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC × GC/TOF-MS) was significantly higher (p < 0.05) in the individual application of 0.8 mg/L ampicillin, 3.2 mg/L nZVIs, and a combined regimen of 0.8 mg/L ampicillin and 3.2 mg/L nZVIs compared to the untreated control. In addition, we identified significant increases (p < 0.05) in monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) in F. diplosiphon treated with the combination regimen compared to the untreated control, 0.8 mg/L of ampicillin, and 3.2 mg/L of nZVIs. Furthermore, individual treatment with 0.8 mg/L ampicillin and the combination regimen (0.8 mg/L ampicillin + 3.2 mg/L nZVIs) significantly increased (p < 0.05) Nile red fluorescence compared to the untreated control, indicating neutral membrane lipids to be the main target of ampicillin added treatments. Transmission electron microscopy studies revealed the presence of single-layered thylakoid membranes in the untreated control, while complex stacked membranes of 5-8 layers were visualized in ampicillin and nZVI-treated F. diplosiphon. Our results indicate that nZVIs in combination with ampicillin significantly enhanced total lipids, essential FAMEs, and alkenes in F. diplosiphon. These findings offer a promising approach to augment the potential of using the strain as a large-scale biofuel agent.
Fremyella diplosiphon
is a well-studied a model cyanobacterium for photosynthesis due to its efficient light absorption potential and pigment accumulation. In the present study, the impact of ...ampicillin, tetracycline, kanamycin, and cefotaxime on pigment fluorescence and photosynthetic capacity in
Fremyella diplosiphon
strains B481-WT and B481-SD was investigated. Our results indicated that both strains exposed to kanamycin from 0.2 to 3.2 mg/L and tetracycline from 0.8 to 12.8 mg/L enhanced growth and pigment accumulation. Additionally, B481-SD treated with 0.2–51.2 mg/L ampicillin resulted in a significant enhancement of pigment fluorescence. A detrimental effect on growth and pigmentation in both the strains exposed to 6.4–102.5 mg/L kanamycin and 0.8–102.5 mg/L cefotaxime was observed. Detection of reactive oxygen species revealed highest levels of oxidative stress at 51.2 and 102.5 mg/L kanamycin for B481-
SD
and 102.5 mg/L for B481-WT. Membrane permeability detected by lactate dehydrogenase assay indicated maximal activity at 0.8 mg/L ampicillin, kanamycin, and tetracycline treatments on day 6. Abundant vacuolation, pyrophosphate, and cyanophycin granule formation were observed in treated cells as a response to antibiotic stress. These findings on the hormetic effect of antibiotics on
F. diplosiphon
indicate that optimal antibiotic concentrations induce cellular growth while high concentrations severely impact cellular functionality. Future studies will be aimed to enhance cellular lipid productivity at optimal antibiotic concentrations to disintegrate the cell wall, thus paving the way for clean bioenergy applications.
This randomized study was designed to investigate the superiority of gemcitabine (gem) plus nimotuzumab (nimo), an anti-epidermal growth factor receptor monoclonal antibody, compared with gem plus ...placebo as first-line therapy in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer.
Patients with previously untreated, unresectable, locally advanced or metastatic pancreatic cancer were randomly assigned to receive gem: 1000 mg/m2, 30-min i.v. once weekly (d1, 8, 15; q29) and nimo: fixed dose of 400 mg once weekly as a 30-min infusion, or gem plus placebo, until progression or unacceptable toxicity. The primary end point was overall survival (OS), secondary end points included time to progression, overall response rate, safety and quality of life.
A total of 192 patients were randomized, with 186 of them being assessable for efficacy and safety (average age 63.6 years). One-year OS/progression-free survival (PFS) was 34%/22% for gem plus nimo compared with 19%/10% for gem plus placebo (HR = 0.69; P = 0.03/HR = 0.68; P = 0.02). Median OS/PFS was 8.6/5.1 months for gem plus nimo versus 6.0/3.4 mo in the gem plus placebo group (HR = 0.69; P = 0.0341/HR = 0.68; P = 0.0163), with very few grade 3/4 toxicities. KRAS wildtype patients experienced a significantly better OS than those with KRAS mutations (11.6 versus 5.6 months, P = 0.03).
This randomized study showed that nimo in combination with gem is safe and well tolerated. The 1-year OS and PFS rates for the entire population were significantly improved. Especially, those patients with KRAS wildtype seem to benefit. The study was registered as protocol ID OSAG101-PCS07, NCT00561990 and EudraCT 2007-000338-38.
Lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), and cadmium (Cd) have known harmful effects on children's well-being. The object of this study was to measure the levels of heavy metals (Pb, Hg, and Cd) in breast milk and ...infant hair, connected environmental factors, and the impact on infant growth and development at 8 months. Seventy-four breast milk samples and 46 infant hair samples were analyzed. Cd, Pb, and Hg were detected in 99%, 91%, and 87% of breast milk samples, respectively. Cd levels were higher in the hair of infants in extended families, living in older houses and when there was a maternal history of anemia and postpartum anemia. Hg levels in breast milk were higher in Denver II suspicious/abnormal infants than in Denver II normal infants. Further biomonitoring studies and preventive measures should be conducted to minimize exposure to toxic metals in early childhood period.
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