Severe sepsis and septic shock is characterized by inflammation and oxidative stress. Selenium levels have been reported to be low due to loss or increased requirements during severe sepsis and ...septic shock. We investigated the effect of high-dose parenteral selenium administration in septic patients.
A prospective, randomized control clinical trial was performed in septic patients. After randomization, patients in selenium group received high-dose parenteral sodium selenite (2 mg intravenous IV bolus followed by 1.5 mg IV continuous infusion daily for 14 days) plus standard therapy and the control group received standard therapy. The primary endpoint was mortality at 28 days. Changes in the mean levels of high mobility group box-1 (HMGB-1) protein and superoxide dismutase (SOD), duration of vasopressor therapy, incidence of acute renal failure, and 60 days' mortality were secondary endpoints.
Fifty-four patients were randomized into selenium group (
= 29) and control group (
= 25). There was no significant difference in 28-day mortality. No significant difference between the two groups with respect to the average levels of HMGB-1 protein and SOD at any point in time over the course of 14 days had observed.
In early administration within the first 6 h of sepsis diagnosis, our study demonstrated that high-dose parenteral selenium administration had no significant effect either on 28-day mortality or the mean levels of HMGB-1 and SOD (Trial Registration: IRCT201212082887N4 at WHO Clinical Trial Registry, August 29, 2014).
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•Synthesize nanocomposite coating composed of Fluoroethylene-vinyl ether (FEVE) and SiO2 nanoparticles.•The water and oil repellency with 152° and 141° contact angels were achieved ...with the high adhesion to the substrate.•The coating preserves the promising amphiphobicity after 10 days of immersion in water.•The mechanism of amphiphobic behavior of the coating was thoroughly investigated.
Here, an excellent superhydrophobic and highly oleophobic nanocomposite coating composed of fluoroethylene-vinyl ether (FEVE) resin as a matrix for modified SiO2 nanoparticles was synthesized on a stainless-steel wire mesh substrate via a facile sol-gel method. The surface morphology, microstructure, composition, and roughness of the coatings were investigated by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) equipped with energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The most efficient coating with superhydrophobicity and high oleophobicity feature indicates the water and oil repellency with contact angles (CAs) of 152° and 141°, respectively, with the high adhesion to the substrate. The mechanism of amphiphobic behavior of the coating is mainly attributed to the micro-nano hierarchical structure of the coating owing to the increased roughness caused by the presence of SiO2 nanoparticles and their effective embedding into FEVE resin cross-linking with isocyanate and using metallic mesh substrate besides the reduced surface tension due to the using fluoroalkylsilanes (FASs), strong bonding of the film to the substrate via electrostatic and chemical interactions. Moreover, the coating preserves the promising long-term amphiphobicity after 10 days of immersion in water with the water and oil contact angles of 145° and 134°, respectively.
This article introduces the minimum time tracking control of an active front-end (AFE) converter with excellent transient performance. Since the dynamical model of the AFE converter is a bilinear ...system, switching control is provided for minimum time tracking with final time-varying trajectories in this system. Due to the complexity of implementing this controller, a suboptimal closed-loop controller is proposed whose dynamic performance is very close to the minimum time tracking control. Simulation and experimental results show that the suboptimal proposed controller has excellent dynamic performance against load disturbances compared with the conventional control methods.
Asymmetrical faults in the grid cause oscillations in dc-link capacitor voltage or overcurrent in the converters. In this study, an optimal controller with a fixed structure is introduced based on ...the command generator tracker (CGT) to restrict the fault currents and increase stability performance under asymmetrical grid faults. For this purpose, first, the integrated dynamical model including grid-connected converters and dc-link voltage are introduced. Then, using the optimal control techniques, a CGT is designed to enhance the fault ride through performances. Next, the proposed controller is applied to the system including converter and dc-link at the source side and the dynamic performances of the closed-loop system under different fault conditions are determined. Finally, the simulation results are compared with the other conventional controllers and the dynamic performances of the proposed controller are evaluated. The results indicate that the proposed controller provides stability for the system and satisfies allowable constraints of converter current for different grid fault types such as voltage sags, asymmetrical and symmetrical faults.
Background
Sepsis and septic shock is characterized by oxidative stress that mainly promotes systemic inflammation and organ failure due to excessive free radical production and depletion of ...antioxidant defenses. Therefore, we investigated the effect of selenium administration on antioxidant status, levels of cytokines and clinical outcomes.
Methodology
This study was a prospective randomized control trial (RCT) whereby patients received selenium as sodium selenite (2 mg IV bolus followed by 1.5 mg continuous infusion for 14 days) plus standard therapy. The control group received standard therapy without selenium. The primary endpoint was 28-day mortality. The changes in the mean levels of glutathione peroxidase (GPX) activity, IL-6, IL-8 and IL-10, the incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) and other secondary endpoints were also recorded. VAP was broken down into early VAP and late VAP to see the clinical significance of each. We also recorded any adverse outcomes from selenium infusion.
Results
Over 24-month period, 54 patients were recruited and randomized and an intention to treat (ITT) principle was applied (selenium,
n
= 29; control,
n
= 25) in the final analysis. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in 28-day mortality although it was lower in the selenium group compared with the control group: 9 (31 %) in the selenium versus 10 (40 %) in the control groups (
p
= 0.49). At day 0, GPX activity was 0.185 ± 0.3 versus 0.19 ± 0.3 U/mL (
p
= 0.9), day 3, GPX activity was 0.52 ± 0.5 versus 0.17 ± 0.2 U/mL (
p
= 0.02), at day 7 it was 0.55 ± 0.5 versus 0.24 ± 0.3 U/mL (
p
= 0.032), at day 10 it was 0.62 ± 0.7 versus 0.33 ± 0.4 U/mL (
p
= 0.048) and at day 14 it was 1.1 ± 1 versus 0.89 ± 1 U/mL (
p
= 0.70) for the selenium versus control groups, respectively. However, there were no significant differences between the mean plasma levels of all the three inflammatory cytokines at any point in time between the two groups. There was a significant reduction in occurrence of VAP in the selenium group compared with the control group (55.2 versus 84 %,
p
= 0.023), respectively.
Conclusion
High-dose selenium administration within the time frame of early goal-directed therapy was not resulted in reduction of 28-day mortality, but increased the activity of glutathione peroxidase with no effect on the levels of inflammatory cytokines at any point in time in mechanically ventilated septic patients. However, selenium supplementation in mechanically ventilated patients following sepsis was associated with reduced occurrence of VAP.
Trial registration: IRCT201212082887N4 at WHO Clinical Trial Registry, August 29, 2014
The main objective of the livestock industry, as an economic production system, is to increase production efficiency through changes in performance and to increase economic productivity. Therefore, ...in designing genetic improvement programs for domestic animals, it is necessary to pay attention to recognizing the system of production and the factors affecting its performance and the profitability of systems, that is, revenues and costs. For estimation of market liquidity flow and economic returns, using a bio economic model, data on the revenues and costs was used of traditional and industrial cattle in Ardebil province during the years 2012-2016. The nourishment method based on the type of management was divided into two methods: traditional nourishment (in pasture) and industrial nourishment. The results of this study showed that the highest share of revenue and costs of nourishment units was related to milk sales and nutritional costs in both systems respectively. The investment risk level for industrial systems with different levels of milk production (high production, average production and low production) and the traditional system were estimated to be 0.032, 0.078, 0.030 and 0.013, respectively using standard deviation that these numbers represent the degree of deviation of the real result from the average result with medium returns which shows the high risk of investment in industrial dairy cattle compared to traditional dairy cattle. In both systems, the highest estimated relative significance was related to production traits, followed by survival and growth traits, respectively and the least value was related to reproductive traits.
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•Polyurethane–SiO2 nanoparticle coating is specially designed using sol-gel process.•The roubust PU-SiO2 coating repels water/oil with contact angles of 159°/140°.•The synthesized ...composite represents an excellent long-term performance stability.•The effect of each component on the final performance of coating is investigated.
In this study, a noble robust superhydrophobic and highly oleophobic polyurethane (PU)–SiO2 nanoparticle (NP) coating is specially designed using sol-gel process. For this purpose the effective parameters on surface tension and durability of the synthesized coating investigated and optimized. This new superhydrophobic and highly oleophobic coating exhibits good pensile hardness as high as 6H with adhesive force grade of 5B and repels water and oil with contact angles (CAs) of 159° and 140°, respectively. The synthesized PU-SiO2 composite also retains an excellent amphiphobicity after a 7 days immersion in water with water and oil with CAs of 150° and 130°. Facile fabrication of PU–SiO2 coating with enhanced amphiphobicity and durability provides a novel pathway to the development of a high performance superamphiphobic surfaces. The outstanding properties of synthesized PU–SiO2 coating are mainly due to (i) reduction of surface energy by fluoroalkylsilanes, (ii) formation of hierarchical micro- and nanometer scale roughness structures on the coating surface, (iii) stable adhesion of SiO2 NPs into PU resin after cross-linking with isocyanate, and (iv) improving the chemical bonding and electrostatic interactions between film and substrate.
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•A novel poly (BzVimBr-Vim)@PFOA@SiO2 nanoparticles coated-mesh was fabricated.•Oil and water contact angles of the coated-mesh were 135° and 0°, respectively.•The as-prepared ...coated-mesh has a high oil/water separation efficiency.•The as-prepared coated-mesh has a long-term stability and good reuse capacity.
The separation of water-oil mixtures has attracted widespread attention because of the increasing amounts of oily wastewater produced from the daily activities of humans and different industrial processes. Therefore, the development of facile and efficient oil-water separation technologies is imperative. In this work, a new highly superhydrophilic-superoleophobic coated stainless steel mesh was fabricated using virtue of the surface modification of poly (BzVimBr-Vim)@PFOA@SiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) through a facile preparation process. The new fabricated superhydrophilic and highly oleophobic coating exhibits good adhesive properties. The oil contact angle (OCA) and water contact angle (WCA) of the modified stainless-steel mesh were 135° and 0°, respectively. The experimental results indicated that the coated stainless-steel mesh exhibitedoutstanding separation efficiency for oil/water mixtures.
•Herbal ointment comprises mixture of Henna and Linseed extract are effective and safe agent for wound healing.•Henna and Linseed herbal ointment blend decreases the inflammation at the site of the ...burn wounds.•Henna and Linseed herbal ointment blend improves histopathological damage in patients with second-degree burns.•Henna and Linseed herbal ointment blend is easy to use, low-cost and available.
The treatment of skin burns is one of the most important challenge in medical science. The aim of this study is evaluation of the efficacy of Artaderm herbal ointment containing the Henna (Lawsonia inermis) extract, Linseed (Linum usitatissimum) oil, and Honey Wax on wound healing in the rat with second-degree burn wounds. The Artaderm ointment had an effective role in controlling burn wound infections due to its antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties. In this study, 64 male Wistar rats were randomly divided into 8 groups (n = 8). Four groups received Artaderm, 1% Silver Sulfadiazine (SSD 1%), Cod Liver Oil and Fundermol (Alpha) ointments which used in common practices for burn injuries. Another three groups received Henna, Linseed, and Honey Wax alone and a control group that just underwent a second-degree burn injury without any treatments. A second-degree burn was formed on the back of each rat and dressed daily with one of the agents. Burn wounds were macroscopically and microscopically evaluated on the 7th, 14th, and 21st day after burn induction. Rats treated with the Artaderm ointment had significantly faster wound contraction as well as shorter healing time than the rest groups. No scar was observed in rats treated with the Artaderm ointment on the 21st day, while this level of improvement was not observed in other groups at the same time. More than 90% of wounds were healed after on the 14th day in rats treated with Artaderm (94.10 ± 0.18) and Alpha (92.05 ± 0.23) ointments. According to these findings, it can be concluded that Artaderm herbal ointment can be used as a proper alternative for healing of wounds in second-degree burns.
Layered double hydroxides (LDHs) of transition metals have attained significant attention for supercapacitor applications due to their excellent charge storage, low internal resistance, and superior ...electrochemical stability. Here, a nanocomposite of reduced graphene oxide/nickel cobalt layered double hydroxide (rGO/NiCo LDH) on the surface of nickel foam (NF) containing hierarchical nickel cobalt copper transition metal oxides (TMOs) is prepared through two-step processes of electrochemical and coprecipitation methods. The TMOs/rGO/NiCo LDH nanocomposite is characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), Raman, X-ray energy-dispersive (EDS), and X-ray photoelectron (XPS) spectroscopies as well as by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), elemental mapping analysis, nitrogen adsorption/desorption, and contact angle measurements. The supercapacitive behavior of the electrodes has been investigated through cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanostatic charge–discharge (GCD) measurements, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The study has shown that the synergetic effect and the electrochemical properties have considerably improved when the layered double hydroxides are synthesized in the presence of rGO. The TMOs/rGO/NiCo LDH nanocomposite exhibits an excellent specific capacitance of 2763 F g–1 at a current density of 1 A g–1 and a stability of 85% after 3000 GCD cycles at a current density of 24 A g–1. Also, a TMOs/rGO/NiCo LDH//rGO asymmetric supercapacitor device is constructed with an aqueous KOH electrolyte, which shows a capacitance of 244 F g–1 at a current density of 1 A g–1. The device attains the highest energy density of 34 Wh kg–1 and power density of 2500 W kg–1, with an excellent cycling stability of 100% after 3000 GCD cycles at a current density of 10 A g–1.
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