Search

Introduction Abdominal wall dehiscence is one of the critical postoperative complications following abdominal surgeries. Emergency surgery highly contributes to the incidence of a burst abdomen due to a lack of proper preoperative preparation and the presence of intraabdominal sepsis. Anterior component separation was primarily evolved in abdominal wall reconstruction in the open abdomen and huge ventral hernia repair. Methods This prospective study included 50 patients operated by midline laparotomy for non-traumatic abdominal emergencies. Anterior component separation technique was randomly applied in 25 patients before laparotomy closure, the other 25 patients were closed using the traditional midline closure method. Preoperative patient's demographics, operative time, and different postoperative complications were reported. Incidence of burst abdomen in both groups was reported. Results Preoperative patient's demographic data showed no significant difference between both groups; the mean age of the patients was 53.69±7.34. Operative time was significantly longer in the Anterior Components Separation (ACS) group (P<0.001). The incidence of abdominal wall dehiscence after ACS technique (4.3%) was significantly less than after traditional technique (24%). Postoperative seroma and hematoma were the common postoperative complications after ACS however the incidence was not statistically significant. Incisional hernia was detected in (13.04%) in ACS group and in (32%) in traditional group. Conclusion Application of ACS technique during laparotomy closure in abdominal emergencies seems to lower the incidence of abdominal wall dehiscence with no increase in different postoperative complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Egypt is facing water shortage due to limitation in the freshwater resources and the increased population growth. Thus, there is a need for developing new water resources such as the expansion in building large-scale reverse osmosis (RO) seawater desalination plants. Oil spill in the marine environment can cause severe fouling problems and make damage to the RO membranes, which increases the operating cost. The current study focuses on oil removal from water using agricultural-based adsorbents to reduce the membrane fouling in the RO systems. Three adsorbents namely: rice husk (RH), sawdust (SD) and sugarcane bagasse (SCB) were tested to remove used motor oil (UMO) and crude oil (CO) from distilled and raw seawater. Activated carbon (AC) was included in the measurements to be used as a reference case to compare with. The oil sorption removal and adsorption capacity were determined experimentally for the four tested adsorbents. The experimental parameters included: initial oil concentration (2-40 g/L), adsorbent dose (2-30 g/L), contact time (5-120 min), agitation time (0-60 min), chemical modification (acid vs. base treatment), water salinity (up to 35 g/L). The effect of the presence of other heavy metals on oil sorption removal and adsorption capacity was also investigated. The characteristics of the adsorbents surface were studied using the Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller analysis. The results demonstrated that the adsorption removal of UMO with higher viscosity is higher than CO and always the RH exhibited the highest adsorption capacity compared to SD and SCB but about 30% less than AC. Precaution should be taken when distilled water is used rather than raw seawater because the difference could reach about 50% but it depends on the type of oil and adsorbing material. Additionally, the oil sorption removal in seawater is about 20% higher in raw seawater compared to distilled water. The oil sorption removal increased with an increase in contact time, adsorbent dosage, agitation time, and salinity, and decrease in initial oil concentration. The effect of presence of metals ions concentration in raw seawater can be neglected with the adsorbent used in the current study. The adsorption isotherm models by Langmuir described the experimental data very well while the pseudo-second-order described the kinetics data very well. The small difference in performance between RH and AC indicates that RH is very promising low-cost adsorbents for oil removal in RO desalination systems. The Gibbs free energy (ΔG) was calculated and the values were negative, indicating that the sorption process was spontaneous. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents the single-phase heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics of R1233zd(e) in a Brazed Plate Heat Exchanger (BPHE). Experiments on single-phase, water-to-water, were initially conducted and a correlation for the convective heat transfer coefficient of the hot water side was derived by applying the modified Wilson plot method. The experiments covered a range of Reynolds number from 80 to 1600 and Prandtl number from 2.8 to 7.0. Subsequent experiments were conducted with water-to-R1233zd(e) covering a refrigerant range of Reynolds number from 700 to 1450 and Prandtl number from 4.5 to 4.9. The results were used to assess existing correlations in the literature predicting the Nusselt number and Fanning friction factor in BPHEs. Finally, new correlations for both the hot (water) and cold (refrigerant) sides are proposed for single-phase heat transfer for this geometry covering the conditions above. The proposed refrigerant heat transfer correlation predicted 97% of all data within the ± 10% error bands at a mean absolute error value of 5.7%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trigonellafoenum-graecum L. is enriched with many active ingredients. TFG oil was evaluated for its protective effect against deltamethrin toxicity in rats. Rats of the control group were administered saline. The 2nd group was administered deltamethrin (DLM) orally at a concentration of 15 mg/kg body mass. The 3rd and 4th groups were administered DLM at a concentration of 15 mg/kg body mass and were fed diets containing 2.5% and 5% TFG oil, respectively. DLM intoxication reduced red blood cell and platelet counts, hemoglobin concentration, and hematocrit value while it induced leucocytosis. Furthermore, it increased serum levels of lactate dehydrogenase, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, [gamma]-glutamyltransferase, triglycerides, cholesterol, uric acid, urea, and creatinine; increased hepatic, renal, and brain lipid peroxidation; decreased serum acetylcholine esterase level; and decreased hepatic, renal, and brain antioxidant markers' activities. However, TFG oil kept the studied hematological and biochemical parameters within normal ranges. In addition, it prevented lipid peroxidation and oxidative stress induced by DLM intoxication in a dose-dependent manner. Therefore, these results indicated that TFG oil inhibited the toxic effects of DLM on hematological and biochemical parameters as well as oxidative status by its free radical scavenging and potent antioxidant activities, and it appeared to be a promising protective agent against DLM-induced toxicity. Key words: deltamethrin, Trigonellafoenum-graecum, haematological changes, biochemical changes, oxidative stress parameters. Trigonellafoenum-graecum L. est riche en plusieurs ingredients actifs. L'huile de TFG a ete evaluee sur le plan de son effet protecteur envers la toxicite de la deltamethrine (DLM) chez le rat. Les rats du groupe controle ont recu de la saline. Le deuxieme groupe a recu 15 mg/kg (poids corporel) de DLM par voie orale. Les troisieme et quatrieme groupes ont recu 15 mg/kg (poids corporel) de DLM et ils ont ete nourris avec des dietes comportant 2,5% et 5% d'huile de TFG, respectivement. L'intoxication a la DLM reduisait le decompte en erythrocytes et en plaquettes, la concentration d'hemoglobine et l'hematocrite alors qu'elle induisaitune leucocytose. De plus, elle accroissait les niveaux seriques de lactase deshydrogenase, d'aspartate aminotransferase, d'alanine aminotransferase, de phosphatase alcaline, de [gamma]-glutamyltransferase, de triglycerides, de cholesterol, d'acide urique, d'uree et de creatine, ainsi que la peroxydation lipidique hepatique, renale et cerebrale, alors qu'elle diminuait les niveaux d'acetylcholine esterase et l'activite de marqueurs antioxydants hepatiques, renaux et cerebraux. Cependant, l'huile de TFG maintenait les parametres hematologiques et biochimiques etudies dans les limites normales. De plus, elle prevenait la peroxydation lipidique et le stress oxydant induits par l'intoxication a la DLM en fonction de sa concentration. Ainsi, ces resultats ont indique que l'huile de TFG inhibait les effets toxiques de la DLM sur les parametres hematologiques et biochimiques ainsi que sur l'etat oxydant, grace a ses activites de piegeage de radicaux libres et anti-oxydantes. Elle semble etre un agent protecteur prometteur contre la toxicite induite par la DLM. [Traduit par la Redaction] Mots-cles: deltamethrine, Trigonellafoenum-graecum, changements hematologiques, changements biochimiques, parametres du stress oxydant., Introduction Deltamethrin (DLM) is a synthetic pyrethroid and is effectively used against a wide range of insects that are harmful for plants and animals, including ants, mites, beetles, weevils, ticks, [...]

A study used correlational analysis and step-wise multiple regression to build mathematical models representing the dynamics of student evaluation of courses and teachers. The resulting models were very strong and were subsequently used to improve academic programs in Kuwait's Institute of Banking Studies. (Author/MSE)