Undiagnosed heterotopic pregnancy,maternal hemorrhagic shock,and ischemic stroke in the intrauterine fetus

Heterotopic pregnancy occurs rarely following natural conception; however, intrauterine embryo transfer following in vitro fertilization is a known risk factor for its occurrence. A 29-year-old woman presented with acute abdomen at 14w5d gestation following in vitro fertilization–embryo treatment. A ruptured heterotopic gestation in the left fallopian tube was identified at laparoscopy and treated by salpingectomy. Subsequently, at 21-week gestation, routine sonogram demonstrated bilateral ventriculomegaly in the intrauterine fetus. Fetal magnetic resonance imaging was highly suggestive of ischemic brain injury, most likely attributable to the maternal hypovolemic shock because of ruptured heterotopic gestation. The pregnancy was terminated by intracardiac injection and induction of labor. Timely diagnosis of heterotopic pregnancy requires a high index of suspicion as diagnostic delays can have catastrophic consequences for the mother and/or the intrauterine fetus. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Characteristics of wood–fiber plastic composites made of recycled materials

This study investigates the feasibility of using recycled high density polyethylene (rHDPE), polypropylene (rPP) and old newspaper (rONP) fiber to manufacture experimental composite panels. The panels were made through air-forming and hot press. The effects of the fiber and coupling agent concentration on tensile, flexural, internal bond properties and water absorption and thickness swelling of wood–fiber plastic composites were studied. The use of maleated polypropylene as coupling agent improved the compatibility between the fiber and both plastic matrices and mechanical properties of the resultant composites compared well with those of non-coupled ones. Based on the findings in this work, it appears that recycled materials can be used to manufacture value-added panels without having any significant adverse influence on board properties. It was also found that composites with rHDPE provided moderately superior properties, compared with rPP samples.     

Field application of SPME as a novel tool for occupational exposure assessment with inhalational anesthetics

Occupational exposure to inhalational anesthetics occurs routinely in operating rooms. It could induce serious health hazards and diseases. This exposure assessment is a crucial step in determining risks. In this study, a pen-shaped holder for solid-phase microextraction (SPME) sampler was successfully applied as a time-weighted average sampling tool for workshift exposure assessment of operation room staff to halothane. It proved to be very convenient for use in occupational environments such as operation rooms. Samples were analyzed by a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The validity of the SPME method was checked in real-world conditions with Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) 103 standard method for the determination of inhalational anesthetics. A good agreement between OSHA 103 and SPME methods was obtained and results demonstrated no statistically significant differences in anesthetic concentrations determined by the two analytical methods (p?≥?0.05). It is concluded that SPME in retracted mode could successfully be applied in occupational exposure assessment purposes.     

Association of environmental exposure with hematological and oxidative stress alteration in gasoline station attendants

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Gasoline station attendants spend a great deal of their time in the direct exposure to noxious substances such as benzene and byproducts of gasoline...     

Heavy metal concentration in sediment, benthic, benthopelagic, and pelagic fish species from Musa Estuary (Persian Gulf)

The concentration of Cd, Co, Cu, Ni, and Pb was measured in sediment and three fish species collected from Musa Estuary, Persian Gulf. The concentration order of heavy metals in sediment were Ni > Co > Cu > Pb > Cd >. Concentrations of the heavy metals in the fish were apparently different among the three species. The concentrations of Cd and Ni in fish were Johnius belangerii > Euryglossa orientalis > Liza abu, while the Co and Cu levels were L. abu > E. orientalis > J. belangerii and E. orientalis > L. abu > J. belangerii, respectively. Result of regression analysis showed that there were no significant relationships between metal concentration in fish tissues and sediment, except for Ni concentration in the J. belangerii liver. The concentrations of studied metals in fish muscle were below the permissible limits proposed by FAO, WHO, and EC.     

Adaptation strategies for maize cultivation under climate change in Iran: irrigation and planting date management

Climate change is affecting the productivity of crops and their regional distribution. Strategies to enhance local adaptation capacity are needed to mitigate climate change impacts and to maintain regional stability of food production. The objectives of this study were to simulate the climate change effects on phenological stages, Leaf Area Index (LAI), biomass and grain yield of maize (Zea mays L.) in the future and to explore the possibilities of employing irrigation water and planting dates as adaptation strategies to decrease the climate change impacts on maize production in Khorasan Razavi province, Iran. For this purpose, we employed two types of General Circulation Models ((United Kingdom Met. Office Hadley Center: HadCM3) and (Institute Pierre Simon Laplace: IPCM4)) and three scenarios (A1B, A2 and B1). Long Ashton Research Station-Weather Generator (LARS-WG) was used to produce daily climatic parameters as one stochastic growing season for each projection period. Also, crop growth under projected climate conditions was simulated based on the Cropping System Model (CSM)-CERES-Maize. The results of model evaluation showed that LARS-WG had appropriate prediction for climatic parameters. Time period from cultivation until anthesis and maturity were reduced in majority of scenarios as affected by climate change. The results indicated that the grain yield of maize may be reduced (11 % to 38 %) as affected by climate change based on common planting date in baseline and changed (?61 % to 48 %) in response to different irrigation regimes in the future climate change, under all scenarios and times. In general, earlier planting date (1 May) and decreasing irrigation intervals in the anthesis stage (11 applications) caused higher yield compared with other planting dates due to adaption to high temperature. Based on our findings, it seems that management of irrigation water and planting dates can be beneficial for adaptation of maize to climate change in this region.     

Optimal control of distillation column using Non-Dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm-II

Many control problems involve simultaneous optimization of multiple performance measures that are often non-commensurable and competing with each other. The presence of multiple objectives in a problem usually gives rise to one set of optimal solutions, largely known as Pareto-optimal solutions. In this paper, the Non-Dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm-II (NSGA-II) has been successfully applied to optimization of dynamic state of simple distillation process. This paper presents the tuning of Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controllers by minimizing of three objective functions (overshoot, response time, and Integral of Absolute Error (IAE)) through NSGA-II. A MATLAB code for real-parameter NSGA-II has been coupled with HYSYS v.3.1 process simulator for simulation and optimization of process. Optimization numerical results show that genetic algorithm is more suitable method for optimal control of distillation columns than traditional methods.