Sucralfate for posttonsillectomy analgesia

Pain is one of the most troublesome complications of tonsillectomy. The pain appears as throat pain, otalgia, or both, and continues until mucosal recovery on the tonsillar fossae is complete. Some surgical and hemostasis techniques may increase pain. Analgesics, antibiotics, steroids, and local and topical anesthetics are used to relieve posttonsillectomy pain, but none has the desired effectiveness. The pain reliever must not increase bleeding and must have minimal side effects. Sucralfate, a basic amino salt of sucrose octasulfate, binds to the matrix protein of a peptic ulcer and produces a protective barrier. Tonsillectomy leaves two large ulcerous wounds, and sucralfate may bind those wounds as it does peptic ulcers. In this controlled study, the efficacy of sucralfate on posttonsillectomy throat pain, otalgia, analgesic requirement, degree of strength, bleeding, body temperature, and mucosal recovery is investigated in 80 patients. Sucralfate is found to significantly reduce throat pain and analgesic requirement after surgery.     

Effect of operating parameters on color and COD removal performance of SBR: sludge age and initial dyestuff concentration

Effect of sludge and initial dyestuff concentration on color and COD removal performance of anaerobic-aerobic sequential batch reactor was investigated. Remazol Red RR a vinylsulphonyl (VS) and monochlortriazine (MCT), reactive azo dye was used in the study. Sludge age was varied between thetaC=12 days and thetaC=30 days and dyestuff concentration was between D0=50 and D0=500 mg l(-1). The maximum color and COD removal was obtained as 95% and 70% for D0=60 mg l(-1) and COD0=800 mg l(-1) at 15 days sludge retention time, respectively, and no further improvement was observed when sludge age was increased to 30 days. The main color removal phase in this operation system was the anaerobic phase. Because, the color removal efficiency was already above 95% under anaerobic condition and therefore, the contribution of aerobic phase to color removal was negligible. Increasing dyestuff concentration did not significantly affect the decolorization. It was possible to obtain over 90% dyestuff removal even at D0=500 mg l(-1). SBR system reduces 1000 mg l(-1) initial COD concentrations to about 400 mg l(-1) for dyestuff concentration up to 150 mg l(-1). COD removal efficiency decreased from 70% to 60% by increasing initial dyestuff concentration from 100 to 500 mg l(-1). The results indicated that dyestuff and COD are mainly used by anaerobic organisms and aeration does not improve the performance of SBR system.     

Kinetics and equilibrium studies for the adsorption of Acid Red 57 from aqueous solutions onto calcined-alunite

The adsorption of Acid Red 57 (AR57) onto calcined-alunite was examined in aqueous solution in a batch system with respect to contact time, pH and temperature. The first-order, pseudo-second-order kinetic and the intraparticle diffusion models were used to describe the kinetic data and the rate constants were evaluated. The experimental data fitted very well the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and also followed the intraparticle diffusion model up to 90 min. The Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption models were applied to describe the equilibrium isotherms and the isotherm constants were also determined. The equilibrium data are successfully fitted to the Langmuir adsorption isotherm. The Langmuir isotherm constant, K(L), was used to evaluate the changes of free energy, enthalpy and entropy of adsorption for the adsorption of AR57 onto calcined-alunite. The results indicate that calcined-alunite could be employed as low-cost material for the removal of acid dyes from textile effluents.     

DIChirp: direct injection bandwidth estimation

Ideally, network bandwidth estimation algorithms should be independent of the end system performance. If end system capabilities are involved, then the measurement will be of the system throughput and will not indicate a correct assessment of network bandwidth. Packet dispersion‐based active bandwidth estimation schemes including Pathload, TOPP and pathChirp use delay correlation where the network‐induced delay on packets transmitted at certain rates is translated into bandwidth estimation. Since packet dispersion‐based active measurement schemes use delay correlation, bandwidth estimations are distorted by the host protocol stack‐induced delay variations. Studies revealed that the host protocol stack‐induced delay variations due to context switching are stovepiped in the network‐induced delay variations and impact the measurement process. This study explores the delay variations introduced by the host protocol stack in packet dispersion‐based techniques. The impact of host protocol delay variations and context switching on bandwidth estimation is analyzed and a new active bandwidth estimation tool minimizing the impact of context switching is proposed. Direct Injection Chirp (DIChirp) bypasses the TCP/IP protocol stack and directly interfaces with the network hardware. It uses the kernel for scheduling the outgoing packets, thus achieving more accurate estimation of bandwidth. Experiments revealed that the host protocol and context switching‐induced delay variations can be as high as 800µs and could result in bandwidth estimation errors near 20%. Experiments also revealed that the DIChirp is superior to the pathChirp implementation in performance estimation since the datapath utilized by DIChirp is less prone to delay variations induced by context switching. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effect of Tetrasodium Pyrophosphate on the Physicochemical Properties of Yogurt Gels

The effect of tetrasodium pyrophosphate (TSPP) on the properties of yogurt gels was investigated. Various concentrations (0.05 to 0.2%) of TSPP were added to preheated (85°C for 30 min) reconstituted skim milk, which was readjusted to pH 6.50. Milk was inoculated with 2% starter culture and incubated at 42°C until the pH reached 4.6. Acid-base buffering profiles of milk and total and soluble calcium levels were measured. Turbidity measurements were used to indicate changes in casein dispersion. Storage modulus (G′) and loss tangent (LT) values of yogurts were monitored during fermentation using dynamic oscillatory rheology. Large deformation properties of gels were also measured. Microstructural properties of yogurt were observed using fluorescence microscopy. The addition of TSPP resulted in the disappearance of the buffering peak during acid titration at pH ∼5.1 that is due to the solubilization of colloidal calcium phosphate (CCP), and a new peak was observed at lower pH values (pH 4.0-4.5). The buffering peak at pH 6.0 during base titration virtually disappeared with addition of TSPP and a new peak appeared at pH ∼4.8. The addition of TSPP reduced the soluble Ca content of milk and increased casein-bound Ca values. The addition of up to 0.125% TSPP resulted in a reduction in turbidity because of micelle dispersion but at 0.15%, turbidity increased and these samples exhibited a time-dependent increase in turbidity because of aggregation of casein particles. Gels made with 0.20% TSPP were very weak and had a very high gelation pH (6.35), probably due to complete dispersion of the micelle structure in this sample. The LT value of gels at pH 5.1 decreased with an increase in TSPP concentration, probably due to the loss of CCP with the addition of TSPP. The G′ values at pH 4.6 of gels made with ≤0.10% TSPP were not significantly different but the addition of ≥0.125% TSPP significantly decreased G′ values. The addition of 0.05 to 0.125% TSPP to milk resulted in a reduction in the yield stress values of yogurt compared with yogurt made without TSPP. Greater TSPP levels (>0.125%) markedly reduced the yield stress values of yogurt. Lowest whey separation levels were observed in yogurts made with 0.10% TSPP. High TSPP levels (>0.10%) greatly increased the apparent pore size of gels. Addition of very low levels of TSPP to milk for yogurt manufacture may be useful in reducing the whey separation defect, but at TSPP concentrations ≥0.125% very weak gels were formed.     

Detailed analysis on thermal,microstructural, mechanical,and morphological features of side chain liquid crystalline polymer/isotactic polypropylene graft copolymers: Effect of grafted and ungrafted polymer units

The main scope of this comprehensive study is to investigate the effects of poly(p-benzophenoneoxycarbonylphenyl acrylate), poly(BPOCPA), which presenting as only graft units or both graft and ungrafted units in the matrix, on the fundamental features of isotactic polypropylene (IPP). The graft copolymerization of BPOCPA onto IPP was performed with the aid of bulk melt polymerization at varying monomer content levels ranging from 5% to 40%. The thermal behavior, crystal quality, mechanical performance, and surface morphology of the samples were investigated by means of differential scanning calorimeter, X-ray diffractometer (XRD), universal mechanical test, and scanning electron microscope (SEM) techniques. Thermal analyses depicted that there existed the noteworthy enhancements in both crystalline melting temperatures and percent crystallinities of matrix polymers. Furthermore, according to XRD results, a and b parameters increased significantly at low percentages of the graft units, while the parameter c decreased in all products in consistence with the content. As for the mechanical characterization, the grafting led to remarkable improvements in modulus, tensile and impact strength of the products. SEM micrographs indicated that the samples were completely homogeneous without any phase separation and the products exhibited brittle nature with some ductility.     

Experimental and theoretical approaches for electrical,magnetic, micromechanical,and structural characterization of BSCCO ceramic superconductors

This study investigates how the preparation and re-pelletization of BSCCO ceramic superconductors affects their structural, magnetic, electrical, and mechanical properties. Samples were prepared using conventional methods including the dry solid state (SS) reaction and wet ammonium nitrate (AN) precipitation, with three variations prepared for each technique. The fabricated samples were then characterized with X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy. The density, resistance vs. temperature characteristics, AC susceptibility vs. temperature characteristics, and magnetic hysteresis properties were measured. In addition, Vicker's microhardness was measured and revealed that all six samples exhibit the reverse indentation size effect (RISE). Microhardness modeling was also conducted. Calculations with Meyer's law, the Hays and Kendall model, and the proportional sample resistance model indicate that the samples are far from the plateau region, whereas the indentation-induced cracking model was consistent with the experimental results. The elastic modulus, Young's modulus, yield strength, and brittleness index were also calculated for each sample.     

An evolutionary analysis of the innovation policy domain: Is there a paradigm shift?

Scientometrics - Researchers focus on understanding the nature of ecosystems and societies as well as explaining how paradigms change. These efforts are presented and disseminated through scholarly...