Changes in central corneal thickness values after instillation of oxybuprocaine hydrochloride 0.4%

PurposeTo assess the variation in central corneal thickness (CCT) following the instillation of oxybuprocaine hydrochloride (0.4%), in normal subjects.MethodsThis was a randomized, prospective study of CCT measurements (before and after the instillation of topical anaesthesia) obtained with the Topcon SP-3000P noncontact specular microscope, in 60 eyes of thirty subjects. The subjects’ mean age was 20 ± 1 years (mean ± SD). In each subject, one eye was treated with one drop of oxybuprocaine hydrochloride (HCl) and the fellow eye with one drop of normal saline (control). The SP-3000P CCT readings were first obtained before instillation (baseline) and monitored every 30 s after instillation of each eye drop for a period of 10 min.ResultsThe mean baseline CCT for oxybuprocaine was 526 ± 23 μm. Ten minutes after, it was 526 ± 24 μm. In the control, the mean CCT was 526 ± 27 μm, 10 min after it was 526 ± 28 μm. The mean variation in CCT measurement was ?0.7 ± 3.1 (5.5 to ?6.8 μm, 95% CI) for oxybuprocaine and ?0.6 ± 4.1 μm (7.5 and ?8.6 μm, 95% CI) for the fellow eyes (P > 0.05). There was no significant variation among the 20 CCT columns for either oxybuprocaine or the control group (P > 0.05 for both).ConclusionsOne drop of topical oxybuprocaine 0.4% did not cause a significant change in CCT at up to 10 min following instillation. However, higher differences were observed at 2.30 min and 4.30 min after instillation.     

Corrosion inhibition and adsorption properties of cerium-amino acid complexes on mild steel in acidic media: Experimental and DFT studies

Abstract

The corrosion inhibition and adsorption behavior of glutamic acid (Glu), glutamine (Gln), and their cerium complexes: cerium glutamate (Ce(Glu)) and cerium glutamine (Ce(Gln)) on mild steel in 0.5?M HCl solutions were studied at 25 and 55?°C and concentration range of 25–200?ppm using potentiodynamic polarization (PDP) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopic (EIS) techniques. The inhibition efficiency was found to be dependent on the concentration and temperature of the system. The potentiodynamic polarization results suggest that the compounds act as mixed-type inhibitors with dominant cathodic inhibition. The mechanism of adsorption deduced from the variation of inhibition efficiency with temperature, as well as the activation parameters, suggest significant physisorption of the inhibitor molecules on the metal surface. The experimental data adhere to the Langmuir and El-Awady et al. kinetic adsorption models. The extent of inhibition was found to be Ce-Gln?>?Gln and Ce-Glu?>?Glu. The scanning electron microscope was employed for the morphological studies and the characteristic of the protective layer on the steel surface verified using UV-Vis spectroscopy and FTIR spectroscopy. Adsorption of the inhibitors on Fe (110) surface was evaluated theoretically.     

Intrapreneurial nursing: the Comprehensive Lower Extremity Assessment Form

The Comprehensive Lower Extremity Assessment Form was developed in response to the need for a screening tool in a nurse-managed foot care clinic. It differs from other such tools because it includes clinical measures that identify the potential for foot pathology. The Comprehensive Lower Extremity Assessment Form also serves as an assessment teaching guide in a foot care course and is included as part of a home-study program. The authors demonstrate how the Comprehensive Lower Extremity Assessment Form has generated revenue as part of an intrapreneurial outgrowth of their foot clinic and provides a comprehensive approach to lower extremity assessment. The form can be tailored to meet the needs of the advanced practice nurse, the clinical setting, or patient population.     

Effectiveness of strategic environmental assessment in Canada under directive-based and informal practice

This article explores the diversity of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) practice in Canada and lessons for improving the effectiveness of SEA. There are multiple dimensions to effectiveness, but core to SEA effectiveness is its strategic nature. SEA under the Canadian federal Cabinet directive is approached largely as an impact assessment tool, and effectiveness evaluated based on compliance. Practice is entrenched in project-based assessment principles, but with no mandatory provision for public engagement, which limits the potential effectiveness of SEA. External to the Cabinet directive, across Canada’s provinces and territories, SEA and SEA-like practices are occurring in diverse forms and represent the more advanced and exemplary cases. A common challenge to SEA effectiveness, however, is that applications are often limited by their ad hoc nature and disconnected from any larger and formal system of participatory and integrated policy, planning and development decision making.     

Design of a Low-Cost Air Quality Monitoring System Using Arduino and ThingSpeak

The impact of daily emissions of gaseous and particulate pollutants of machines and industries on human health and the environment has attracted increasing concerns. This impact has significantly led to a notable increase in mortality in the highly industrialized zones. Therefore, monitoring air quality and creating public awareness are important for a safer future, which led the governments globally to invest multi-billion in policymaking and solution stratification to address the problem. This study aims to design a real-time Internet of Things low-cost air quality monitoring system. The system utilizes air quality and carbon monoxide sensors for monitoring gaseous pollutants. Moreover, the system utilizes an Arduino Nano development board equipped with a WiFi module to effectively send readings to a ThingSpeak online channel platform for instantaneous and real-time display of air quality. The ThingSpeak uses HTTP protocols to send emails in raising awareness of poor air quality. The level of concentration is monitored graphically through channels with the help of ThingSpeak to aid remote communication. A threshold value is set. Thus, when pollutants have become unhealthy and harmful, the system trips off an alarm, and e-mail notifications are sent to the officials. The results have shown that the work was successfully implemented a design of a low-cost air quality monitoring system using Arduino and ThingSpeak, showing that an air quality system can be implemented using a low-cost technology, Arduino and ThingSpeak.     

White light emission from co-precipitated organic nanoparticle composites

Co-precipitation of 1,4-bis(2-phenyl-1-propen-1-yl)benzene (1) and 2-(4-(2-(4-(3,6-di-tert-butyl-9H-carbazol-9-yl)phenyl)ethynyl)benzylidene) malononitrile (2) that individually form blue-emitting and orange-emitting nanoparticles, respectively, results in the formation of composite fluorescent organic nanoparticles that emit white light. The two components likely align in the head-to-tail fashion in nanoparticles, creating two parallel and strongly coupled transition dipoles. The emission characteristics of the composite was dependent upon the concentration of 1 and 2, and a pure white-light emission (CIE chromaticity coordinates of 0.34, 0.35) was achieved from the composite that was prepared by employing 12 parts of 1 and 1 part of 2.     

Combining sensor-based measurement and modeling of PM2.5 and black carbon in assessing exposure to indoor aerosols

Accurate, cost-effective methods are needed for rapid assessment of traffic-related air pollution (TRAP). Typically, real-time data of particulate matter (PM) from portable sensors have been adjusted using data from reference methods such as gravimetric measurement to improve accuracy. The objective of this study was to create a correction factor or linear regression model for the real-time measurements of the RTI’s Micro Personal Exposure Monitor (MicroPEM?) and AethLab’s microAeth^® black carbon (AE51) sensor to generate accurate real-time data for PM_2.5 (PM_2.5RT) and black carbon (BC_RT) in Cincinnati metropolitan homes. The two sensors and an SKC PM_2.5 Personal Modular impactor were collocated in 44 indoor sampling events for 2?days in residences near major roadways. The reference filter-based analyses conducted by a laboratory included particle mass (SKC PM_2.5 and MicroPEM? PM_2.5) and black carbon (SKC BC); these methods are more accurate than real-time sensors but are also more cumbersome and costly. For PM_2.5, the average correction factor, a ratio of gravimetric to real time, for the MicroPEM? PM_2.5 and SKC PM_2.5 utilizing the PM_2.5RT and was 0.94 and 0.83, respectively, with a coefficient of variation (CV) of 84% and 52%, respectively; the corresponding linear regression model had a CV of 54% and 25%. For BC, the average correction factor utilizing the BC_RT and SKC BC was 0.74 with a CV of 36% with the associated linear regression model producing a CV of 56%. The results from this study will help ensure that the real-time exposure monitors are capable of detecting an estimated PM_2.5 after an appropriate statistical model is applied.

Copyright © 2019 American Association for Aerosol Research     

The influence of lens power and center thickness on the intraocular pressure measured through soft lenses: a comparison of two noncontact tonometers

PurposeTo quantify the influence of soft contact lens power and thickness on the intraocular pressure (IOP).MethodsThirty-nine young, healthy adult volunteers completed this study. One eye of each subject was randomly assigned either a +6D or a ?6D high water content daily disposable lens. The other eye was fitted with the second lens. Triplicate measurements of IOP were taken before, during, and after contact lens wear. Each time, IOP was assessed in a randomized order with two noncontact tonometers. The lenses were swapped between eyes during a second session of measurements, one week later.ResultsIn the first session with the +6D lenses, the average IOPs (±SDs) before, with the lenses fitted, and after the lenses were removed, were: 14.3 ± 2.9 mmHg, 17.0 ± 3.3 mmHg and 13.9 ± 3.1 mmHg, respectively, for the CT80 and 13.6 ± 3.1 mmHg, 17.1 ± 4.5 mmHg and 13.3 ± 2.9 mmHg, respectively, for the PT100. The corresponding values for the first session with the ?6D lenses were: 14.3 ± 3.1 mmHg, 13.1 ± 3.1 mmHg and 14.1 ± 3.3 mmHg, respectively, for the CT80 and 13.6 ± 3.2 mmHg, 13.0 ± 3.0 mmHg and 13.6 ± 3.2 mmHg, respectively, for the PT100. IOP significantly (P < 0.05) increased (+ΔIOP = 2.7 ± 0.4 mmHg with the CT80 in the first session) with the +6D lenses, but decreased (P < 0.05) when the ?6D lenses were fitted (?ΔIOP = 0.6 ± 0.2 mmHg with the PT100 in the first session). The soft contact lens-induced changes were consistent between sessions but varied between tonometers.ConclusionsThe measurement of IOP through soft contact lenses resulted in consistent, statistically significant differences in IOP, which were not uniform across tonometers and which did not appear to be solely related to the central thickness of the soft contact lenses.