Background Evidence showed that the relationships between hospital spending and treatment outcomes were inconclusive in physical conditions. However, there was lack of data in patients with severe mental illnesses (SMI). This study investigated whether the higher the hospital spending, the lower the mortality and rehospitalization rates among patients with SMI. Method This was a retrospective cohort study using Taiwan National Health Research Institute Database (NHRID) from 1999 to 2010. The hospital spending was determined by end-of-life (EOL) spending, the total medical cost of last year of life, of patients with at least one previous psychiatric hospitalization. The hospitals were divided into 3 groups, high, moderate and low hospital spending. Patients with schizophrenia (n=13,229), bipolar disorder (n=4,476) and major depressive disorder (n=5,177) discharged from study hospitals were followed for mortality and re-hospitalization to psychiatric wards from 2009 to 2010. Hazard ratios (HR) were calculated using Cox regression. Results Schizophrenic patients had lower rehospitalization (HR 0.852, 95%CI 0.782~0.929) and mortality rates (HR 0.632, 95%CI 0.428~0.932) when treated at higher-spending hospitals comparing with lowest-spending hospitals. But the associations became weak, even not significant, when adjusting for patient-level variables. There were no significant findings for bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder when adjusting for patient-level variables. Conclusion Hospitals that spend more at the end-of-life (EOL) had lower mortality and rehospitalization rates for patients with schizophrenia, but higher rates for bipolar disorder or major depressive disorder. Patient-level variables showed more determinant roles than hospital-level variables in the relationships between hospital spending and treatment outcome.
Investigation of the effectiveness of the use of nanoparticles of ferrum, germanium and molybdenum carboxylates in combination with nodule bacteria for inoculation of soybean seeds to regulate the activity of a key enzyme of antioxidant protection – ascorbate peroxidase in plants during prolonged drought. Methods. Microbiological, physiological, biochemical. Results. When nanoparticles of ferrum and germanium carboxylates were added to the inoculation suspension of Bradyrhizobium japonicum B1-20, an increase in ascorbate peroxidase activity in root nodules and soybean leaves was observed due to prolonged drought. This indicates the effective incorporation of the enzyme into the antioxidant defense systems and stimulates the development of plant tolerance under stressful growing conditions. In the symbiotic system formed using molybdenum nanocarboxylate, a slight increase in enzyme activity was detected in soybean plants under the action of dehydration, which indicates the insignificant ability of this symbiosis to realize its protective properties under water stress. Conclusions. The use of nanoparticles of germanium or ferrum carboxylates as part of an inoculation suspension for treating soybean seeds can be an effective means for activating antioxidant defense systems, which will contribute to an increase in plant tolerance to arid growing conditions.
The aim of this study was to predicting occupational consideration by interest, self-efficacy and outcome expectations in high school students and for this, examined Choice Models in Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT). Samples were 328 Iranian high school male students that selected by cluster sampling from male high schools in Qom city in Iran. Participants completed measures of self-efficacy, outcome expectations, interest and occupational consideration (Lent et al, 2003) across the Holland (1997) RIASEC themes: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising and Conventional. For examine of fit of model was used Amos, that results showed integrated interest-choice model fit the data well across RIASEC themes. Results showed that self-efficacy and outcome expectations jointly predict interests, and interests mediate the relations of self-efficacy and outcome expectations to occupational consideration. The implications of these findings for further research on the non-Western culture validity of SCCT are considered.
Probiotic bacteria are good sources for antimicrobial and are normal microbiota of the GI tract of animals and humans. Enterococci are found everywhere in nature and have been utilized as probiotics in the food industry. In the present study, Enterococcus durans S2C strain was isolated from raw cow�s milk using the culture-dependent method and evaluated for antifungal properties. The strain S2C showed promising extracellular proteolytic activity and the extracellular peptide was an important source of antifungal activity. Besides, a low rate of antibiotic resistance and non-hemolytic activity was detected in E. durans S2C. Strong antifungal activity of E. durans against two plant pathogenic fungi namely Fusarium oxysporum and Rhizoctonia solani was also recorded. Antifungal activity evaluation showed that R. solani colony was the most inhibited fungus followed by F. Oxysporum. Gelatinase enzyme having antifungal activity was also purified from E. durans S2C isolate. This study concludes that the environmental-derived E. durans S2C strain can be selected for technological application to control pathogenic fungi and to protect the economic value of the crops.
Background There is no evidence if the metabolic waste products of Nematodes are removed through the fluid expelled by the excretory pore.\nPurpose The present article is tracking the chemical clue for the excretory system of a strongyle larva (superfamily Strongyloidea).\nMethods Filariform larvae of Nippostrongylus muris (natural parasite in the small intestine of wild rats) were incubated in a catechol aqueous. The formation of excretory pore precipitate in these solutions and other organic reagents were performed. The conditions under which precipitation occurred, and the possible mechanism of the reaction were inspected.\nResults Large precipitates were formed at excretory pores of living larvae when Nippostrongylus muris were incubated in an aqueous solution of catechol. The observations showed no precipitate at the pore of a dead organism. In tap water, no material of any kind was expelled through the excretory pore of a living larva. What is more, the precipitate was soluble in strong acids and bases but insoluble in common organic solvents, thus, it was polymeric in nature.\nConclusions Consequently, the chemical moiety (mainly diamines and dicarboxylic acids) in this fluid is reacted with quinones and formed large precipitates of a polymeric substance at the excretory pore of the larva.
We aimed to discuss the complications of the Brescia-Cimino type shunt performed on the left forearm and the solutions produced for them. As a result of the rapidly loss of functions of native arteriovenous fistulas (nAVF) for haemodialysis a Brescia- Cimino type shunt was constructed by using a biosynthetic graft as solution for 75-year-old diabetic female patient. Four years later because of painful lesion development a pseudo aneurysm formation was detected in loop-shaped arteriovenous graft (AVG) created between the left forearm brachial artery and the basalic vein. The AVG, which was first repaired with a dacron graft, was repaired with biosynthetic material by resecting the arterial end again because of infection development, and it was continued to be used.
In the present paper, the failure assessment of ductile engineering metals is\noutlined, which includes ductile damage accumulation and fracture, as well as fatigue\ncrack initiation life prediction in recent years, it aims to stimulate the profound\ninvestigation in the related field. It pointed the importance of the characteristic length\nin actual material in relevance to the intrinsic features of grains and dislocation\nmovements in particular, which could be taken as the basic length of mesh size in the\nfinite element calculation of the stress – strain status analysis for a structural\ncomponent during deformation process in failure assessment.