ABSTRACT
Congenital anterior urethrocutanous fistula is a rare genitourinary malformation with unknown etiology and may present as an isolated form or in association with hypospadias or chordee. We describe a case of congenital anterior urethrocutanous fistula with chordee variants in a 5-year-old boy. The patient successfully underwent chordectomy and urethroplasty with no adverse outcomes. We report a review of the literature about the etiology and surgical intervention especially with chordee variants. The congenital anterior urethrocutanous fistula is a rare anomaly with unkown etiopathogenesis.
ABSTRACT
While studies have shown the importance of pictorial health warnings (PHW) as a tobacco control strategy, empirical evidence on the efficacy of PHW in prompting smoking behavior remains inconclusive. The study aimed to examine the association between PHW and cognitive reactions, emotional/affective reactions, and smoking behavior. We conducted a mixed-methods study, which included a cross-sectional face-to-face survey of 401 smokers in four cities (Jakarta, Bandung, Semarang, and Yogyakarta) and three focus group discussions among 24 participants in Jakarta. We applied multiple logit regression in STATA for quantitative data analysis and explanatory sequential design for qualitative data analysis. Quantitatively, we found high (63-84% of respondents) understanding about PHW objectives (cognitive reactions), including to remind health risks and encourage smoking cessation. With only 40% PHW, we found relatively low (32%-39%) negative emotional reactions, including feeling scared, annoyed and disgusted and relatively low proportions (33-40%) of respondents that reported quit attempt. Consistent with the quantitative findings, qualitative data provided contexts, including in explaining that the professional worker group was the least affected by PHW, while the student and non-professional groups were the most vulnerable. All this is supportive of governments in Indonesia and other countries to increase the PHW size.
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Subject(s)
Cognition , Emotions , Product Labeling , Smoking Prevention , Smoking/psychology , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Female , Humans , Indonesia , Male , Middle Aged , Pictorial Works as Topic , Tobacco Products , Young AdultABSTRACT
Radiation-grafted membranes are a promising alternative to commercial membranes for water electrolyzers, since they exhibit lower hydrogen crossover and area resistance, better mechanical properties, and are of potentially lower cost than perfluoroalkylsulfonic acid membranes, such as Nafion. Stability is an important factor in view of the expected lifetime of 40â¯000 h or more of an electrolyzer. In this study, combinations of styrene (St), α-methylstyrene (AMS), acrylonitrile (AN), and 1,3-diisopropenylbenzene (DiPB) are cografted into 50 µm preirradiated poly(ethylene-co-tetrafluoroethylene) (ETFE) base film, followed by sulfonation to produce radiation-grafted membranes. The stability of the membranes with different monomer combinations is compared under an accelerated stress test (AST), and the degradation mechanisms are investigated. To mimic the conditions in an electrolyzer, in which the membrane is always in contact with liquid water at elevated temperature, the membranes are immersed in water for 5 days at 90 °C, so-called thermal stress test (TST). In addition to testing in air atmosphere tests are also carried out under argon to investigate the effect of the absence of oxygen. The water is analyzed with UV-vis spectroscopy and ion chromatography. The ion exchange capacity (IEC), swelling degree, and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra of the membranes are compared before and after the test. Furthermore, energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopic analysis of the membrane cross-section is performed. Finally, the influence of the TST to the membrane area resistance and hydrogen crossover is measured. The stability increases along the sequence St/AN, St/AN/DiPB, AMS/AN, and AMS/AN/DiPB grafted membrane. The degradation at the weak-link, oxygen-induced degradation, and hydrothermal degradation are proposed in addition to the "swelling-induced detachment" reported in the literature. By mitigating the possible paths of degradation, the AMS/AN/DiPB grafted membrane is shown to be the most stable membrane and, therefore, it is a promising candidate for a membrane to be used in a water electrolyzer.
ABSTRACT
Radiation-grafted membranes can be considered an alternative to perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA) membranes, such as Nafion, in a solid polymer electrolyte electrolyzer. Styrene, acrylonitrile, and 1,3-diisopropenylbenzene monomers are cografted into preirradiated 50 µm ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) base film, followed by sulfonation to introduce proton exchange sites to the obtained grafted films. The incorporation of grafts throughout the thickness is demonstrated by scanning electron microscopy/energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDX) analysis of the membrane cross-sections. The membranes are analyzed in terms of grafting kinetics, ion-exchange capacity (IEC), and water uptake. The key properties of radiation-grafted membranes and Nafion, such as gas crossover, area resistance, and mechanical properties, are evaluated and compared. The plot of hydrogen crossover versus area resistance of the membranes results in a property map that indicates the target areas for membrane development for electrolyzer applications. Tensile tests are performed to assess the mechanical properties of the membranes. Finally, these three properties are combined to establish a figure of merit, which indicates that radiation-grafted membranes obtained in the present study are promising candidates with properties superior to those of Nafion membranes. A water electrolysis cell test is performed as proof of principle, including a comparison to a commercial membrane electrode assembly (MEA).
