Generalized Confidence Intervals for Ratios of Standard Deviations Based on Log-Normal Distribution when Times Follow Weibull Distributions.

Modern anesthetic drugs ensure the efficacy of general anesthesia. Goals include reducing variability in surgical, tracheal extubation, post-anesthesia care unit, or intraoperative response recovery times. Generalized confidence intervals based on the log-normal distribution compare variability between groups, specifically ratios of standard deviations. The alternative statistical approaches, performing robust variance comparison tests, give P-values, not point estimates nor confidence intervals for the ratios of the standard deviations. We performed Monte-Carlo simulations to learn what happens to confidence intervals for ratios of standard deviations of anesthesia-associated times when analyses are based on the log-normal, but the true distributions are Weibull. We used simulation conditions comparable to meta-analyses of most randomized trials in anesthesia, n ≈ 25 and coefficients of variation ≈ 0.30 . The estimates of the ratios of standard deviations were positively biased, but slightly, the ratios being 0.11% to 0.33% greater than nominal. In contrast, the 95% confidence intervals were very wide (i.e., > 95% of P ≥ 0.05). Although substantive inferentially, the differences in the confidence limits were small from a clinical or managerial perspective, with a maximum absolute difference in ratios of 0.016. Thus, P < 0.05 is reliable, but investigators should plan for Type II errors at greater than nominal rates.

Comparing Perioperative Outcomes of Total Intravenous Anesthesia (TIVA) With Volatile Anesthesia in Patients With Obesity: A Systematic Review.

In this systematic review, the perioperative outcomes of total intravenous anesthesia (TIVA) and volatile anesthesia were compared in obese adults (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m²) undergoing elective surgery. The review analyzed data from 12 randomized-controlled trials involving 935 patients, sourced from PubMed/MEDLINE (Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online), Cochrane, Scopus, and Web of Science databases. The focus was on intraoperative vital signs, emergence time, postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV), duration of post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) stay, and ICU admission rates. Findings showed that TIVA (using propofol) might reduce PONV, but there were no significant differences in other outcomes compared to volatile anesthesia (with desflurane as the most common agent). The review highlights the need for more research, especially comparing sevoflurane with TIVA, to establish clear clinical guidelines for anesthesia in obese patients.

On evolution model for SARS-Cov-2-infected population: the case of New Zealand.

The work proposes a mathematical model of the process of COVID-19 epidemic as it evolved in New Zealand. The model uses a system of differential equations which emanate from natural assumptions on some probability measure and evolution of this measure on evolving family of simplexes. The authors tried to create the model which, at one hand, is simple and easy to follow. and, at the other hand, reflects the observed epidemic process correctly. The practical aim was to come to justifiable estimations of important parameters like the rate of infection as function of time, thus quantifying effectiveness of the Government measures. Another parameters estimated were the probability distribution of detection times and recovery times.

Butadiyne-linked porphyrin nanoring as a highly selective O2 gas sensor: A fast response hybrid sensor.

The butadiyne-linked six-metalloporphyrin nanoring (Mg6-P6) and it's complex with a hexapyridyl template, Mg6-P6·T6 have a great potential for employment in future nanoelectronic applications such as a nanosensor for small gas molecules. The goal of this study is to scrutinize and improvement of the CO, N2, and O2 gas sensing capacity of Mg6-P6 and Mg6-P6·T6 using DFT calculations at CAM-B3LYP/6-31G (d,p) level of theory. The geometrical structures, binding energies, band gaps, the density of states (DOS), adsorption energies, HOMO and LUMO energies, Fermi level energies (EFL), NBO, FMO and TD-DFT spectrum were calculated to predict gas adsorption properties of Mg6-P6 and Mg6-P6·T6 systems. Based on the calculated adsorption energies and remarkable decrease in the Eg, it is expected that the Mg6-P6 and Mg6-P6·T6 are sensitive to O2 molecule. Surprisingly, the Mg6-P6-O2 and specially the Mg6-P6.T6-O2 record promising values of recovery times for different attempt frequencies. Therefore, the results open a way for the development of a new and selective O2 nanosensor in the presence of CO and N2 gas molecules.

Synthesis of In Situ Photoinduced Halloysite-Polypyrrole@Silver Nanocomposite for the Potential Application in Humidity Sensors.

Halloysite-polypyrrole-silver nanocomposite has been prepared via in situ photopolymerizations of pyrrole in the presence of silanized halloysite and silver nitrate as a photoinitiator. The halloysite nanoclay (HNT) was modified using the hydrogen donor silane coupling agent (DMA) in order to provide anchoring sites for the polypyrrole/silver composite (PPy@Ag). The mass loadings for both PPy and Ag have been estimated to be 21 and 26 wt%, respectively. The anchored Ag particles were found in the metallic state. The resulting PPy@Ag-modified silanized HNT has been evaluated for the potential application for impedance humidity sensors. HNT-DMA-PPy@Ag nanocomposite with different weight % of PPy@Ag (0.25 wt%, 0.5 wt%, and 1 wt%) was deposited on the pre-patterned interdigital Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) electrodes by spin coating technique. The addition of Ag nanoparticles within the nanocomposite enhances the hydrophilicity of the sensing film, which improves the sensitivity of the humidity sensors. The HNT-DMA-PPy@Ag (0.5 wt%) nanocomposite-based impedance sensors showed good sensitivity and lowered hysteresis as compared to the other ratios of the composite. The maximum calculated hysteresis loss of the HNT-DMA-PPy@Ag (0.5 wt%)-based humidity sensor is around 4.5% at 80% RH (relative humidity), and the minimum hysteresis loss estimated to be 0.05% at 20% RH levels. The response and recovery time of HNT-DMA-PPy@Ag (0.5 wt%) nanocomposite-based impedance sensors were found to be 30 and 35 s, respectively. The interesting humidity-dependent impedance properties of this novel composite make it promising in humidity sensing.

Ecotherapy - A Forgotten Ecosystem Service: A Review.

Natural ecosystems provide important services upon which humans depend. Unfortunately, some people tend to believe that these services are provided by nature for free; therefore, the services have little or no value. One nearly forgotten ecosystem service is ecotherapy - the ability of interaction with nature to enhance healing and growth. While we do not pay for this service, its loss can result in a cost to humans resulting in slower recovery times, greater distress and reduced well-being. Losses in these images of nature can diminish our basic happiness. Little is understood or, at least, appreciated concerning the potential ecotherapy benefits of the natural environment and its ecosystem services. The complex and interactive relationship of ecosystems, their services and human well-being is poorly acknowledged in the broad social, philosophical, psychological and economic well-being literature. In this article, we examine the role of nature and its ecosystem services in ecotherapy and its associated enhancement of recovery from physical and mental illness through a review of studies evaluating this ecosystem service-recovery connection.

Effects of tail fat on recovery times of anesthesia with isoflurane in fat-tailed Iranian Lori-Bakhtiyari lambs.

In the present study, the effect of tail fat on recovery times in intact sheep and sheep with a ligated median sacral artery following similar anesthetic exposure with isoflurane was investigated. This study was performed using seven healthy fat-tailed Iranian Lori-Bakhtiyari ewe lambs. The lambs were anesthetized twice at two week intervals (the experiment was performed in two stages). After mask induction with isoflurane in 100% oxygen, sheep were intubated and anesthesia was maintained for 4 hr using a rebreathing system. Induction and extubation times and time to sternal recumbency and attempts to stand were recorded during anesthetic induction and recovery (Stage 1). Two weeks later, prior to the second anesthesia, the median sacral artery (MSA) was ligated under epidural anesthesia in sheep. All sheep were anesthetized as mentioned above (Stage 2). No significant differences were observed for the induction time between two stages (p > 0.05) but extubation, sternal recumbency and attempts to stand times were significantly longer in intact sheep (Stage 1) after 4 hr anesthesia with isoflurane (p < 0.05). Recovery time was decreased following MSA ligation in fat-tailed sheep, which suggested that body fat had a major role in the recovery time of isoflurane in sheep. We developed an animal model to investigate fat drug solubility of isoflurane gas. Therefore, using less-soluble in fat anesthetics is better than high-soluble anesthetics for prolonged anesthesia to decrease postoperative complication in obese patient.