The accuracy of multi-slice three-dimensional computerized tomography on the verification of the pedicle screw trajectory

The purpose of our study was to determine the diagnostic power of three-dimensional reformatted multi-slice computerized tomography (CT) images on misplaced pedicle screws in spinal surgery. Eighty-four consecutive patients with 458 screws in situ were investigated prospectively using both axial CT slices and reformatted images after operation by two blinded investigators. All the screw misplacements were documented and the differences between the two imaging modalities were recorded. Axial CT slices were able to show only 23 of 60 misplaced pedicle screws; multislice CT was three times more powerful in the diagnosis of pedicle screw complications in spinal surgery (p<0.05). We concluded that multi-slice CT reconstruction should be the primary diagnostic tool after screw implantation in the human spine

Survival and Stage in Lung Cancer

Purpose: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Although the 5-year survival rates of for non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) ranges from 20% to 70%. The present study investigates the rates of early recurrence in a total of 83 patients operated for NSCLC and presents the related findings in reference to the data available in the literature. Materials and Methods: Patients who underwent lung resection for malignancy between March 2019 and September 2021 were retrospectively examined. The patient data, including age, gender, presence of preoperative chemotherapy administration, opera-tions performed, operation dates, pathology results, postoperative staging, survival, and relapses, were documented. Results: A total of 83 patients who underwent lung resection for malignancy between March 2019 and September 2021 were examined. The patients had a median age of 62 years. Of the total number of patients four patients developed recurrence and 79 continued their follow-up without any recurrence. Of the patients who underwent lung resection, eight (9.6%) patients died within the first postoperative 2-year period. The mean survival period of these eight patients was 14.6 months (7–20 months). Conclusion: Although various parameters, such as age, gender, pathological type, and location of the tumor are examined and compared, according to the available data on the long-term survival of surgical patients, it is known that the only parameter that affects survival is the pathological stage of the patient

Retrospective analysis of thoracic trauma and evaluation of the factors affecting the duration of stay in the hospital

Background: The aim of this study is to evaluate the epidemiological and demographic features, treatment types of patients with thoracic trauma, as well as the duration of hospital stay and the factors affecting mortality.   Material and Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study included patients who applied to the emergency room in a tertiary care hospital, between 2017–2019 and having thoracic trauma. Patients; age, gender, date of application, type of injury (blunt or penetran), arrival saturation, use of anticoagulants, type of injury, side of injury (right, left, bilateral) additional injury, hospitalization and mortality status were recorded. P &lt; 0.05 was considered as statistically significant.   Results: Total of 113 people were included in the study. The average age was 52.15 ± 20.3. The most common reason of applying to the hospital was falling with 50 patients. A negative weak correlation was found between saturation and age and hospital stay. In terms of pathology and gender, there was no statistically significant difference in mortality.   Conclusion: As a result, in this study, thoracic trauma occurs mostly in men and due to falls and motor vehicle accidents, and the majority of injuries due to thoracic trauma can heal without follow- up or tube thoracostomy

Seismic Constraints on Helium Abundances from the TESS Southern CVZ

Poster for Cool Stars 21 Stellar helium abundances strongly determine their structure and evolution. However, since helium cannot be detected directly in the photospheres of cool stars, helium abundances are one of the most poorly-constrained inputs to stellar models. It is therefore typical to assume a relationship with the initial abundances of other heavy elements, typically of linear form described by a gradient ΔY/ΔZ. Attempts to determine from globular-cluster stellar populations and Galactic H-II regions have so far not yielded any consensus about empirically reasonable values of ΔY/ΔZ, or, for that matter, even whether such a linear relation is observationally justifiable. Separately, asteroseismology permits the inference of stellar helium abundances, either directly through acoustic-glitch measurements, or indirectly through the forward modelling of stellar oscillation mode frequencies. Using constraints on the initial helium abundance derived from ensemble asteroseismology and stellar forward modelling against individual mode frequencies of a collection of field stars in the TESS, Kepler, and K2 fields, we characterise the helium-metallicity relation of the brightest cool stars in the solar neighbourhood. We find a large spread of seismic initial helium abundances for any given metallicity, rather than a single well-defined linear enrichment law

Forced Displacement in Turkey: Pushing the Limits of the ECHR System

This article presents research findings on regional human rights tribunals and forced displacement. It assesses the response of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) system to “village destructions” and “village returns” complaints lodged against Turkey and originating from the conflict between State security forces and the PKK (Partiya Karkar?n Kurdistan). Within academic literature the role of the ECHR in Turkey tends to be reduced to discussion of a handful of substantive decisions. This article argues that there is much to be gained from closer examination of the (changing) dynamics of the ECHR in Turkey and the regulation of displacement. Two innovations can be observed from this case-study: a special level of ‘protective’ access and a proactive approach to fact-finding. The Turkish cases indicate a need for further investigation of the role of fact-finding in cases of displacement and the development of context-specific rules on sustainable returns processes

TESS Asteroseismology of α\alpha Mensae: Benchmark Ages for a G7 Dwarf and its M-dwarf Companion

Asteroseismology of bright stars has become increasingly important as a method to determine fundamental properties (in particular ages) of stars. The Kepler Space Telescope initiated a revolution by detecting oscillations in more than 500 main-sequence and subgiant stars. However, most Kepler stars are faint, and therefore have limited constraints from independent methods such as long-baseline interferometry. Here, we present the discovery of solar-like oscillations in $\alpha$ Men A, a naked-eye (V=5.1) G7 dwarf in TESS's Southern Continuous Viewing Zone. Using a combination of astrometry, spectroscopy, and asteroseismology, we precisely characterize the solar analog alpha Men A (Teff = 5569 +/- 62 K, R = 0.960 +/- 0.016 Rsun, M = 0.964 +/- 0.045 Msun). To characterize the fully convective M dwarf companion, we derive empirical relations to estimate mass, radius, and temperature given the absolute Gaia magnitude and metallicity, yielding M = 0.169 +/- 0.006, R = 0.19 +/- 0.01 and Teff = 3054 +/- 44 K. Our asteroseismic age of 6.2 +/- 1.4 (stat) +/- 0.6 (sys) Gyr for the primary places $\alpha$ Men B within a small population of M dwarfs with precisely measured ages. We combined multiple ground-based spectroscopy surveys to reveal an activity cycle of 13.1 +/- 1.1 years, a period similar to that observed in the Sun. We used different gyrochronology models with the asteroseismic age to estimate a rotation period of ~30 days for the primary. Alpha Men A is now the closest (d=10pc) solar analog with a precise asteroseismic age from space-based photometry, making it a prime target for next-generation direct imaging missions searching for true Earth analogs.Comment: Accepted to The Astrophysical Journal; 15 pages, 10 figure

Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

Funder: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100013347Funder: Flemish Society for Critical Care NursesAbstract: Purpose: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are particularly susceptible to developing pressure injuries. Epidemiologic data is however unavailable. We aimed to provide an international picture of the extent of pressure injuries and factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries in adult ICU patients. Methods: International 1-day point-prevalence study; follow-up for outcome assessment until hospital discharge (maximum 12 weeks). Factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injury and hospital mortality were assessed by generalised linear mixed-effects regression analysis. Results: Data from 13,254 patients in 1117 ICUs (90 countries) revealed 6747 pressure injuries; 3997 (59.2%) were ICU-acquired. Overall prevalence was 26.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.9–27.3). ICU-acquired prevalence was 16.2% (95% CI 15.6–16.8). Sacrum (37%) and heels (19.5%) were most affected. Factors independently associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries were older age, male sex, being underweight, emergency surgery, higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Braden score 3 days, comorbidities (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, immunodeficiency), organ support (renal replacement, mechanical ventilation on ICU admission), and being in a low or lower-middle income-economy. Gradually increasing associations with mortality were identified for increasing severity of pressure injury: stage I (odds ratio [OR] 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.8), stage II (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.4–1.9), and stage III or worse (OR 2.8; 95% CI 2.3–3.3). Conclusion: Pressure injuries are common in adult ICU patients. ICU-acquired pressure injuries are associated with mainly intrinsic factors and mortality. Optimal care standards, increased awareness, appropriate resource allocation, and further research into optimal prevention are pivotal to tackle this important patient safety threat

Correction to: Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake

Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

Funder: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100013347Funder: Flemish Society for Critical Care NursesAbstract: Purpose: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are particularly susceptible to developing pressure injuries. Epidemiologic data is however unavailable. We aimed to provide an international picture of the extent of pressure injuries and factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries in adult ICU patients. Methods: International 1-day point-prevalence study; follow-up for outcome assessment until hospital discharge (maximum 12 weeks). Factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injury and hospital mortality were assessed by generalised linear mixed-effects regression analysis. Results: Data from 13,254 patients in 1117 ICUs (90 countries) revealed 6747 pressure injuries; 3997 (59.2%) were ICU-acquired. Overall prevalence was 26.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.9–27.3). ICU-acquired prevalence was 16.2% (95% CI 15.6–16.8). Sacrum (37%) and heels (19.5%) were most affected. Factors independently associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries were older age, male sex, being underweight, emergency surgery, higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Braden score 3 days, comorbidities (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, immunodeficiency), organ support (renal replacement, mechanical ventilation on ICU admission), and being in a low or lower-middle income-economy. Gradually increasing associations with mortality were identified for increasing severity of pressure injury: stage I (odds ratio [OR] 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.8), stage II (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.4–1.9), and stage III or worse (OR 2.8; 95% CI 2.3–3.3). Conclusion: Pressure injuries are common in adult ICU patients. ICU-acquired pressure injuries are associated with mainly intrinsic factors and mortality. Optimal care standards, increased awareness, appropriate resource allocation, and further research into optimal prevention are pivotal to tackle this important patient safety threat