Hemovigilance Questionnaire in Pediatric Emergency and Pediatric Intensive Care Units

Introduction:Hemovigilance is a monitoring procedure that covers all transfusion steps from the collection of blood and blood components to the follow-up of end recipients. This procedure provides information about unexpected and undesirable effects caused by the use of blood products and evaluates them, and aims to prevent their occurrence and recurrence.Methods:Data were collected by filling in the questionnaire form created to determine the level of knowledge of pediatric emergency and pediatric intensive care nurses on blood and blood products transfusion via the online access link.Results:A total of 45 people answered the questionnaire sent. It was learned that 88.9% of the participants in the study completed undergraduate and graduate degrees. Of the responding nurses, 31 (68.9%) reported that there were hemovigilance nurses in their hospitals, and 39 (86.7%) received in-service training on the use of blood and blood products. The questions that the nurses gave the most wrong answers were about the storage periods of blood products. The question “If it is not transfused how long can the blood product be stored in the refrigerator for the longest time?” was answered correctly at a rate of 40%. The correct answer was 33.3% to the question “How long is fresh frozen plasma stored after thawing” and 20% to the question “What are the storage conditions of thrombocyte suspension”. All the nurses answered, “If there is a reaction during transfusion, I will stop the transfusion”.Conclusion:The hemovigilance system has emerged as a tool to increase the quality and safety of transfusions. This study provides data on the knowledge gaps of nurses who care for critically ill children. We think that the educations will contribute to hemovigilance practices by increasing the knowledge level of transfusion with both national-level pieces of training and in-service training for healthcare personnel

Intrahospital Transport Practice in Pediatric Intensive Care Units

Introduction:Critically ill children often require transport during diagnosis and treatment procedures during intensive care hospitalization. With this study, it was aimed to evaluate the practice of transport and the problems encountered during transport in pediatric intensive care units in Turkey.Methods:A questionnaire consisting of 18 questions was filled in with internet access by the head nurses of the pediatric intensive care unit, who agreed to participate in the study. Responses to questions about the characteristics of the participating centers, transport practices, problems encountered during transport, interventions and the registration system were evaluated.Results:A total of 29 tertiary pediatric intensive care units from 8 provinces in Turkey were included in the study. The mean number of beds was 14. In most pediatric intensive care units, 5 to 10 patients (51.7%) were transferred within 1 week. It was observed that the most patients were transported to the inpatient service (89.7%), followed by the operating room (69%). There was a protocol for patient transport in 69% of the units. The transport decision was made by the responsible specialist physician at a rate of 96.6%. 65% of the participants stated that the transport was recorded on a form. Transports were accompanied by 93% nurses, 86% allied health personnel, and 79% doctors. In 20 centers (69%), transport was possible with an invasive mechanical ventilator and 11 (37.9%) with a non-invasive mechanical ventilator. The most common problem encountered during transportation was the inadequacy of the physical conditions of the hospital (48.3%). There were 4 (13.8%) participants who encountered problems during patient transport in the last week. It was stated that the oxygen tube was depleted in one of them, and respiratory arrest developed in another patient.Conclusion:In this study, it was shown that; In our country, there are significant differences in intrahospital transport conditions, transport teams, equipment used during transport between centers. Transport standards should be established and these should take into account the conditions of our country. For these, compliance and monitoring mechanisms should be established

Non-orthogonal multiple access for terahertz communication networks

Terahertz communications is one of the promising technologies for the future mobile communication networks. Due to the ever increasing need for high-speed data transfer, higher bandwidths are required. As a solution, higher frequencies in the spectrum may be considered for future networks. In this paper, Terahertz band is selected since the latest technological advances make it possible to deploy mobile networks in this high-frequency band. To support higher bandwidth with an advanced multiple access method, non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) is implemented in this paper. Different from orthogonal multiple access (OMA), NOMA makes it possible for users to share the same frequency and time resources simultaneously, therefore increases the spectral efficiency. To measure the efficiency of the implemented methods, computer simulations are used and results are obtained for different scenarios. In the simulation results, it is shown that NOMA provides higher average data rates for these scenarios where users are located on variety of distances far from the Terahertz access point. As a result, this work shows NOMA for Terahertz communication networks is a promising method for future communication networks

A new approach for coexistence of IEEE 802.11af and IEEE 802.22 systems

Bu bildiride, birden fazla teknik kullanılarak IEEE 802.11af ve IEEE 802.22 kablosuz sistemlerinin TV beyaz bo¸slugunda birlikte varolabilmeleri için algoritmalar geli¸stirilmi¸stir. ˘Me¸sgul tonu, güç kontrolü ve çok sekmeli haberle¸sme teknikleri kullanılarak daha önce yapılan çalı¸smalar temelinde iyile¸stirmeler yapılmı¸stır. IEEE 802.22 sistemlerinin korunumu birinci planda yer alırken, aynı zamanda IEEE 802.11af sistemlerininde haberle¸smeye devam etmesi saglanmı¸stır. Standartlara uygun ˘haberle¸sme parametreleri ve kanal modelleri kullanılan bu çalı¸smada, her iki sistemin de paket giri¸sim oranları ve ba¸sarılı paket oranları farklı senaryolar için incelenmi¸s ve iyile¸stirilmi¸s sonuçlar ortaya konulmu¸stur.In this paper, various algorithms are proposed to help IEEE 802.11af and IEEE 802.22 wireless systems to coexist in TV white space by considering multiple techniques. By using busy tone, power control and multihop communication techniques, improvements have been made compared to prior approaches. With this approach, while IEEE 802.22 systems are protected from intra-network interference, IEEE 802.11af systems are still able to continue transmitting packets. Considering the communication parameters and channel models compliant for the standards, IEEE 802.11af and IEEE 802.22 system performances are investigated in terms of interfering packet rate and successful packet transmission rate for different scenarios and the improved results are presented.IEEEHuaweiAselsanNETA

Busy tone based power control for coordination of IEEE 802.11af and 802.22 system

Bu bildiride, IEEE 802.22 ve IEEE 802.11af kablosuz sistemlerinin TV beyaz boşluğunda uyumlu çalışabilmeleri için meşgul ton tabanlı yeni bir güç kontrol algoritması önerilmiştir. Daha önceki meşgul ton tabanlı çalışmalardan farklı olarak, 802.11af erişim noktası ve erişim noktasına bağlı kullanıcılar meşgul ton sinyalini algıladıktan sonra haberleşme güçlerini konum bilgilerine göre ayarlamakta ve gerekiyorsa iki hop üzerinden haberleşmektedirler. Böylelikle 802.22 sistemlerine yapılan girişim azaltılırken, 802.11af sistemlerinin haberleşmesi de mümkün kılınmaktadır. Bu çalışmada standartlara uygun haberleşme parametreleri ve kanal modelleri dikkate alınarak, 802.11af ve 802.22 sistemlerinin performansları paket girişim oranı ve başarılı paket oranı türlerinden farklı senaryolar altında incelenmiştir.In this paper, a new power control algorithm based on busy tone approach has been proposed for the coordination of IEEE 802.22 and IEEE 802.11af systems in TV white space. Different from the earlier studies, in addition to both 802.11af access point and clients listening to the busy tone, they also adjust their communication power according to the location information and use hopping for communication, if needed. Acccordingly, interference caused to 802.22 systems has been reduced while the 802.11af systems are still able to communicate. This study quantifies the 802.11af and 802.22 system performances in terms of interfering packet rate and succesful packet transmission rate for different scenarios considering the communication parameters and channel models adapted for the standards

Role of Albumin-corrected Anion Gap and Lactate Clearance in Predicting Mortality in Pediatric Intensive Care Patients

Background:Identifying mortality risk in critically ill children is central to diagnostic and treatment practices. For this purpose, scoring systems, such as the Pediatric Index of Mortality 3 (PIM 3), have been proposed; however, the role of biochemical markers, such as albumin-corrected anion gap (cAG) and lactate clearance (LC), in predicting mortality in pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) patients is yet to be explored.Aims:To evaluate the predictive value of the cAG and LC for mortality in pediatric patients admitted to a PICU.Study Design:Retrospective single-center cohort study.Methods:Clinical and laboratory data from the time of PICU admission were collected, and patients were classified into based on their 0- and 6-hour of admission lactate levels into an LC(+) group (patients with normal or decreasing lactate levels) or an LC(−) group (increasing lactate levels). LC and cAG levels were compared using the Mann-Whitney U test and Student’s t-test, respectively. Additionally, multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate the effect of LC and cAG on mortality.Results:We included 825 patients in the study; the mortality rate was 8.6%. The absence of LC [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) =4.735; 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.163-10.367; (p 18 at the time of PICU admission high lactate levels which do not decrease within 6 hours of hospitalization are associated with an increased risk of mortality. The revised PIM 3 score, which includes cAG and LC, is a better predictor of mortality than the classical PIM 3 score