15 research outputs found
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Effects of Morphology and Surface Properties of Copper Oxide on the Removal of Hydrogen Sulfide from Gaseous Streams
Evaluation of appendicitis risk prediction models in adults with suspected appendicitis
Background
Appendicitis is the most common general surgical emergency worldwide, but its diagnosis remains challenging. The aim of this study was to determine whether existing risk prediction models can reliably identify patients presenting to hospital in the UK with acute right iliac fossa (RIF) pain who are at low risk of appendicitis.
Methods
A systematic search was completed to identify all existing appendicitis risk prediction models. Models were validated using UK data from an international prospective cohort study that captured consecutive patients aged 16–45 years presenting to hospital with acute RIF in March to June 2017. The main outcome was best achievable model specificity (proportion of patients who did not have appendicitis correctly classified as low risk) whilst maintaining a failure rate below 5 per cent (proportion of patients identified as low risk who actually had appendicitis).
Results
Some 5345 patients across 154 UK hospitals were identified, of which two‐thirds (3613 of 5345, 67·6 per cent) were women. Women were more than twice as likely to undergo surgery with removal of a histologically normal appendix (272 of 964, 28·2 per cent) than men (120 of 993, 12·1 per cent) (relative risk 2·33, 95 per cent c.i. 1·92 to 2·84; P < 0·001). Of 15 validated risk prediction models, the Adult Appendicitis Score performed best (cut‐off score 8 or less, specificity 63·1 per cent, failure rate 3·7 per cent). The Appendicitis Inflammatory Response Score performed best for men (cut‐off score 2 or less, specificity 24·7 per cent, failure rate 2·4 per cent).
Conclusion
Women in the UK had a disproportionate risk of admission without surgical intervention and had high rates of normal appendicectomy. Risk prediction models to support shared decision‐making by identifying adults in the UK at low risk of appendicitis were identified
Targeted morphology of copper oxide based electrospun nanofibers
In this work, CuO-based nanofibers were synthesized via electrospinning. Smooth, defect-free fibers with a diameter of 261 ± 63 nm were fabricated and characterized. Thermal treatment under air at 823 K transformed the smooth nanofibers to a network of segmented, macroporous CuO nanoparticles with an average fiber diameter of 160 ± 41 nm and a crystallite size of 55.4 nm. The effects of solution properties (polymer molecular weight, polymer/metal concentration, and solvent identity) and processing conditions (voltage, tip-to-collector distance, extrusion rate, and humidity) were also investigated. Solution properties were found to strongly influence viscosity, conductivity, dielectric constant, density, and surface tension, which invariably affected fiber dimension, morphology and surface structure. Fibers as thick as 536 nm and as thin as 70 nm with cylindrical and fused structures were produced by manipulating the solution properties. Processing conditions were found to moderately affect fiber uniformity and fiber diameter
Targeted morphology of copper oxide based electrospun nanofibers
In this work, CuO-based nanofibers were synthesized via electrospinning. Smooth, defect-free fibers with a diameter of 261 ± 63 nm were fabricated and characterized. Thermal treatment under air at 823 K transformed the smooth nanofibers to a network of segmented, macroporous CuO nanoparticles with an average fiber diameter of 160 ± 41 nm and a crystallite size of 55.4 nm. The effects of solution properties (polymer molecular weight, polymer/metal concentration, and solvent identity) and processing conditions (voltage, tip-to-collector distance, extrusion rate, and humidity) were also investigated. Solution properties were found to strongly influence viscosity, conductivity, dielectric constant, density, and surface tension, which invariably affected fiber dimension, morphology and surface structure. Fibers as thick as 536 nm and as thin as 70 nm with cylindrical and fused structures were produced by manipulating the solution properties. Processing conditions were found to moderately affect fiber uniformity and fiber diameter
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Improved Sorption-Enhanced Steam Methane Reforming via Calcium Oxide-Based Sorbents with Targeted Morphology
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