1,261 research outputs found
Term admissions to neonatal units in England: a role for transitional care? A retrospective cohort study
Objective
To identify the primary reasons for term admissions to neonatal units in England, to determine risk factors for admissions for jaundice and to estimate the proportion who can be cared for in a transitional setting without separation of mother and baby.
Design
Retrospective observational study using neonatal unit admission data from the National Neonatal Research Database and data of live births in England from the Office for National Statistics.
Setting
All 163 neonatal units in England 2011–2013.
Participants
133 691 term babies born ≥37 weeks gestational age and admitted to neonatal units in England.
Primary and secondary outcomes
Primary reasons for admission, term babies admitted for the primary reason of jaundice, patient characteristics, postnatal age at admission, total length of stay, phototherapy, intravenous fluids, exchange transfusion and kernicterus.
Results
Respiratory disease was the most common reason for admission overall, although jaundice was the most common reason for admission from home (22% home vs 5% hospital). Risk factors for admission for jaundice include male, born at 37 weeks gestation, Asian ethnicity and multiple birth. The majority of babies received only a brief period of phototherapy, and only a third received intravenous fluids, suggesting that some may be appropriately managed without separation of mother and baby. Admission from home was significantly later (3.9 days) compared with those admitted from elsewhere in the hospital (1.7 days) (p<0.001).
Conclusion
Around two-thirds of term admissions for jaundice may be appropriately managed in a transitional care setting, avoiding separation of mother and baby. Babies with risk factors may benefit from a community midwife postnatal visit around the third day of life to enable early referral if necessary. We recommend further work at the national level to examine provision and barriers to transitional care, referral pathways between primary and secondary care, and community postnatal care
Improving the Supply Distribution and Use of Antimalarial Drugs by the Private Sector in Tanzania. Report prepared for the National Malaria Control Programme, United Republic of Tanzania
Private pharmacies or shops are the source of 60% of the drugs bought to treat suspected
cases of malaria. At the same time 59% of children fail to be treated within 24 hours of
onset. The private sector is the primary source for antimalarials, but parents and carers are
failing to administer those drugs sufficiently early to minimise morbidity and mortality.
This review focused on the way in which antimalarial drugs reach the patient. It also
examined ways in which the delivery system could be improved and how the private facilities
can become more effective sources of both drugs and advice. It has found that there are
many problems with the way that drugs are distributed. Many unregistered drugs are readily
available, and poor storage conditions are likely to reduce the efficacy of drugs even if they
were of good quality at the time of manufacture. For many people the cost of even the
cheapest antimalarial is an issue and purchase of part doses is common. The knowledge of
the staff in pharmacies is poor and in shops woefully inadequate. Nonetheless most people
use shops and private pharmacies as their source for drugs.
There are two overarching requirements:
• First of all the needs and capabilities of the private sector must always be taken into
account before any decision is made about how to make antimalarials more available.
• Secondly, educating the staff and public will only be achieved through a subtle
communications package regularly repeated and brought up to date. For example we
found that many workers in Part II pharmacies remain in post for no more than one
year. Unlike their counterparts in the public sector, staff in the private sector do not
find incentives in attending training courses. Staff in the public sector spend so much
time on courses that their time to actually implement what they have learned is
limited. To reach the private sector staff will require subtler and more cost effective
methods.
The report is full of detailed recommendations for the improvement of the supply systems
and for educating both staff and public
Ignition of flammable hydrogen/air mixtures by high mass mechanical impact of Magnox contaminated surfaces
Magnox and its corrosion products are a major constituent of some legacy nuclear waste storage silos which generate hydrogen. An experimental study investigates the likelihood of ignition of hydrogen/air when large mass projectiles impact rusty surfaces with Magnox contamination. Ignition is observed with 50kg projectiles impacting a 45º Magnox-smeared rusty anvil plate with KE as low as 40J. Theoretical calculations relating to the angled impacts reveal that they involve substantial tangential energy losses associated with frictional heating of the impact surfaces. It is shown that these energy losses are particularly dependent on the shape of the projectile since projectile geometry determines the radius of gyration and the relationship of centre of gravity to the impact point. In conclusion, the projectile shape is likely to be of greater importance than the mass (i.e. for a given impact energy) because of its direct bearing on the magnitude of the tangential energy loss
Term admissions to neonatal units in England: a role for transitional care? A retrospective cohort study
Objective To identify the primary reasons for term admissions to neonatal units in England, to determine risk factors for admissions for jaundice and to estimate the proportion who can be cared for in a transitional setting without separation of mother and baby. Design Retrospective observational study using neonatal unit admission data from the National Neonatal Research Database and data of live births in England from the Office for National Statistics. Setting All 163 neonatal units in England 2011–2013. Participants 133 691 term babies born ≥37 weeks gestational age and admitted to neonatal units in England. Primary and secondary outcomes Primary reasons for admission, term babies admitted for the primary reason of jaundice, patient characteristics, postnatal age at admission, total length of stay, phototherapy, intravenous fluids, exchange transfusion and kernicterus. Results Respiratory disease was the most common reason for admission overall, although jaundice was the most common reason for admission from home (22% home vs 5% hospital). Risk factors for admission for jaundice include male, born at 37 weeks gestation, Asian ethnicity and multiple birth. The majority of babies received only a brief period of phototherapy, and only a third received intravenous fluids, suggesting that some may be appropriately managed without separation of mother and baby. Admission from home was significantly later (3.9 days) compared with those admitted from elsewhere in the hospital (1.7 days) (p<0.001). Conclusion Around two-thirds of term admissions for jaundice may be appropriately managed in a transitional care setting, avoiding separation of mother and baby. Babies with risk factors may benefit from a community midwife postnatal visit around the third day of life to enable early referral if necessary. We recommend further work at the national level to examine provision and barriers to transitional care, referral pathways between primary and secondary care, and community postnatal care
Postnatal corticosteroid use for prevention or treatment of Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia in England and Wales 2012-2019: a retrospective population cohort study
Objective: Describe the population of babies who do and do not receive postnatal corticosteroids for prevention or treatment of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). Design: Retrospective cohort study using data held in the National Neonatal Research Database. Setting: National Health Service neonatal units in England and Wales. Patients: Babies born less than 32 weeks gestation and admitted to neonatal units from 1 January 2012 to 31 December 2019. Main outcomes: Proportion of babies given postnatal corticosteroid; type of corticosteroid; age at initiation and duration, trends over time. Secondary outcomes: Survival to discharge, treatment for retinopathy of prematurity, BPD, brain injury, severe necrotising enterocolitis, gastrointestinal perforation. Results: 8% (4713/62019) of babies born <32 weeks and 26% (3525/13527) born <27 weeks received postnatal corticosteroids for BPD. Dexamethasone was predominantly used 5.3% (3309/62019), followed by late hydrocortisone 1.5%, inhaled budesonide 1.5%. prednisolone 0.8%, early hydrocortisone 0.3% and methylprednisolone 0.05%. Dexamethasone use increased over time (2012: 4.5 vs 2019: 5.8%, p=0.04). Median postnatal age of initiation of corticosteroid course was around 3 weeks for late hydrocortisone, 4 weeks for dexamethasone, 6 weeks for inhaled budesonide, 12 weeks for prednisolone and 16 weeks for methylprednisolone. Babies who received postnatal corticosteroids were born more prematurely, had a higher incidence of comorbidities and a longer length of stay. Conclusions: In England and Wales, around 1 in 12 babies born less than 32 weeks and 1 in 4 born less than 27 weeks receive postnatal corticosteroids to prevent or treat BPD. Given the lack of convincing evidence of efficacy, challenges of recruiting to and length of time taken to conduct randomised controlled trial, our data highlight the need to monitor long-term outcomes in children who received neonatal postnatal corticosteroids
Characterizing precursors to stellar clusters with Herschel
Context. Despite their profound effect on the universe, the formation of massive stars and stellar clusters remains elusive. Recent advances in observing facilities and computing power have brought us closer to understanding this formation process. In the past decade, compelling evidence has emerged that suggests infrared dark clouds (IRDCs) may be precursors to stellar clusters. However, the usual method for identifying IRDCs is biased by the requirement that they are seen in absorption against background mid-IR emission, whereas dust continuum observations allow cold, dense pre-stellar-clusters to be identified anywhere. Aims: We aim to understand what dust temperatures and column densities characterize and distinguish IRDCs, to explore the population of dust continuum sources that are not IRDCs, and to roughly characterize the level of star formation activity in these dust continuum sources. Methods: We use Hi-GAL 70 to 500 m bright sources at the warmest. Finally, we identify five candidate IRDC-like sources on the far-side of the Galaxy. These are cold (20 K), high column density (N(H) gt 10 cm) clouds identified with Hi-GAL which, despite bright surrounding mid-IR emission, show little to no absorption at 8 $m. These are the first inner Galaxy far-side candidate IRDCs of which the authors are aware. Herschel in an ESA space observatory with science instruments provided by European-led Principal Investigator consortia and with important participation by NASA.The FITS files discussed in the paper would be released publicly WITH the Hi-GAL data (on the Hi-GAL website) when the Hi-GAL data is released publicly.Peer reviewe
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