Effect of mattress deflection on CPR quality assessment for older children and adolescents

Appropriate chest compression (CC) depth is associated with improved CPR outcome. CCs provided in hospital are often conducted on a compliant mattress. The objective was to quantify the effect of mattress compression on the assessment of CPR quality in children. Methods: A force and deflection sensor (FDS) was used during CPR in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and Emergency Department of a children's hospital. The sensor was interposed between the chest of the patient and hands of the rescuer and measured CC depth. Following CPR event, each event was reconstructed with a manikin and an identical mattress/backboard/patient configuration. CCs were performed using FDS on the sternum and a reference accelerometer attached to the spine of the manikin, providing a means to Calculate the mattress deflection. Results: Twelve CPR events with 14,487 CC (11 patients, median age 14.9 years) were recorded and reconstructed: 9 on ICU beds (9296 CC), 3 on stretchers (5191 CC). Measured mean CC depth during CPR was 47 +/- 8 mm on ICU beds, and 45 +/- 7 mm on stretcher beds with overestimation of 13 +/- 4 mm and 4 +/- 1 mm, respectively, due to mattress compression. After adjusting for this, the proportion of CC that met the CPR guidelines decreased from 88.4 to 31.8% on ICU beds (p < 0.001), and 86.3 to 64.7% on stretcher (p < 0.001 The proportion of appropriate depth CC was significantly smaller on ICU beds (p < 0.001). Conclusion: CC conducted on a non-rigid surface may not be deep enough. FDS may overestimate CC depth by 28% on ICU beds, and 10% on stretcher beds

Geo-spatial technology application for prioritization of land resources in Udham Singh Nagar District of Uttarakhand, India

A loss of soil resources by prolific watersheds is a frequent problem confronting hydrologists and watershed managers. Soil erosion is a major factor in losses of soil. Different models are used for prediction of the amount of soil loss by erosion. In the present study, modelling using Revised Universal Soil Loss equation (RUSLE) is integrated with Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) techniques and employed to estimate soil erosion and prioritization of watersheds of Udham Singh Nagar district of Uttarakhand, India. The results showed that Udham Singh Nagar district’s major portion (38.66%) is covered with agriculture land and only 17.57% area is covered with forest. Water-bodies have occupied 2.18% area of US Nagar district. A large variation has been noticed in case of built-up land which has been recorded as 5.71%. US Nagar has more agricultural land. Udham Singh Nagar is having plane topography hence the range of soil erosion is from 0 to 40 ton/ha/year. However, most region of Udham Singh Nagar district falls under the category of 0-2 ton/ha/year soil erosion. The value of soil losses in most of cases is less than 1 t/ha/yr except in case of 11 watersheds,where it is slightly higher than 1 t/ha/yr. Moreover, it has been concluded that major portion of Udham Singh Nagar districtwere slight prone category of soil erosion, and therefore, no major plan/activity is required for reducing soil losses. Only checking large amount of runoff and enhancing organic matter build up in the soil will suffice the purpose

Probing the superconducting gap structure in the noncentrosymmetric topological superconductor ZrRuAs

The superconducting gap structure of the topological superconductor candidate ZrRuAs with a noncentrosymmetric crystal structure has been investigated using muon-spin rotation/relaxation (μSR) measurements in transverse-field (TF) and zero-field (ZF) geometries. Magnetization, electrical resistivity, and heat capacity measurements reveal bulk superconductivity below a superconducting transition temperature Tc = 7.9(1) K. The temperature dependence of the effective penetration depth obtained from the TF-μSR spectra, and the electronic heat capacity in the superconducting state, are well described by an isotropic s-wave gap model. Comparison of the electronic mean free path with the superconducting coherence length suggests superconductivity in the dirty limit. ZF μSR data show there is no significant change in the muon-spin relaxation rate above and below Tc, indicating that time-reversal symmetry is preserved in the superconducting state

Simultaneous intracellular redox potential and pH measurements in live cells using SERS nanosensors

The authors gratefully acknowledge the School of Chemistry at the University of Edinburgh, a Neil Campbell Travel Award, the Faculty of Chemistry at Jagiellonian University and Jagiellonian Centre for Experimental Therapeutics (JCET). A. J.’s work was supported by National Center of Science (grant PRELUDIUM DEC-2012/05/N/ST4/00218) and by the European Union from the resources of the European Regional Development Fund under the Innovative Economy Programme (grant coordinated by JCET-UJ, No POIG.01.01.02-00-069/09).Intracellular redox potential is a highly regulated cellular characteristic and is critically involved in maintaining cellular health and function. The dysregulation of redox potential can result in the initiation and progression of numerous diseases. Redox potential is determined by the balance of oxidants and reductants in the cell and also by pH. For this reason a technique for quantitative measurement of intracellular redox potential and pH is highly desirable. In this paper we demonstrate how surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) nanosensors can be used for multiplexed measurement of both pH and redox potential in live single cells.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Report of RILEM TC 267-TRM phase 2: optimization and testing of the robustness of the R3 reactivity tests for supplementary cementitious materials

The results of phase 1 of an interlaboratory test, coordinated by the RILEM TC 267-TRM “Tests for Reactivity of Supplementary Cementitious Materials” showed that the R3 (rapid, relevant, reliable) test method, by measurement of heat release or bound water, provided the most reliable and relevant determination of the chemical reactivity of supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs), compared to other test methods. The phase 2 work, described in this paper aimed to improve the robustness of the test procedure and to develop precision statements for the consolidated test procedure. The effect of the pre-mixing and mixing conditions, and the impact of the mix design on the test method robustness were assessed and fixed for optimal conditions to carry out the R3 heat release test. The effect of the drying step was evaluated to define the R3 bound water test procedure in more detail. Finally, the robustness of the consolidated final test methods was determined by an interlaboratory study to define the precision statements