Managing burn victims of suicide bombing attacks: outcomes, lessons learnt, and changes made from three attacks in Indonesia

10.1186/cc5681Critical Care11R1

Vascular Guidance: Microstructural Scaffold Patterning for Inductive Neovascularization

Current tissue engineering techniques are limited by inadequate vascularisation and perfusion of cell-scaffold constructs. Microstructural patterning through biomimetic vascular channels within a polymer scaffold might induce neovascularization, allowing fabrication of large engineered constructs. The network of vascular channels within a frontal-parietal defect in a patient, originating from the anterior branch of the middle meningeal artery, was modeled using computer-aided design (CAD) techniques and subsequently incorporated into polycaprolactone (PCL) scaffolds fabricated using fused deposition modeling (FDM). Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) were seeded onto the scaffolds and implanted into a rat model, with an arteriovenous bundle inserted at the proximal extent of the vascular network. After 3 weeks, scaffolds were elevated as a prefabricated composite tissue-polymer flap and transferred using microsurgical technique. Histological examination of explanted scaffolds revealed vascular ingrowth along patterned channels, with abundant capillary and connective tissue formation throughout experimental scaffolds, while control scaffolds showed only granulation tissue. All prefabricated constructs transferred as free flaps survived and were viable. We term this concept “vascular guidance,” whereby neovascularization is guided through customized channels in a scaffold. Our technique might potentially allow fabrication of much larger tissue-engineered constructs than current technologies allow, as well as allowing tailored construct fabrication with a patient-specific vessel network based on CT scan data and CAD technology

On relevant boundary perturbations of unitary minimal models

We consider unitary Virasoro minimal models on the disk with Cardy boundary conditions and discuss deformations by certain relevant boundary operators, analogous to tachyon condensation in string theory. Concentrating on the least relevant boundary field, we can perform a perturbative analysis of renormalization group fixed points. We find that the systems always flow towards stable fixed points which admit no further (non-trivial) relevant perturbations. The new conformal boundary conditions are in general given by superpositions of 'pure' Cardy boundary conditions.Comment: 13 pages; final version to appear in Nucl.Phys.

TBA boundary flows in the tricritical Ising field theory

Boundary S matrices for the boundary tricritical Ising field theory (TIM), both with and without supersymmetry, have previously been proposed. Here we provide support for these S matrices by showing that the corresponding boundary entropies are consistent with the expected boundary flows. We develop the fusion procedure for boundary RSOS models, with which we derive exact inversion identities for the TIM. We confirm the TBA description of nonsupersymmetric boundary flows of Lesage et al., and we obtain corresponding descriptions of supersymmetric boundary flows.Comment: 39 pages, LaTeX; amssymb, epsf, 7 eps figures; v2 reference adde

The genomics of heart failure: design and rationale of the HERMES consortium

Aims The HERMES (HEart failure Molecular Epidemiology for Therapeutic targets) consortium aims to identify the genomic and molecular basis of heart failure.Methods and results The consortium currently includes 51 studies from 11 countries, including 68 157 heart failure cases and 949 888 controls, with data on heart failure events and prognosis. All studies collected biological samples and performed genome-wide genotyping of common genetic variants. The enrolment of subjects into participating studies ranged from 1948 to the present day, and the median follow-up following heart failure diagnosis ranged from 2 to 116 months. Forty-nine of 51 individual studies enrolled participants of both sexes; in these studies, participants with heart failure were predominantly male (34-90%). The mean age at diagnosis or ascertainment across all studies ranged from 54 to 84 years. Based on the aggregate sample, we estimated 80% power to genetic variant associations with risk of heart failure with an odds ratio of >1.10 for common variants (allele frequency > 0.05) and >1.20 for low-frequency variants (allele frequency 0.01-0.05) at P Conclusions HERMES is a global collaboration aiming to (i) identify the genetic determinants of heart failure; (ii) generate insights into the causal pathways leading to heart failure and enable genetic approaches to target prioritization; and (iii) develop genomic tools for disease stratification and risk prediction.</p

The genomics of heart failure: design and rationale of the HERMES consortium

Aims: The HERMES (HEart failure Molecular Epidemiology for Therapeutic targetS) consortium aims to identify the genomic and molecular basis of heart failure. Methods and results: The consortium currently includes 51 studies from 11 countries, including 68 157 heart failure cases and 949 888 controls, with data on heart failure events and prognosis. All studies collected biological samples and performed genome‐wide genotyping of common genetic variants. The enrolment of subjects into participating studies ranged from 1948 to the present day, and the median follow‐up following heart failure diagnosis ranged from 2 to 116 months. Forty‐nine of 51 individual studies enrolled participants of both sexes; in these studies, participants with heart failure were predominantly male (34–90%). The mean age at diagnosis or ascertainment across all studies ranged from 54 to 84 years. Based on the aggregate sample, we estimated 80% power to genetic variant associations with risk of heart failure with an odds ratio of ≥1.10 for common variants (allele frequency ≥ 0.05) and ≥1.20 for low‐frequency variants (allele frequency 0.01–0.05) at P &lt; 5 × 10−8 under an additive genetic model. Conclusions: HERMES is a global collaboration aiming to (i) identify the genetic determinants of heart failure; (ii) generate insights into the causal pathways leading to heart failure and enable genetic approaches to target prioritization; and (iii) develop genomic tools for disease stratification and risk prediction

Persistent Median Artery Crossing and Continuing Distally as Ulnar Artery: Case Report

The finding of a persistent median artery coursing superficial to the flexor tendons in the distal forearm is described

Aeromonas infection in critically ill burn patients

Aeromonas infection in burn patients is extremely uncommon. Here we report on four cases of Aeromonas infection in burn patients admitted to the BICU at the Singapore General Hospital burn unit between June 2001 and May 2006. Two patients had positive blood cultures, and the other two had tissue samples with growth. There was no history of exposure to soil or fresh water in all patients. The average age of patients was 35 years (range 24-41) and the average % TBSA was 48% (range 35-80). Cultures were isolated between days 2 and 4 post burn. There was one mortality in the series. Increasing antibiotic resistance was noted among isolates of Aeromonas. Continued vigilance is essential to detect infection early, even in the absence of a suggestive history, with adequate debridement and appropriate antibiotic therapy