497 research outputs found
Dose-response effects of lycopene on selected drug-metabolizing and antioxidant enzymes in the rat
Prevalence of beta lactamase producing species of pseudomonas and acinetobacter in pediatric burn patients Prevalence de pseudomonas et acinetobacter secreteurs de blse et metallo-beta lactamases chez les brules pediatriques
Burn wound infection is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in burn victims. Pseudomonas and Acinetobacter species are among the most common organisms complicating burn wounds. Presence of extended spectrum Ă²-lactamase (ESBL) and metallo-Ă²-lactamase (MBL) genes plays an important role in spreading Ă²-lactam resistant strains of these organisms and is a serious condition in the treatment of the affected patients. As a result, we aimed to determine the prevalence of SHV, TEM, PER and VIM Ă²-lactamases in Pseudomonas and Acinetobacter species isolates from burn wound swabs of children with burn injury. In this descriptive observational study, 107 Pseudomonas and Acinetobacter isolates collected from burn patients were subjected to PCR assay. Using PCR method and DNA sequencing, the existence of SHV-, TEM-, PER- and VIM-type Ă²-lactamase encoding genes were determined. Out of the 107 Pseudomonas and Acinetobacter isolates, 66 (77.6) were ESBL positive, 26.2 were positive for SHV gene, 37.4 were positive for TEM gene, 14 were positive for PER gene and 15.9 of them harbored VIM gene. More than half of the Pseudomonas and Acinetobacter strains in our pediatric burn unit harbor Ă²-lactamase encoding genes that make them resistant to a wide range of Ă²-lactam antibiotics. Consequently, it is suggested to choose an appropriate antibiotic regimen based on the antibiogram pattern of the strains. ĂŠ 2015, Mediterranean Club for Burns and Fire Disasters. All rights reserved
Training, experience, and perceptions of chest tube insertion by higher speciality trainees: implications for training, patient safety, and service delivery
Abstract
Background
Seldinger Chest Tube Insertion (CTI) is a high acuity low occurrence procedure and remains a core capability for UK physician higher speciality traineeâs (HST). A multitude of factors have emerged which may affect the opportunity of generalists to perform CTI. In view of which, this paper sought to establish the current experiences, attitudes, training, and knowledge of medical HST performing Seldinger CTI in acute care hospitals in the Peninsula deanery.
Methods
A Scoping review was performed to establish the UK medical HST experience of adult seldinger CTI. Synonymous terms for CTI training were searched across Cochrane, ERIC, Pubmed and British education index databases. Following which, a regional survey was constructed and completed by HST and pleural consultants from five hospitals within the Peninsula deanery between AprilâJuly 2022. Data collected included participants demographics, attitudes, training, experience, and clinical knowledge. Outcomes were collated and comparisons made across groups using SPSS. A p-value of <â0.05 was defined as significant.
Results
The scoping review returned six papers. Salient findings included low self-reported procedural confidence levels, poor interventional selection for patient cases, inadequate site selection for CTI and 1 paper reported only 25% of respondents able to achieve 5â10 CTI annually. However, all papers were limited by including grades other than HST in their responses.
The regional survey was completed by 87 HST (12 respiratory, 63 non-respiratory medical HST and 12 intensivists/anaesthetists HST). An additional seven questionnaires were completed by pleural consultants. Respiratory HSTs performed significantly more Seldinger CTI than general and ICM/anaesthetic registrars (pâ<â0.05). The percentage of HST able to achieve a self-imposed annual CTI number were 81.8, 12.9 and 41.7% respectively. Self-reported transthoracic ultrasound competence was 100, 8 and 58% respectively (pâ<â0.001). The approach to clinical management significantly differed with national guidance with pleural consultants showing an agreement of 89%, respiratory HST 75%, general HST 52% and ICM/anaesthetic HST 54% (pâ=â0.002).
Conclusion
Compared to respiratory trainees, non-respiratory trainees perform lower numbers of Seldinger CTI, with lower confidence levels, limited knowledge, and a reduced perceived relevance of the skill set. This represents a significant training and service challenge, with notable patient safety implications.
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Resistance spikes and domain wall loops in Ising quantum Hall ferromagnets
We explain the recent observation of resistance spikes and hysteretic
transport properties in Ising quantum Hall ferromagnets in terms of the unique
physics of their domain walls. Self-consistent RPA/Hartree-Fock theory is
applied to microscopically determine properties of the ground state and
domain-wall excitations. In these systems domain wall loops support
one-dimensional electron systems with an effective mass comparable to the bare
electron mass and may carry charge. Our theory is able to account
quantitatively for the experimental Ising critical temperature and to explain
characteristics of the resistive hysteresis loops.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Chance-constrained models for transactive energy management of interconnected microgrid clusters
Magnetoresistivity in a Tilted Magnetic Field in p-Si/SiGe/Si Heterostructures with an Anisotropic g-Factor: Part II
The magnetoresistance components and were measured in
two p-Si/SiGe/Si quantum wells that have an anisotropic g-factor in a tilted
magnetic field as a function of temperature, field and tilt angle. Activation
energy measurements demonstrate the existence of a ferromagnetic-paramagnetic
(F-P) transition for a sample with a hole density of
=2\,cm. This transition is due to crossing of the
0 and 1 Landau levels. However, in another sample, with
=7.2\,cm, the 0 and 1 Landau
levels coincide for angles =0-70. Only for >
70 do the levels start to diverge which, in turn, results in the
energy gap opening.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figure
Green tea extract only affects markers of oxidative status postprandially: lasting antioxidant effect of flavonoid-free diet
Epidemiological studies suggest that foods rich in flavonoids might reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer. The objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of green tea extract (GTE) used as a food antioxidant on markers of oxidative status after dietary depletion of flavonoids and catechins. The study was designed as a 2Ă3 weeks blinded human cross-over intervention study (eight smokers, eight non-smokers) with GTE corresponding to a daily intake of 18¡6 mg catechins/d. The GTE was incorporated into meat patties and consumed with a strictly controlled diet otherwise low in flavonoids. GTE intervention increased plasma antioxidant capacity from 1¡35 to 1¡56 (P<0¡02) in postprandially collected plasma, most prominently in smokers. The intervention did not significantly affect markers in fasting blood samples, including plasma or haemoglobin protein oxidation, plasma oxidation lagtime, or activities of the erythrocyte superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase and catalase. Neither were fasting plasma triacylglycerol, cholesterol, Îą-tocopherol, retinol, β-carotene, or ascorbic acid affected by intervention. Urinary 8-oxo-deoxyguanosine excretion was also unaffected. Catechins from the extract were excreted into urine with a half-life of less than 2 h in accordance with the short-term effects on plasma antioxidant capacity. Since no long-term effects of GTE were observed, the study essentially served as a fruit and vegetables depletion study. The overall effect of the 10-week period without dietary fruits and vegetables was a decrease in oxidative damage to DNA, blood proteins, and plasma lipids, concomitantly with marked changes in antioxidative defenc
Anti-Inflammatory Cytokines Predominate in Acute Human Plasmodium knowlesi Infections
Plasmodium knowlesi has entered the human population of Southeast Asia. Naturally acquired knowlesi malaria is newly described with relatively little available data, including data on the host response to infection. Therefore pre-treatment cytokine and chemokine profiles were determined for 94 P. knowlesi, and for comparison, 20, P. vivax and 22 P. falciparum, patients recruited in Malaysian Borneo. Nine, five and one patient with P. knowlesi, P. falciparum and P. vivax respectively had complicated malaria as defined by World Health Organisation. Patients with uncomplicated P. knowlesi had lower levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-8 and TNFÎą than those with complicated disease (both p<0.05, Dunn's post test, DPT). The anti-inflammatory cytokines IL-1ra and IL-10 were detected in all patients in the study. IL-1ra, the most abundant cytokine measured, correlated with parasitaemia in P. knowlesi (rsâ=â0.47, pâ=â <0.0001), P. vivax (rsâ=â0.61, pâ=â0.0042) and P. falciparum (rsâ=â0.57,pâ=â0.0054) malaria. IL-10 correlated with parasitaemia in both P. knowlesi (rsâ=â0.54, pâ=â <0.0001) and P. vivax (rsâ=â0.78, pâ=â <0.0001) infections. There were between group differences in soluble markers of macrophage activation (MIP-1β and MCP-1). P. knowlesi patients had significantly lower levels of MIP-1β than P. falciparum (DPT, pâ=â <0.01). Uncomplicated P. knowlesi patients had significantly lower levels of MCP-1 than uncomplicated P. falciparum patients (DPT, pâ=â <0.001). There was no significant difference between complicated and uncomplicated P. knowlesi infections. MCP-1, MIP-1β, IL-8 and TNFÎą increased in complicated P. knowlesi but decreased in complicated P. falciparum infections. Descriptions of human knowlesi malaria provide a comparative means to discover mediators of pathophysiology in severe P. knowlesi as well as P. falciparum malaria. Crucially, P. knowlesi may be the disease and experimental primate model for severe malaria
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