The limited immunomodulatory effects of escharectomy on the kinetics of endotoxin, cytokines, and adhesion molecules in major burns.

Escharectomy has been shown to improve the survival rates and the outcomes in burns. This observational study was conducted to assess the role of escharectomy on the inflammatory mediators in major burns. Seventeen ASA physical status II or status III adult surviving major burn patients were recruited. When the escharectomy was scheduled, a series of blood samples was obtained at -3 and -1 days preoperation, and +1 and +3 postoperation. The changing levels of endotoxin, cytokines, and adhesion molecules were measured with a quantitative sandwich immunoassay. Extensive escharectomy did not appear to have any significant impact on the levels of tumor necrosis factor alpha, interleukin-10, soluble intracellular adhesion molecule-1 and soluble vascular adhesion molecule-1. Meanwhile, endotoxin and E-selectin were significantly decreased after escharectomy. Escharectomy appeared to have a limited immunomodulatory effect on the inflammatory mediators in systemic inflammatory responses induced by major burns. This is probably related to the timing and extent of surgery, and the complex nature of burn-related inflammation

Fetal Pericallosal Lipoma: US and MR Findings

We report a case of fetal pericallosal lipoma occurring at the anterior interhemispheric fissure and associated with agenesis of the corpus callosum. During targeted prenatal ultrasonography at 26 weeks' gestation, the lesion was seen as a highly echogenic mass. MR imaging performed at 35 weeks' gestation and during the postnatal period revealed a pericallosal fatty mass and agenesis of the corpus callosum

Neck pain following laminoplasty

Cervical laminoplasty, a surgical technique pioneered in Japan, is used increasingly in the United States. Axial neck pain following laminoplasty has been previously reported.1–9 This concern over postoperative neck pain may deter som

A real-time location-based construction labor safety management system

The construction industry continues to record a high number of accidents compared to other industries. Furthermore, the ramifications of construction accidents are growing in terms of both economic loss and loss of life with trends toward larger-scale, more complex projects. For this reason, there is an increasing awareness of the importance of safety management in the construction industry, and the need for more effective safety management techniques. This paper introduces a real-time location-based construction labor safety management system that tracks and visualizes workers’ locations in real-time and sends early warnings to endangered workers. The system is developed by integrating: a real-time locating system (RTLS) for tracking of workers’ location; a location monitoring system for mapping the workers location on a computerized building model; and alarm technology for sending early warnings. The developed system has been applied to an apartment project and an RTLS technology test center in Korea, and proved to be effective in tracking and monitoring workers in real-time and preventing construction accidents. It is envisioned that the developed system will enable proactive construction safety management in South Korea and the methodologies developed in this study will be applicable to other contexts with minimal customization