A systematic review of comorbidities and outcomes of adult patients with pleural infection

BACKGROUND: Pleural infection remains an important cause of mortality. This study aimed to investigate worldwide patterns of pre-existing comorbidities and clinical outcomes of patients with pleural infection. METHODS: Studies reporting on adults with pleural infection between 2000 and 2017 were identified from a search of Embase and Medline. Papers reporting exclusively on tuberculous, fungal or post pneumonectomy infection were excluded. Two reviewers assessed 20 980 records for eligibility. RESULTS: 211 studies met the inclusion criteria. 134 papers (227 898 patients, mean age 52.8 years) reported comorbidity and/or outcome data. The majority of studies were retrospective observational cohorts (n=104, 78%) and the most common region of reporting was East Asia (n=33, 24%) followed by North America (n=27, 20%).85 papers (50 756 patients) reported comorbidity. The median percentage prevalence of any comorbidity was 72% (IQR 58-83%), with respiratory illness (20%, 16-32%) and cardiac illness (19%, 15-27%) most commonly reported. 125 papers (192 298 patients) reported outcome data. The median length of stay was 19 days (IQR 13-27) and median in-hospital or 30-day mortality was 4% (IQR 1-11%).In regions with high-income economies (n=100, 74%) patients were older (mean 56.5 versus 42.5 years, p<0.0001), but there were no significant differences in prevalence of pre-existing comorbidity nor in length of hospital stay or mortality. CONCLUSION: Patients with pleural infection have high levels of comorbidity and long hospital stays. Most reported data are from high-income economy settings. Data from lower-income regions is needed to better understand regional trends and enable optimal resource provision going forward

A Decentralized Adaptive Approach to Fault Tolerant Flight Control

This paper briefly reports some results of our study on the application of a decentralized adaptive control approach to a 6 DOF nonlinear aircraft model. The simulation results showed the potential of using this approach to achieve fault tolerant control. Based on this observation and some analysis, the paper proposes a multiple channel adaptive control scheme that makes use of the functionally redundant actuating and sensing capabilities in the model, and explains how to implement the scheme to tolerate actuator and sensor failures. The conditions, under which the scheme is applicable, are stated in the paper

Micro- and nanotribological characterization of molybdenum oxide based coatings on 100Cr6 bearing steel surfaces

Dry lubricated bearings are used in applications that are exposed to high temperatures or other ambient conditions that prohibit the use of lubricants. Examples can be found in the chemical or food industries. To handle such conditions, a molybdenum based layer system was developed for the dry lubrication of rolling contacts. The molybdenum oxide layers are generated by Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD). By using a magnetron sputter cathode, it is possible to produce a PVD molybdenum oxide multiple layer system. In the preinvestigation phase, various parameters (power, sputtering time, oxygen mass flow, etc.) were used for the preparation in order to achieve optimum adhesion and material strength. In the current project phase, the coatings were qualified by applying microtribological methods. In a first step of qualification, the nano hardness and Young’s modulus were investigated via nanoindentation. Additional nano scratch tests allow conclusions regarding the friction and elastic properties of the coatings. In the second step of qualification, the coatings were qualified by micro wear and scratch tests by applying a milli-tribometer. The setup allows the measurement of the frictional properties of a 100Cr6 (AISI 52100) ball against a coated counterpart under oscillating motion. Scratch tests were performed by applying a Rockwell diamond tip with a radius of 5 µm with forces of up to 1 N and scratch lengths of up to 20 mm. The properties of the coatings regarding the transition from nano to micro scale are observed and taken into account for the layer development. With these results it is possible to characterize the generated layers and to define the wear and the optimal parameters for the PVD process. After qualification the coatings will be applied to radial bearing surfaces. The intended use of dry lubricant coating systems on rolling bearings will be presented

Different herbivore responses to two co-occurring chemotypes of the wild crucifer Barbarea vulgaris

Christensen S, Enge S, Munk KR, et al. Different herbivore responses to two co-occurring chemotypes of the wild crucifer Barbarea vulgaris. Arthropod-Plant Interactions. 2019;13(1):19-30.According to coevolution theory, plant chemical defences are continually evolving in response to selection by herbivores. Unique to the Brassicales, a few species in the Barbarea genus produce triterpenoid saponins that are highly deterrent to some specialist insect herbivores. One species, B. vulgaris, has diverged into two chemotypes, the G- and P-type, of which the P-type seems to have lost the saponin-based insect resistance by producing different saponin structures; it also produces different glucosinolates and other potential defence traits. Here, we examined the preference and performance of a larger set of specialist and generalist herbivores on the two plant types, including three generalist mollusc (Arion vulgaris, Deroceras sp., Cepaea sp.) as well as three specialist (Phaedon cochleariae, Athalia rosae, Pieris napi oleraceae) and two generalist (Mamestra brassicae, Myzus persicae) insect herbivores. Five out of six herbivore species preferred leaves of the P-type for feeding, and most of them also survived and/or grew better on the P-type, or preferred it for oviposition. In contrast, larvae of M. brassicae showed no preference and performed equally well on the two plant types; the leaf beetle P. cochleariae preferred the G-type for oviposition, which was, however, not reflecting larval performance. Overall, the defences of the P-type against herbivores seem not to be as effective as those of the G-type, which is surprising given its large geographical distribution, overlapping with that of the G-type in Scandinavia and Finland. This suggests that additional ecological interactions determine the success of the two chemotypes

Penalties through XPM crosstalk in a switched long haul standard fiber WDM system based on normalized transmission sections

For the first time penalties due to XPM crosstalk have been measured by switching neighbouring channels in a long distance 16*10 Gb/s ASK NRZ system based on standard single mode fibre (SMF) links with dispersion optimized transmission sections

Lipid Discovery by Combinatorial Screening and Untargeted LC-MS/MS

We present a method for the systematic identification of picogram quantities of new lipids in total extracts of tissues and fluids. It relies on the modularity of lipid structures and applies all-ions fragmentation LC-MS/MS and Arcadiate software to recognize individual modules originating from the same lipid precursor of known or assumed structure. In this way it alleviates the need to recognize and fragment very low abundant precursors of novel molecules in complex lipid extracts. In a single analysis of rat kidney extract the method identified 58 known and discovered 74 novel endogenous endocannabinoids and endocannabinoid-related molecules, including a novel class of N-acylaspartates that inhibit Hedgehog signaling while having no impact on endocannabinoid receptors