Association between medication use and adverse gastroenterologic events in patients receiving enteral nutrition therapy at a University Hospital

Introduction: Enteral Nutrition Therapy (ENT) is considered an important tool for the appropriate maintenance of nutritional conditions. ENT tolerance may be limited due to gastrointestinal (GI) events resulting from formula composition and/or simultaneously administered drug therapies. Aims: To verify the possible association between GI events and drug therapies being administered to patients receiving ENT at a university hospital. Methods: A prospective observational cohort study was conducted. Medical records from 95 patients requiring ENT at the Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA) were randomly evaluated until discharge, death, or initiation of oral or parenteral diet occurred. Details of the administered medications and enteral formula, together with the presenting patient disease and digestive manifestations, were recorded by the medical team. Three experienced gastroenterologists evaluated the possible association between the digestive symptoms and the medications employed. The study protocol was approved by the HCPA Research Ethics Committee and patient consent forms were signed. Results: Mean patient age: 65 ± 17 (24-95) years; 94.70% presented with GI events: constipation 70.50%, diarrhea 38.90%, abdominal distension 18.90%, vomiting 16.80%, and pulmonary aspiration 1.10%. ENT was most indicated in neurologic (50.50%) and neoplastic (25.30%) disease. Medications given to the patients showed a positive relation: 63.20% to 86.70% of GI symptoms could be attributed to the drugs being administered. Conclusions: GI complications during ENT are common; they are frequently linked to administered drug therapy. Health care teams should consider all risk factors present, specifically those related to prescribed medication, before modifying/suspending ENT

Colagem de barbotina de aluminas submicrométricas comerciais

O processo de moldagem de peças cerâmicas conhecido como colagem de barbotina é um processo antigo, mas que ainda é muito utilizado devido ao seu baixo custo, simplicidade e pelas excelentes propriedades mecânicas das peças sinterizadas. Boas propriedades mecânicas são obtidas quando o pó de partida tem tamanho de partícula submicrométrico. Neste trabalho foram moldadas peças cerâmicas por colagem de barbotina com três aluminas comerciais com partículas submicrométricas e, após a sinterização, foram medidas algumas de suas propriedades, como dureza, densidade e resistência ao desgaste. As barbotinas não flocularam e foram obtidas peças de excelente qualidade, sendo que as peças moldadas com a alumina de menor tamanho de partícula apresentaram a melhor dureza, elevada densidade (chegando a 99% da densidade teórica) e o menor coeficiente de desgaste. Peças de alumina de alta qualidade podem ser usadas em inúmeras aplicações, desde a indústria têxtil até em aplicações biomédicas

PRESSURE-INDUCED AMORPHIZATION AND DECOMPOSITION OF Fe[Co(CN)6]

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Vibrational and Thermal Properties of Ag-3[Co(CN)(6)] from FirstPrinciples Calculations and Infrared Spectroscopy

We have investigated the phonon modes of Ag3[Co(CN)6] using first-principles based methods and high-pressure infrared spectroscopy to understand the origin of its colossal thermal expansion. Grüneisen parameters of its zone-center vibrational modes were obtained from the calculations and compared to the experimental ones. We found that optical phonon modes below 100 cm-1 mainly contribute to its negative thermal expansion, and they also have a significant mixing with acoustic branches. These modes have been assigned to translational motion of the Co-CN-Ag-NC-Co linkages. We also identify a pressure-induced softening of zone-center phonon modes that could account for the experimentally observed phase transition in terms of a first-order displacive instability from the trigonal P3̄1m space group to the acentric Cm space group. © 2013 American Chemical Society

Homologous critical behavior in the molecular frameworks Zn(CN)2 and Cd(imidazolate)2.

Using a combination of single-crystal and powder X-ray diffraction measurements, we study temperature- and pressure-driven structural distortions in zinc(II) cyanide (Zn(CN)2) and cadmium(II) imidazolate (Cd(im)2), two molecular frameworks with the anticuprite topology. Under a hydrostatic pressure of 1.52 GPa, Zn(CN)2 undergoes a first-order displacive phase transition to an orthorhombic phase, with the corresponding atomic displacements characterized by correlated collective tilts of pairs of Zn-centered tetrahedra. This displacement pattern sheds light on the mechanism of negative thermal expansion in ambient-pressure Zn(CN)2. We find that the fundamental mechanical response exhibited by Zn(CN)2 is mirrored in the temperature-dependent behavior of Cd(im)2. Our results suggest that the thermodynamics of molecular frameworks may be governed by considerations of packing efficiency while also depending on dynamic instabilities of the underlying framework topology

Negative linear compressibility and complex high-P structure in Zn[Au(CN)2]2.

The structure of the framework material zinc dicyanoaurate is built up of tetrahedrally-coordinated Zn cations linked by linear [NC-Au-CN]- complex anions, which form a six-fold interpenetrated -quartz-type network. This material exhibits strong negative linear thermal expansion along the c direction due to framework flexibility [1]. In situ, single-crystal and powder x-ray diffraction under high pressure in diamond anvil cells indicate that the c lattice parameter increases by 8% from ambient pressure up to 1.8 GPa, which is the highest negative linear compressibility (NLC) known for any material. Structural data obtained from single crystal x-ray diffraction indicate that the NLC mechanism is linked to the closing of N-Zn-N angles and the bending of Au-C-N-Zn linkages. A large number of superlattice reflections are observed above 2 GPa, indicating that the unit cell is doubled in all three directions. This phase transition is accompanied by a strong decrease in NLC. Systematic absences indicate that the space group changes from P6222 to P6422 or vice versa depending on the absolute configuration of the initial crystal corresponding to an instability at one of the L points in the Brillouin zone. The resulting unit cell has the following lattice parameters at 3.6 GPa: a=14.485(2)Å, c=45.796(6)Å with 528 atoms per unit cell. The ZnAu2 sublattice of the new, high-pressure form was solved by direct methods and followed by the use of difference Fourier maps to locate the C and N atoms. A significant change occurs in the Au sublattice with the Au-Au interatomic vector becoming canted with respect to c. This provides an additional compression mechanism, which reduces the need for the structure to expand along c. These results provide a detailed structural mechanism for the exceptional and unusual mechanical properties of this material. [1] Goodwin, A. L., Kennedy, B. J.. & Kepert, C. J. (2009). J. Am. Chem. Soc. 131, 6334-6335. Keywords: structural phase transitions; high-pressure structure determination; mechanical properties of crystal

Effect of extra-framework cations on negative linear compressibility and high pressure phase transitions: a study of KCd[Ag(CN)2]3

The negative thermal expansion material potassium cadmium dicyanoargentate, KCd[Ag(CN)2]3, is studied at high pressure using a combination of X-ray single crystal diffraction, X-ray powder diffraction, infrared and Raman spectroscopy, and density functional theory calculations. In common with the isostructural manganese analogue, KMn[Ag(CN)2]3, this material is shown to exhibit very strong negative linear compressibility (NLC) in the crystallographic c direction due to structure hinging. We find increased structural flexibility results in enhanced NLC and NTE properties, but this also leads to two pressure-induced phase transitions—to very large unit cells involving octahedral tilting and shearing of the structure—below 2 GPa. The presence of potassium cations has an important effect on the mechanical and thermodynamic properties of this family, whilst the chemical versatility demonstrated here is of considerable interest to tune unusual mechanical properties for application

Public Bridges at Risk of Being Posted or Closed Within the Next Ten Years, January 26, 2007

The counterintuitive phenomenon of negative linear compressibility (NLC) is a highly desirable but rare property exploitable in the development of artificial muscles, actuators and next-generation pressure sensors. In all cases, material performance is directly related to the magnitude of intrinsic NLC response. Here we show the molecular framework material zinc(II) dicyanoaurate(I), Zn[Au(CN)(2)](2), exhibits the most extreme and persistent NLC behaviour yet reported: under increasing hydrostatic pressure its crystal structure expands in one direction at a rate that is an order of magnitude greater than both the typical contraction observed for common engineering materials and also the anomalous expansion in established NLC candidates. This extreme behaviour arises from the honeycomb-like structure of Zn[Au(CN)(2)](2) coupling volume reduction to uniaxial expansion, and helical Au…Au 'aurophilic' interactions accommodating abnormally large linear strains by functioning as supramolecular springs