A Case Series of Trauma Resuscitation in the Intensive Care Unit Bypassing the Emergency Room During the Conversion to a COVID-19 Only Hospital

When a patient with severe trauma is admitted to the emergency room (ER), they are evaluated before transfer to either the intensive care unit (ICU) or operating room. To minimize the time until a definitive treatment can be provided, direct operating room resuscitation can be performed. In this hospital the ER was closed during the hospital’s transition to a coronavirus disease 2019-dedicated hospital, and direct ICU resuscitation for patients with trauma was performed for a short period. To perform effective trauma resuscitation, all ICU beds were reorganized to achieve a modified, experienced nurse: patient ratio (1:2–3) and 2 beds were assigned for trauma ICU resuscitation alone. The equipment for initial resuscitation was installed and ICU nurses received training. Consultations with the hospital administration, nursing, and pharmaceutical departments were completed in advance to avoid formal problems. Conversion of the ICU for direct resuscitation procedures was performed in 4 patients

Dual-function transaminases with hybrid nanoflower for the production of value-added chemicals from biobased levulinic acid

The U.S. Department of Energy has listed levulinic acid (LA) as one of the top 12 compounds derived from biomass. LA has gained much attention owing to its conversion into enantiopure 4-aminopentanoic acid through an amination reaction. Herein, we developed a coupled-enzyme recyclable cascade employing two transaminases (TAs) for the synthesis of (S)-4-aminopentanoic acid. TAs were first utilized to convert LA into (S)-4-aminopentanoic acid using (S)-α-Methylbenzylamine [(S)-α-MBA] as an amino donor. The deaminated (S)-α-MBA i.e., acetophenone was recycled back using a second TAs while using isopropyl amine (IPA) amino donor to generate easily removable acetone. Enzymatic reactions were carried out using different systems, with conversions ranging from 30% to 80%. Furthermore, the hybrid nanoflowers (HNF) of the fusion protein were constructed which afforded complete biocatalytic conversion of LA to the desired (S)-4-aminopentanoic acid. The created HNF demonstrated storage stability for over a month and can be reused for up to 7 sequential cycles. A preparative scale reaction (100 mL) achieved the complete conversion with an isolated yield of 62%. Furthermore, the applicability of this recycling system was tested with different β-keto ester substrates, wherein 18%–48% of corresponding β-amino acids were synthesized. Finally, this recycling system was applied for the biosynthesis of pharmaceutical important drug sitagliptin intermediate ((R)-3-amino-4-(2,4,5-triflurophenyl) butanoic acid) with an excellent conversion 82%

Round-robin test on thermal conductivity measurement of ZnO nanofluids and comparison of experimental results with theoretical bounds

Ethylene glycol (EG)-based zinc oxide (ZnO) nanofluids containing no surfactant have been manufactured by one-step pulsed wire evaporation (PWE) method. Round-robin tests on thermal conductivity measurements of three samples of EG-based ZnO nanofluids have been conducted by five participating labs, four using accurate measurement apparatuses developed in house and one using a commercial device. The results have been compared with several theoretical bounds on the effective thermal conductivity of heterogeneous systems. This study convincingly demonstrates that the large enhancements in the thermal conductivities of EG-based ZnO nanofluids tested are beyond the lower and upper bounds calculated using the models of the Maxwell and Nan et al. with and without the interfacial thermal resistance

Reactive Energetic Plasticizers Utilizing Cu-Free Azide-Alkyne 1,3-Dipolar Cycloaddition for In-Situ Preparation of Poly(THF-co-GAP)-Based Polyurethane Energetic Binders

Reactive energetic plasticizers (REPs) coupled with hydroxy-telechelic poly(glycidyl azide-co-tetrahydrofuran) (PGT)-based energetic polyurethane (PU) binders for use in solid propellants and plastic-bonded explosives (PBXs) were investigated. The generation of gem-dinitro REPs along with a terminal alkyne stemmed from a series of finely designed approaches to not only satisfy common demands as conventional energetic plasticizers, but also to prevent the migration of plasticizers. The miscibility and rheological behavior of a binary mixture of PGT/REP with various REP fractions were quantitatively determined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and rheometer, respectively, highlighting the promising performance of REPs in the formulation process. The kinetics on the distinct reactivity of propargyl vs. 3-butynyl species of REPs towards the azide group of the PGT prepolymer in terms of Cu-free azide-alkyne 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition (1,3-DPCA) was studied by monitoring 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and analyzing the activation energies (Ea) obtained using DSC. The thermal stability of the finally cured energetic binders with the incorporation of REPs indicated that the thermal stability of the REP/PGT-based PUs was maintained independently of the REP content. The tensile strength and modulus of the PUs increased with an increase in the REP content. In addition, the energetic performance and sensitivity of REP and REP triazole species was predicted

Adaptive Control of the Packet Transmission Period with Solar Energy Harvesting Prediction in Wireless Sensor Networks

A number of research works has studied packet scheduling policies in energy scavenging wireless sensor networks, based on the predicted amount of harvested energy. Most of them aim to achieve energy neutrality, which means that an embedded system can operate perpetually while meeting application requirements. Unlike other renewable energy sources, solar energy has the feature of distinct periodicity in the amount of harvested energy over a day. Using this feature, this paper proposes a packet transmission control policy that can enhance the network performance while keeping sensor nodes alive. Furthermore, this paper suggests a novel solar energy prediction method that exploits the relation between cloudiness and solar radiation. The experimental results and analyses show that the proposed packet transmission policy outperforms others in terms of the deadline miss rate and data throughput. Furthermore, the proposed solar energy prediction method can predict more accurately than others by 6.92%

Synthesis and characterization of conjugated copolymers, and their color tuning with molecular microstructure

Poly(2-methoxy-5-(2-ethylhexyloxy)-1,4-phenylene vinylene-co-1,4-phenylene vinylene) (MEH-R) and poly(2-methoxy-5-(2-ethylhexyloxy)-1,4-phenylene vinylene-alt-1,4-phenylene vinylene) (MEH-A50) containing phenylene vinylene (PV) unit and alkoxyphenylene vinylene (MEHPV) unit in the main chain were synthesized by the dehydrohalogenation and Honer-Emmons reaction using potassium t-butoxide, respectively. Single layer polymer light-emitting diodes (PLEDs) were fabricated with synthesized conjugated copolymers as emitting layers, and their emission properties were compared with PPV and MEH-PPV homopolymers. UV-Visible absorption and EL spectra of MEH-Rs were blue-shifted as increasing the amount of PV unit in the main chain. Color coordinates of single layer PLEDs made with the conjugated copolymers were compared with those of standard red, green, blue, and white established by NTSC. Color coordinates of single layer PLEDs made with MEH-Rs and MEH-A50 were shifted from red (MEH-PPV) to green region (PPV) as increasing PV unit in the main chainclose1

Synthesis and characterization of conjugated copolymers, and their color tuning with molecular microstructure

Poly(2-methoxy-5-(2-ethylhexyloxy)-1,4-phenylene vinylene-co-1,4-phenylene vinylene) (MEH-R) and poly(2-methoxy-5-(2-ethylhexyloxy)-1,4-phenylene vinylene-alt-1,4-phenylene vinylene) (MEH-A50) containing phenylene vinylene (PV) unit and alkoxyphenylene vinylene (MEHPV) unit in the main chain were synthesized by the dehydrohalogenation and Honer-Emmons reaction using potassium t-butoxide, respectively. Single layer polymer light-emitting diodes (PLEDs) were fabricated with synthesized conjugated copolymers as emitting layers, and their emission properties were compared with PPV and MEH-PPV homopolymers. UV-Visible absorption and EL spectra of MEH-Rs were blue-shifted as increasing the amount of PV unit in the main chain. Color coordinates of single layer PLEDs made with the conjugated copolymers were compared with those of standard red, green, blue, and white established by NTSC. Color coordinates of single layer PLEDs made with MEH-Rs and MEH-A50 were shifted from red (MEH-PPV) to green region (PPV) as increasing PV unit in the main chain.1