Time taken to perform a rapid sequence intubation within a simulated prehospital environment

Abstract: Background. Rapid sequence intubation (RSI) involves inducing unconsciousness and paralysis in rapid succession in order to facilitate endotracheal tube placement. RSI has recently been introduced to the scope of practice of South African prehospital emergency care practitioners (ECPs). Despite this, there remains limited evidence supporting the efficacy and safety of RSI within this context. While in-hospital studies have shown that it can take 20 minutes or more to perform an RSI, little is known about the time taken to perform the procedure in the prehospital setting. Objective. To measure the time taken to perform an RSI in a simulated prehospital environment. Methods. A sample of final-year ECP students were video-recorded performing RSIs on a mannequin within a simulated prehospital environment. Data were gathered through an analysis of the recordings, allowing for the capturing of times taken to complete each of the phases of a RSI. Results. A mean time of 15 minutes 5 seconds was recorded to complete the procedure. This was shorter than times reported for in-hospital studies. Conclusion. RSI is a potentially harmful procedure if improperly performed and has the potential to create delays in transport that may not always be in the patient’s best interest. With a mean time of 15 minutes 5 seconds, the performance of RSI by ECP students in the simulated prehospital environment was faster than expected. Further research is recommended to explore the relationship between the performances observed in this mannequin-based study with those in authentic prehospital settings

Causal Reasoning for Algorithmic Fairness

In this work, we argue for the importance of causal reasoning in creating fair algorithms for decision making. We give a review of existing approaches to fairness, describe work in causality necessary for the understanding of causal approaches, argue why causality is necessary for any approach that wishes to be fair, and give a detailed analysis of the many recent approaches to causality-based fairness

Observation of Colloidal Gold Labelled Platelet Surface Receptors and the Underlying Cytoskeleton Using High Voltage Electron Microscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy

Fibrinogen conjugated to colloidal gold or colloidal gold-monoclonal anti-glycoprotein IIb/IIIa (fibrinogen receptor) was used to label the receptor on platelets. Whole mount preparations were examined by stereo pair high voltage electron microscopy and then by scanning electron microscopy to determine the feasibility of this approach in detecting the number of receptors and their location relative to the cytoskeletal and surface structure. Both the ligand-gold and antibody-gold labels were effective. The relative numbers of receptors could be seen and their relationship to cytoskeletal structure could be determined. Marked differences in receptor number and distribution were observed when platelets in different stages of activation were compared. In co-cultured macrophages and platelets, receptors were found exclusively on platelets or on pieces of platelet membrane adherent to macrophages

Efficient magneto-optical trapping of Yb atoms with a violet laser diode

We report the first efficient trapping of rare-earth Yb atoms with a high-power violet laser diode (LD). An injection-locked violet LD with a 25 mW frequency-stabilized output was used for the magneto-optical trapping (MOT) of fermionic as well as bosonic Yb isotopes. A typical number of $4\times 10^6$ atoms for $^{174}$Yb with a trap density of $\sim 1\times10^8/$cm$^3$ was obtained. A 10 mW violet external-cavity LD (ECLD) was used for the one-dimensional (1D) slowing of an effusive Yb atomic beam without a Zeeman slower resulting in a 35-fold increase in the number of trapped atoms. The overall characteristics of our compact violet MOT, e.g., the loss time of 1 s, the loading time of 400 ms, and the cloud temperature of 0.7 mK, are comparable to those in previously reported violet Yb MOTs, yet with a greatly reduced cost and complexity of the experiment.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, 1 table, Phys. Rev. A (to be published

Measurement of Linear Stark Interference in 199Hg

We present measurements of Stark interference in the 6$^1S_0$ $\rightarrow$ 6$^3P_1$ transition in $^{199}$Hg, a process whereby a static electric field $E$ mixes magnetic dipole and electric quadrupole couplings into an electric dipole transition, leading to $E$-linear energy shifts similar to those produced by a permanent atomic electric dipole moment (EDM). The measured interference amplitude, $a_{SI}$ = $(a_{M1} + a_{E2})$ = (5.8 $\pm$ 1.5)$\times 10^{-9}$ (kV/cm)$^{-1}$, agrees with relativistic, many-body predictions and confirms that earlier central-field estimates are a factor of 10 too large. More importantly, this study validates the capability of the $^{199}$Hg EDM search apparatus to resolve non-trivial, controlled, and sub-nHz Larmor frequency shifts with EDM-like characteristics.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, 1 table; revised in response to reviewer comment

Determination of Trichinella Spiralis Specific IgM and IgG Antibody Titers and Total IgE Concentration in 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-P-Dioxin Exposed Rats

Immunotoxic chemicals are a concern because of the role the immune system plays in maintaining health. The immunotoxicity of TCDD has been well documented as the immune system is highly sensitive to TCDD exposure (Smialowicz et al., 1994). In host resistance studies, functional immune system changes following TCDD exposure have been demonstrated to lead to an increase in susceptibility to bacterial, viral and parasitic diseases. In order to investigate whether TCDD treatment decreased parasite antigen-specific antibody responses, sera from adult male F344 rats dosed with 30 μg/kg TCDD or corn oil and infected with T. spiralis were analyzed at days 7, 9, 11, 14, and 28 post infection by ELISA for T. spiralis specific IgM and IgG antibody titers and total IgE concentration. An enhancement in the treated group of the IgM antibody response at days 7 and 14 (p<0.05) was observed. A slight suppression of the day 9 IgM antibody response was also noted in the treated group (p<0.05). Additionally, the IgG day 9 titer reflected a suppressed antibody response in the treated group (p<0.05). No other treatment related effects were observed in the adult rats. Aged rats were also investigated under the same parameters at days 11 and 28 post infection. No observable changes in antibody levels were recorded for the aged rats. These data were generated to further evaluate the link between decreased parasite antigen specific antibody responses and treatment with TCDD in rats.Master of Science in Public Healt

Improved limit on the permanent electric dipole moment of 199Hg

We report the results of a new experimental search for a permanent electric dipole moment of 199Hg utilizing a stack of four vapor cells. We find d(199Hg) = (0.49 \pm 1.29_stat \pm 0.76_syst) x 10^{-29} e cm, and interpret this as a new upper bound, |d(199Hg)| < 3.1 x 10^{-29} e cm (95% C.L.). This result improves our previous 199Hg limit by a factor of 7, and can be used to set new constraints on CP violation in physics beyond the standard model.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures. additional reference, minor edits in response to reviewer comment

On Quartet Superfluidity of Fermionic Atomic Gas

Possibility of a quartet superfluidity in fermionic systems is studied as a new aspect of atomic gas at ultra low temperatures. The four-fold degeneracy of hyperfine state and moderate coupling is indispensable for the quartet superfluidity to occur. Possible superconductivity with quartet condensation in electron systems is discussed.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure. J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. vol.74 (2005) No.7, in press; Note added for related previous works; some typographic errors revise