Submicron Structure Fabrication and Research

Contains reports on six research projects.Joint Services Electronics Program (Contract DAAG29-78-C-0020)Joint Services Electronics Program (Contract DAAG29-80-C-0104)M.I.T. Sloan Fund for Basic ResearchU.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research (Contract N00014-79-C-0908)Lawrence Livermore Laboratory (Subcontract 206-92-09)U.S. Department of Energy (Contract DE-ACO2-80-E10179)Harkness Foundatio

Efficacy and safety of methylprednisolone sodium succinate in acute spinal cord injury: a systematic review

Study Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Objective: The objective of this study was to conduct a systematic review to assess the comparative effectiveness and safety of high-dose methylprednisolone sodium succinate (MPSS) versus no pharmacological treatment in patients with traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI). Methods: A systematic search was performed in PubMed and the Cochrane Collaboration Library for literature published between January 1956 and June 17, 2015. Included studies ere critically appraised, and Grades of Recommendation Assessment, Development and Evaluation methods were used to determine the overall quality of evidence for primary outcomes. Previous systematic reviews on this topic were collated and evaluated using the Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews scoring system. Results: The search yielded 723 citations, 13 of which satisfied inclusion criteria. Among these, 6 were primary research articles and 7 were previous systematic reviews. Based on the included research articles, there was moderate evidence that the 24-hour NASCIS II (National Acute Spinal Cord Injury Studies) MPSS regimen has no impact on long-term neurological recovery when all postinjury time points are considered. However, there is also moderate evidence that subjects receiving the same MPSS regimen within 8 hours of injury achieve an additional 3.2 points (95% confidence interval = 0.10 to 6.33; P = .04) of motor recovery compared with patients receiving placebo or no treatment. Conclusion: Although safe to administer, a 24-hour NASCIS II MPSS regimen, when all postinjury time points are considered, has no impact on indices of long-term neurological recovery. When commenced within 8 hours of injury, however, a high-dose 24-hour regimen of MPSS confers a small positive benefit on long-term motor recovery and should be considered a treatment option for patients with SCI

Guidelines for the Management of Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: 2020 Update of the Decompressive Craniectomy Recommendations

© Congress of Neurological Surgeons 2020. When the fourth edition of the Brain Trauma Foundation\u27s Guidelines for the Management of Severe Traumatic Brain Injury were finalized in late 2016, it was known that the results of the RESCUEicp (Trial of Decompressive Craniectomy for Traumatic Intracranial Hypertension) randomized controlled trial of decompressive craniectomy would be public after the guidelines were released. The guideline authors decided to proceed with publication but to update the decompressive craniectomy recommendations later in the spirit of living guidelines, whereby topics are updated more frequently, and between new editions, when important new evidence is published. The update to the decompressive craniectomy chapter presented here integrates the findings of the RESCUEicp study as well as the recently published 12-mo outcome data from the DECRA (Decompressive Craniectomy in Patients With Severe Traumatic Brain Injury) trial. Incorporation of these publications into the body of evidence led to the generation of 3 new level-IIA recommendations; a fourth previously presented level-IIA recommendation remains valid and has been restated. To increase the utility of the recommendations, we added a new section entitled Incorporating the Evidence into Practice. This summary of expert opinion provides important context and addresses key issues for practitioners, which are intended to help the clinician utilize the available evidence and these recommendations. The full guideline can be found at: https://braintrauma.org/guidelines/guidelines-for-the-management-of-severe-tbi-4th-ed#/

Density Gradient Stabilization of Electron Temperature Gradient Driven Turbulence in a Spherical Tokamak

In this letter we report the first clear experimental observation of density gradient stabilization of electron temperature gradient driven turbulence in a fusion plasma. It is observed that longer wavelength modes, k⊥ρs ≤10, are most stabilized by density gradient, and the stabilization is accompanied by about a factor of two decrease in the plasma effective thermal diffusivity

Plasmas and Controlled Nuclear Fusion

Contains reports on five research projects.U. S. Atomic Energy Commission (Contract AT(30-1)-3980