Effects of Current Density and Deposition Time on Corrosion Behaviour of Nickel-based Alloy Coatings

Corrosion of fasteners is an on-going issue and stainless steel 304 (SS304) is prone to this destructive process. One method to mitigate corrosion is electrodeposition of Co-Ni-Fe nanoparticles.  This paper studied the effects of deposition time and current density on corrosion behaviour of Co-Ni-Fe coated SS304 bolt. Co-Ni-Fe ternary alloys were electrodeposited onto SS304 bolt in 15, 30, or 45 minutes by using current density of 28, 35, 42 mA/cm2. Combinations of these parameters produced 9 samples. These samples were electrochemically tested by a potentiostat using open circuit potential (OCP) and potentiodynamic polarization (PDP). The samples were also characterised in terms of surface roughness and thickness of the coatings by using 3D surface metrology system. The OCP value decreased when deposition time was increased. All sample synthesised in 30 minutes had a more stable OCP curve. PDP curves exhibited active behaviour without passivation region. The corrosion potential (Ecorr) of T15 samples was more anodic than T30 and T45 samples. The corrosion current density (Icorr) of all samples fluctuated. Sample synthesised in 30 minutes using 42 mA/cm2 had the lowest corrosion rate. It was found that the surface roughness influences the corrosion behaviour in which a lower surface roughness tends to produce coating with better corrosion performance. Current density had small effect on the thickness of coating, whereas the tendency of a thickness to increase was obvious for deposition time

Fasting and surgery timing (FaST) audit

Background & aimsInternational guidance advocates the avoidance of prolonged preoperative fasting due to its negative impact on perioperative hydration. This study aimed to assess the adherence to these guidelines for fasting in patients undergoing elective and emergency surgery in the East Midlands region of the UK.MethodsThis prospective audit was performed over a two-month period at five National Health Service (NHS) Trusts across the East Midlands region of the UK. Demographic data, admission and operative details, and length of preoperative fasting were collected on adult patients listed for emergency and elective surgery.ResultsOf the 343 surgical patients included within the study, 50% (n = 172) were male, 78% (n = 266) had elective surgery and 22% (n = 77) underwent emergency surgery. Overall median fasting times (Q1, Q3) were 16.1 (13.0, 19.4) hours for food and 5.8 (3.5, 10.7) hours for clear fluids. Prolonged fasting >12 h was documented in 73% (n = 250) for food, and 21% (n = 71) for clear fluids. Median fasting times from clear fluids and food were longer in the those undergoing emergency surgery when compared with those undergoing elective surgery: 13.0 (6.4, 22.6) vs. 4.9 (3.3, 7.8) hours, and 22.0 (14.0, 37.4) vs. 15.6 (12.9, 17.8) hours respectively, p < 0.0001.ConclusionsDespite international consensus on the duration of preoperative fasting, patients continue to fast from clear fluids and food for prolonged lengths of time. Patients admitted for emergency surgery were more likely to fast for longer than those having elective surgery

Identification of surgeon burnout via a single-item measure

Background Burnout is endemic in surgeons in the UK and linked with poor patient safety and quality of care, mental health problems, and workforce sustainability. Mechanisms are required to facilitate the efficient identification of burnout in this population. Multi-item measures of burnout may be unsuitable for this purpose owing to assessment burden, expertise required for analysis, and cost. Aims To determine whether surgeons in the UK reporting burnout on the 22-item Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) can be reliably identified by a single-item measure of burnout. Methods Consultant (n = 333) and trainee (n = 217) surgeons completed the MBI and a single-item measure of burnout. We applied tests of discriminatory power to assess whether a report of high burnout on the single-item measure correctly classified MBI cases and non-cases. Results The single-item measure demonstrated high discriminatory power on the emotional exhaustion burnout domain: the area under the curve was excellent for consultants and trainees (0.86 and 0.80), indicating high sensitivity and specificity. On the depersonalisation domain, discrimination was acceptable for consultants (0.76) and poor for trainees (0.69). In contrast, discrimination was acceptable for trainees (0.71) and poor for consultants (0.62) on the personal accomplishment domain. Conclusions A single-item measure of burnout is suitable for the efficient assessment of emotional exhaustion in consultant and trainee surgeons in the UK. Administered regularly, such a measure would facilitate the early identification of at-risk surgeons and swift intervention, as well as the monitoring of group-level temporal trends to inform resource allocation to coincide with peak periods

Management of Acutely Symptomatic Hernia (MASH) study

Background Acutely symptomatic abdominal wall and groin hernias are a common reason for acute surgical hospital admissions. There are limited data to guide the treatment of these patients. This study aimed to assess outcomes of emergency hernia surgery and identify common management strategies, to improve care for these high-risk patients. Methods A 20-week, national multicentre, collaborative, prospective cohort study (NCT04197271) recruited adults with acutely symptomatic abdominal wall and groin hernias across the UK. Data on patient characteristics, inpatient management, quality of life, complications, and wound healing were collected. Follow-up telephone calls at 30 and 90 days were used to assessed complications and quality of life. Descriptive analyses were undertaken to describe the population and outcomes. Results Twenty-three hospitals recruited 272 eligible patients. Inguinal (37.8 per cent) and umbilical (37.1 per cent) hernias were the most common. Some 13.9 per cent were awaiting elective surgery and 12.8 per cent had previously declined intervention. CT was performed in 47.1 per cent and 81.3 per cent underwent surgical management. Open repairs were carried out in 93.5 per cent, and 92.5 per cent of these were performed under general anaesthesia. Four of 13 laparoscopic procedures were converted to open surgery. Mesh was used in 55.1 per cent of repairs, typically synthetic non-absorbable (87.4 per cent). Complications were infrequent; surgical-site infection (9.4 per cent), delirium (3.2 per cent), and pneumonia (2.3 per cent) were the most common. The 90-day mortality rate was 4.9 per cent. Immediate surgical management was associated with a significant improvement in quality of life at 30 days (median score 0.73–0.82). Conclusion There is variation in the investigation, management, and surgical technique used to treat acutely symptomatic abdominal wall and groin hernias in the UK. The optimal management strategy for specific acute presentations remains to be established. Presented to the Association of Surgeons in Training Conference, Birmingham, UK, March 2021, the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland Congress, May 2021, the World Society of Emergency Surgery, Edinburgh, UK, September 2021, and the European Hernia Society Congress, Copenhagen, Denmark, October 2021

Loss of Karma transposon methylation underlies the mantled somaclonal variant of oil palm

Somaclonal variation arises in plants and animals when differentiated somatic cells are induced into a pluripotent state, but the resulting clones differ from each other and from their parents. In agriculture, somaclonal variation has hindered the micropropagation of elite hybrids and genetically modified crops, but the mechanism responsible remains unknown. The oil palm fruit 'mantled' abnormality is a somaclonal variant arising from tissue culture that drastically reduces yield, and has largely halted efforts to clone elite hybrids for oil production. Widely regarded as an epigenetic phenomenon, 'mantling' has defied explanation, but here we identify the MANTLED locus using epigenome-wide association studies of the African oil palm Elaeis guineensis. DNA hypomethylation of a LINE retrotransposon related to rice Karma, in the intron of the homeotic gene DEFICIENS, is common to all mantled clones and is associated with alternative splicing and premature termination. Dense methylation near the Karma splice site (termed the Good Karma epiallele) predicts normal fruit set, whereas hypomethylation (the Bad Karma epiallele) predicts homeotic transformation, parthenocarpy and marked loss of yield. Loss of Karma methylation and of small RNA in tissue culture contributes to the origin of mantled, while restoration in spontaneous revertants accounts for non-Mendelian inheritance. The ability to predict and cull mantling at the plantlet stage will facilitate the introduction of higher performing clones and optimize environmentally sensitive land resources