Outcomes in Pediatric Burn Patients With Additional Trauma-Related Injuries

The addition of trauma to burn injuries may result in higher morbidity and mortality. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the outcomes of pediatric patients with a combination of burn and trauma injuries, and included all pediatric Burn only, Trauma only, and combined Burn-Trauma patients admitted between 2011 and 2020. Mean length of stay, ICU length of stay, and ventilator days were highest for the Burn-Trauma group. The odds of mortality were almost 13 times higher for the Burn-Trauma group when compared to the Burn only group (P = .1299). After using inverse probability of treatment weighting, the odds of mortality were almost 10 times higher for the Burn-Trauma group in comparison to the Burn only group (P < .0066). Thus, the addition of trauma to burn injuries was associated with increased odds of mortality, as well as longer ICU and overall hospital length of stay in this patient population

Bis-coumarins; non-cytotoxic selective urease inhibitors and antiglycation agents

© 2019 Elsevier Inc. The current study is concerned with the identification of lead molecules based on the bis-coumarin scaffold having selective urease inhibitory and antiglycation activities. For that purpose, bis-coumarins (1-44) were synthesized and structurally characterized by different spectroscopic techniques. Eight derivatives 4, 8-10, 14, 17, 34, and 40 demonstrated urease inhibition in the range of IC50 = 4.4 ± 0.21–115.6 ± 2.13 μM, as compared to standard thiourea (IC50 = 21.3 ± 1.3 μM). Especially, compound 17 (IC50 = 4.4 ± 0.21 μM) was found to be five-fold more potent than the standard. Kinetic studies were also performed on compound 17 in order to identify the mechanism of inhibition. Kinetic studies revealed that compound 17 is a competitive inhibitor. Antiglycation activity was evaluated using glycation of bovine serum albumin by methylglyoxal in vitro. Compounds 2, 11-13, 16, 17, 19–22, 35, 37, and 42 showed good to moderate antiglycation activities with IC50 values of 333.63–919.72 μM, as compared to the standard rutin (IC50 = 294.46 ± 1.5 μM). Results of both assays showed that the compounds with urease inhibitory activity did not show any antiglycation potential, and vice versa. Only compound 17 showed dual inhibition potential. All compounds were also evaluated for cytotoxicity. Compounds 17, 19, and 37 showed a weak toxicity towards 3 T3 mouse fibroblast cell line. All other compounds were found to be non-cytotoxic. Urease inhibition is an approach to treat infections caused by ureolytic bacteria whereas inhibition of glycation of proteins is a strategy to avoid late diabetic complications. Therefore, these compounds may serve as leads for further research

Sex-Based Differences in Inpatient Burn Mortality

Background: Among burn patients, research is conflicted, but may suggest that females are at increased risk of mortality, despite the opposite being true in non-burn trauma. Our objective was to determine whether sex-based differences in burn mortality exist, and assess whether patient demographics, comorbid conditions, and injury characteristics explain said differences. Methods: Adult patients admitted with burn injury—including inhalation injury only—between 2004 and 2013 were included. Inverse probability of treatment weights (IPTW) and inverse probability of censor weights (IPCW) were calculated using admit year, patient demographics, comorbid conditions, and injury characteristics to adjust for potential confounding and informative censoring. Standardized Kaplan–Meier survival curves, weighted by both IPTW and IPCW, were used to estimate the 30-day and 60-day risk of inpatient mortality across sex. Results: Females were older (median age 44 vs. 41 years old, p < 0.0001) and more likely to be Black (32% vs. 25%, p < 0.0001), have diabetes (14% vs. 10%, p < 0.0001), pulmonary disease (14% vs. 7%, p < 0.0001), heart failure (4% vs. 2%, p = 0.001), scald burns (45% vs. 26%, p < 0.0001), and inhalational injuries (10% vs. 8%, p = 0.04). Even after weighting, females were still over twice as likely to die after 60 days (RR 2.87, 95% CI 1.09, 7.51). Conclusion: Female burn patients have a significantly higher risk of 60-day mortality, even after accounting for demographics, comorbid conditions, burn size, and inhalational injury. Future research efforts and treatments to attenuate mortality should account for these sex-based differences. The project was supported by the National Institutes of Health, Grant Number UL1TR001111

Performance evaluation of MeteoTracker mobile sensor for outdoor applications

The morphological complexity of urban environments results in a high spatial and temporal variability of the urban microclimate. The consequent demand for high-resolution atmospheric data remains a challenge for atmospheric research and operational application. The recent widespread availability and increasing adoption of low-cost mobile sensing offer the opportunity to integrate observations from conventional monitoring networks with microclimatic and air pollution data at a finer spatial and temporal scale. So far, the relatively low quality of the measurements and outdoor performance compared to conventional instrumentation has discouraged the full deployment of mobile sensors for routine monitoring. The present study addresses the performance of a commercial mobile sensor, the MeteoTracker (IoTopon Srl), recently launched on the market to quantify the microclimatic characteristics of the outdoor environment. The sensor follows the philosophy of the Internet of Things technology, being low cost, having an automatic data flow via personal smartphones and online data sharing, supporting user-friendly software, and having the potential to be deployed in large quantities. In this paper, the outdoor performance is evaluated through tests aimed at quantifying (i) the intra-sensor variability under similar atmospheric conditions and (ii) the outdoor accuracy compared to a reference weather station under sub-optimal (in a fixed location) and optimal (mobile) sensor usage. Data-driven corrections are developed and successfully applied to improve the MeteoTracker data quality. In particular, a recursive method for the simultaneous improvement of relative humidity, dew point, and humidex index proves to be crucial for increasing the data quality. The results mark an intra-sensor variability of approximately ± 0.5 °C for air temperature and ± 1.2 % for the corrected relative humidity, both of which are within the declared sensor accuracy. The sensor captures the same atmospheric variability as the reference sensor during both fixed and mobile tests, showing positive biases (overestimation) for both variables. Through the mobile test, the outdoor accuracy is observed to be between ± 0.3 to ± 0.5 °C for air temperature and between ± 3 % and ± 5 % for the relative humidity, ranking the MeteoTracker in the real accuracy range of similar commercial sensors from the literature and making it a valid solution for atmospheric monitoring.</p

Optimum electrode configurations for fast ion separation in microfabricated surface ion traps

For many quantum information implementations with trapped ions, effective shuttling operations are important. Here we discuss the efficient separation and recombination of ions in surface ion trap geometries. The maximum speed of separation and recombination of trapped ions for adiabatic shuttling operations depends on the secular frequencies the trapped ion experiences in the process. Higher secular frequencies during the transportation processes can be achieved by optimising trap geometries. We show how two different arrangements of segmented static potential electrodes in surface ion traps can be optimised for fast ion separation or recombination processes. We also solve the equations of motion for the ion dynamics during the separation process and illustrate important considerations that need to be taken into account to make the process adiabatic

Microfabricated Ion Traps

Ion traps offer the opportunity to study fundamental quantum systems with high level of accuracy highly decoupled from the environment. Individual atomic ions can be controlled and manipulated with electric fields, cooled to the ground state of motion with laser cooling and coherently manipulated using optical and microwave radiation. Microfabricated ion traps hold the advantage of allowing for smaller trap dimensions and better scalability towards large ion trap arrays also making them a vital ingredient for next generation quantum technologies. Here we provide an introduction into the principles and operation of microfabricated ion traps. We show an overview of material and electrical considerations which are vital for the design of such trap structures. We provide guidance in how to choose the appropriate fabrication design, consider different methods for the fabrication of microfabricated ion traps and discuss previously realized structures. We also discuss the phenomenon of anomalous heating of ions within ion traps, which becomes an important factor in the miniaturization of ion traps

Engineering of microfabricated ion traps and integration of advanced on-chip features

Atomic ions trapped in electromagnetic potentials have long been used for fundamental studies in quantum physics. Over the past two decades, trapped ions have been successfully used to implement technologies such as quantum computing, quantum simulation, atomic clocks, mass spectrometers and quantum sensors. Advanced fabrication techniques, taken from other established or emerging disciplines, are used to create new, reliable ion-trap devices aimed at large-scale integration and compatibility with commercial fabrication. This Technical Review covers the fundamentals of ion trapping before discussing the design of ion traps for the aforementioned applications. We overview the current microfabrication techniques and the various considerations behind the choice of materials and processes. Finally, we discuss current efforts to include advanced, on-chip features in next-generation ion traps

Large Eddy Simulation of Flows Associated with Offshore Oil and Gas Pipeline

Fluid structure interaction (FSI) applications are of wide range from offshore fixed and floating structures to offshore pipelines. Reynolds Averaged Navier Stoke (RANS) solution has limitation for unsteady and turbulent flow modelling. A possible approach is Large Eddy Simulation (LES) and it is applied to flows past a circular cylinder located far above, near and on a flat seabed. The Reynolds number considered is based on the real situation off Malaysia Coast and is sub-critical around 105. Hydrodynamic quantities in terms of mean pressure are predicted and vortex shedding mechanism is evaluated. The results are validated by comparing the simulation and experimental previous studies

Influence of genetic and environmental factors on lactation http://www.openveterinaryjournal.com F.R. Al-Samarai et al

ABSTRACT Data on 100 Holstein-Friesian cows for a period of 15 years (1988-2002) were analyzed using least squares and maximum likelihood methods. Lactation components such as lactation length, peak yield, milk yield and age at calving averaged 319±56, 474±42 liters, 3661±785 liters, 1963±636 days respectively. The h 2 estimates were 0.49, 0.29, 0.32 and 0.535 for these parameters, respectively. Seasonal analysis revealed that there was no influence of calving season on lactation components. Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring had lactation length 323±50, 317±49, 313±56 and 321±55 days, monthly peak yield 477±77, 472±70, 466±53 and 482±73 kg, and milk yield 3685±766, 3593±817, 3645±677, 3724±864 kg., respectively

Oscillating Flows of Fractionalized Second Grade Fluid with Slip Effects

This paper examines the fractionalized second grade fluid dueto oscillating plate under slip condition. The discrete Laplace transformtechnique is employed to compute the analytical solutions for the equa-tions of motion. The velocity field and shear stress are computed. In orderto write them in compact form, the Wright generalized hyper geometricfunction is used and written as addition of slip and no slip contributions.The closed-form solutions for ordinary second grade and Newtonian flu-ids carrying out the similar motion are achieved. The computations forfractional and ordinary second grade fluids without slip effect are alsoachieved as a special case. Furthermore, the impact of various parameterssuch as the slip, fractional and material parameters on the motion of frac-tionalized second grade fluid will be explained through graphs. Finally,a comparison among the Newtonian fluids, ordinary second grade fluidsand fractionalized second grade fluids is also carried out