Burn Shock and Resuscitation: Many Priorities, One Goal

Burn injuries come in a wide variety of presentations, depending on the size and depth of the thermal insult, concurrent traumatic or inhalation injury, as well as the associated physiological response of the burn victim. To minimize patient morbidity and reduce mortality, prompt recognition and tailored treatment strategies are critically important. As the percentage of total body surface area (TBSA) burned increases so do the body’s physiologic response and the associated complexity of management. Understanding the pathophysiology of burn injury allows the practitioner to optimize and individualize burn patient management—a component of care critical to limiting wound progression and improving outcomes. Burn patient care starts with an accurate and thorough burn patient evaluation conducted in person by an experienced provider. For burns >10–15% TBSA, prompt initiation of fluid resuscitation greatly impacts clinical outcomes. Several formulae have been published to guide crystalloid and/or colloid fluid resuscitation in the setting of burn shock. Other important considerations include ambient temperature control, early enteral nutritional support, vitamin and mineral supplementation, assessment for inhalation injury, glycemic control, early recognition of potential complications of large volume resuscitation, potential need for cardiovascular support, and early wound excision and coverage. Burn patients often require multidisciplinary teams to manage the physical, social, and psychological effects associated with their injury. Dedicated burn centers are the ideal places for meeting the complex needs of each burn patient

Exploring New Ultrafast Operation Regimes in Quantum Dot Lasers and Amplifiers

We will present our recent results, harnessing the flexibility of quantum dot materials towards the development of increasingly versatile regimes of ultrashort pulse generation and amplification in edge-emitting devices

Wave and plasma measurements and GPS diagnostics of the main ionospheric trough as a hybrid method used for Space Weather purposes

The region of the main ionospheric trough is a unique region of the ionosphere, where different types of waves and instabilities can be generated. This region of the ionosphere acts like a lens, focusing a variety of indicators from the equator of plasmapause and local ionospheric plasma. This paper reports the results of monitoring the mid-latitude trough structure, dynamics and wave activity. For these purposes, the data gathered by the currently-operating DEMETER satellite and past diagnostics located on IK-19, Apex, and MAGION-3 spacecraft, as well as TEC measurements were used. A global-time varying picture of the ionospheric trough was reconstructed using the sequence of wave spectra registered and plasma measurements in the top-side ionosphere. The authors present the wave activity from ULF frequency band to the HF frequency detected inside the trough region and discuss its properties during geomagnetic disturbances. It is thought that broadband emissions are correlated with low frequency radiation, which is excited by the wave-particle interaction in the equatorial plasmapause and moves to the ionosphere along the geomagnetic field line. In the ionosphere, the suprathermal electrons can interact with these electrostatic waves and excite electron acoustic waves or HF longitudinal plasma waves. <br><br> Furthermore, the electron density trough can provide useful data on the magnetosphere ionosphere dynamics and morphology and, in consequence, can be used for Space Weather purposes

Coherence function control of Quantum Dot Superluminescent Light Emitting Diodes by frequency selective optical feedback.

Low coherent light interferometry requires broad bandwidth light sources to achieve high axial resolution. Here, Superluminescent Light Emitting Diodes (SLDs) utilizing Quantum Dot (QD) gain materials are promising devices as they unify large spectral bandwidths with sufficient power at desired emission wavelengths. However, frequently a dip occurs in the optical spectrum that translates into high side lobes in the coherence function thereby reducing axial resolution and image quality. We apply the experimental technique of frequency selective feedback to shape the optical spectrum of the QD-SLD, hence optimizing the coherence properties. For well-selected feedback parameters, a strong reduction of the parasitic side lobes by a factor of 3.5 was achieved accompanied by a power increase of 40% and an improvement of 10% in the coherence length. The experimental results are in excellent agreement with simulations that even indicate potential for further optimizations

Reduction of worldwide plutonium inventories using conventional reactors and advanced fuels: A systems study

The potential for reducing plutonium inventories in the civilian nuclear fuel cycle through recycle in LWRs of a variety of mixed-oxide forms is examined by means of a cost-based plutonium-flow systems model that includes an approximate measure of proliferation risk. The impact of plutonium recycle in a number of forms is examined, including the introduction of nonfertile fuels into conventional (LWR) reactors to reduce net plutonium generation, to increase plutonium burnup, and to reduce exo-reactor plutonium inventories

The Role of Biosurgical Agents in Dermatologic Surgery

Performed in an outpatient, office-based setting, dermatologic surgery reduces healthcare costs of hospitalization while maintaining low rates of surgical complications such as infection, dehiscence, and hematoma formation. However, the potential for complications requiring hospitalization or IV antibiotic therapy still exists and varies depending on patient risk factors, such as the use of antiplatelet and anticoagulant medications. Furthermore, measured outcomes in dermatologic surgery expand beyond surgical wound complications to include optimization of wound healing and reduction of scar formation, especially in cosmetically sensitive areas of the body. Biosurgical agents are increasingly being used in surgical fields to achieve hemostasis and to optimize wound healing. This chapter reviews the typical methods to achieve hemostasis in dermatologic surgery and examines the current and future role of biosurgical agents in procedural dermatology

High-brightness all semiconductor laser at 1.57 µm for space-borne lidar measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide: device design and analysis of requirements

The availability of suitable laser sources is one of the main challenges in future space missions for accurate measurement of atmospheric CO2. The main objective of the European project BRITESPACE is to demonstrate the feasibility of an all-semiconductor laser source to be used as a space-borne laser transmitter in an Integrated Path Differential Absorption (IPDA) lidar system. We present here the proposed transmitter and system architectures, the initial device design and the results of the simulations performed in order to estimate the source requirements in terms of power, beam quality, and spectral properties to achieve the required measurement accuracy. The laser transmitter is based on two InGaAsP/InP monolithic Master Oscillator Power Amplifiers (MOPAs), providing the ON and OFF wavelengths close to the selected absorption line around 1.57 µm. Each MOPA consists of a frequency stabilized Distributed Feedback (DFB) master oscillator, a modulator section, and a tapered semiconductor amplifier optimized to maximize the optical output power. The design of the space-compliant laser module includes the beam forming optics and the thermoelectric coolers.The proposed system replaces the conventional pulsed source with a modulated continuous wave source using the Random Modulation-Continuous Wave (RM-CW) approach, allowing the designed semiconductor MOPA to be applicable in such applications. The system requirements for obtaining a CO2 retrieval accuracy of 1 ppmv and a spatial resolution of less than 10 meters have been defined. Envelope estimated of the returns indicate that the average power needed is of a few watts and that the main noise source is the ambient noise