An analysis of patients transported by a private helicopter emergency medical service in South Africa

Background. A helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) is a specialist flying emergency service where on-board medical personnel have both the knowledge and equipment to perform complicated medical procedures. The paucity of literature describing the types of patients flown by HEMS in South Africa (SA) and their clinical outcome poses a challenge for current aeromedical services, as there is no baseline information on which to base flight criteria, staffing and policy documents. This has the potential to hamper the advancement of HEMS in SA.Objectives. To undertake a descriptive analysis of patients flown by the Netcare 911 HEMS over a 12-month period in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) provinces, SA, and to assess patient outcomes. The clinical demographics of patients transported by the HEMS were analysed, time frames from dispatch of the helicopter to delivery of the patient to the receiving hospital determined, and patient outcomes at 24 hours and 72 hours analysed.Methods. The study utilised a retrospective quantitative, descriptive design to analyse patients transported by a private HEMS in SA. All complete records of patients transported by the Netcare 911 HEMS between 1 January and 31 December 2011 were included.Results. The final study population comprised 537 cases, as 10 cases had to be excluded owing to incomplete documentation. Of the 537 cases, 82 (15.3%) were managed by the KZN HEMS and 455 (84.7%) by the Gauteng HEMS. Adult males were the patients most commonly flown in both Gauteng and KZN (350/455 patients (76.9%) in Gauteng and 48/82 (58.5%) in KZN were males, and 364/455 patients (80.0%) in Gauteng and 73/82 (89.0%) in KZN were adults). Motor vehicle collisions were the most common incidents necessitating transport by HEMS in both operations (n=193, 35.9%). At the 24-hour follow-up, 339 patients (63.1%) were alive and stable, and at the 72-hour followup, 404 (75.3%) were alive and stable.Conclusions. The study findings provided valuable information that may have an impact on the current staffing and authorisation criteria of SA HEMS operations

A Frictional Cooling Demonstration Experiment with Protons

Muon cooling is the main technological obstacle in the building of a muon collider. A muon cooling scheme based on Frictional Cooling holds promise in overcoming this obstacle. An experiment designed to demonstrate the Frictional Cooling concept using protons was undertaken. Although the results were inconclusive in the observation of cooling, the data allowed for the qualification of detailed simulations which are used to simulate the performance of a muon collider.Comment: 24 Pages 16 figures 2 table

Spin Transfer Torques in MnSi at Ultra-low Current Densities

Spin manipulation using electric currents is one of the most promising directions in the field of spintronics. We used neutron scattering to observe the influence of an electric current on the magnetic structure in a bulk material. In the skyrmion lattice of MnSi, where the spins form a lattice of magnetic vortices similar to the vortex lattice in type II superconductors, we observe the rotation of the diffraction pattern in response to currents which are over five orders of magnitude smaller than those typically applied in experimental studies on current-driven magnetization dynamics in nanostructures. We attribute our observations to an extremely efficient coupling of inhomogeneous spin currents to topologically stable knots in spin structures

Skyrmion Lattice in a Chiral Magnet

Skyrmions represent topologically stable field configurations with particle-like properties. We used neutron scattering to observe the spontaneous formation of a two-dimensional lattice of skyrmion lines, a type of magnetic vortices, in the chiral itinerant-electron magnet MnSi. The skyrmion lattice stabilizes at the border between paramagnetism and long-range helimagnetic order perpendicular to a small applied magnetic field regardless of the direction of the magnetic field relative to the atomic lattice. Our study experimentally establishes magnetic materials lacking inversion symmetry as an arena for new forms of crystalline order composed of topologically stable spin states

It's Time for Color Vision Deficiency Friendly Color Maps in the Radar Community

Color Vision Deficiency (CVD) is a decreased ability to discern between particular colors. 8% of men and 0.4% of women have some form of CVD. An informal poll of AGU and AMS twitter followers yielded 10% of 70 respondents self identifying as having CVD. When presenting data on a two-dimensional plane it is common to use colors to represent values, the mapping between values and colors is known as a colormap. Colormap choice is personal and is influenced by: (1) Ability to highlight scientifically interesting data. (2) Institutional choices (supervisor insists on a certain colormap). (3) Domain dominance of a particular colormap (common in the radar community). Colormap choice should be influenced by: (1) Ability to highlight scientifically interesting data. (2) Perceptual uniformity (thus not creating artificial structure). (3) Approachability by those with visual impairments (CVD). (4) Ideally, but not always achievable, reproducibility in greyscale

Artificial intelligence for renal cancer: From imaging to histology and beyond

Artificial intelligence (AI) has made considerable progress within the last decade and is the subject of contemporary literature. This trend is driven by improved computational abilities and increasing amounts of complex data that allow for new approaches in analysis and interpretation. Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) has a rising incidence since most tumors are now detected at an earlier stage due to improved imaging. This creates considerable challenges as approximately 10%–17% of kidney tumors are designated as benign in histopathological evaluation; however, certain co-morbid populations (the obese and elderly) have an increased peri-interventional risk. AI offers an alternative solution by helping to optimize precision and guidance for diagnostic and therapeutic decisions. The narrative review introduced basic principles and provide a comprehensive overview of current AI techniques for RCC. Currently, AI applications can be found in any aspect of RCC management including diagnostics, perioperative care, pathology, and follow-up. Most commonly applied models include neural networks, random forest, support vector machines, and regression. However, for implementation in daily practice, health care providers need to develop a basic understanding and establish interdisciplinary collaborations in order to standardize datasets, define meaningful endpoints, and unify interpretation

The investigation of dangerous geological processes resulting in land subsidence while designing the main gas pipeline in South Yakutia

The number of gas main accidents has increased recently due to dangerous geological processes in underdeveloped areas located in difficult geological conditions. The paper analyses land subsidence caused by karst and thermokarst processes in the right of way, reveals the assessment criteria for geological hazards and creates zoning schemes considering the levels of karst and thermorkarst hazards

Pain management in the neonatal piglet during routine management procedures. Part 2:Grading the quality of evidence and the strength of recommendations

Piglets reared in swine production in the USA undergo painful procedures that include castration, tail docking, teeth clipping, and identification with ear notching or tagging. These procedures are usually performed without pain mitigation. The objective of this project was to develop recommendations for pain mitigation in 1- to 28-day-old piglets undergoing these procedures. The National Pork Board funded project to develop recommendations for pain mitigation in piglets. Recommendation development followed a defined multi-step process that included an evidence summary and estimates of the efficacies of interventions. The results of a systematic review of the interventions were reported in a companion paper. This manuscript describes the recommendation development process and the final recommendations. Recommendations were developed for three interventions (CO2/O2 general anesthesia, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and lidocaine) for use during castration. The ability to make strong recommendations was limited by low-quality evidence and strong certainty about variation in stakeholder values and preferences. The panel strongly recommended against the use of a CO2/O2 general anesthesia mixture, weakly recommended for the use of NSAIDs and weakly recommended against the use of lidocaine for pain mitigation during castration of 1- to 28-day-old piglets

Laser-directed hierarchical assembly of liquid crystal defects and control of optical phase singularities

Topological defect lines are ubiquitous and important in a wide variety of fascinating phenomena and theories in many fields ranging from materials science to early-universe cosmology, and to engineering of laser beams. However, they are typically hard to control in a reliable manner. Here we describe facile erasable “optical drawing” of self-assembled defect clusters in liquid crystals. These quadrupolar defect clusters, stabilized by the medium's chirality and the tendency to form twisted configurations, are shaped into arbitrary two-dimensional patterns, including reconfigurable phase gratings capable of generating and controlling optical phase singularities in laser beams. Our findings bridge the studies of defects in condensed matter physics and optics and may enable applications in data storage, singular optics, displays, electro-optic devices, diffraction gratings, as well as in both optically- and electrically-addressed pixel-free spatial light modulators