Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of burns in adults: a 6-year retrospective study in a major burn center in Suzhou, China

BackgroundBurns are a prevalent form of unintentional injury and a significant public health concern in developing countries. We aimed to investigate the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of adult burn patients at a major center in Eastern China.MethodsThis 6-year retrospective study analyzed patients with varying degrees of burns between January 2017 and December 2022 at the Suzhou Burns and Trauma Center. The study extracted demographic, clinical, and epidemiological data from electronic medical records for analysis.ResultsThe study included 3,258 adult patients, of which 64.3% were male. The largest age group affected 30–59-year-old adults (63.04%). Scalds were the leading cause of burns (1,346, 41.31%), followed by flames (1,271, 39.01%). The majority of burn hospitalizations were those with moderate burns (1791, 54.97%). The morbidity rate was low at 0.68%, while mortality was strongly associated with age, etiology, and total body surface area. Patients with certain types of burns, such as explosions, hot crush injuries, and electric burns had more operations, longer lengths of hospital stay, and higher costs compared to those with scalds and flame injuries.ConclusionDifferent prevention strategies should be formulated according to different etiologies, ages, and genders

H&TECH

ABSTRACT Crystal structures, electronic structures, thermal stability and dehydrogenation energy of Mg-based hydrogen storage materials were investigated via the first-principle calculations, and the calculations of bonding properties, electronic structure, band structure, density of state, charge density difference and electronic structure of Mg2Ni alloy were examined. Namely, the work mainly took account of doping metal elements Ti to replace Mg and Ni elements in different proportions portion, and then form different crystals, including Mg12Ni6, Mg1.5NiTiMg(2)1/2, Mg5/3NiTiMg(2)1/3, Mg2NiH4, Mg2Ni3/4Ti1/4H4 aimed to improve the hydrogen storage characteristics of Mg-based metal hydrides. The results manifested Ti elements may hold the center position of octahedral sites, and the investigation further indicated that the hydrogen release performance and the thermal stability of hydrogen became lower through calculating absorption reaction enthalpy. Additionally, the metals Ti with high electronegativity interstitially exhibit useful effects on the characteristics of Mg-based hydrogen storage, which is beneficial to find the impact of the mechanism in terms of the electronic structure, and provide the theoretical support for designing new hydrogen storage materials

Effect of Nano Alumina on the Properties of Fluorinated Polyurethane

This article selects studies on the preparation of fluorinated polyurethane-nano-alumina composite coating materials, and analyzes the anti-wear, water resistantance, and surface microstructure. Attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) shows that the polyurethane synthesized in this study does not contain hydrophilic –CH2OH groups. The cavitation wear test depicts that the actual cavitation amount C of the Al2O3-FPU (4) (fluorinated polyurethane) coating is 0.9035 × 10−3 kg, and the anti-wear ability increases by 61.9% compared with FPU-0.5. The water-resistant test shows that the contact angle of water droplets on the surface of the coating increase from 95.3° of FPU-0.5 to 123.1° of Al2O3-FPU (4), and the water absorption decreases from 2.52% to 1.04%. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observation confirms that alumina particles can protrude on the coating surface and resist strong wear, while the C-F chain with high bond energy at the near-surface exhibits high strength and water resistance, which prevents wear from spreading deep into the coating. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) results show that the Tg(HS) value of the hard segment phase decreases with higher external force. Notably, when the coating is subjected to erosion, which enhances the crystallinity of the hard segment phase, the tensile strength of the hard segment phase of the coating surface is improved, which supports the wear resistance. Herein, we show that the addition of nano-alumina to fluorinated polyurethanes can control high water and abrasion resistance

Seasonal dynamics of fallow and cropping lands in the broadacre cropping region of Australia

Fallowing is an important strategy for enhancing soil health, water harvesting and crop yields, thus improving sustainability and reducing production risks in dryland farming systems in Australia. However, accurate data regarding the location, frequency, extent, and duration of fallow land is not readily available at high spatio-temporal resolutions before and during a cropping season. As a result, continental maps depicting seasonal dynamics of fallow and cropping lands and their responses to climate change and human activities remain missing. This study set out to develop an automated approach to discriminate fallow areas from cropping areas within Australian broadacre cropping region. This was done by applying a mathematical algorithm of turning point detection technique to a curve fitted vegetation index time series from 2016 to 2022, derived from high spatial (10 m) and temporal (5-days) resolution Sentinel-2 data. Specifically, we aimed to derive: (i) 5-day revisit fallow/cropping map layers; (ii) key attributes of the fallow and cropping periods (e.g., start, end, duration); (iii) cropping intensity and area. The proposed approach yielded a high and significant overall accuracy, surpassing 92% with substantial balanced accuracy (>0.9) against >3000 fields for individual winter and summer seasons across Australia. In addition, this study's temporal and geographical outputs, encompassing seasonal attributes, cropping intensity and cropping areas, robustly enhanced the understanding of seasonal cropping dynamics and historical shifts in dryland farming practices. Findings derived from this analysis aligned well with extreme climatic events and changes in crop activities adopted in response to such events. Future research will aim to extract key seasonal dynamics attributes influenced by cropping practices, enhancing the conversion of high-resolution earth observation data into actionable industry knowledge

Controllable Technology for Thermal Expansion Coefficient of Commercial Materials for Solid Oxide Electrolytic Cells

Solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC) industrialization has been developing for many years. Commercial materials such as 8 mol% Y2O3-stabilized zirconia (YSZ), Gd0.1Ce0.9O1.95 (GDC), La0.6Sr0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3−δ (LSCF), La0.6Sr0.4CoO3−δ (LSC), etc., have been used for many years, but the problem of mismatched thermal expansion coefficients of various materials between cells has not been fundamentally solved, which affects the lifetime of SOECs and restricts their industry development. Currently, various solutions have been reported, such as element doping, manufacturing defects, and introducing negative thermal expansion coefficient materials. To promote the development of the SOEC industry, a direct treatment method for commercial materials—quenching and doping—is reported to achieve the controllable preparation of the thermal expansion coefficient of commercial materials. The quenching process only involves the micro-treatment of raw materials and does not have any negative impact on preparation processes such as powder slurry and sintering. It is a simple, low-cost, and universal research strategy to achieve the controllable preparation of the thermal expansion coefficient of the commercial material La0.6Sr0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3−δ (LSCF) through a quenching process by doping elements and increasing oxygen vacancies in the material. Commercial LSCF materials are heated to 800 °C in a muffle furnace, quickly removed, and cooled and quenched in 3.4 mol/L of prepared Y(NO3)3. The thermal expansion coefficient of the treated material can be reduced to 13.6 × 10−6 K−1, and the blank sample is 14.1 × 10−6 K−1. In the future, it may be possible to use the quenching process to select appropriate doping elements in order to achieve similar thermal expansion coefficients in SOECs

Prevalence, Causes, and Risk Factors of Presenting Visual Impairment and Presenting Blindness in Adults Presenting to an Examination Center in Suzhou, China

Purpose. To evaluate the prevalence, causes, and risk factors of presenting visual impairment (PVI) and presenting blindness among adults in Suzhou, China. Methods. A total of 43927 subjects were included in this cross-sectional study. Each subject underwent ophthalmic examinations, including presenting visual acuity (PVA), intraocular pressure (IOP), slit-lamp examination, and fundus examination under the small pupils of each eye. Results. Using the World Health Organization (WHO) definition, the prevalence of bilateral PVI, bilateral presenting blindness, monocular PVI, and monocular presenting blindness was 1.59% (95% CI, 1.51–1.67), 0.002% (95% CI, 0.0019–0.0021), 3.87% (95% CI, 3.68–4.06), and 0.19% (95% CI, 0.18–0.20), respectively. Using the United States (US) definition, the prevalence of bilateral PVI, bilateral presenting blindness, monocular PVI, and monocular presenting blindness was 5.83% (95% CI, 5.54–6.12), 0.04% (95% CI, 0.038–0.042), 7.43% (95% CI, 7.06–7.80), and 0.45% (95% CI, 0.43–0.47), respectively. The prevalence of PVI was higher in females (WHO criteria, 2.06%, 95% CI, 1.96–2.16; US criteria, 7.27%, 95% CI, 6.91–7.63) than in males (WHO criteria, 1.2%, 95 CI%, 1.14–1.26; US criteria, 4.65%, 95% CI, 4.42–4.89). The leading cause of PVI is an uncorrected refractive error, followed by cataracts and age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Multivariate analysis proved that the prevalence of visual impairment (PVA, better eye, WHO criteria) increased significantly with older age, higher mean arterial pressure (MAP), higher globulin level, and higher fasting blood glucose (FBG). In addition, it also increased significantly with lower hemoglobin, a lower body mass index (BMI), and a lower arterial stiffness index. In this study, serum creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, uric acid, triglycerides, and the systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) showed no association with visual impairment. Conclusion. The leading causes of PVI in Suzhou were uncorrected refractive error and cataracts. The prevalence of PVI increased with females, older age, higher MAP, higher FBG, higher globulin, lower hemoglobin, lower BMI, and lower arterial stiffness index

Engineering homologous platelet-rich plasma, platelet-rich plasma-derived exosomes, and mesenchymal stem cell-derived exosomes-based dual-crosslinked hydrogels as bioactive diabetic wound dressings

The management of diabetic wounds remains a critical therapeutic challenge. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) gel, PRP-derived exosomes (PRP-Exos), and mesenchymal stem cell-derived exosomes (MSC-Exos) have demonstrated therapeutic potential in wound treatment. Unfortunately, their poor mechanical properties, the short half-lives of growth factors (GFs), and the burst release of GFs and exosomes have limited their clinical applications. Furthermore, proteases in diabetic wounds degrade GFs, which hampers wound repair. Silk fibroin is an enzyme-immobilization biomaterial that could protect GFs from proteases. Herein, we developed novel dual-crosslinked hydrogels based on silk protein (SP) (sericin and fibroin), including SP@PRP, SP@MSC-Exos, and SP@PRP-Exos, to promote diabetic wound healing synergistically. SP@PRP was prepared from PRP and SP using calcium gluconate/thrombin as agonist, while SP@PRP-Exos and SP@MSC-Exos were derived from exosomes and SP with genipin as crosslinker. SP provided improved mechanical properties and enabled the sustained release of GFs and exosomes, thereby overcoming the limitations of PRP and exosomes in wound healing. The dual-crosslinked hydrogels displayed shear-induced thinning, self-healing, and eradication of microbial biofilms in a bone-mimicking environment. In vivo, the dual-crosslinked hydrogels contributed to faster diabetic wound healing than PRP and SP by upregulating GFs expression, down-regulating matrix metalloproteinase-9 expression, and by promoting an anti-NETotic effect, angiogenesis, and re-epithelialization. Hence, these dual-crosslinked hydrogels have the potential to be translated into a new generation of diabetic wound dressings