247 research outputs found
A preliminary study of the effect of closed incision management with negative pressure wound therapy over high-risk incisions
Background
Certain postoperative wounds are recognised to be associated with more complications than others and may be termed high-risk. Wound healing can be particularly challenging following high-energy trauma where wound necrosis and infection rates are high. Surgical incision for joint arthrodesis can also be considered high-risk as it requires extensive and invasive surgery and postoperative distal limb swelling and wound dehiscence are common. Recent human literature has investigated the use of negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) over high-risk closed surgical incisions and beneficial effects have been noted including decreased drainage, decreased dehiscence and decreased infection rates. In a randomised, controlled study twenty cases undergoing distal limb high-energy fracture stabilisation or arthrodesis were randomised to NPWT or control groups. All cases had a modified Robert-Jones dressing applied for 72 h postoperatively and NPWT was applied for 24 h in the NPWT group. Morphometric assessment of limb circumference was performed at six sites preoperatively, 24 and 72 h postoperatively. Wound discharge was assessed at 24 and 72 h. Postoperative analgesia protocol was standardised and a Glasgow Composite Measure Pain Score (GCPS) carried out at 24, 48 and 72 h. Complications were noted and differences between groups were assessed.
Results
Percentage change in limb circumference between preoperative and 24 and 72 h postoperative measurements was significantly less at all sites for the NPWT group with exception of the joint proximal to the surgical site and the centre of the operated bone at 72 h. Median discharge score was lower in the NPWT group than the control group at 24 h. No significant differences in GCPS or complication rates were noted.
Conclusions
Digital swelling and wound discharge were reduced when NPWT was employed for closed incision management. Larger studies are required to evaluate whether this will result in reduced discomfort and complication rates postoperatively
Extragalactic Results from the Infrared Space Observatory
More than a decade ago the IRAS satellite opened the realm of external
galaxies for studies in the 10 to 100 micron band and discovered emission from
tens of thousands of normal and active galaxies. With the 1995-1998 mission of
the Infrared Space Observatory the next major steps in extragalactic infrared
astronomy became possible: detailed imaging, spectroscopy and
spectro-photometry of many galaxies detected by IRAS, as well as deep surveys
in the mid- and far- IR. The spectroscopic data reveal a wealth of detail about
the nature of the energy source(s) and about the physical conditions in
galaxies. ISO's surveys for the first time explore the infrared emission of
distant, high-redshift galaxies. ISO's main theme in extragalactic astronomy is
the role of star formation in the activity and evolution of galaxies.Comment: 106 pages, including 17 figures. Ann.Rev.Astron.Astrophys. (in
press), a gzip'd pdf file (667kB) is also available at
http://www.mpe.mpg.de/www_ir/preprint/annrev2000.pdf.g
X-ray Absorption and Reflection in Active Galactic Nuclei
X-ray spectroscopy offers an opportunity to study the complex mixture of
emitting and absorbing components in the circumnuclear regions of active
galactic nuclei, and to learn about the accretion process that fuels AGN and
the feedback of material to their host galaxies. We describe the spectral
signatures that may be studied and review the X-ray spectra and spectral
variability of active galaxies, concentrating on progress from recent Chandra,
XMM-Newton and Suzaku data for local type 1 AGN. We describe the evidence for
absorption covering a wide range of column densities, ionization and dynamics,
and discuss the growing evidence for partial-covering absorption from data at
energies > 10 keV. Such absorption can also explain the observed X-ray spectral
curvature and variability in AGN at lower energies and is likely an important
factor in shaping the observed properties of this class of source.
Consideration of self-consistent models for local AGN indicates that X-ray
spectra likely comprise a combination of absorption and reflection effects from
material originating within a few light days of the black hole as well as on
larger scales. It is likely that AGN X-ray spectra may be strongly affected by
the presence of disk-wind outflows that are expected in systems with high
accretion rates, and we describe models that attempt to predict the effects of
radiative transfer through such winds, and discuss the prospects for new data
to test and address these ideas.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astronomy and Astrophysics Review. 58
pages, 9 figures. V2 has fixed an error in footnote
Plasma and Muscle Myostatin in Relation to Type 2 Diabetes
OBJECTIVE: Myostatin is a secreted growth factor expressed in skeletal muscle tissue, which negatively regulates skeletal muscle mass. Recent animal studies suggest a role for myostatin in insulin resistance. We evaluated the possible metabolic role of myostatin in patients with type 2 diabetes and healthy controls. DESIGN: 76 patients with type 2 diabetes and 92 control subjects were included in the study. They were matched for age, gender and BMI. Plasma samples and biopsies from the vastus lateralis muscle were obtained to assess plasma myostatin and expression of myostatin in skeletal muscle. RESULTS: Patients with type 2 diabetes had higher fasting glucose (8.9 versus 5.1 mmol/L, P<0.001), plasma insulin (68.2 versus 47.2 pmol/L, P<0.002) and HOMA2-IR (1.6 versus 0.9, P<0.0001) when compared to controls. Patients with type 2 diabetes had 1.4 (P<0.01) higher levels of muscle myostatin mRNA content than the control subjects. Plasma myostatin concentrations did not differ between patients with type 2 diabetes and controls. In healthy controls, muscle myostatin mRNA correlated with HOMA2-IR (r = 0.30, P<0.01), plasma IL-6 (r = 0.34, P<0.05) and VO2 max (r = -0.26, P<0.05), however, no correlations were observed in patients with type 2 diabetes. CONCLUSIONS: This study supports the idea that myostatin may have a negative effect on metabolism. However, the metabolic effect of myostatin appears to be overruled by other factors in patients with type 2 diabetes
Double Diffraction Dissociation at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider
We present results from a measurement of double diffraction dissociation in
collisions at the Fermilab Tevatron collider. The production cross
section for events with a central pseudorapidity gap of width
(overlapping ) is found to be [] at [630]
GeV. Our results are compared with previous measurements and with predictions
based on Regge theory and factorization.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, using RevTeX. Submitted to Physical Review
Letter
Search for Gluinos and Scalar Quarks in Collisions at TeV using the Missing Energy plus Multijets Signature
We have performed a search for gluinos (\gls) and squarks (\sq) in a data
sample of 84 pb of \ppb collisions at = 1.8 TeV, recorded by
the Collider Detector at Fermilab, by investigating the final state of large
missing transverse energy and 3 or more jets, a characteristic signature in
R-parity-conserving supersymmetric models. The analysis has been performed
`blind', in that the inspection of the signal region is made only after the
predictions from Standard Model backgrounds have been calculated. Comparing the
data with predictions of constrained supersymmetric models, we exclude gluino
masses below 195 \gev (95% C.L.), independent of the squark mass. For the case
\msq \approx \mgls, gluino masses below 300 \gev are excluded.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure
Diffractive Dijet Production at sqrt(s)=630 and 1800 GeV at the Fermilab Tevatron
We report a measurement of the diffractive structure function of
the antiproton obtained from a study of dijet events produced in association
with a leading antiproton in collisions at GeV at the
Fermilab Tevatron. The ratio of at GeV to
obtained from a similar measurement at GeV is compared with
expectations from QCD factorization and with theoretical predictions. We also
report a measurement of the (-Pomeron) and ( of parton in
Pomeron) dependence of at GeV. In the region
, GeV and , is
found to be of the form , which obeys
- factorization.Comment: LaTeX, 9 pages, Submitted to Phys. Rev. Letter
A Study of B0 -> J/psi K(*)0 pi+ pi- Decays with the Collider Detector at Fermilab
We report a study of the decays B0 -> J/psi K(*)0 pi+ pi-, which involve the
creation of a u u-bar or d d-bar quark pair in addition to a b-bar -> c-bar(c
s-bar) decay. The data sample consists of 110 1/pb of p p-bar collisions at
sqrt{s} = 1.8 TeV collected by the CDF detector at the Fermilab Tevatron
collider during 1992-1995. We measure the branching ratios to be BR(B0 -> J/psi
K*0 pi+ pi-) = (8.0 +- 2.2 +- 1.5) * 10^{-4} and BR(B0 -> J/psi K0 pi+ pi-) =
(1.1 +- 0.4 +- 0.2) * 10^{-3}. Contributions to these decays are seen from
psi(2S) K(*)0, J/psi K0 rho0, J/psi K*+ pi-, and J/psi K1(1270)
Search for lepton flavor violating decays of a heavy neutral particle in p-pbar collisions at root(s)=1.8 TeV
We report on a search for a high mass, narrow width particle that decays
directly to e+mu, e+tau, or mu+tau. We use approximately 110 pb^-1 of data
collected with the Collider Detector at Fermilab from 1992 to 1995. No evidence
of lepton flavor violating decays is found. Limits are set on the production
and decay of sneutrinos with R-parity violating interactions.Comment: Figure 2 fixed. Reference 4 fixed. Minor changes to tex
Search for Kaluza-Klein Graviton Emission in Collisions at TeV using the Missing Energy Signature
We report on a search for direct Kaluza-Klein graviton production in a data
sample of 84 of \ppb collisions at = 1.8 TeV, recorded
by the Collider Detector at Fermilab. We investigate the final state of large
missing transverse energy and one or two high energy jets. We compare the data
with the predictions from a -dimensional Kaluza-Klein scenario in which
gravity becomes strong at the TeV scale. At 95% confidence level (C.L.) for
=2, 4, and 6 we exclude an effective Planck scale below 1.0, 0.77, and 0.71
TeV, respectively.Comment: Submitted to PRL, 7 pages 4 figures/Revision includes 5 figure
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