Conversion of cardiac bypass into an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation circuit: a case from Pakistan

A 35 days old neonate with d-loop transposition of great arteries, underwent an arterial switch operation following which he developed hypotension attributed to left ventricular failure. During cardiopulmonary resuscitation decision was made to place him on cardiac bypass again. Due to limited resources and unavailability of a specialized extracorporeal membrane oxygenator machine, the CPB was modified and converted an ECMO. The neonate was successfully decannulated after 72 hours and discharged home after 3 weeks of the operation without any sequel. ECMO is a viable option in developing countries and may help in improving the outcome especially in neonatal congenital heart disease

Life cycle assessment of a novel biomass-based aerogel material for building insulation

There is a growing interest in accounting for the environmental externalities and the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with the building industry. This study examines the life cycle environmental impacts of a novel biomass-based aerogel building material manufactured via freeze drying method comprising of three process stages, i.e., gel preparation, aging and freeze drying. The main focus of this study is to evaluate the contribution of each stage to the environmental load using life cycle assessment tool, figure out the main stage that has the greatest impact on the environment and propose some potential improvements by critical analysis of the production process. Life cycle impact scores are quantified as per functional unit of 1 m3 biomass-based aerogel for six midpoint impact categories (climate change potential, non-renewable energy potential, stratospheric ozone depletion, terrestrial acidification potential, terrestrial ecotoxicity and aquatic ecotoxicity). The respective LCA scores for these categories are depicted as 6.76E+02 kg CO2 eq., 1.65E+04 MJ, 4.21E-04 kg CFC-11 eq., 8.57E+00 kg SO2 eq., 2.07E+03 kg TEG soil and 9.87E+03 kg TEG. While comparing individual process substages, the freeze drying stage of the manufacturing process presents the highest overall impact contribution. Comparative environmental scoring with other aerogel types further reveals that the biomass-based aerogels are environmentally promising alternatives. Since the production is done at a laboratory scale, these results can be regarded as a conservative estimate, however they can act as steppingstones for process optimization for commercial scale manufacturing