Safety of flow-controlled ventilation with positive and negative end-expiratory pressure in a swine model of intracranial hypertension.

Background: Patients with brain damage often require mechanical ventilation. Although lung-protective ventilation is recommended, the application of increased positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) has been associated with elevated intracranial pressure (ICP) due to altered cerebral venous return. This study investigates the effects of flow-controlled ventilation (FCV) using negative end-expiratory pressures (NEEP), on cerebral hemodynamics in a swine model of intracranial hypertension.

Predicting deterioration in dengue using a low cost wearable for continuous clinical monitoring.

Close vital signs monitoring is crucial for the clinical management of patients with dengue. We investigated performance of a non-invasive wearable utilising photoplethysmography (PPG), to provide real-time risk prediction in hospitalised individuals. We performed a prospective observational clinical study in Vietnam between January 2020 and October 2022: 153 patients were included in analyses, providing 1353 h of PPG data.

Towards a machine-learning assisted non-invasive classification of dengue severity using wearable PPG data: a prospective clinical study.

Background: Dengue epidemics impose considerable strain on healthcare resources. Real-time continuous and non-invasive monitoring of patients admitted to the hospital could lead to improved care and outcomes. We evaluated the performance of a commercially available wearable (SmartCare) utilising photoplethysmography (PPG) to stratify clinical risk for a cohort of hospitalised patients with dengue in Vietnam.

Lead zirconate titanate ceramics with aligned crystallite grains.

The piezoelectric properties of lead zirconate titanate [Pb(Zr,Ti)O or PZT] ceramics could be enhanced by fabricating textured ceramics that would align the crystal grains along specific orientations. We present a seed-passivated texturing process to fabricate textured PZT ceramics by using newly developed Ba(Zr,Ti)O microplatelet templates. This process not only ensures the template-induced grain growth in titanium-rich PZT layers but also facilitates desired composition through interlayer diffusion of zirconium and titanium.

Mechanically Activated Solid-State Radical Polymerization and Cross-Linking via Piezocatalysis.

Piezocatalysis offers a means to transduce mechanical energy into chemical potential, harnessing physical force to drive redox reactions. Working in the solid state, we show here that piezoelectric BaTiO nanoparticles can transduce mechanical load into a flux of reactive radical species capable of initiating solid state free radical polymerization. Activation of a BaTiO powder by ball milling, striking with a hammer, or repeated compressive loading generates highly reactive hydroxyl radicals (⋅OH), which readily initiate radical chain growth and crosslinking of solid acrylamide, acrylate, methacrylate and styrenic monomers.

Magnetic prestressing for a d-mode single crystal ultrasonic transducer.

This work describes a 35.9 kHz ultrasonic transducer that incorporates a magnetic arrangement to apply a static-compressive prestress to a d-mode relaxor ferroelectric single crystal drive-element. The magnetic arrangement produces a 22.

Management of Maxillofacial Gunshot Injuries With Emphasis on Damage Control Surgery During the Yemen Civil War. Review of 173 Victims From a Level 1 Trauma Hospital in Najran, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Study Design: Studies on the concept of Damage Control Surgery (DCS) in the management of firearm injuries to the oral and maxillofacial region are still scarce, hence the basis for the current study.

Objectives: The objectives of the current study is to share our experience in the management of maxillofacial gunshot injuries with emphasis on DCS and early definitive surgery.

Methods: This was a retrospective study of combatant Yemeni patients with maxillofacial injuries who were transferred across the border from Yemen to Najran, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

A Deep Learning Framework for Automatic Meal Detection and Estimation in Artificial Pancreas Systems.

Current artificial pancreas (AP) systems are hybrid closed-loop systems that require manual meal announcements to manage postprandial glucose control effectively. This poses a cognitive burden and challenge to users with T1D since this relies on frequent user engagement to maintain tight glucose control. In order to move towards fully automated closed-loop glucose control, we propose an algorithm based on a deep learning framework that performs multitask quantile regression, for both meal detection and carbohydrate estimation.

A Multitask Learning Approach to Personalized Blood Glucose Prediction.

Blood glucose prediction algorithms are key tools in the development of decision support systems and closed-loop insulin delivery systems for blood glucose control in diabetes. Deep learning models have provided leading results among machine learning algorithms to date in glucose prediction. However these models typically require large amounts of data to obtain best personalised glucose prediction results.

A mask-based diagnostic platform for point-of-care screening of Covid-19.

Diagnostics of SARS-CoV-2 infection using real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) on nasopharyngeal swabs is now well-established, with saliva-based testing being lately more widely implemented for being more adapted for self-testing approaches. In this study, we introduce a different concept based on exhaled breath condensate (EBC), readily collected by a mask-based sampling device, and detection with an electrochemical biosensor with a modular architecture that enables fast and specific detection and quantification of COVID-19. The face mask forms an exhaled breath vapor containment volume to hold the exhaled breath vapor in proximity to the EBC collector to enable a condensate-forming surface, cooled by a thermal mass, to coalesce the exhaled breath into a 200-500 μL fluid sample in 2 min.

Ultrahigh specific strength in a magnesium alloy strengthened by spinodal decomposition.

Strengthening of magnesium (Mg) is known to occur through dislocation accumulation, grain refinement, deformation twinning, and texture control or dislocation pinning by solute atoms or nano-sized precipitates. These modes generate yield strengths comparable to other engineering alloys such as certain grades of aluminum but below that of high-strength aluminum and titanium alloys and steels. Here, we report a spinodal strengthened ultralightweight Mg alloy with specific yield strengths surpassing almost every other engineering alloy.

Maxillofacial Bone Fractures in Children and Adolescents: Overview of 247 Cases in a Major Referral Hospital, Najran, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Study Design: A retrospective study investigating maxillofacial bone fractures in the pediatric and adolescent population.

Objective: The aim of this study was to present our experience in the management of pediatric facial bone fractures.

Methods: This was a retrospective study of maxillofacial bone fractures in children and adolescents between the ages <1 year and 19 years in a Saudi Arabian subpopulation.

X-ray diffraction investigation of electric-field-induced switching in a hybrid improper ferroelectric.

Improper ferroelectric mechanisms are increasingly under investigation for their potential to expand the current catalogue of functional materials whilst promoting couplings between ferroelectricity and other technologically desirable properties such as ferromagnetism. This work presents the results of an synchrotron X-ray diffraction experiment performed on samples of CaSrTiO in an effort to elucidate the mechanism of hybrid improper ferroelectric switching in this compound. By simultaneously applying an electric field and recording diffraction patterns, shifts in the intensity of superstructure peaks consistent with one of the switching mechanisms proposed by Nowadnick & Fennie [, (2016), , 104105] are observed.

Experience with Airway Management and Sequencing of Repair of Panfacial Fractures: A Single Tertiary Healthcare Appraisal in Najran, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia - A Retrospective Study.

Introduction: Special cooperation is required among surgeons and anesthetists in airway management during repair of panfacial fractures, due to problems of shared airway and occlusion. Several methods have been proposed for airway management and sequencing of repair of panfacial fractures. The main objective of the current study was to share our experience in the airway management and sequencing of repair of panfacial fractures.

Ultra-large electric field-induced strain in potassium sodium niobate crystals.

Electromechanical coupling in piezoelectric materials allows direct conversion of electrical energy into mechanical energy and vice versa. Here, we demonstrate lead-free (K Na )NbO single crystals with an ultrahigh large-signal piezoelectric coefficient * of 9000 pm V, which is superior to the highest value reported in state-of-the-art lead-based single crystals (~2500 pm V). The enhanced electromechanical properties in our crystals are realized by an engineered compositional gradient in the as-grown crystal, allowing notable reversible non-180° domain wall motion.

Bioanalytical Assessment of Plasma Concentrations of Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme II Inhibitors and Angiotensin Receptor Blockers: A Pilot Study Among Patients Hospitalized With Acute Heart Failure.

Background: Although angiotensin-converting enzyme II inhibitors (ACEIs) and angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) improve chronic heart failure (HF) outcomes, their potential harms and benefits in acute HF (AHF) is less clear.

Study Question: We explored the relationship between ACEI or ARB plasma concentrations among patients with AHF with in-hospital change in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR).

Data Sources And Study Design: From August 2016-June 2017, patients with AHF prescribed an outpatient ACEI or ARB were enrolled before AHF treatment.

The Bio-inspired Artificial Pancreas for Type 1 Diabetes Control in the Home: System Architecture and Preliminary Results.

Background: Artificial pancreas (AP) technology has been proven to improve glucose and patient-centered outcomes for people with type 1 diabetes (T1D). Several approaches to implement the AP have been described, clinically evaluated, and in one case, commercialized. However, none of these approaches has shown a clear superiority with respect to others.

Revealing phase boundaries by weighted parametric structural refinement.

Parametric Rietveld refinement from powder diffraction data has been utilized in a variety of situations to understand structural phase transitions of materials in situ. However, when analysing data from lower-resolution two-dimensional detectors or from samples with overlapping Bragg peaks, such transitions become difficult to observe. In this study, a weighted parametric method is demonstrated whereby the scale factor is restrained via an inverse tan function, making the phase boundary composition a refinable parameter.

Convolutional Recurrent Neural Networks for Glucose Prediction.

Control of blood glucose is essential for diabetes management. Current digital therapeutic approaches for subjects with type 1 diabetes mellitus such as the artificial pancreas and insulin bolus calculators leverage machine learning techniques for predicting subcutaneous glucose for improved control. Deep learning has recently been applied in healthcare and medical research to achieve state-of-the-art results in a range of tasks including disease diagnosis, and patient state prediction among others.

VU0810464, a non-urea G protein-gated inwardly rectifying K (K 3/GIRK) channel activator, exhibits enhanced selectivity for neuronal K 3 channels and reduces stress-induced hyperthermia in mice.

Background And Purpose: G protein-gated inwardly rectifying K (K 3) channels moderate the activity of excitable cells and have been implicated in neurological disorders and cardiac arrhythmias. Most neuronal K 3 channels consist of K 3.1 and K 3.

Frequency-dependent decoupling of domain-wall motion and lattice strain in bismuth ferrite.

Dynamics of domain walls are among the main features that control strain mechanisms in ferroic materials. Here, we demonstrate that the domain-wall-controlled piezoelectric behaviour in multiferroic BiFeO is distinct from that reported in classical ferroelectrics. In situ X-ray diffraction was used to separate the electric-field-induced lattice strain and strain due to displacements of non-180° domain walls in polycrystalline BiFeO over a wide frequency range.

Child Fatalities Due to Heroin/Fentanyl Exposure: What the Case History Missed.

This case report presents three unrelated children found to have heroin and/or fentanyl in their systems after general unknown systematic toxicological analysis (STA). The first case involves an 11-month-old male found unresponsive at their residence. The scene response suggested a potentially unsafe sleeping condition or a sudden unexplained infant death.

Ferroelectric Domain Continuity Over Grain Boundaries for Tetragonal, Orthorhombic, and Rhombohedral Crystal Symmetries.

Domain mobility is understood to have a significant impact on ferroelectric material properties. Grain boundaries are known to inhibit ferroelectric domain wall mobility, thereby limiting the properties of polycrystalline ferroelectrics. Continuous domains across grain boundaries can change the grain boundary impact on domain wall mobility.