Complication Rates and Variability in Gastrojejunostomy Tube Usage in Infants and Children.

Background: Gastrojejunostomy tube (GJT) placement is commonly performed for enteral access and post-pyloric feeding in children with gastric feeding intolerance. Prior studies have suggested the risk of surgical complications is elevated in infants compared to older children. We aim to characterize GJT usage in children and investigate the risk factors for postoperative complications through two national databases.

Utility of chest x-ray for tracheostomy tube placement in pediatric patients.

Objective: To evaluate the utility of ordering chest x-rays after pediatric tracheostomy tube placement in identifying acute, post-operative complications and how it impacts clinical decision-making.

Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, we identified tracheostomies performed in 139 pediatric patients through CPT codes over a 5-year period from 2013 to 2018. Manual chart review was performed for demographic and clinical characteristics, pre-procedure and post-procedure chest x-ray interpretations, and the presence of complications.

Tethered platelet capture provides a mechanism for restricting circulating platelet activation to the wound site.

Background: Puncture wounding is a longstanding challenge to human health for which understanding is limited, in part, by a lack of detailed morphological data on how the circulating platelet capture to the vessel matrix leads to sustained, self-limiting platelet accumulation.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to produce a paradigm for self-limiting thrombus growth in a mouse jugular vein model.

Methods: Data mining of advanced electron microscopy images was performed from authors' laboratories.

Massively Parallel Selection of NanoCluster Beacons.

NanoCluster Beacons (NCBs) are multicolor silver nanocluster probes whose fluorescence can be activated or tuned by a proximal DNA strand called the activator. While a single-nucleotide difference in a pair of activators can lead to drastically different activation outcomes, termed polar opposite twins (POTs), it is difficult to discover new POT-NCBs using the conventional low-throughput characterization approaches. Here, a high-throughput selection method is reported that takes advantage of repurposed next-generation-sequencing chips to screen the activation fluorescence of ≈40 000 activator sequences.

Insights into the Mechanical Properties of Ultrathin Perfluoropolyether-Silane Coatings.

Ultrathin perfluoropolyether-silane (PFPE-silane) films offer excellent functionality as antifingerprint coatings for display touchscreens due to their oleophobic, hydrophobic, and good adhesion properties. During smartphone use, PFPE-silane coatings undergo many abrasion cycles which limit the coating lifetime, so a better understanding of how to optimize the film structure for improved mechanical durability is desired. However, the hydrophobic and ultrathin (1-10 nm) nature of PFPE-silane films renders them very difficult to experimentally characterize.

Venous puncture wound hemostasis results in a vaulted thrombus structured by locally nucleated platelet aggregates.

Primary hemostasis results in a platelet-rich thrombus that has long been assumed to form a solid plug. Unexpectedly, our 3-dimensional (3D) electron microscopy of mouse jugular vein puncture wounds revealed that the resulting thrombi were structured about localized, nucleated platelet aggregates, pedestals and columns, that produced a vaulted thrombus capped by extravascular platelet adherence. Pedestal and column surfaces were lined by procoagulant platelets.

Convolutional neural networks to automate the screening of malaria in low-resource countries.

Malaria is an infectious disease caused by parasites, transmitted through mosquito bites. Symptoms include fever, headache, and vomiting, and in severe cases, seizures and coma. The World Health Organization reports that there were 228 million cases and 405,000 deaths in 2018, with Africa representing 93% of total cases and 94% of total deaths.

Fully stretchable active-matrix organic light-emitting electrochemical cell array.

Intrinsically and fully stretchable active-matrix-driven displays are an important element to skin electronics that can be applied to many emerging fields, such as wearable electronics, consumer electronics and biomedical devices. Here, we show for the first time a fully stretchable active-matrix-driven organic light-emitting electrochemical cell array. Briefly, it is comprised of a stretchable light-emitting electrochemical cell array driven by a solution-processed, vertically integrated stretchable organic thin-film transistor active-matrix, which is enabled by the development of chemically-orthogonal and intrinsically stretchable dielectric materials.

Open-Air Plasma-Deposited Multilayer Thin-Film Moisture Barriers.

Emerging moisture sensitive devices require robust encapsulation strategies to inhibit water ingress and prevent premature failure. A scalable, open-air plasma process has been developed to deposit alternating layers of conformal organosilicate and dense SiO thin-film barriers to prevent moisture ingress. The in situ low-temperature process is suitable for direct deposition on thermally sensitive devices and is compatible with flexible polymeric substrates.

A review of principles in design and usability testing of tactile technology for individuals with visual impairments.

To lay the groundwork for devising, improving, and implementing new technologies to meet the needs of individuals with visual impairments, a systematic literature review was conducted to: a) describe hardware platforms used in assistive devices, b) identify their various applications, and c) summarize practices in user testing conducted with these devices. A search in relevant EBSCO databases for articles published between 1980 and 2014 with terminology related to visual impairment, technology, and tactile sensory adaptation yielded 62 articles that met the inclusion criteria for final review. It was found that while earlier hardware development focused on pin matrices, the emphasis then shifted toward force feedback haptics and accessible touch screens.

Solid Electrolyte Lithium Phosphous Oxynitride as a Protective Nanocladding Layer for 3D High-Capacity Conversion Electrodes.

Materials that undergo conversion reactions to form different materials upon lithiation typically offer high specific capacity for energy storage applications such as Li ion batteries. However, since the reaction products often involve complex mixtures of electrically insulating and conducting particles and significant changes in volume and phase, the reversibility of conversion reactions is poor, preventing their use in rechargeable (secondary) batteries. In this paper, we fabricate and protect 3D conversion electrodes by first coating multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) with a model conversion material, RuO2, and subsequently protecting them with conformal thin-film lithium phosphous oxynitride (LiPON), a well-known solid-state electrolyte.

Experimental and computational investigations of the interactions between model organic compounds and subsequent membrane fouling.

The formation of aggregates of sodium alginate and bovine serum albumin (BSA) (as representative biopolymers) with humic acid were detected by Liquid Chromatography (LC) UV254 response in the biopolymer region for mixture solutions. BSA interaction with humic acid showed that aggregation occurred both in the presence and absence of calcium, suggesting that multivalent ions did not play a part in the aggregation process. Similar analyses of the alginate interaction with humic acid also showed a positive interaction, but only in the presence of calcium ions.

Effect of IX dosing on polypropylene and PVDF membrane fouling control.

The performance of ion exchange (IX) resin for organics removal from wastewater was assessed using advanced characterisation techniques for varying doses of IX. Organic characterisation using liquid chromatography with a photodiode array (PDA) and fluorescence spectroscopy (Method A), and UV254, organic carbon and organic nitrogen detectors (Method B), was undertaken on wastewater before and after magnetic IX treatment. Results showed partial removal of the biopolymer fraction at high IX doses.

Characterisation of organic matter in IX and PACl treated wastewater in relation to the fouling of a hydrophobic polypropylene membrane.

Extensive organic characterisation of a wastewater using liquid chromatography with a photodiode array and fluorescence spectroscopy (Method A), and UV(254) and organic carbon detector (Method B) was undertaken, as well as with fluorescence excitation emission spectroscopy (EEM). Characterisation was performed on the wastewater before and after ion exchange (IX) treatment and polyaluminium chlorohydrate (PACl) coagulation, and following microfiltration of the wastewater and pre-treated wastewaters. Characterisation by EEM was unable to detect biopolymers within the humic rich wastewaters and was not subsequently used to characterise the MF permeates.