Increasing the Use of Enteral Antibiotics in Hospitalized Children With Uncomplicated Infections.

Background: Route of administration is an important component of antimicrobial stewardship. Early transition from intravenous to enteral antibiotics in hospitalized children is associated with fewer catheter-related adverse events, as well as decreased costs and length of stay. Our aim was to increase the percentage of enteral antibiotic doses for hospital medicine patients with uncomplicated common bacterial infections (community-acquired pneumonia, skin and soft tissue infection, urinary tract infection, neck infection) from 50% to 80% in 6 months.

Quality Improvement to Reduce High-Flow Nasal Cannula Overuse in Children With Bronchiolitis.

Background: High-flow nasal cannula oxygen therapy (HFNC) is increasingly used to treat bronchiolitis. However, HFNC has not reduced time on supplemental oxygen, length of stay (LOS), or ICU admission. Our objective was to reduce HFNC use in children admitted for bronchiolitis from 41% to 20% over 2 years.

Femtosecond laser filament-fringes in fused silica.

Linear diffraction was used to modulate intensity distribution across the femtosecond laser beam to create quasi regular arrays of filaments in fused silica. A fringe type of filament distributions (filament-fringe) were formed that could be controlled and observed over a distance of several millimeters. The difference of supercontinuum (SC) emission between individual filaments was also observed.

Is there an increased risk of burns to Amish children?

The purpose of this study was to examine the incidence, causes, and demographics of burn injuries in Amish children, treated at a pediatric burn center located in close proximity to the Midwestern Amish country. After Institutional Review Board approval, we used our TRACS Burn Registry to identify burn injuries in Amish and non-Amish children. We then compared the groups formed by gender and culture.

Measuring the electric charge in cloud droplets by use of second-harmonic generation.

We report on the observation of second-harmonic generation (SHG) from electrically charged microdroplets while they are excited with femtosecond laser pulses. The intense SHG emission results from chi(3) coupling between two photons of the incident laser pulse and the electrostatic field induced by the surface charges. For Iinc= 2 x 10(12) W/cm2, we estimate the second-harmonic emission to be ISHG= 2.

White-light nanosource with directional emission.

We report the first observation of white-light emission from femtosecond laser-induced plasma in a water droplet. Such emission is not observed with water in a cell. The microdroplet acts as a lens, focusing the incident light to nanosized regions within itself and directing the emission from these regions primarily back toward the laser source.