Meningococcal septic shock in children: clinical and laboratory features, outcome, and development of a prognostic score

The clinical characteristics of and outcome for 75 children with meningococcal septic shock were studied. In addition, a new prognostic scoring system was developed. The median age of the patients was 3.2 years (range, 3 weeks to 17.9 years). The most common phenotype of Neisseria meningitidis was B:4:P1.4 (27%). A mortality rate of 21% was observed. Ten (17%) of the 59 survivors had serious sequelae. Calcium levels were significantly lower in patients with seizures. Disseminated intravascular coagulation occurred in 58% of the patients who were tested. Logistic regression analysis identified four laboratory features independently associated with mortality: serum C-reactive protein level, base excess, serum potassium level, and platelet count. These features were used to develop a novel scoring system with a predictive value for death and survival of 71% and 90%, respectively. The outcome was predicted correctly for 86% of the patients, which is higher than rates previously reported for scoring systems.     

Activation or frustration of anti-tumor responses by T-cell-based immune modulation

Cataleptogenic effects of haloperidol (1 mg/kg i.p.) in rats was antagonized by caffeine and theophylline (10-50 mg/kg i.p.), and by selective adenosine A2 receptor antagonist (3,7-dimethyl-1-propargylxanthine) (3 and 6 mg/kg i.p.). Selective A1-adenosine receptor antagonist (8-cyclopentyltheophylline) (1.5 and 3 mg/kg i.p.) was not able to reduce this effect of haloperidol. These results confirm the antagonistic interaction between adenosine A2A and dopamine D2 receptors, and suggest the involvement of adenosine A2 receptors in the mechanisms of catalepsy.     

The transition to adulthood for youth who have serious emotional disturbance: developmental transition and young adult outcomes

This article reviews studies that depict the developmental transition from adolescence to young adulthood of persons who have experienced serious emotional disturbance (SED) as children or adolescents. The literature demonstrates that their plight in young adulthood is grave. Youth with SED enter the transition phase delayed in their developmental maturation and face additional challenges relative to their nondisabled peers. As a group, they are undereducated, underemployed, and have limited social supports. Homelessness, criminal activity, and drug use are prevalent. This article defines the transitional youth population, describes the developmental tasks of transition, and summarizes the results of longitudinal studies that have tracked functional outcomes of transitional youth into young adulthood. The discussion focuses on the relevance of these findings to service provision.     

Prospective intervention opportunities regarding device ownership and the reduction of damage to handheld ruggedized devices with shift workers

Industrial equipment such as ruggedized handheld computers, scanners, and label printers used within asset tracking environments are expensive to purchase and costly to repair. For organizations that use this equipment, there is value in understanding when and why damage occurs and how much of those costs are potentially associated with the employees’ own sense of psychological ownership and organizational pride. Given the connection between psychological ownership and pride, the purpose of this study was to analyze employee surveys to determine what methods, tools, or programs could reduce repair and replacement while developing a stronger sense of ownership for ruggedized devices used in material‐handling industries by shift workers. Unstructured interviews about device repair with management from a large industrial company were utilized to create a multiple‐choice, anonymous online survey (n = 353). Of the six interventions proposed, assigning the same device to the same employee every shift appeared to have the most consistent and positive response. Destruction rates and costs should be posted for employee viewing and managers of workgroups with consistently high destruction rates should receive additional training. An incentive‐based program for employees responsible for the least amount of device damage as well as an individual‐assignment of devices to employees may be considered. Applications for this student include providing a tool with which organizations can use to gauge employee ownership of equipment as well as to identify interventions that may aid in mitigating expenses associated with industrially rugged equipment.     

Enhancing regulatory effectiveness by improving the process for identifying and resolving generic issues

The Generic Issues Program first began formally in response to a Commission directive in October of 1976. In 1983, it became one of the first programs to make successful use of probabilistic risk information to aid in regulatory decision-making. In the 16 years since the program became quantitative, 836 issues have been processed. Of these, 106 reactor safety issues were prioritized as requiring further evaluation to determine the final resolution. Approximately a dozen generic issues remain unresolved. Although there is far less reactor licensing activity than in the 1970s, new issues continue to be identified from research and operational experience. These issues often involve complex and controversial questions of safety and regulation, and an efficient and effective means of addressing these issues is essential for regulatory effectiveness. Issues that involve a significant safety question require swift, effective, enforceable, and cost-effective regulatory actions. Issues that are of little safety significance must be quickly shown to be so and dismissed in an expeditious manner so as to avoid unnecessary expenditure of limited resources and to reduce regulatory uncertainty. Additionally, in the time since the generic issue program began, probabilistic risk assessment techniques have advanced significantly while agency resources have continued to diminish. Accordingly, the paper discusses the steps that have been taken to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of the generic issue resolution process. Additionally, four resolved issues are discussed, along with key elements of a proposed new procedure for resolving potential generic issues.     

The role of chromate in filiform corrosion inhibition

This paper is part of a study on filiform corrosion (FFC) on aluminum alloy 2024-T3 and focuses on the surface characterization of corroded samples. Untreated samples were used as well as samples which had undergone pretreatments including polishing, surface etching and chromated conversion coatings (CCC). These samples were coated with both pigmented and non-pigmented epoxy-based coatings. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectroscopy (TOF-SIMS) analysis was used to investigate the nature of the surface as well as optical images to gauge the rate of FFC advancement. FFC corrosion rates decreased on samples which had received a surface etching pretreatment and a chromate conversion coating. Pigmented coatings reduced the rate of FFC further and led to two different types of corrosion surface morphology. On pretreated samples, the corrosion appeared deeper and pit-like, possibly due to an enhanced polymer-substrate bond. On untreated samples, widespread FFC developed. SEM and EDX analysis of various intermetallic particles (IMPs) on all samples, inside and outside of corroded regions, revealed that Cr from pigments was found deposited on Cu-containing intermetallics in corroded areas while Fe/Mn-containing particles were free from all pigment traces. These results suggest that the Cr deposition on Cu particles hinders the cathodic reduction of oxygen necessary for FFC advancement. For this reason, the coating pigments proved, under FFC conditions, to be a more effective inhibitor than the Cr originating from a chromate conversion coating.     

Mechanism of dielectric‐barrier discharge initiated wet‐strength development

The fundamental mechanism of wet‐strength development for dielectric‐barrier discharge treated thermomechanical pulp fibers was explored. Electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ESCA), vapor phase fluorine surface derivatization followed by ESCA, and dynamic contact angle analysis were performed to assess the surface chemistry in terms of both chemical functionality and wettability. Effects of the intensity of dielectric‐barrier discharge treatment on the surface chemistry of lignocellulosic fibers and the corresponding impacts to fiber wet‐tensile properties are described. This study indicates that low treatment intensities result in increased wettability due to surface oxidation, which leads to a small reduction in wet‐tensile index. However, increased treatment intensity brings about diminished wettability due to covalent crosslinking, which leads to increases in wet‐tensile index. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 98: 2219–2225, 2005     

Determining nutritional labeling data for fats and oils by 1H NMR

The nutrition labeling compositional data (NLCD) required for fat‐containing food products consists of the percentages of saturated, cis‐monounsaturated, and cis‐polyunsaturated fat as well as trans content. The capability of ¹H NMR spectroscopy to determine the NLCD components in oils that do not contain significant levels of trans isomers has already been established in the literature, but not its capability to differentiate between cis‐ and trans‐unsaturation. In the present study, the determination of all four NLCD components in fats and oils has been demonstrated for the first time. A preliminary analysis of the intensity‐normalized ¹H NMR spectra of defined mixtures of pure triacylglycerols (TAG) by partial least squares (PLS) regression revealed that the (mono)allylic proton resonances of cis and trans bonds were sufficiently well separated to allow for accurate quantitation of trans content by simple peak integration. This chemometric approach also served to facilitate the identification of optimal integration limits for these cis‐ and trans‐allylic resonances. Fixed integration limits were also set for the other resonances employed in the determination of the four NLCD components, and a standardized spectral preprocessing procedure was established. The ¹H NMR NLCD data obtained for the TAG mixtures by this methodology was a good match to the actual values, calculated from the known molar composition of these gravimetrically prepared mixtures. A procedure for the conversion of the NMR mol% NLCD to units of wt%, previously developed for ¹³C NMR, was adapted for ¹H NMR and shown to be effective in compensating for the overestimation of wt% saturates and underestimation of wt% unsaturates by ¹H NMR if this conversion is not made. The ¹H NMR methodology for NLCD determination was validated by analyzing AOCS Laboratory Proficiency Program GC samples as well as samples taken from a hydrogenator over time and analyzed for trans content by GC and IR spectroscopy. Comparison of the ¹H NMR mol% and wt% NLCD obtained for these validation samples with the data obtained from the reference methods indicated that ¹H NMR can deliver high‐quality, accurate NLCD, much like ¹³C NMR, but in a much shorter time frame. Thus, ¹H NMR provides a more rapid and cost‐effective means of obtaining NLCD than ¹³C NMR and can replace GC as a primary reference method for the calibration of simpler and automatable instrumental methods such as Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy.     

Gas permeation related to the moisture sorption in films of glassy hydrophilic polymers

The purpose of this article is to elucidate the effect of integral sorption of moisture on gas permeation in glassy hydrophilic polymers. The oxygen and the simultaneous moisture sorption into various hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) films were measured under a wide range of relative humidities using sorption analyzer equipment. Correspondingly, the oxygen permeability at different ambient conditions was measured using an oxygen detector. The solubility of oxygen in the HPMC film was found to be affected by the amount of water and therefore by the water state. At low moisture content, the water molecules are present as bound water, which promotes the sorption of oxygen in the HPMC films. At moisture content higher than 5%, water clusters are rapidly formed, which increase the affinity of HPMC polymer towards water rather than towards oxygen molecules, resulting in a decrease of oxygen solubility in the polymer. This was found to be the governing factor for the reduction in the oxygen permeability in glassy HPMC films at high water activity. This proposes a specific interaction between moisture sorption and oxygen transport in coating films like HPMC, which is of important aspect in the coating design and formulation. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010