A randomized comparison of 15- and 40-minute dosing protocols for labor augmentation and induction

OBJECTIVE: To compare two low-dose oxytocin protocols in terms of fetal distress, uterine hyperstimulation, cesarean delivery rate, maximum dose of oxytocin, and length of labor. METHODS: We randomized 865 patients into 15-minute (incremental dose 1 mU/minute until 5 mU/minute, then 1 or 2 mU/minute) or 40-minute (incremental dose 1.5 mU/minute until 7 mU/minute, then 1.5 or 3.0 mU/minute) low-dose protocols. Before oxytocin use, all subjects were stratified according to parity and purpose of oxytocin, ie, for induction or augmentation of labor. RESULTS: The 40-minute dosing protocol had a significantly lower maximum dose of oxytocin (augmentation, 6.5 versus 8.2 mU/minute, P < .001; induction, 11.5 versus 14.5 mU/minute, P < .001), a lower incidence of uterine hyperstimulation (augmentation, 18.8 versus 31.8%, P < .001; induction, 19.1 versus 33.0%, P < .002), and less fetal distress (augmentation, 15.5 versus 26.1%, P < .005). No significant differences were found in the cesarean rate or length of labor. CONCLUSION: A dosing interval of 40 minutes led to lower incidences of uterine hyperstimulation and fetal distress, and decreased the maximum dose of oxytocin, without affecting the length of labor or the cesarean rate.     

Endothelial cell morphology in areas of in vivo Evans blue uptake in the aorta of young pigs. II. Ultrastructure of the intima in areas of differing permeability to proteins

The fine structure of the intima of the pig aortic arch is described for areas of spontaneously differing in vivo endothelial permeability, as demarcated by uptake of the protein-binding azo dye Evans blue. Areas of enhanced permeability (blue areas) consistently show a variety of features not observed in areas devoid of dye accumulation (white areas). The subendothelial space of blue areas is markedly thickened and edematous, containing collagen, elastic tissue elements, and undifferentiated cells dispersed in an amorphous floccular matrix of low electron density. Endothelial cells in blue areas are generally cuboidal, with relatively short, frequently vacuolated junctions. In contrast, endothelial cells from white areas are flat and elongate, with long intercellular junctions exhibiting many interdigitations. Cytoplasmic differences include a well-developed rough endoplasmic reticulum and more frequent lysosomal bodies in blue areas and a prominent Golgi apparatus in the endothelium of white areas. Additionally, endothelial cell injury or death with and without denudation occurs with a significantly greater frequency in blue relative to white areas. An endothelial glycocalyx is some threefold thicker over the surface of white relative to blue areas. It is concluded that neither endothelial structure nor function are homogeneous within the aortic arch of the young pig and that areas of spontaneously differing permeability to proteins are associated with a spectrum of alterations in endothelial and intimal morphology.     

光明智能城市一座新型中国城市

截至2010年,预计中国将有一半人口由农村转入城市。中国的经济繁荣促使农民渴望进城一试身手,由此引发了移民大潮。中国政府最近向联合国世界城市论坛展示其新型生态城市——可惜关注的焦点仅仅是能源和环境问题,却忽视了社会和经济等重要因素。可否在农村背景下实现经济快速增长,并阻止农村技术人才流失?如何在保留传统和维持社会可持续性的同时促进农村经济增长?从城市的未来长远发展考虑,必须用新型城市蓝图取代当前的生态城市定义,在城市建设中融入教育、农业、环境及社会可持续性等因素。光明智能城市城镇中心保留了农业传统,并率先将城市规划和生态可持续性融为一体。这一创新型城镇中心将为深圳、中国乃至全世界开辟一种新型城市生活方式。     

简述PLG应用及使用中应注意的问题

介绍可编程控制器在工业控制领域的应用以及PLC在应用过程中,要保证正常运行应该注意的一系列问题,并给出一些合理的建议。     

Study on the degradation of chitosan by pulsed electric fields treatment

Chitosan solution was processed by applying pulsed electric fields (PEF) with different strengths up to 25 kV cm^− 1. Changes of the physicochemical properties of chitosan, such as molecular weight and crystallinity degree, were measured by analyses of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), viscosity molecular weight (M_v), X-ray diffractometry (XRD), FTIR and UV spectra. The results showed that after being treated at 25 kV cm^− 1, the chitosan granules were significantly deformed with many pits and cracks appeared on the surface. M_v was decreased with the increasing electric field strength, for example, the M_v was decreased from 2.81 × 10⁵ Da (initial chitosan) to 1.54 × 10⁵ Da after the PEF treatment at 25 kV cm^− 1. Meanwhile, the crystalline region of the treated sample was significantly damaged from XRD patterns. All results showed that the PEF technique is a possible method to obtain low molecular-weight chitosan.

Industrial Relevance

Chitosan solution was treated by using pulsed electric fields (PEF) with different strengths up to 25 kV·cm^-1. Changes of the physicochemical properties of chitosan were measured by analyses of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), viscosity molecular weight (M_v), X-ray diffractometry (XRD), FTIR and UV spectra. The results showed that the PEF technique is a promising method for scale-up industrial manufacture of low-molecular-weight chitosan.     

Cultivating Smartcities

On 9 April 2009, Michelle Obama planted the first seedlings of onion, lettuce, peas and peppers in the 102-square-metre (1,100-square-foot) White House Kitchen Garden. She may have planted the green shoots for a smartcity. CJ Lim , author of Smartcities + Eco-warriors (Routledge, 2010), describes sustainable urban developments in the form of smartcities – a new urban exuberance reintegrating cultivated land within an urban economic and ecological context system. These verdant edible edifices of urban spatial theatre are aesthetically and culturally engaging. Soliciting an emotional as well as intellectual response they have the potential to connect with the public and involve them in the architectural possibilities of the city. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Carbon nanotube-based transducers for immunoassays

The attachment of mouse immunoglobulin G (IgG) and anti-mouse IgG antibodies onto carbon nanotubes (CNTs), using either non-covalent or covalent means was investigated. The resultant CNTs were characterised using a variety of techniques including enzyme-linked and fluorescence-linked immunoassays, UV-visible-NIR and Raman spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy and cyclic voltammetry. TEM images of the adsorbed antibody on the CNTs show that the covalent modification approach was successful, whereas the non-covalent approach resulted in no electrochemically detectable labelled antibody. Direct electrical communication between CNTs covalently linked to peroxidase-labelled antibodies was observed during cyclic voltammetry, which suggests applications in developing carbon-nanotube-based immunosensors.     

Rejection of pharmaceutically active compounds and endocrine disrupting compounds by clean and fouled nanofiltration membranes

Rejections of 9 pharmaceuticals and 5 endocrine disruptors by clean and fouled nanofiltration membranes were investigated in this study. Waters containing a cocktail of compounds were filtered by clean and pre-fouled membranes. The rejection of hydrophilic neutral compounds by the clean NF-200 membrane varied from 35 to 70% under steady state conditions while that of NF-90 membrane was in the range of 62-96%. The clean NF-90 membrane rejected nearly all of the hydrophobic neutral compounds (95-98%) predominantly due to size exclusion. Nevertheless, electrostatic repulsion was the main mechanism of rejection of ionic compounds by both membranes (71-94% by NF-200 and 99% by NF-90). Fouling with sodium alginate deteriorated the performance of the NF-200 membrane in rejecting hydrophilic neutral compounds as well as hydrophilic and hydrophobic ionic compounds. In contrast, rejections of hydrophobic neutral compounds by the fouled NF-200 membrane increased by 5-38%. This may be attributed to the incipient interaction of the solutes with the membrane foulant layer resulting in less partitioning and diffusion across the membrane surface. On the other hand, rejections of hydrophobic compounds by NF-90 were not observed to be affected by fouling; however, hydrophilic neutral compounds showed increased rejections by 7-30%.     

Making programme learning outcomes explicit for students of process and chemical engineering

There is a global shift in education from solely content-driven teaching to teaching that takes learning outcomes into account. This movement underpins much of the educational reform in the area of engineering education. Programme learning outcomes for degrees in engineering education are more commonplace as more and more professional accrediting bodies require fulfillment or compliance with prescribed learning outcomes. However, the students may not be presented with these learning outcomes as they are often “hidden” in documentation submitted by institutions for accreditation purposes and hence may not be divulged to students. Undergraduate students (2006–2008) taking the BE degree programme in Process & Chemical Engineering at UCC were first surveyed to assess their level of knowledge of the learning outcomes concept and of the degree programme learning outcomes. The contents of two documents used in applications for accreditation by professional accreditation bodies as well as professional Institution guidelines were reviewed to formulate the degree programme learning outcomes which were presented to the students. These students were then surveyed after the presentation. The results of the questionnaire completed by students demonstrated a major improvement in their knowledge of both the concept of learning outcomes and also of the degree programme learning outcomes. It also showed that the students found the session to be of overall beneficial value.     

In vivo measurements of neurotransmitters by microdialysis sampling

The brain contains a vast network of neurons that connect with each other at specialized junctions called synapses.A synapse consists of a presynaptic terminal (the "sending"neuron) and a postsynaptic bouton (the "receiving" neuron)that are separated by a gap of 5-50 nm (Figure 1). Chemicals released into this synaptic gap interact with receptors on the postsynaptic neuron. This leads to intracellular changes in the postsynaptic neuron-for example, an altered membrane potential or gene expression. The chemical signal is terminated by transporter proteins that transfer transmitter molecules across the membrane to the intracellular space (a process known as "reuptake")or enzymes that degrade the transmitter in the vicinity of the synapse (Figure 1). This classical view of neurotransmission might be considered point-to-point or"wired" communication because neurons communicate only with neurons to which they are specifically connected. In addition,neurotransmitters can activate receptors at more distant sites either by escaping the synapse or by being directly released into extrasynaptic space. This longer-range communication has been called "volume" transmission (1, S1; S references can be found in Supporting Information). All brain functions, from controlling movement to emotions, involve these two forms of chemical communication.Analytical chemistry has an important role to play in developing our understanding of the brain by providing tools for identification and measurement of the many chemicals involved in neurotransmission.