A prospective study of closure techniques of abdominal incisions in infants and children

In a prospective study of layered versus mass closure of abdominal incisions in infants and children, 34 cases underwent wound closure by layered and mass closure technique on an alternate basis. All the patients were assessed for their nutritional status and haemoglobin level pre-operatively, and wound complications were compared with respect to closure technique, nutritional status and normal haemoglobin level. Presence of protein energy malnutrition and anaemia did not increase the risk of wound complications with either of the technique.     

Electrochemical Aspects of Electroosmotic Dewatering of Clay Suspensions

An attempt is made to elucidate the electrochemical aspects of the electroosmotic dewatering (EOD) of clays as reported in some recent work, especially that on interrupted DC power electroosmotic dewatering published by Rabie, Mujumdar and Weber (2). These authors showed that the dewatering by EOD stops after the DC power has been on for several minutes or hours; on interruption of their power and on short-circuiting of the electrodes, conditions can be created again for some further dewatering by DC power EOD. This discovery, of Rabie et al. is interpreted as a fuel cell effect and it is shown that it affords clues to several other electrochemical strategies for the possible enhancement of the efficiency of the EOD by DC power.

Further, the open circuit potentials observed by Rabie et al. (2) on the interruption of DC power are given an electrochemical interpretation which leads to quantitative estimates in agreement with the experimental values.     

Termination of pregnancy at 9-13 weeks' amenorrhoea with mifepristone and misoprostol

The effectiveness of a combined regimen of mifepristone and vaginal misoprostol for termination of pregnancies of 9-13 weeks of gestation was investigated in 120 UK abortion patients (median age, 22.1 years; median duration of amenorrhea, 10.3 weeks). Each woman received a single oral dose of 200 mg of mifepristone 36-48 hours before admission, at which time 800 mcg of misoprostol was administered vaginally. Where indicated, a further two doses of 400 mcg of misoprostol (vaginal or oral) were provided every 3 hours. All 120 women aborted on the day of prostaglandin administration; however, 6 women (5%) required exploratory curettage after the procedure for retained placenta. The median prostaglandin dose was 1200 mcg (range, 800-1600 mcg). The median time from misoprostol administration to abortion was 4.33 hours (range, 1.3-16.0 hours). 60 women (50%) required oral analgesics and 26 (22%) received parenteral analgesia. Diarrhea occurred in 38 women (32%). The median duration of bleeding after abortion was 12.5 days (range, 3-43 days). In questionnaires administered to 73 women, only 3 (4%) expressed dissatisfaction with medical abortion, because of pain or prolonged bleeding. The relatively high dose of misoprostol used in this study and the vaginal route of administration are presumed to account for the 95% success rate. Extension of medical abortion to later gestation times would decrease the need for surgery and expand women's choice of methods of pregnancy termination.     

Corrosion characteristics of aluminium alloy graphite particulate composite in various environments

The present study was aimed at understanding the response of 2014 Al alloy dispersed with graphite particles in various corrosive environments. Marine (sodium chloride) as well as acidic media were selected for the purpose with a view to widen the range of utility of the composite for applications where such environments may be encountered. Studies were also extended to characterize the corrosion resistance of the composite in fresh as well as used lubricating oils to explore the possibilities of using it in bearing, bushing and such other applications. The corrosion behaviour of the base alloy processed under identical conditions was also examined in the above media to see the influence of graphite addition in the alloy. In order to assess the role of the matrix microstructure, the composite as well as the base alloy was subjected to corrosion in heat-treated as well as-cast conditions. It was observed that the specimens suffered from the maximum rate of corrosion in acid, while sodium chloride produced the minimum corrosion rate. Oil in both used and fresh conditions revealed a negligibly small extent of corrosion. The composite was found to show a higher rate of corrosion than the base alloy under identical test conditions. This was attributed to the dispersoid/matrix interfacial corrosion in the case of the graphitic aluminium alloy. Heat treatment of the composite and the base alloy was found to lower the rate of corrosion in the environments tested. Microstructural modifications of the matrix and possible relief of residual stresses were thought to be responsible for the lower rate of corrosion in the heat-treated condition.     

Properties and Performance of Cation-Doped Ceria Electrolyte Materials in Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Applications

Cation-doped CeO₂ electrolyte has been evaluated in single-cell and short-stack tests in solid oxide fuel cell environments and applications. These results, along with conductivity measurements, indicate that an ionic transference number of ∼0.75 can be expected at 800°C. Single cells have shown a power density >350 mW/cm². Multicell stacks have demonstrated a peak performance of >100 mW/cm² at 700°C using metallic separators.     

Analysis of a soliton-based logic module for a ring network

We analyze and numerically study the code-matching logic module that is the central element in a proposed soliton-based ring network system running at peak rates of 100 Gb/s. The proposed network is packet-switched, and fast logic is required to route each packet. That is the function of the code-matching logic module, and four soliton logic gates that can perform fast logic are the key devices in its design. The behavior of the code-matching logic module is governed by a large set of parameters, and we simulate it by varying many of these parameters. The physical effects that occur in these devices and their significance are analyzed. The results indicate that the logic module will work but within a restricted parameter range