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Purpose: This retrospective cohort study assesses the visual outcomes of patients who survive gunshot wounds to the head. Methods: The Elmhurst City Hospital Trauma Registry and Mount Sinai Data Warehouse were queried for gun trauma resulting in ocular injury over a 16-year period. Thirty-one patients over 16 years of age were found who suffered a gunshot wound to the head and resultant ocular trauma: orbital fracture, ruptured globe, foreign body, or optic nerve injury. Gun types included all firearms and air guns. Nine patients were excluded due to incorrect coding or unavailable charts. Statistical analysis was performed using a simple bivariate analysis (χ2). Results: Of the 915 victims of gun trauma to the head, 27 (3.0%) sustained ocular injuries. Of the 22 patients whose records were accessible, 18 survived. Eight of the 18 surviving patients (44%) suffered long-term visual damage, defined as permanent loss of vision in at least one eye to the level of counting fingers or worse. Neither location of injury (P=0.243), nor type of gun used (P=0.296), nor cause of gun trauma (P=0.348) predicted visual loss outcome. The Glasgow Coma Scale eye response score on arrival to the hospital also did not predict visual loss outcome (P=0.793). Conclusion: There has been a dearth of research into gun trauma and even less research on the visual outcomes following gun trauma. Our study finds that survivors of gun trauma to the head suffer long-term visual damage 44% of the time after injury.

Intensive antiplatelet therapy with three agents might be more effective than guideline treatment for preventing recurrent events in patients with acute cerebral ischaemia. We aimed to compare the safety and efficacy of intensive antiplatelet therapy (combined aspirin, clopidogrel, and dipyridamole) with that of guideline-based antiplatelet therapy.

(N Engl J Med. 2021;384:2028–2038. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2026486. PMID: 34038632; PMCID: PMC810848)While preterm, low–birth-weight infants make up ~15% of neonates, they account for the vast majority of neonatal deaths (70%). “Kangaroo Mother Care,” where the mother or caregiver provides continuous skin-to-skin contact with the neonate, has been shown to decrease mortality in infants with a birth weight below 2.0 kg. This study aimed to determine when to initiate continuous kangaroo mother care and if it is safe.

Carbon nanotubes (undoped CNTs) and nitrogen-doped CNTs (N-CNTs, 2·6 and 5 at.%) were synthesized using a floating catalyst chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method with ferrocene and xylene, pyridine, or acetonitrile. The CNTs were further treated in acid (3:1 HNO3:H2SO4mixture for 24 h) or in oxygen plasma for 10, 30, or 50 min. The as-produced and acid/plasma treated CNTs were characterized by microscopic and spectroscopic techniques to understand the modification of structures by different treatment procedures. Electrochemical surface areas of the doped and undoped CNTs before and after acid/plasma treatment were studied. It was observed that the electrochemical surface area was significantly low (∼10-5to 10-6m2) due to limited exposure and wettability of the CNTs on the exposed electrode area. Cyclic voltammetry was also performed to evaluate the effects of these treatments on the capacitance behavior of electrodes. The specific capacitance of CNTs based on the electrochemical surface area was in the order of ∼0·3–8·0 F/g or ∼2000–18000 F/m2, which could be attributed to double layer or Faradaic reactions. It was observed that optimized plasma oxidation or surface modification conditions are necessary to achieve maximum specific capacitances. Plasma duration of 10, 30 and 10 min led to maximum specific capacitance for undoped CNTs, 2·6% N-doped CNTs and 5% N-doped CNTs, respectively. Further improvements in specific ca-pacitances necessitate suitable electrode design, selection of electrolyte and charging/discharging conditions. Overall, such low specific capacitances of CNTs in a physiological electrolyte are of critical importance for applications in energy storage in low-powered microreactors or implantable biomedical devices. Supplementary information is available at http://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/upload/10.1680nme.12.00033_SupplementaryInformation.pdf

Graphene has been the subject of many scientific investigations since exfoliation methods facilitated isolation of the two-dimensional material. During this time, new synthesis methods have been developed which have opened technological opportunities previously hindered by synthetic constraints. An update on the recent advances in graphene-based technologies, including synthesis and applications into electrical, mechanical and thermal uses will be covered. A special focus on the patent space and commercial landscape will be given in an effort to identify current trends and future commercialization of graphene-related technologies.

In the simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) problem, it is required for a robotic system to acquire the map of its environment while simultaneously localizing itself relative to this evolving map. In order to solve the SLAM problem, given observations of the environment and control inputs, the joint posterior probability of the robot pose and the map are estimated by using recursive filters such as the extended Kalman filter (EKF) and the particle filter. The implementation of these filters requires a motion model to describe the evolution of the robot pose with control inputs, and additionally, an observation model to describe the relations between the robot pose and measurements of the environment. In general, the motion model is derived from the kinematics of the robotic system, without taking the system dynamics into account. In this article, the authors investigate the performance and efficacy of standard SLAM algorithms when the dynamics of the robotic system is taken into account in the motion model and provide experimental results to complement the simulation findings.

A straightforward and reproducible synthesis of crack‐free large‐area thin films of 3D hexagonal (R‐3m) mesostructured nanocrystalline titania (meso‐nc‐TiO2) using a Pluronic triblock copolymer (P123)/1‐butanol templating system is described. The characterization of the films is achieved using a combination of electron microscopy (high‐resolution scanning electron microscopy and scanning transmission electron microscopy), grazing‐incidence small‐angle X‐ray scattering, in situ high‐temperature X‐ray diffraction, and variable‐angle spectroscopic ellipsometry. The mesostructure of the obtained films is found to be based upon a 3D periodic array of large elliptically shaped cages with diameters around 20 nm interconnected by windows of about 5 nm in size. The mesopores of the film calcined at 300 °C are very highly ordered, and the titania framework of the film has a crystallinity of 40 % being composed of 5.8 nm sized anatase crystallites. The film displays high thermal stability in that the collapse of the pore architecture is incomplete even at 600 °C. The accessible surface area of 3D hexagonal meso‐nc‐TiO2estimated by the absorption of methylene blue is nearly twice as large as that of 2D hexagonal meso‐nc‐TiO2at the same annealing temperature.

Synthetic nanopore membranes can be used to mimic ion channels provided that molecular transport through membranes is precisely gated with selective and reversible chemical interactions. Aligned nanotubes of carbon or other inorganic materials can be assembled to construct higher-order supramolecular architectures using polymer films to force chemical flux through hollow cores. Open tips of carbon nanotubes (CNT) can be activated to have carboxylic groups, which can be easily derivatized with a molecule that binds to a bulky receptor that can open/close the pore entrance. In particular, the core entrances of an aligned CNT membrane were functionalized with a desthiobiotin derivative that binds reversibly to streptavidin, thereby enabling a reversible closing/opening of the core entrance. Ionic flux through the CNT membrane was monitored using optically absorbing charged marker molecules. The flux is reduced by a factor of 24 when the desthiobiotin on the CNT is coordinated with streptavidin; release of streptavidin increases the flux, demonstrating a reversible ion-channel flow. Analysis of solutions of released streptavidin shows approximately 16 bound streptavidin molecules per CNT tip.

A vertically aligned array of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) impregnated with polystyrene is utilized to independently functionalize each end of the MWCNTs. The presence of the polystyrene matrix prevents sidewall oxidation of the CNTs, resulting in carboxylate derivatization at the CNT tips during processing via plasma oxidation. The membrane is subsequently dissolved in toluene, resulting in a suspension of CNTs with carboxylate‐derivatized tips. The CNT tips are further functionalized using carbodiimide‐mediated linking of carboxylate at the CNT tips with an amine of 2‐aminoethanethiol. This treatment results in thiol functionality and Fourier‐transform infrared (FT‐IR) studies confirm amide‐bond formation. Gold nanoparticles that are readily observed using transmisison electron microscopy (TEM) are then covalently linked to the thiol functional groups. Estimates of the average nanoparticle density are observed to decrease from ∼ 526 particles μm–1near the CNT tips to negligible values (< 7 particles μm–1) at locations beyond 700 nm from the CNT tips. This is consistent with a membrane geometry where CNTs tips are above the polystyrene surface owing to differing oxidation rates. Bifunctional CNTs (with different chemical functionality at either end of each CNT) is achieved by thiol functionalization on only one side of the oxidized CNT membrane floating on top of a 2‐aminoethanethiol functionalization reaction solution. After dissolution of the polystyrene matrix, TEM analysis shows gold‐nanoparticle decoration at the thiol‐functionalized end of the CNT.

Herein a novel synthetic route is described for the production of thermally stable, structurally well-defined two-dimensional (2D) hexagonal mesoporous nanocrystalline anatase (meso-nc-TiO2), with a large pore diameter, narrow pore-size distribution, high surface area, and robust inorganic walls comprised of nanocrystalline anatase. The synthetic approach involves the evaporation-induced co-assembly of a non-ionic amphiphilic triblock-copolymer template and titanium tetraethoxide, but with a pivotal change in the main solvent of the system, where the commonly used ethanol is replaced with 1-butanol. This seemingly minor modification in solvent type from ethanol to 1-butanol turns out to be the key synthetic strategy for achieving a robust, structurally well-ordered meso-nc-TiO2 material in the form of either thick or thin films. The beneficial “solvent” effect originates from the higher hydrophobicity of 1-butanol than ethanol, enhancing microphase separation and templating, lower critical micelle concentration of the template in 1-butanol, and the ability to increase the relative concentration of the inorganic precursor to template in the co-assembly synthesis. Moreover, thin films with dimensions of several centimeters that are devoid of cracks down to the length scale of the mesostructure itself, having high porosity, well-defined mesostructural features, and semi-crystalline pore walls were straightforwardly and reproducibly obtained as a result of the physicochemical property advantages of 1-butanol over ethanol within our synthesis scheme.

Selective area growth of carbon nanotubes (CNT) has been used to control the diameter of CNTs. Narrow lines of SiO2 (12−60 nm) are formed at the cleaved face of a Si/SiO2/Si multilayer structure. CNTs are then grown by a chemical vapor deposition process with a ferrocene/xylene/H2/Ar mixture at 700 °C. CNTs are observed to grow only on the exposed SiO2 surface at the edge of the “mesa” structure with a diameter equal to the thickness of the SiO2 layer.

Plant pigments from two sandy loam soils from Plum Coulee (Manitoba) and Taber (Alberta), and from a heavy clay soil from Fort Garry (Manitoba) were extracted with pentane-isopropanol (3:1 v/v) mixture, and then chromatographed on Florisil columns. From the Plum Coulee soil an unidentified xanthophyll and first-stage degradation products of chlorophyll, such as allomerized chlorophyll aand pheophytins aand b, were isolated. In Taber soil, all of the above plus chlorophylls aand bwere detected. However, in the Fort Garry soil the only plant pigment isolated was a chlorophyll-type compound which was not chlorophyll, pheophytin, pheophorbide, or chlorin e6.

Zusammenfassung Es wird eine Näherungslösung der Gleichungen der stationären, eindimensionalen Zweiphasenströmung durch eine Düse angegeben, wobei das strömende Medium eine Suspension kleiner Teilchen in einem Gase ist. Das endliche Volumen der Teilchen wird berücksichtigt. Über die funktionelle Abhängigkeit der Teilchengeschwindigkeit vom Weg wird eine einfache Annahme getroffen, womit die entsprechende Düsenform berechnet werden kann. Es zeigt sich, dass die Lösung durch das endliche Teilchenvolumen merklich beeinflusst wird.

Niesthrea Spinola, a genus of the rhopalid tribe Niesthrini Chopra, is confined to the Western Hemisphere and is very homogeneous, but there seem to be three definite species groups which probably represent natural units. At least eleven formal trivial names have been associated with the genus Niesthrea. The present investigations reveal that five of the earlier described species: sidae, pictipes, vincentii, louisianica and ventralis deserve the specific status. While mexicanus, proximus, nebulosus, anticus and luteolus are synonyms of pictipes; auriantiacus, robustus and ruber are synonyms of vincentii. Five new species have been discovered and named: Niesthrea agnes, N. brevicauda, N. dentatus, N. dignus and N. similis. The genus Niesthrea as now considered contains ten species. These results are primarily based on a comparative study of the male genitalia which present the most reliable taxonomic characters for the classification of this genus. Diagrams and uniform descriptions of all the species are provided for easy identification.

Zusammenfassung Die sich durch eine Gasteilchenmischung fortflanzenden Stosswellen stören das Geschwindigkeits- und Temperaturgleichgewicht zwischen den beiden Phasen, und es wird eine Relaxationszone erzeugt, in der sich das Gleichgewicht durch den Mechanismus des Teilchenschleppens und der Wärmeübertragung wiederherstellt. Das durch die Teilchen besetzte Volumen wird normalerweise vernachlässigt, aber es dürfte bedeutsam werden, wenn entweder die Gasdichte oder die Teilchenmassefraktion gross ist. Der Einfluss des endlichen Teilchenvolumens auf Stromvariabeln in der Relaxationszone wird erörtert. Es zeigt sich, dass die Stromvariabeln sich nicht immer monoton ändern; es wird ein Maximum oder ein Minimum durchquert. Mit Zunahme der Teilchenvolumenfraktion wird der Einfluss auf die Stromvariabeln beträchtlich, und die durch die Vernachlässigung entstandenen Fehler werden gross.

In the simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) problem, one addresses the problem of using mobile sensor platforms or robotic systems to map unknown environments while simultaneously localizing the mobile systems relative to the map. Applications include mapping in oil storage tanks, oil pipes, search and rescue operations, surveillance operations, exploration operations. In this effort, a previously proposed multi-robot localization algorithm is extended to implement SLAM. The decentralized algorithm is demonstrated to work in dynamic robot networks. Experimental and numerical studies conducted with multiple networked mobile platforms are also discussed to validate the analytical findings.

ChemInform is a weekly Abstracting Service, delivering concise information at a glance that was extracted from about 100 leading journals. To access a ChemInform Abstract of an article which was published elsewhere, please select a “Full Text” option. The original article is trackable via the “References” option.

ChemInform is a weekly Abstracting Service, delivering concise information at a glance that was extracted from about 100 leading journals. To access a ChemInform Abstract of an article which was published elsewhere, please select a “Full Text” option. The original article is trackable via the “References” option.

ChemInform is a weekly Abstracting Service, delivering concise information at a glance that was extracted from about 100 leading journals. To access a ChemInform Abstract of an article which was published elsewhere, please select a “Full Text” option. The original article is trackable via the “References” option.

The following clades are suggested for the tribes and subfamilies of the Rhopalidae (Hemiptera: Coreoidea): Niesthreini + Rhopalini and the remainder; of the latter, the Chorosomini and the remainder; of the latter, the Harmostini + Corizomorphini and the Maccevethini + Serinethinae. The Rhopalidae less the Serinethinae constitute the subfamily Rhopalinae, which in this analysis is paraphyletic. Rhopalids feed on a variety of plants; they prefer members of the subclasses Rosidae and Asteridae, and do not feed on members of the more primitive angiosperm subclasses. The Rhopalini + Niesthreini show a preference for malvaceous plants; the Chorosomini feed on grasses; the Harmostini, Corizomorphini, and Macceventhini feed on composites; and the Serinethinae prefer plants of the Sapindales.

ChemInform is a weekly Abstracting Service, delivering concise information at a glance that was extracted from about 100 leading journals. To access a ChemInform Abstract of an article which was published elsewhere, please select a “Full Text” option. The original article is trackable via the “References” option.

The persistence and degradation patterns of heptachlor applied in 3 different formulations to 2 fine sandy-loam soils of similar nature at Plum Coulee (Manitoba) and Taber (Alberta) were studied. Determinations of heptachlor and heptachlor epoxide residues in samples taken on the 20th, 60th, and 120th day after applications showed that the persistence and degradation patterns of heptachlor and heptachlor epoxide were independent of the formulations employed, and that the patterns for Plum Coulee soil differed from those for the Taber soil. A comparison between these 2 soils and 4 reported in the literature with regards to persistence and degradation of heptachlor and heptachlor epoxide showed that these 2 compounds were less persistent in sandy loam soils than in silt loam soils. An unknown substance, possibly a degradation product of heptachlor or chlordane, was found in Taber soil samples taken on the 120th day after applications. Fractions containing this substance were nontoxic to Drosophila melanogaster Meigen.