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ObjectiveThis study describes the baseline clinical characteristics, predictors of successful extubation at referring hospitals and short-term outcomes of children intubated for status epilepticus and referred to United Kingdom (UK) paediatric critical care transport teams (PCCTs).DesignMulticentre audit with case–control analysis, conducted between 1 September 2018 and 1 September 2020.SettingThis study involved 10 UK PCCTs.PatientsChildren over 1 month of age intubated during emergency management for status epilepticus (SE), referred to UK PCCTs. Patients with trauma, requiring time-critical neurosurgical intervention or those with a tracheostomy were excluded.InterventionsNo interventions were implemented.Measurements and main resultsOut of the 1622 referrals for SE, 1136 (70%) were intubated at referral. The median age was 3 years (IQR 1.25–6.54 years). Among the intubated children, 396 (34.8%) were extubated locally by the referring team, with 19 (4.8%) requiring reintubation. Therefore, the overall rate of successful extubation was 33% (377/1136). There was significant variation between PCCTs, with local extubation rates ranging from 2% to 74%. Multivariable analyses showed region/PCCT, contributing diagnosis, acute changes on CT, preceding encephalopathy and type of continuous sedation (midazolam) used postintubation were significantly associated with transfer to a critical care unit.ConclusionThis study highlights wide regional variation in early extubation practices. Regions with high successful extubation rates have established extubation guidelines from PCCTs. Successful extubation represents critical care transports that have been avoided.

All-optical devices hold promise as a platform for ultralow-power, sub-nanosecond photonic classical and quantum information processing. Measurements of the dynamics of a single photon switch unveil the quantum correlations at the root of its operation.

Eusociality is a rare but successful life-history strategy that is defined by the reproductive division of labour. In eusocial species, most females forgo their own reproduction to support that of a dominant female or queen. In many eusocial insects, worker reproduction is inhibited via dominance hierarchies or by pheromones produced by the queen and her brood. Here, we consider whether these cues may act as generic ‘environmental signals’, similar to temperature or nutrition stress, which induce a state of reproductive dormancy in some solitary insects. We review the recent findings regarding the mechanisms of reproductive dormancy in insects and highlight key gaps in our understanding of how environmental cues inhibit reproduction.

The reproductive division of labour between queen and worker castes in social insects is a defining characteristic of eusociality and a classic example of phenotypic plasticity. Whether social insect larvae develop into queens or workers has long been thought to be determined by environmental cues, i.e. larvae are developmentally totipotent. Contrary to this paradigm, several recent studies have revealed that caste is determined by genotype in some ant species, but whether this is restricted to just a few exceptional species is still unclear. Here, we show that the Mediterranean harvester ant Messor barbaruspossesses an unusual reproductive system, in which the female castes are genetically determined. Using both nuclear and mitochondrial data, we show that Iberian populations have two distinct, cryptic lineages. Workers are always inter-lineage hybrids whereas queens are always produced from pure-lineage matings. The results suggest that genetic caste determination may be more widespread in ants than previously thought, and that further investigation in other species is needed to understand the frequency and evolution of this remarkable reproductive system.