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An assessment has been made of the technical feasibility of co-firing pulverized sewage sludge in a utility hoiler with regard to the change in envisaged combustion performance and the possible additional impact on the environment from toxic metals and NOxemissions. Data have been reported for three PF flames— bituminous coal, sewage sludge, and an equal blend, by mass, of the two fuels in a 0.5-mW down-fired furnace.

Objective:The study attempted to examine the relationship between neuropsychological functioning and reduced cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP), raised intracranial pressure (ICP), and reduced mean arterial pressure (MAP), monitored during intensive care treatment. Design:This prospective follow-up study included consecutive patients and evaluated outcome at 6 months postinjury by the administration of a neuropsychological test battery. Setting:The study was conducted at the University Hospital of Gent, Belgium. Patients and participants:Over a 30-month period, 43 patients were included. Inclusion criteria were the following: hospital admission following closed head injury, ICP monitoring, no medical history of central nervous system disease or mental retardation, survival for at least 6 months, and informed consent for participation. Interventions:All patients received the hospital’s standard treatment for head injury, which remained unchanged during the study period. Measurements and results:Reduced CPP was analyzed using the number of observed values below 70 mmHg, raised ICP using the number of values above 20 mmHg, and MAP using the number of values below 80 mmHg. The neuropsychological test battery included 11 measures of attention, information processing, motor reaction time, memory, learning, visuoconstruction, verbal fluency, and mental flexibility. No linear relationships were found between overall neuropsychological impairment and episodes of reduced CPP, raised ICP, or reduced MAP. Conclusions:Although reduced CPP and raised ICP are frequent, often fatal, complications of head injury, in survivors they do not seem to be related to later neuropsychological functioning.

Summary: Neuropsychological test performance and subjective complaints of 85 patients with moderate to severe head injury were investigated at 6 months postinjury. The neuropsychological test battery included 10 measures of attention, memory, mental flexibility, reaction time, visuoconstruction and verbal fluency. Subjective complaints were assessed using a self-report questionnaire subdivided into four subscales (somatic, cognitive, emotional and behavioural). Ratings were obtained for the pre-injury and current status. Thirty-three trauma patients with injuries to other parts of the body than the head were used as controls. For the head injured, relatives also completed the questionnaire. Head injured patients performed significantly below trauma control patients on nearly all test measures. Head injured patients and their relatives reported a significant increase in subjective complaints since the injury on all four subscales, with no differences between patients' and relatives' reports. These changes were also reported by the trauma controls, but they report fewer changes in somatic and cognitive functioning. Exploratory canonical correlation analyses revealed no correlations between any of the four scales of the questionnaire and the test measures, nor for the head injured, the trauma controls, or the relatives, indicating no relevant relationship between subjective complaints and neuropsychological test performance.

Cognitive dysfunction after extracorporeal circulation is a major continuing problem in modern cardiac surgery. We designed this prospective study to update the incidence of postoperative neuropsychological changes after routine cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) and to identify perioperative variables associated with these complications.