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Background: Tracheomalacia frequently develops in esophageal atresia patients (EA) especially in those with tracheoesophageal fistula (TEF). Conservative management has been the standard treatment; however, it was reported that delay in management could result in chronic lung conditions. Thus, early surgical interventions have been recently recommended. Patients and Methods: We enrolled patients presented with type-C esophageal atresia, with concomitant moderate to severe tracheomalacia, who had their thoracoscopic intervention done during the study period 2019–2022. Early and intermediate- term outcomes were studied and compared to another cohort with mild or no tracheomalacia. Results: During the allocated study period, 24 patients met the inclusion criteria for tracheopexy, but only 17 were followed up due to early demise of the other seven. During the follow-up period, 7/17 patients developed respiratory symptoms, which were attributed to esophageal stricture in 5 patients, recurrent TEF in 2 patients and one of them had residual tracheomalacia in addition to the developed recurrent TEF. The outcomes of the enrolled patients for tracheopexy were similar to those with no or mild tracheomalacia. Conclusions: Primary posterior tracheopexy during the primary repair might be considered a safe and feasible option not only to alleviate respiratory symptoms secondary to tracheomalacia in EA patients, but also to decline the need of further surgical interventions. However, more comprehensive studies with long-term follow-ups are mandatory.

Quinoa is one of the highest nutritious grains, and global consumption of quinoa flour has increased as people pay more attention to health. Due to its high value, quinoa flour is susceptible to adulteration. Cross-contamination between quinoa flour and other flour can be easily neglected due to their highly similar appearance. Therefore, detecting adulteration in quinoa flour is important to consumers, industries, and regulatory agencies. In this study, portable hyperspectral imaging in the visible near-infrared (VNIR) spectral range (400–1000 nm) was applied as a rapid tool to detect adulteration in quinoa flour. Quinoa flour was adulterated with wheat, rice, soybean, and corn in the range of 0–98% with 2% increments. Partial least squares regression (PLSR) models were developed, and the best model for detecting the % authentic flour (quinoa) was obtained by the raw spectral data with R2p of 0.99, RMSEP of 3.08%, RPD of 8.77, and RER of 25.32. The model was improved, by selecting only 13 wavelengths using bootstrapping soft shrinkage (BOSS), to R2p of 0.99, RMSEP of 2.93%, RPD of 9.18, and RER of 26.60. A visualization map was also generated to predict the level of quinoa in the adulterated samples. The results of this study demonstrate the ability of VNIR hyperspectral imaging for adulteration detection in quinoa flour as an alternative to the complicated traditional method.

The objective of this paper is to assess the capabilities of the Conditional Source-term Estimation (CSE) approach applied to a laboratory scaled turbulent buoyant flame without extinction. CSE is coupled with the Large Eddy Simulation (LES) solver, FireFOAM. Tabulated detailed chemistry is included. Radiation is treated using the optically thin model using four different implementations and the effect of subgrid scale (sgs) Turbulence-Radiation Interactions (TRI) is considered. Predictions of time-averaged temperatures and corresponding root mean square (rms) are compared with the experimental measurements at several locations. Further, flame shape, unconditional and conditional species mass fractions, axial velocity and mixture fraction are also examined for qualitative analysis. The predicted temperatures are in good agreement with the experimental data, except very close to the fuel inlet. The predicted temperatures increase more slowly compared to the experimental data in the first 0.09 m above the burner. The temperature rms is in reasonable agreement with experimental data with the peak being overpredicted by approximately 17%. The predicted flame height closely matches the experimental value. The temperature predictions are consistent with previously published results. Best predictions are obtained when the effect of sgs TRI is included. For this flame, the optically thin assumption is found to be valid, in agreement with previous investigations. The calculated radiative fraction is found to be close to the experimental value, but the postprocessed heat release rate is larger than the experimental finding. This first LES-CSE study provides a good foundation for further developments, for example more detailed radiation models, for more complex fire cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The aim of this study was to compare direct brow lift and transblepharoplasty browpexy for the management of brow ptosis in terms of cosmetic results, complications, and patient satisfaction. Patients and methods It is a surgical intervention prospective comparative study, 40 brows of 24 patients with brow ptosis were divided into two groups. Group A included 20 brows that were subjected to direct brow lift and group B included 20 brows that were subjected to transblepharoplasty browpexy. Preoperative evaluation included assessment of general and ophthalmological history, brow evaluation, any associated dermatochalasis, ocular examination, cranial nerve examination, visual field assessment, and photographic documentation. Results Bilateral brow ptosis was present in 16 patients, whereas eight patients had unilateral brow ptosis. There were 16 female patients and eight male patients. Their age ranged between 53 and 75 years. The cosmetic complaint of an undesirable appearance was the presenting symptom in 18 patients, whereas functional issues with heaviness and temporal visual field defects were the presenting symptoms in four patients. In group A (direct brow lift), 16 brows were corrected with the brow level at or slightly above the superior orbital margin, whereas four brows were undercorrected. In group B (transblepharoplasty browpexy), 12 brows were fully corrected, whereas eight brows were undercorrected. Conclusion Both direct brow lift and transblepharoplasty browpexy are effective and safe techniques for the correction of brow ptosis. Each procedure has its own advantages.