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Purpose: This goal of this study was to optimize spectrally selective 1H‐MRS methods for large‐volume acquisition of low‐concentration metabolites with downfield resonances at 7 T and 3 T, with particular attention paid to detection of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) and tryptophan. Methods: Spectrally selective excitation was used to avoid magnetization‐transfer effects with water, and various sinc pulses were compared with a band‐selective, uniform response, pure‐phase (E‐BURP) pulse. Localization using a single‐slice selective pulse was compared with voxel‐based localization that used three orthogonal refocusing pulses, and low bandwidth refocusing pulses were used to take advantage of the chemical shift displacement of water. A technique for water sideband removal was added, and a method of coil channel combination for large volumes was introduced. Results: Proposed methods were compared qualitatively with previously reported techniques at 7 T. Sinc pulses resulted in reduced water signal excitation and improved spectral quality, with a symmetric, low bandwidth‐time product pulse performing best. Single‐slice localization allowed shorter TEs with large volumes, enhancing signal, whereas low‐bandwidth slice‐selective localization greatly reduced the observed water signal. Gradient cycling helped remove water sidebands, and frequency aligning and pruning individual channels narrowed spectral linewidths. High‐quality brain spectra of NAD+ and tryptophan are shown in 4 subjects at 3 T. Conclusion: Improved spectral quality with higher downfield signal, shorter TE, lower nuisance signal, reduced artifacts, and narrower peaks was realized at 7 T. These methodological improvements allowed for previously unachievable detection of NAD+ and tryptophan in human brain at 3 T in under 5 min. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Large-volume fat grafting is emerging as a promising technique in plastic and reconstructive surgery. However, the unpredictable graft volume retention rate remains a critical challenge. To address this issue, we need a profound understanding of the survival mechanisms following large-volume fat transplantation. This review summarizes known survival mechanisms and strategies to enhance graft retention. Methods: This review comprehensively examines the current literature on the survival mechanisms and retention strategies in large-volume fat grafting. A thorough literature search was conducted using PubMed, Medline and Google Scholar databases, focusing on studies published from 2009 to 2023. Conclusion: In the current research on fat survival mechanisms, few have focused on large-volume fat grafting. This review provides an overview of the survival mechanisms specific to large-volume fat grafting and identifies a survival pattern distinct from that of small-volume fat grafting. Additionally, we have summarized existing strategies to improve graft retention across five stages (harvesting, processing, enrichment, grafting and post-graft care), analyzed their advantages and disadvantages and identified some of the most promising strategies. Level of Evidence IV: This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Donghua University (Natural Science Edition) is the property of Journal of Donghua University (Natural Science) Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Almaty Technological University is the property of Almaty Technological University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: Traditionally, non-contrast computed tomography (CT) alone was used in the initial assessment of acute ischaemic stroke patients mainly to exclude haemorrhage or alternative pathology. Summary: Late-window (beyond 6 h) and recent large-volume endovascular mechanical thrombectomy (MT) trials integrated CT perfusion (CTP) imaging to guide MT and/or intravenous thrombolysis decision-making in stroke patients. Key Messages: In current clinical practice, many patients are being excluded from reperfusion therapy due to a lack of data from urgent investigations to assess cerebral vasculature and perfusion. Here, we explore the potential benefits of CTP incorporated into the initial CT protocol assessment of stroke patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Guangdong Architecture Civil Engineering is the property of Guangdong Architecture Civil Engineering Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Subcutaneous (SC) infusion of large volumes at rapid flow rates has historically been limited by the glycosaminoglycan hyaluronan (HA), which forms a barrier to bulk fluid flow in the SC space. Recombinant human hyaluronidase PH20 (rHuPH20) depolymerizes HA, temporarily eliminating this barrier to rapid SC delivery of large volume co-administered therapeutics. Using a miniature pig model, in-line pressure and applied force to the delivery hardware were measured when subcutaneously infusing a representative macromolecule (human polyclonal immunoglobulin [Ig]), at varying concentrations and viscosities (20–200 mg/mL), co-formulated with and without rHuPH20 (2000 U/mL and 5000 U/mL). Maximal flow rate (Qmax) was calculated as the flow rate producing a statistically significant difference in mean applied force between injections administered with or without rHuPH20. There was a significant reduction in mean applied force required for SC delivery of 100 mg/mL Ig solution with 5000 U/mL rHuPH20 versus Ig solution alone. Similar significant reductions in mean applied force were observed for most Ig solution concentrations, ranging from 25–200 mg/mL when administered with or without 2000 U/mL rHuPH20. Qmax was inversely proportional to Ig solution viscosity and Qmax for solutions co-formulated with 5000 U/mL rHuPH20 was approximately double that of 2000 U/mL rHuPH20 solutions. Mathematical simulation of a hypothetical 800 mg Ig dose co-formulated with rHuPH20 showed that delivery times <30 s could be achieved across a broad range of concentrations. Addition of rHuPH20 can help overcome volume and time constraints associated with SC administration across a range of concentrations in a dose-dependent manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Bulletin of the Chinese Ceramic Society is the property of Bulletin of the Chinese Ceramic Society Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Introduction: Liver transplant is a life‐saving treatment, but due to the limited availability of suitable liver donors, ABO‐incompatible liver transplants (ABOi‐LT) are conducted to increase the availability of liver donors. Perioperative desensitization for ABOi‐LT is an established strategy to circumvent the risk of graft rejection. A single prolonged session can be performed to achieve the desired titers to avoid using multiple immunoadsorption (IA) columns or off‐label reuse of single‐use columns. This study retrospectively assessed the effectiveness of a single prolonged plasmapheresis session using IA as a desensitization strategy in live donor liver transplant (LDLT). Materials and methods: This retrospective observational study conducted at a center for liver diseases in North India on six ABOi‐LDLT patients who underwent single prolonged IA sessions in the perioperative period from January 2018 to June 2021. Results: Median baseline titer in patients was 320 (64, 1024). The median plasma volume adsorbed was 7.5 volumes (4, 8) per procedure, with a mean procedure time of 600 min (310‐753). The reduction in titer ranged from 4 log to 7 log reduction per procedure. Two patients developed transient hypotension during the procedure, which was managed successfully. The median duration of pre‐transplant hospital stay was 1.5 days (1, 3). Conclusion: Desensitization therapy helps overcome the ABO barrier and decreases the waiting period before a transplant when ABO identical donors are unavailable. A single prolonged IA session reduces the cost of additional IA columns and hospital stay, thus making it a cost‐effective approach to desensitization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Our objective was to analyse the clinical efficiency of TFL in large volume stones during retrograde intrarenal surgery. Materials and methods: Patients with large volume renal stones (> 1000 mm3) operated at two different centres, from May 2020 to April 2021, were enrolled in this study. Retrograde intrarenal surgery was performed using 60W Superpulse thulium fibre laser™ (IPG Photonics, Russia). Demographic data, stone parameters, laser time, and total operating time were recorded, and laser efficacy (J/mm3) and ablation speed (mm3/s) were calculated. NCCT KUB was done at 3 months postoperatively to calculate stone-free rate. Results: A total of 76 patients were included and analysed in the study. Mean stone volume was 1753.12 ± 1245.81 (1169.27–2193.25) mm3, mean stone density was 1104.46 ± 313.09 (875.00–1317.00) HU, mean laser time was 537.79 ± 689.89 (21.00–1080.00) sec, mean operating time was 43.38 ± 12.96 (35.00–51.25) min, mean laser efficacy was 20.30 ± 15.5 (8.88–25.57) J/mm3, and mean ablation speed was 1.32 ± 0.7 (0.82–1.64) mm3/sec. A strong positive correlation was found between the stone volume and ablation speed (r = 0.659, p = 0.000), and a moderate negative correlation was found between the stone volume and laser efficacy (J/mm3) (r = − 0.392, p = 0.000). With increasing volume of the stone, J/mm3 decreased significantly and ablation speed increased significantly (p < 0.001). Complications occurred in 21.05% (16/76) patients, most of which were Clavien grades 1–2. Overall SFR is 96.05%. Conclusion: Laser efficiency increases at higher stone volumes (> 1000 mm3), as less energy is required to ablate every mm3 of stone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Preoperative autologous blood donation (PAD) is used for elective surgical procedures with a predictable blood loss. But a downward trend in PAD is due to the fact that patients with preoperative whole blood donation or two‐unit red cell apheresis cannot avoid receiving allogenic blood during intensive surgery. To improve the clinical application of PAD, this study explores the feasibility of large‐volume autologous red blood cells (RBCs) donation by a pilot trial in a small cohort of Chinese. Methods: This was a single‐center, prospective study and 16 male volunteers were enrolled from May to October in 2020. Each volunteer donated 627.25 ± 109.74 mL (mean ± SD) RBC with apheresis machine or manually, and received 800 mg of intravenous iron in four divided doses. Blood pressure, oxygen saturation (SpO2), respiratory rate and heart rate were monitored throughout the procedure. The RBC count, hemoglobin (Hb) concentration, hematocrit (Hct), reticulocyte count, erythropoietin (Epo), serum iron, total iron binding capacity (TIBC), transferrin saturation, transferrin, and ferritin were dynamically detected and analyzed before and 8 weeks after blood donation. Results: There was no differences in SpO2, systolic and diastolic blood pressure before and after blood collection (P ≥.05). The heart rate and respiratory rate after donation were slightly lower than those before (P <.05). The level of RBC, Hb concentration and Hct fell to a nadir on Day 3 (pre‐donation vs post‐donation on Day 3: RBC 4.81 ± 0.36*1012 /L vs 3.65 ± 0.31, P <.05; Hb 148.59 ± 11.92 g/L vs 113.19 ± 10.43 g/L, P <.05; Hct 44.08 ± 3.06% vs 33.38 ± 2.57%, P <.05) and recovered to the pre‐donation levels at the eighth week post donation (pre‐donation vs post‐donation at the eighth week: RBC 4.81 ± 0.36*1012 /L vs 4.84 ± 0.34*1012 /L, P ≥.05; Hb 148.59 ± 11.92 g/L vs 150.91 ± 11.75 g/L, P ≥.05; Hct 44.08% ± 3.06% vs 43.86 ± 3.06%, P ≥.05). Epo and the reticulocyte count reached the peak values on Days 1 and 7, respectively (Epo: D0 15.30 ± 7.47 mlU/ML vs D1 43.26 ± 10.52 mlU/ML, P <.05; reticulocyte count: D0 0.07 ± 0.02*109/L vs D7 0.17 ± 0.04*109 /L, P <.05). The red cell net profits on Day 7, the second, fourth and eighth week postdonation were 160.39 ± 144.33 mL, 387.59 ± 128.74 mL, 530.95 ± 120.37 mL, and 614.18 ± 120.10 mL, and accounted for 27.47% ± 24.70%, 63.75% ± 24.91%, 86.20% ± 22.99%, and 99.20% ± 19.19% of RBC donation, respectively. The levels of serum iron, serum ferritin, and transferrin saturation increased during the first week because of the supplement of intravenous iron, and then gradually decreased and declined to the baseline at the end of the study period at the eighth week. Conclusions: The large‐volume autologous RBCs donation of 600 mL is proved safe in our study. Combination support of normal saline to maintain blood volume and intravenous iron supplementation may ensure the safety and effectiveness of large‐volume RBC apheresis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Our objective was to analyse the clinical efficiency of TFL in large volume stones during retrograde intrarenal surgery. Materials and methods: Patients with large volume renal stones (> 1000 mm3) operated at two different centres, from May 2020 to April 2021, were enrolled in this study. Retrograde intrarenal surgery was performed using 60W Superpulse thulium fibre laser™ (IPG Photonics, Russia). Demographic data, stone parameters, laser time, and total operating time were recorded, and laser efficacy (J/mm3) and ablation speed (mm3/s) were calculated. NCCT KUB was done at 3 months postoperatively to calculate stone-free rate. Results: A total of 76 patients were included and analysed in the study. Mean stone volume was 1753.12 ± 1245.81 (1169.27–2193.25) mm3, mean stone density was 1104.46 ± 313.09 (875.00–1317.00) HU, mean laser time was 537.79 ± 689.89 (21.00–1080.00) sec, mean operating time was 43.38 ± 12.96 (35.00–51.25) min, mean laser efficacy was 20.30 ± 15.5 (8.88–25.57) J/mm3, and mean ablation speed was 1.32 ± 0.7 (0.82–1.64) mm3/sec. A strong positive correlation was found between the stone volume and ablation speed (r = 0.659, p = 0.000), and a moderate negative correlation was found between the stone volume and laser efficacy (J/mm3) (r = − 0.392, p = 0.000). With increasing volume of the stone, J/mm3 decreased significantly and ablation speed increased significantly (p < 0.001). Complications occurred in 21.05% (16/76) patients, most of which were Clavien grades 1–2. Overall SFR is 96.05%. Conclusion: Laser efficiency increases at higher stone volumes (> 1000 mm3), as less energy is required to ablate every mm3 of stone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to improve the efficiency of transportation and installation of large reinforced concrete specially-shaped intake risers, resolve the difficulty of positioning control during installation, and to ensure the quality and safety in transportation and installation of the riser, the following technologies were taken for Hassyan Power Plant Project in Dubai, which included lifting the intake riser without hangers, transportation of a number of large and high intake risers after they were properly fixed, double GPS survey and control system + underwater baseline re-checking, accurate adjustment of towing cables, controlled backfilling by stages, etc, thus solving the difficulties encountered in the execution of the project and providing new experience for installation of large and reinforced concrete specially-shaped intake risers in the Middle East, and also reference for similar projects in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent progress with Cadmium Zinc Telluride (CZT) radiation sensors grown by the traveling heater method (THM) at Kromek is reported. Large volume monolithic pixelated detectors, 40×40×15 mm3 have been fabricated with good initial gamma spectroscopy response (< 2.5% energy resolution at 662 keV at room temperature without correction). After depth of interaction (DOI) correction, detector performance with < 1% energy resolution at 662 keV at room temperature has been obtained on pixelated 22×22×15 mm3 CZT detector. For medical imaging applications, 20×20×6 mm3 pixelated detectors exhibits < 3% energy resolution at 122 keV without correction. These results have been achieved via our proprietary THM crystal growth in combination with our robust device fabrication technique. Examples of progress in other areas of CZT development for gamma spectroscopy and imaging applications such as 40×40×5 mm3 cross-strip device for PET and Kromeks general-purpose SPECT camera will also be presented.

Purpose: This goal of this study was to optimize spectrally selective 1 H-MRS methods for large-volume acquisition of low-concentration metabolites with downfield resonances at 7 T and 3 T, with particular attention paid to detection of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD + ) and tryptophan., Methods: Spectrally selective excitation was used to avoid magnetization-transfer effects with water, and various sinc pulses were compared with a band-selective, uniform response, pure-phase (E-BURP) pulse. Localization using a single-slice selective pulse was compared with voxel-based localization that used three orthogonal refocusing pulses, and low bandwidth refocusing pulses were used to take advantage of the chemical shift displacement of water. A technique for water sideband removal was added, and a method of coil channel combination for large volumes was introduced., Results: Proposed methods were compared qualitatively with previously reported techniques at 7 T. Sinc pulses resulted in reduced water signal excitation and improved spectral quality, with a symmetric, low bandwidth-time product pulse performing best. Single-slice localization allowed shorter TEs with large volumes, enhancing signal, whereas low-bandwidth slice-selective localization greatly reduced the observed water signal. Gradient cycling helped remove water sidebands, and frequency aligning and pruning individual channels narrowed spectral linewidths. High-quality brain spectra of NAD + and tryptophan are shown in 4 subjects at 3 T., Conclusion: Improved spectral quality with higher downfield signal, shorter TE, lower nuisance signal, reduced artifacts, and narrower peaks was realized at 7 T. These methodological improvements allowed for previously unachievable detection of NAD + and tryptophan in human brain at 3 T in under 5 min., (© 2024 The Author(s). Magnetic Resonance in Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.)

Copyright of Steel Pipe is the property of Steel Pipe Magazine and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This work aims to present the development and testing of an innovative tool for surge prevention in advanced gas turbine cycles. The presence of additional components, such as a saturator in humid cycles, a heat exchanger for an external combustor, a solar receiver or fuel cell stack in a hybrid system, implies the presence of larger size volumes between compressor outlet and recuperator or expander inlet. This large volume increases the risk of incurring in surge instability, especially during dynamic operations. For these reasons, at the University of Genoa, the Thermochemical Power Group (TPG) has implemented four surge precursors in a new diagnostic real-time software which can recognise a surge incipience condition comparing the precursor values with a set of moving thresholds. The most innovative aspects of this work are: (i) operational range extension and safer management of advanced gas turbine systems for energy generation, (ii) positive impact in energy efficiency due to this range extension of high efficiency systems, (iii) development of a new diagnostic tool for surge prevention using standard probes, (iv) small impact of this tool on the control and sensor costs, (v) software flexibility for adaptation to different conditions and machines. This very important final aspect is obtained with thresholds able to change automatically to adapt themselves to the plant and machine operational regime. From the cost point of view, the utilization of standard measurements is an essential requirement to equip commercial machines without significant impact on the capital costs. The software performance has been demonstrated using experimental data from a test rig composed of a T100 microturbine connected with a modular vessel, which permits to generate the effect of additional components (especially from the volume size point of view). Vibro-acoustic data, collected during machine transients from a stable operative condition to surge, were used to tune all the software parameters and to obtain a good surge predictivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To report on the feasibility and performance of conventionally fractionated multileaf collimator (MLC)-based robotic stereotactic body re-irradiation of the head and neck region using MLC-based Cyberknife (CK) technology. Methods: Patients treated for recurrent or second primary head and neck cancer (HNC) with curative proton therapy to a target volume > 30 cm3 between 2011 and 2015 were included. MLC-based CK plans were generated using the CK M6 InCise2 MLC system. Dose statistics from MLC-based CK plans were compared to proton beam therapy (PBT) plans according to the following metrics: target coverage, target homogeneity index, gradient index, Paddick conformity index (CI), prescription isodose volume (PIV), treatment time (tTime) for one fraction as well as doses to organs at risk (OAR). Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to compare dose metrics. Results: Eight patients were included; the tumor sites included: salivary glands, pharynx (oropharynx, hypopharynx and retropharynx) and sinonasal cavities. Five of 8 patients were treated with multifield optimisation intensity modulated proton therapy, 3 were treated with passive scattering proton therapy. Median dose was 67 Gy (range 60–70) in 32 fractions (range 30–35). The median high-dose planning target volume (PTV) was 45.4 cm3 (range 2.4 – 130.2 cm3) and the median elective PTV was 91.9 cm3 (range 61.2 – 269.7 cm3). Overall, the mean target coverage (mean 98.3% vs. 96.2% for CK vs. PBT, respectively), maximum dose to PTV (mean 111% vs. 111%, p = 0.2) and mean dose to PTV (mean 104% vs. 104%) were similar across modalities. Highly conformal plans were achieved with both modalities, but mean CI was better with PBT (0.5 vs. 0.6 for CK vs. PBT, p = 0.04). Homogeneity and gradient indexes were similar between the 2 modalities; mean tTime with PBT and CK was 17 vs. 18 min, respectively (p = 0.7). Case-based study revealed that CK and PBT plans allowed for excellent sparing of OAR, with some clinical scenarios associated with better performance of CK while others with better performance of PBT. Conclusion: Our study has demonstrated the dosimetric performance of large volume head and neck re-irradiation using MLC-based CK in various clinical scenarios. While conformity was generally better achieved with PBT, MLC-based CK allowed for high dose gradient leading to rapid dose drop-off and sparing of OAR. Conventionally fractionated MLC-based CK could be a competitive alternative in large volume head and neck re-irradiation that deserves further investigation in the clinical setting.

Objective: Laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT) has emerged as an alternative for treating glioblastoma (GBM) in patients deemed unsuitable for resection due to deep-seated or eloquent location, age, or comorbidities. However, its safety and efficacy in large-volume, deep-seated, newly diagnosed GBM (nGBM) tumors remain insufficiently studied. Therefore, the authors aimed to assess the outcomes of LITT in the treatment of deep-seated, large-volume nGBM., Methods: A retrospective analysis of patients with nGBM who underwent LITT between February 2013 and August 2023 was conducted. Patients with deep-seated tumor volume ≥ 10 cm3 treated with LITT were compared to patients with deep-seated tumor volume < 10 cm3. Demographic, perioperative, and follow-up data were collected and compared among both groups. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox proportional hazards regression were performed to evaluate the impact of various clinical and treatment-related factors on patient survival., Results: A total of 33 patients in the study group (mean ± SD age 65.7 ± 10.2 years, 58% male) with mean tumor volume 36.0 ± 21.6 cm3 were compared to 23 controls (mean age 67.0 ± 12.5 years, 61% male) with mean tumor volume 5.2 ± 2.7 cm3. There were no significant differences in hospital length of stay (p = 0.494), temporary neurological deficits and edema within 30 days (p = 0.705 and p > 0.999, respectively), 30-day readmissions (p = 0.139), < 30-day complications (p = 0.918), complications between 30 days and 3 months (p = 0.903), and new motor and speech deficits within 3 months (p = 0.883 and p > 0.999, respectively) between the study and control groups. Kaplan-Meier analysis did not reveal any statistically significant difference in overall survival (OS) between groups (p = 0.227). Multivariate analysis indicated that tumor volume did not significantly affect the hazard ratio for individuals undergoing LITT (HR 1.16, 95% CI 0.83-3.29, p = 0.150)., Conclusions: This pilot study suggests that LITT is safe for treating patients with large-volume, deep-seated nGBM compared to those with small-volume tumor. Although there appears to be improved OS in patients with smaller lesions with greater EOA, significance was not achieved in this cohort.

Copyright of Guangdong Architecture Civil Engineering is the property of Guangdong Architecture Civil Engineering Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The dimension of 20 × 20 × 15 mm 3 has been selected as standard pixelated CdZnTe detector size for many years. Energy resolution of 0.31% full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) at 662 keV for single-pixel events was achieved in one of the best direct-attachment detectors based on VAD_UM v2.2 application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC). Energy resolution under 0.40% was obtained for most of the direct-attachment detectors. The consistent good performance drives the desire to build larger crystals. The increment of size is beneficial in many aspects, such as higher detection efficiency, better imaging performance, better spectroscopic resolution, and potentially lower cost. This article presents the performance of recently delivered 40 × 40 × 10 and 40 × 40 × 15-mm 3 CdZnTe crystals manufactured by Redlen Technology and Kromek Group. The result will be analyzed and the feasibility of mass producing 40 × 40-mm 2 crystals will be discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A gap in biosensor development is the ability to enrich and detect targets in large sample volumes in a complex matrix. To bridge this gap, our goal in this work is to propose a practical strategy, termed as checkpoint-style enrichment, for rapid enrichment of the target bacteria from large volume of food samples with particulates and evaluate its enrichment and improvement in detection. The checkpoint-style enrichment was conducted with antibody modified polyethylene terephthalate (PET) pads as capture substrates. In our approach, blended lettuce sample cocktail was circulated through antibody modified PET pads such as a checkpoint in the sample solution pathway, where target pathogens were selectively captured with immobilized antibodies. The obtained PET pads with the captured target pathogens were then used for enhanced detection by colorimetry. To render the checkpoint-style enrichment approach practical and applicable for on-site rapid screening tests, only a simple syringe-based setup with antibody modified PET pad was required. The developed method could process up to 50 ml of lettuce cocktail blended from 5g samples and purposefully inoculated with E. coli O157:H7. Overall, the enrichment method developed required only 40 min of sample processing time. After enrichment, as low as 100 CFU/ml of E. coli O157:H7 could be detected by a simple colorimetric procedure due to the enhancement from the proposed checkpoint-style enrichment in the presence of ∼3000 CFU/ml of non-target bacteria. A linear response was obtained from blank to 100000 CFU/ml of E. coli O157:H7 in blended lettuce samples. The conceptualized approach demonstrates a promising means to improve the detection of target bacteria with a high degree of sensitivity and specificity and could be used in low resourse settings. Image 1 • Technology for enrichment and detection of E. coli O157:H7 in complex food samples. • Enrichment of pathogens in a large volume of up to 50 ml of food samples in 40 min. • Detection of E. coli O157:H7 in blended lettuce cocktail at 100 CFU/ml based on absorbance from UV–vis spectra. • On-site monitoring of infectious pathogens for food safety, disease monitoring and environmental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report a case of a large vestibular schwannoma in an 80-year-old female patient that shrank after palliative Gamma Knife radiosurgery (GKS). Neurological symptoms included hearing deterioration and facial palsy. The tumor volume was 21.9 mL. Craniotomy was considered high-risk, and conventional GKS was risky, owing to the risk of transient enlargement. Therefore, GKS was performed on only a portion of the tumor. The marginal dose (12 Gy) volume was 3.8 mL (17.4%). The tumor began to shrink after transient enlargement. Sixty months later, the tumor volume was only 3.1 mL, and the patient was able to maintain independent activities of daily living without salvage treatment., Competing Interests: No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

Purpose: This goal of this study was to optimize spectrally selective 1 H MRS methods for large volume acquisition of low concentration metabolites with downfield resonances at 7T and 3T, with particular attention paid to detection of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD + ) and tryptophan., Methods: Spectrally selective excitation was used to avoid magnetization transfer effects with water, and various sinc pulses were compared to a pure-phase E-BURP pulse. Localization using a single slice selective pulse was compared to voxel-based localization that used three orthogonal refocusing pulses, and low bandwidth refocusing pulses were used to take advantage of the chemical shift displacement of water. A technique for water sideband removal was added, and a method of coil channel combination for large volumes was introduced., Results: Proposed methods were compared qualitatively to previously-reported techniques at 7T. Sinc pulses resulted in reduced water signal excitation and improved spectral quality, with a symmetric, low bandwidth-time product pulse performing best. Single slice localization allowed shorter TEs with large volumes, enhancing signal, while low bandwidth slice selective localization greatly reduced the observed water signal. Gradient cycling helped remove water sidebands, and frequency aligning and pruning individual channels narrowed spectral linewidths. High quality brain spectra of NAD + and tryptophan are shown in four subjects at 3T., Conclusion: Improved spectral quality with higher downfield signal, shorter TE, lower nuisance signal, reduced artifacts, and narrower peaks was realized at 7T. These methodological improvements allowed for previously unachievable detection of NAD + and tryptophan in human brain at 3T in under five minutes.

A new opposed type double-stage large volume cell has been developed to compress large volume samples to more than 100 GPa (Mbar) pressure. A pair of second-stage diamond anvils is introduced into the first-stage Paris–Edinburgh press. The double-stage large volume cell allows the generation of ultrahigh pressures using a large culet diameter of the second-stage diamond anvils (diameters of 0.5–1.2 mm). Pressure generation up to 131 GPa has been achieved by using the culet diameter of 0.5 mm. Sample volume of the double-stage large volume cell can be more than ∼100 times larger than that of conventional Mbar experiment using a diamond anvil cell. The double-stage large volume cell has a large opening in the horizontal plane for X-ray measurements, which is particularly suited for the multi-angle energy dispersive X-ray diffraction measurement, thus opening a new way of in situ structural determinations of amorphous materials at Mbar pressures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel statistical nanoindentation technique is presented that obtains massive data on the basis of shale sample's large volume (LV) to assess water-induced softening in terms of Young's moduli of both individual minerals at the micro/nano-scale and the bulk rock at the macroscale, with the latter extracted by a newly proposed surround effect model. Distinguished from traditional statistical nanoindentation that only examines the material at shallow depths of up to a few micrometers, this LV-based method obtains successive measurements to much larger depths of up to ~ 300 μm via sacrificial removal of the previously indented surface layer, enabling assessment of changes in mechanical properties over a large volume. Natural shale sample was first hydrothermally treated to cause softening, followed by statistical indentation with continuous stiffness measurement (CSM) on successive layers of increasing depth upon removal by polishing of the prior tested layers. For each tested surface, cumulative distribution function (CDF)-based deconvolution was performed to analyze multiple subsets of the massive data (i.e., ~ 1000 curves), each of which was extracted from the CSM curves via segmentation at a fixed depth. Such results on different segmentation depths were then fitted by the surround effect model to extract the Young's modulus of individual minerals and bulk rock. The clay matrix is highly sensitive to rock–water interactions and its Young's modulus decreases significantly from 29.2 to 16.5 GPa upon 30 days' treatment. The average rate of softening advancement was estimated to be ~ 10.5 μm/day, suggesting that softening advancement is intrinsically controlled by permeability, despite various physical and chemical softening mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we study the following conformally invariant poly-harmonic equation Δmu = −u3+2/m3−2m in R3, u > 0, with m = 2,3. We prove the existence of positive smooth radial solutions with prescribed volume ∫R3u6/3−2mdx. We show that the set of all possible values of the volume is a bounded interval (0,Λ∗] for m = 2, and it is (0,∞) for m = 3. This is in sharp contrast to m = 1 case in which the volume ∫R3u6/3−2mdx is a fixed value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] Needle-free jet injection is an alternative drug delivery technique that uses the liquid drug itself to penetrate through the skin. This technology is not only a promising alternative to hypodermic needles but also has the potential to replace intravenous delivery with rapid, needle-free subcutaneous delivery for large-volume treatments. In this work we propose a parallelised, 'multi-orifice' approach to overcome the volume constraints of subcutaneous tissue. We present a prototype multi-orifice nozzle with up to seven orifices and use this nozzle to perform injections into samples of ex vivo porcine tissue. These injections demonstrated the rapid (<0.15 s) delivery of up to 2 mL into the tissue using both three and seven orifices. Delivery success (measured as the percentage of fluid deposited in the tissue relative to the total volume that left the device) was very similar when using three versus seven injection orifices. A computational fluid dynamic model of multi-orifice jet injection is also presented. This model predicts that jet production is largely unaffected as the spacing between orifices is changed from 3 mm to 48 mm. This finding is supported by measurements of the speed, volume, and shape of the jets produced by the prototype nozzle that showed very similar jets were produced through all seven orifices. These findings demonstrate the feasibility of multi-orifice jet injection for needle-free delivery of large volumes. This promising technique has the potential to improve patient experience and reduce healthcare costs in large volume parenteral delivery applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to establish a detection method for simultaneous determining four additives in flour products: one simultaneously determines the acesulfame, sodium cyclamate, bromate, and calcium propionate through the selection of ion chromatography pump flow rate, injection volume, eluent concentration, optimization of sample pretreatment and the influence of interfering ions. When using the pump flow rate of 0.8 ml/min, 200 µL large volume injection, 0-14 min, 14-25 min eluent concentration 30 mmol/L gradient elution, 25-26 min eluent concentration 6 mmol/L, flour product is pulverized after addition of water vortex ultrasonic extraction, the supernatant by C18 solid phase extraction (SPE) columns and silver filter, 0.22μm water phase porous membrane testing on the machine, the detection limits of the four kinds of targets are 0.16 μg/ml, 0.19 μg/ml, 0.24 μg/ml, and 0.38 μg/ml, respectively; The standard deviations of retention time and peak area are calcium propionate, respectively 0.13~0.42%, 2.14~4.25% ; bromate 0.20~0.67%, 1.33~4.52% ; sodium cyclamate 0.14~0.53%, 3.57~5.62% ; acesulfame potassium 0.64~0.93%, 0.42~5.81%. This method uses water as the sole extraction solvent and can detect four additives in flour products in a single test. And the pretreatment process is also very simple. When it is applied to other food tests, some compounds may cause interference, which can be assisted by other testing methods.

Based on the residential complex project of a hospital in Chengdu,a linear accelerator is placed inside the project, there should be no cracks in the structure,structural concrete is large volume of radiation resistant concrete. The selection criteria of raw materials and the design of the mixture ratio should meet the practical engineering application the rationality of the matching ratio is verified by thermal calculation. The actual curing measures are taken according to the calculation results of the temperature measurement. In the experiment,the retarding water reducer and admixture technology were used,and the purpose of controlling the temperature difference between inner and outer concrete is achieved through effective insulation measures the temperature stress is reduced effectively and the temperature crack in concrete is prevented. The effect of engineering application is good-through monitoring, the temperature difference inside and outside of concrete is within 10 and the temperature difference between surface of concrete and the atmosphere temperature is within 20 °C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Surge prevention techniques are necessary in gas turbines with large volumes. • A complete surge prevention technique was developed and demonstrated. • Surge approaching was detected and specific prevention operations implemented. • The technique was effective also for compressor inlet temperature increase. Abstract The aim of this work is the demonstration of a surge prevention technique for advanced gas turbine cycles. There is significant surge risk in dynamic operation for turbines connected with large volume size additional components, such as a fuel cell stack, a saturator, a solar receiver or a heat exchanger for external combustion. In comparison with standard gas turbines, the volume size generates different behaviour during dynamic operations (with significant surge risk), especially considering that such additional components are including important dynamic constraints. In order to prevent the surge events, a vibration analysis was carried out to develop precursors which are able to highlight the approach of this unstable operative zone. Since the sub-synchronous content of the measured vibrations is significantly increasing approaching the surge line, special attention was devoted to this parameter. The demonstration of a surge prevention system based on the sub-synchronous vibration content was carried out at the Innovative Energy Systems Laboratory of the University of Genoa. In this laboratory, a recuperated microturbine connected with a large size vessel was used. Starting from the stable operation, closing a valve in the main air line or increasing the compressor inlet temperature produced operative conditions with significant surge risk. The increase in sub-synchronous vibration content detected by the control system was used to perform an active operation (bleed valve opening) to avoid the approaching surge event. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a rapid and sensitive method for detection of Escherichia coli O157:H7 using the coaxial channel-based DNA extraction and the microfluidic PCR was proposed and verified. The magnetic silica beads were first pumped into the coaxial channel, which was captured in the coaxial channel more uniformly by applying the multiring high-gradient magnetic field. After the E. coli O157:H7 cells were lysed with the lysis buffer to release the DNA, the improved coaxial channel was used to efficiently extract the DNA, followed by washing with ethanol to remove the residual proteins and eluting with a small volume of deionized water to obtain the purified and concentrated DNA. Finally, the obtained DNA was amplified and determined using the microfluidic PCR. This proposed bacteria detection method was able to detect E. coli O157:H7 as low as 12 cfu/mL when the large volume (10 mL) of bacterial sample was used, and the recovery of E. coli O157:H7 in the spiked milk samples ranged from 97.4 to 100.6%. This proposed bacteria detection method has shown great potential to detect lower concentration of E. coli O157:H7 from larger volumes of sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing trend of claim frequency and claim severity for auto-insurance result in need of methods to quickly file claims while maintaining accuracy. One of them is machine learning that treats the problem as supervised learning. The volume of the historical claim data is usually large. Moreover, there are many missing values for many features of the data. Therefore, we need machine learning models that can handle both data characteristics. XGBoost is a new ensemble learning that should be very suitable for both data characteristics. In this paper, we apply and analyze the accuracy of XGBoost for the problem of claim prediction. We also compare the performance of XGBoost with that of another ensemble learning, i.e., AdaBoost, Stochastic GB, Random Forest, and online learningbased method, i.e., Neural Network. Our simulations show that XGBoost gives better accuracies in term of normalized Gini than other methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By using an innovative, positive pressure sample loading technique in combination with an in-line filter of finely ground sand the bottleneck of solid phase extraction (SPE) can be reduced. Recently published work by us has shown the proof of concept of the technique. In this work, emphasis is put on the SPE flow rate and method validation for 26 compounds of emerging environmental concern, mainly from the 1st and 2nd EU Watch List, with various physicochemical properties. The mean absolute recoveries in % and relative standard deviations (RSD) in % for the investigated compounds from spiked pure water samples at the three investigated flow rates of 10, 20, and 40 mL/min were 63.2% (3.2%), 66.9% (3.3%), and 69.0% (4.0%), respectively. All three flow rates produced highly repeatable results, and this allowed a flow rate increase of up to 40 mL/min for a 200 mg, 6 mL, reversed phase SPE cartridge without compromising the recoveries. This figure is more than four times the maximum flow rate recommended by manufacturers. It was indicated that some compounds, especially pronounced for the investigated macrolide molecules, might suffer when long contact times with the sample glass bottle occurs. A reduced contact time somewhat decreases this complication. A very good repeatability also held true for experiments on both spiked matrix-rich pond water (high and low concentrations) and recipient waters (river and wastewater) applying 40 mL/min. This work has shown that, for a large number of compounds of widely differing physicochemical properties, there is a generous flow rate window from 10 to 40 mL/min where sample loading can be conducted. A sample volume of 0.5 L, which at the recommended maximum flow rate speed of 10 mL/min, would previously take 50 min, can now be processed in 12 min using a flow rate of 40 mL/min. This saves 38 min per processed sample. This low-cost technology allows the sample to be transferred to the SPE-column, closer to the sample location and by the person taking the sample. This further means that only the sample cartridge would need to be sent to the laboratory, instead of the whole water sample, like today’s procedure.

Bacteriophages are widely used to the treatment of drug-resistant bacteria and the improvement of food safety through bacterial lysis. However, the limited investigations on bacteriophage restrict their further application. In this study, a novel and highly efficient method was developed for isolating bacteriophage from water based on the electropositive silica gel particles (ESPs) method. To optimize the ESPs method, we evaluated the eluent type, flow rate, pH, temperature, and inoculation concentration of bacteriophage using bacteriophage f2 . The quantitative detection reported that the recovery of the ESPs method reached over 90%. The qualitative detection demonstrated that the ESPs method effectively isolated 70% of extremely low-concentration bacteriophage (10 0 PFU/100 L). Based on the host bacteria composed of 33 standard strains and 10 isolated strains, the bacteriophages in 18 water samples collected from the three sites in the Tianjin Haihe River Basin were isolated by the ESPs and traditional methods. Results showed that the ESPs method was significantly superior to the traditional method. The ESPs method isolated 32 strains of bacteriophage, whereas the traditional method isolated 15 strains. The sample isolation efficiency and bacteriophage isolation efficiency of the ESPs method were 3.28 and 2.13 times higher than those of the traditional method. The developed ESPs method was characterized by high isolation efficiency, efficient handling of large water sample size and low requirement on water quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs), ubiquitous compounds coming from incomplete combustion processes, are very toxic species and can cause serious effects on the human health. At authors' knowledge, studies on PAHs levels in surface waters are scarce: the main problem regards the analytical implications due to analyzing such compounds at very low levels. This paper would like to present a new extraction protocol based on Dispersive Liquid-Liquid MicroExtraction (DLLME) procedure followed by GC-IT/MS for simultaneous determination of nine PAHs in surface water. Iso -octane is used as extraction solvent whereas no dispersive solvent is involved. An important issue regarded the procedure to obtain the emulsion without dispersive solvent but using ultrasounds; the other important novelty of this method of extraction regards the enrichment factors, that were demonstrated to be significantly high (up to 100,000). Methodological parameters such as the volume of surface water sample, the extraction solvent and relative volume, the time required for breaking emulsion and the salting-out effect have been investigated. Under the optimum experimental conditions (1 L-volume of surface water sample, 300 μL of isooctane as extraction solvent, 2 min-ultrasound for the emulsion and 10 minutes-agitation for breaking the emulsion, nitrogen stream for concentrating up to 10 μL, analysis by GC-IT/MS) the method provides very good correlation coefficients (R 2 > 0.99) in the range investigated, LODs and LOQs able to analyze such compounds in any water matrix (0.001–0.009 pg μL − 1 and 0.003–0.022 pg μL − 1 , respectively), recoveries ranging 97–108%, inter- and intra-day precisions below 6.0% and 8.2%, respectively, for all PAHs. A comparison with other methods reported in literature demonstrates the reliability of such easy, cost-effective and reproducible methods. Finally, applications to nine different water samples are reported and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Ultrasensitive counting of single bacteria in 100 mL large-volume water samples within 30 min. • Wide dynamic range from 0.09 to 900 cells/mL. • Direct pathogen quantification in unprocessed beverage samples. • Interfacial amplification between two different nanoporous materials. The quantitative detection of pathogens in milliliters of beverage sample requires complex preprocessing. To achieve rapid and ultrasensitive quantification of pathogens in large volume food sample, we developed a filtration-based interfacial digital LAMP (idLAMP) system, which consists of a nanoporous membrane for filtration and nanoporous hydrogel for digital amplification. Digital counting of single bacteria at the membrane surface under nanoconfinement could be achieved. The idLAMP successfully accomplished the quantitative detection of Escherichia coli in 100 mL water samples within 30 min, with wide dynamic range from 0.09 to 900 cells/mL. This technique could also be well applied to the quantification of Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhi in real beverage samples (juice, tea drinks, carbonated drinks and alcoholic drinks) without tedious sample pretreatments. With facile operation, higher specificity and sensitivity and better end-point analysis capabilities, the system has great potential in quantitative counting of single bacteria in large-volume food samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In dimensional inspection of large objects, portable measuring systems are greatly involved in a wealth of applications, such as automotive, motorsports and aerospace industries. Metris K-series Optical CMM (Coordinate Measuring Machine) system is one of the metrology solutions with relatively high accuracy and flexibility. This paper focuses on measurement strategy via repeatedly measuring a length using Metris K610 camera system. The paper proposes a link between measurement strategy and the system performance that can be achieved. The result of the statistical analysis are also given based on the uncertainty propagation of the CMM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We are witnessing increasing interests in developing “smart cities” which helps improve the efficiency, reliability, and security of a traditional city. An important aspect of developing smart cities is to enable “smart transportation,” which improves the efficiency, safety, and environmental sustainability of city transportation means. Meanwhile, the increasing use of GPS devices has led to the emergence of big trajectory data that consists of large amounts of historical trajectories and real-time GPS data streams that reflect how the transportation networks are used or being used by moving objects, e.g., vehicles, cyclists, and pedestrians. Such big trajectory data provides a solid data foundation for developing various smart transportation applications, such as congestion avoidance, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and effective traffic accident response, etc. Instead of proposing yet another specific smart transportation application, we propose the parallel-distributed network-constrained moving objects database (PD-NMOD), a general framework that manages big trajectory data in a scalable manner, which provides an infrastructure that is able to support a wide variety of smart transportation applications and thus benefiting the smart city vision as a whole. The PD-NMOD manages both transportation networks and trajectories in a distributed manner. In addition, the PD-NMOD is designed to support general SQL queries over moving objects and to efficiently process the SQL queries on big trajectory data in parallel. Such design facilitates smart transportation applications to retrieve relevant trajectory data and to conduct statistical analyses. Empirical studies on a large trajectory data set collected from 3,500 taxis in Beijing offer insight into the design properties of the PD-NMOD and offer evidence that the PD-NMOD is efficient and scalable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wastewater monitoring for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus responsible for the global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, has highlighted the need for methodologies capable of assessing viral prevalence during periods of low population infection. To address this need, two volumetrically different, methodologically similar concentration approaches were compared for their abilities to detect viral nucleic acid and infectious SARS-CoV-2 signal from primary influent samples. For Method 1, 2 L of SARS-CoV-2 seeded wastewater was evaluated using a dead-end hollow fiber ultrafilter (D -HFUF) for primary concentration, followed by the CP Select™ for secondary concentration. For Method 2, 100 mL of SARS-CoV-2 seeded wastewater was evaluated using the CP Select™ procedure. Following D -HFUF concentration (Method 1), significantly lower levels of infectious SARS-CoV-2 were lost (P value range: 0.0398–0.0027) compared to viral gene copy (GC) levels detected by the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) N1 and N2 reverse-transcriptase quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) assays. Subsamples at different steps in the concentration process were also taken to better characterize the losses of SARS-CoV-2 during the concentration process. During the centrifugation step (prior to CP Select™ concentration), significantly higher losses (P value range: 0.0003 to <0.0001) occurred for SARS-CoV-2 GC levels compared to infectious virus for Method 1, while between the methods, significantly higher infectious viral losses were observed for Method 2 (P = 0.0002). When analyzing overall recovery of endogenous SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater samples, application of Method 1 improved assay sensitivities (P = <0.0001) compared with Method 2; this was especially evident during periods of lower COVID-19 case rates within the sewershed. This study describes a method which can successfully concentrate infectious SARS-CoV-2 and viral RNA from wastewater. Moreover, we demonstrated that large volume wastewater concentration provides additional sensitivity needed to improve SARS-CoV-2 detection, especially during low levels of community disease prevalence. [Display omitted] • A large volume method (2 L) was evaluated against a small volume method (100 mL). • Total virus was 4 log 10 higher compared to infectious virus for SARS-CoV-2 seed. • Significant levels of infectious SARS-CoV-2 was lost (P ≤ 0.0398) during D -HFUF. • Method 1 outperformed Method 2 (P = <0.0001) for endogenous SARS-CoV-2 detection. • To better forecast disease spread, large volume (2 L) concentration is beneficial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coastal marine Environmental Radioactivity Measurement Programme in India assume significance in view of massive expansion of nuclear power plants in the Asia Pacific region and to establish benchmark of specific radionuclides in coastal marine environment. In the present study Marine Environmental Surveillance was carried out along the east and west coast of India. Fallout out 137Cs and naturally occurring 226Ra, 228Ra were assessed by in house developed in-situ pre-concentration method using copper ferrcyanide and manganese di-oxide coated filter cartridges. 137Cs activity concentration mapped for Indian coastal region varied from 0.30 to 1.25 Bq m-3 and these were compared with 137Cs levels of Asia Pacific Region. The marine surveillance data also indicates no input from any source including operation of nuclear power plant in east and west coast of India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The aim of this study was to compare 2 methods of nasal irrigation after septoplasty. The combined use of low-pressure, high-volume nasal saline (LPHVNS) irrigation, together with fluticasone propionate (FP) (LPHVNS+FP), was compared with high-pressure, low-volume nasal saline (HPLVNS) irrigation during the early postoperative period following septoplasty. Methods Seventy-three patients undergoing septoplasty for nasal obstruction were recruited for the study. The patients were randomly divided into 2 groups; nasal irrigation was applied for 4 weeks in both groups. Group 1 (n = 40) used HPLVNS irrigation. Group 2 (n = 33) used the LPHVNS+FP combination. The patients were evaluated using the visual analogue scale (VAS), Nasal Obstruction Symptom Evaluation (NOSE), nasal examination scores, acoustic rhinometry, rhinomanometry, and peak nasal inspiratory flowmetry (PNIF) measurements. Results In group 2, the increase in VAS results was more prominent than in group 1. NOSE scores were significantly lower in group 2 than in group 1. The nasal examination revealed that group 2 had less edema and less crusting than group 1. The decrease in nasal airway resistance was significantly higher in group 2. The PNIF values increased to a significantly greater extent in group 2 than in group 1. Conclusion Nasal irrigation with the LPHVNS+FP combination during the early postoperative period following septoplasty is an effective method, resulting not only in increased patient satisfaction and nasal air flow but also in decreased edema and crust formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]