Effect of Ropivacaine-Loaded Magnetic Nanoparticles on Ankle Nerve Block in Rats

Aim. Our study is to determine the influence of ropivacaine-loaded magnetic nanoparticles (MNP/Rop) on ankle nerve block in rats. Materials and Methods. MNP/Rop was prepared and then injected intravenously into rats to evaluate its anesthetic effect on rat limbs. Mechanical pain thresholds paw withdrawal threshold (PWT) and paw withdrawal thermal latency (PWL) were employed for the assessment of ankle nerve block in rats. Results. PWT increased from T1 to T4 in each group ( P < 0.05 ). The intergroup comparison determined no distinct difference in the PWT value among the three series at T1 ( P > 0.05 ); however, PWT values at T2-T4 were higher in nerve block control group (NBCG) and MNP/Rop group than in blank group (BG), and they remained slightly higher in MNP/Rop group than in NBCG. The intragroup comparison revealed that from T1 to T4, PWL in each group showed a rising trend. The PWL at T1 showed no evident difference among the three series ( P > 0.05 ); however, PWL values at T2-T4 were higher in NBCG and MNP/Rop group than in BG, and they remained slightly higher in MNP/Rop group than in NBCG. In MNP/Rop group, both PWT and PWL increased with the increase of Fe3O4 load in MNP/Rop ( P < 0.05 ), while PWT and PWL remained unchanged when the load was 2.189%; moreover, PWT and PWL elevated as Rop concentration increased in MNP/Rop ( P < 0.05 ), while they kept unaltered under 40 μL 1% Rop. Conclusion. Intravenous injection of MNP/Rop into rats and inhalation of MNP into the ankle joint can effectively block ankle nerve conduction in rats.

EP.TU.310Dancing in the rain: early experience of Enhanced Stress Resilience Training

Aim Core Surgical Training (CST) programs are associated with a 60% risk of burnout and failure to progress. This study aimed to assess the influence of a novel Enhanced Stress and Resilience Training (ESRT) course delivered alongside a focused induction at the start of CST in a single UK Statutory Education Body. Method All CST1s were invited to participate in a six-week ESRT course teaching mindfulness-based exercises to develop tools to deal with stress at work and burnout. Primary outcome measures were compliance with ESRT programme and degree of burnout measured using Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) scoring. Results Of 43 boot camp attendees, 38 trainees completed questionnaires, with 24 choosing to participate (63.2%; male 13, female 11, median age 28 yr.) Burnout was identified in 23 trainees (60.5%) with no evident difference in baseline MBI scores between participants or not (p = 0.77, median 4 [0-11] vs. 4 [1-11]). MBI scores were comparable before and after ESRT in the intervention cohort (p = 0.63, median 4 [0-11] vs. 4 [1-10]). Qualitative data reflected challenges delivering ESRT because of arduous and inflexible clinical on-call rotas and time pressures related to academic curriculum demands. Despite these challenges, 22 (91.6%) considered the course valuable, 14 (58.3%) continued to use the techniques in daily clinical work there was and unanimous support to continue the program in future. Conclusion ESRT was feasible and further research is warranted to determine its medium-term efficacy.

The effectiveness and safety of LMWH for preventing thrombosis in patients with spinal cord injury: a meta-analysis

Background Unfractionated heparin (UFH) and low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) are commonly used for preventing venous thrombosis of the lower extremity in patients with traumatic spinal cord injury. Although, LMWH is the most commonly used drug, it has yet to be established whether it is more effective and safer than UFH. Further, a comparison of the effectiveness of LMWH in preventing thrombosis at different locations and different degrees of spinal cord injury has also not been clearly defined. Materials and methods Cohort studies comparing the use of LMWH and UFH in the prevention of lower limb venous thrombosis in patients with spinal cord injury were identified using PubMed. The risk of bias and clinical relevance of the included studies were assessed using forest plots. The Newcastle-Ottawa quality assessment scale was used to evaluate the quality of the included studies. The main results of the study were analyzed using Review Manager 5.3. Results A total of five studies were included in this meta-analysis. Four studies compared the effectiveness and safety of LMWH and UFH in preventing thrombosis in patients with spinal cord injury. No significant differences were found between the therapeutic effects of the two drugs, and the summary RR was 1.33 (95% CI 0.42–4.16; P = 0.63). There was also no significant difference in the risk of bleeding between the two medications, and the aggregate RR was 0.78 (95% CI 0.55–1.12; P = 0.18). When comparing the efficacy of LMWH in preventing thrombosis in different segments and different degrees of spinal cord injury, no significant differences were found. Conclusions The results of this analysis show that compared with UFH, LMWH has no obvious advantages in efficacy nor risk prevention, and there is no evident difference in the prevention of thrombosis for patients with injuries at different spinal cord segments.

Influence of Core Splice to the Mechanical Behavior of Sandwich Plate

The cores have to be spliced in the manufacturing process of sandwich plate due to the processing technology, the influence of core splice, compared with integrated core, on mechanical behavior of sandwich plate were investigated through two experiments. Two styles of specimens (B-style and C-style) were taken into experiments in sequence which included two kinds of plate with different cores.Firstly, it was found in stiffness experiment that stiffness and strength of sandwich plate with splicing core were obviously weaker than that with integrated core, which mean the former performed larger deformation under the same predetermined load with higher strain and behaved lower ultimate bearing capacity. Meanwhile the failure modes were mainly sheet crushing collapse and there was no evident difference in the failure mode of the two styles specimens with different cores. It concluded that the cores splice reduced the stiffness in location of two core splicing but the effect on the failure mode was slight.Secondly, it was found in stability experiment that the mechanical behaviour was approximately linear under the predetermined axial load and the predetermined out-of-plane load and similarly bulking strength of the sandwich plate with splicing core was about 10%~15% lower than that with integrated core. Basically, delamination between sheet and core kept accompany with bulking of the plate each time and two styles specimens with different cores didn’t show evident differences in failure mode as well. It demonstrated the conclusion and that core splice accounted to make the specimens produced geometric imperfections which resulted in stiffness reduction.Thirdly, based on experiments it was clear that the mechanical behaviour of sandwich plates with splicing cores suffered from more obvious discreteness compared with that with integrated cores, which indicated that manufacturing technology had greater influence on the former and core splice should be avoided in some important location of structure.Lastly, numerical simulation method based on progressive damage analysis was also studied and good correlation with experimental results was obtained, which could well predict the mechanical behaviour of the sandwich plates with splicing core and integrated core.

Engaging dads: Enhancing support for fathers through parenting programmes

Parenting programmes purport to improve the parenting capacity of both mothers and fathers; however it is predominantly mothers who participate. Father participation is important because fathers have a positive impact on both child development and behaviour, and out- comes for children are enhanced when both parents participate in parenting programmes. This article draws upon a study (via an online questionnaire) that explored the views of social workers about the issues affecting fathers’ participation in parenting programmes. The results showed that participants considered the qualities of the programme leader, the programme content and the philosophy of the service delivery organisation to be the most important issues impacting on father participation. From the perspective of change, qualities of the programme leader and organisational philosophy were considered the most feasible to address. The sample comprised three times more female than male participants and there was an evident difference in viewpoint according to gender on issues including the gender of the programme leader and the gender make-up of the group.

A Finite Element Study of the Dynamic Response of Brain Based on Two Parasagittal Slice Models

The objective of this study is to investigate the influence of gyri and sulci on the response of human head under transient loading. To this end, two detailed parasagittal slice models with and without gyri and sulci have been developed. The models comprised not only cerebrum and skull but also cerebellum, brain stem, CSF, and corpus callosum. In addition, white and gray matters were separated. The material properties were adopted from the literature and assigned to different parts of the models. Nahum’s and Trosseille’s experiments reported in relevant literature were simulated and the simulation results were compared with the test data. The results show that there is no evident difference in terms of intracranial pressure between the models with and without gyri and sulci under simulated conditions. The equivalent stress below gyri and sulci in the model with gyri and sulci is slightly higher than that in the counterpart model without gyri and sulci. The maximum principle strain in brain tissue is lower in the model with gyri and sulci. The stress and strain distributions are changed due to the existence of gyri and sulci. These findings highlight the necessity to include gyri and sulci in the finite element head modeling.

Changes in erythrocyte membrane permeability induced by verapamil, chlorpromazine, and their combinations with amphotericin B

Changes in erythrocyte membrane permeability induced by verapamil, chlorpromazine, and their combinations with amphotericin BHemolysis induced by 2 amphipathic agents, verapamil and chlorpromazine, was investigated in various incubation conditions. Changes in absorbance of erythrocyte suspension were monitored by absorption spectrophotometry at a wavelength of 590 nm. The hemolysis induced by verapamil or chlorpromazine is of the permeability type. The resistance of erythrocytes to verapamil is much higher than their resistance to chlorpromazine. No evident difference is found between human and pig erythrocytes in their resistance to verapamil. Only a small decrease in the rate of hemolysis induced by verapamil is observed in isotonic CaCl2, MgCl2or K2SO4solutions, compared to 160 mM KCl (the standard incubation medium). The changes in hemolytic activity of chlorpromazine in the presence of the divalent cations and anions are less evident. No decrease in hemolytic activity of chlorpromazine and verapamil is observed in the sucrose medium. The hemolytic activity of both the agents increases when they act in combination with polyene antibiotic amphotericin B. The results indicate a strong synergy between amphotericin B and verapamil or chlorpromazine. By contrast, a combined effect of verapamil and chlorpromazine on erythrocytes leads to a decrease in their hemolytic activity. This indicates antagonism between verapamil and chlorpromazine.

PHOSPHATE COATING ON THE SURFACE OF CARBONYL IRON POWDER AND ITS EFFECT IN MAGNETORHEOLOGICAL SUSPENSIONS

Two types of carbonyl iron powders, (CIP's, BASF AG), the HS and HS-I (I = insulated, due a coating with phosphate), and two kinds of silica, one hydrophobic (Cab-O-Sil® TS610) and other hydrophilic (Cab-O-Sil® M5), were used to evaluate the influence of the surface treatment of the magnetic particle and the kind of fumed silica on the formulation of some magnetorheological suspensions (MRS). Oscillatory measurements at no field showed an evident difference between the silicas, but not a specific interaction with the phosphate coating on HSI. On the other hand, steady flow experiments also without magnetic field showed that the kind of silica and its specific interactions with the coating on iron powder drove the rheological behavior of the MRS on all region of the shear rate. Under magnetic field, the flow curves differences will be due to the iron particles and its magnetic properties, mainly on the region of higher shear rate.

Evaluation and Comparison of Noah and Pleim–Xiu Land Surface Models in MM5 Using GÖTE2001 Data: Spatial and Temporal Variations in Near-Surface Air Temperature

In this study, the performance of two advanced land surface models (LSMs; Noah LSM and Pleim–Xiu LSM) coupled with the fifth-generation Pennsylvania State University–National Center for Atmospheric Research Mesoscale Model (MM5), version 3.7.2, in simulating the near-surface air temperature in the greater Göteborg area in Sweden is evaluated and compared using the GÖTE2001 field campaign data. Further, the effects of different planetary boundary layer schemes [Eta and Medium-Range Forecast (MRF) PBLs] for Noah LSM and soil moisture initialization approaches for Pleim–Xiu LSM are investigated. The investigation focuses on the evaluation and comparison of diurnal cycle intensity and maximum and minimum temperatures, as well as the urban heat island during the daytime and nighttime under the clear-sky and cloudy/rainy weather conditions for different experimental schemes. The results indicate that 1) there is an evident difference between Noah LSM and Pleim–Xiu LSM in simulating the near-surface air temperature, especially in the modeled urban heat island; 2) there is no evident difference in the model performance between the Eta PBL and MRF PBL coupled with the Noah LSM; and 3) soil moisture initialization is of crucial importance for model performance in the Pleim–Xiu LSM. In addition, owing to the recent release of MM5, version 3.7.3, some experiments done with version 3.7.2 were repeated to reveal the effects of the modifications in the Noah LSM and Pleim–Xiu LSM. The modification to longwave radiation parameterizations in Noah LSM significantly improves model performance while the adjustment of emissivity, one of the vegetation properties, affects Pleim–Xiu LSM performance to a larger extent. The study suggests that improvements both in Noah LSM physics and in Pleim–Xiu LSM initialization of soil moisture and parameterization of vegetation properties are important.

Electrical Conductivity and Low-Field Magnetoresistance in La2/3(Ca0.60Ba0.40)1/3Mn1-xVxO3 Prepared by Sol-Gol

La2/3(Ca0.6Ba0.4)1/3Mn1-xVxO3 (x=0, 0.03, 0.05, 0.07, 0.10, 0.15, 0.20) nanoparticles were synthesized using sol-gel technology. The experimental results reveal that, (1) the substitution of V for Mn in La2/3(Ca0.6Ba0.4)1/3Mn1-xVxO3 lowers the Curie temperature TC and the metal–insulator transition temperature TMI; (2) there exists the evident difference between the TC and the TMI for different V substitution ratio; (3) the low-temperature tunneling magnetoresistance and maximum magnetoresistance near Tc increase with the enhancement of V-doping content. Based on the tunneling magnetoresistance model and the percolation model near Curie temperature, the experimental results are explained well.