Tei Index and its Relation to Outcome of Critically Ill Children on Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate echocardiographic parameters, especially the Tei index as a predictor of outcome in critically ill children on continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT). METHODS: This cohort study included all critically ill patients admitted at the Pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) and underwent CRRT. Functional echocardiography and Pediatric Risk of Mortality Index (PRISM) III were used to evaluate the participants. Both the Tei index and the Vasoactive inotropic score (VIS) were estimated. RESULTS: The study included 35 patients with an age range of 6 mo to 14 y. The Tei indexes, VIS, and PRISM III were reported as predictors of mortality with a sensitivity of 88%, 83%, and 94% and a specificity of 73%, 79%, and 89% respectively. In survivors, the mean Tei index score, median VIS, and mean PRISM values were 0.44 ± 0.1, 3.8 (0-40), and 12.06 ± 3.35, respectively. However, in non-survivors, the mean Tei index, median VIS, and mean PRISM score were 0.59 ± 0.16, 0.60 (0-342.5), and 22.94 ± 8.93, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The Tei index could be used as a predictor for poor outcomes in children receiving CRRT. It is correlated to the PRISM score and VIS.

Experimental investigation and statistical validation of mathematical models for hot air drying traits of carrot.

The purpose of this investigation is to analyze the influence of sample shapes or geometry and dryer temperature on drying kinetics of carrot. Three different geometrical shapes including rectangular slab, circular discs and cubical samples, at temperatures of 70 °C, 80 °C and 90 °C, respectively, are dehydrated through hot air convection drying and regression analysis is executed to adjust the outcomes to 4 thin layer drying models. The models were validated by parameters- R2 (0.957-0.999), RMSE (0.0066-0.093), AIC (-209 to -54.6 for Henderson and Pabis model, -74.8 to -11.8 for Wang and Singh model, -91.47 to -22.7 for Newton model and -140 to -46.6 for Page model), BIC (-206 to -54 for Henderson and Pabis model, -72.4 to -10.76 for Wang and Singh model, -90.3 to -20.28 for Newton model and -138 to -43.92 for Page model) and residual errors (-0.03 to 0.03). The statistical analysis indicated that Henderson and Pabis model is best suited for the drying purpose. Fick's second law of diffusion is applied to compute values of effective moisture diffusivity, which was maximum for circular disc samples in all the cases and rose with an increase in dryer temperature. It varied in the range of 3.02 × 10-8 m2/s to 1.86 × 10-6 m2/s whereas the values of activation energies varied from 68.512 kj/mol to 74.256 kj/mol. The results obtained from this study reveals the experimentally determined drying properties of carrot in order to infer that circular disc shapes possess the ability to optimize the drying process in industries.

Incidence of Contrast-Induced Nephropathy after Coronary Procedures in the United Arab Emirates: A Single-Center Study.

Contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in patients undergoing coronary procedures. The reported incidence of CIN ranges from ~3% to 30%. The profile of patients undergoing coronary procedures in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) differs from those included in published reports of CIN, and the incidence of CIN after coronary procedures in the UAE remains unknown. We conducted a retrospective analysis of all adult patients who underwent coronary procedures at a large tertiary care facility in the UAE in 2013-2014. Patients on dialysis or missing creatinine values were excluded. CIN was defined as an increase of creatinine of ≥44 µmol/L within 48-72 h after coronary procedures. Most patients (84.8%) underwent coronary procedures for urgent/emergent indications. The incidence of CIN was 44 out of 1010 (4.35%), with 17 out of 44 (38%) of CIN patients requiring dialysis. After adjusting for baseline differences, older patients, use of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, and oxygen use during the procedure were associated with a 20.6% increased risk of development of CIN. The risk of in-hospital mortality was significantly higher in the CIN group (29.5% vs. 1.8%).

Stability indicating methods for the determination of norfloxacin in mixture with tinidazole.

Three stability indicating assay methods are developed for the determination of norfloxacin (Nor) in the presence of its decarboxylated degradation product and in mixture with tinidazole (Tnd). The proposed methods are reversed phase ion pair liquid chromatography (LC), thin layer densitometry (TLC) and second derivative ratio spectra zero crossing spectrophotometry ((2)DD). Chromatographic separation was achieved on mu-Bondapack C18 column 5 microm (300 mm x 3.9 mm, I.D.) and precoated silica gel TLC stationary phases for LC and TLC methods, respectively. Mobile phases consisting of phosphate buffer pH 3.2 : methanol (3 : 1, v/v) containing 0.005 M pentane sulfonic acid sodium salt and isopropanol : butanol : concentrated ammonia : water (25 : 50 : 5 : 25, v/v/v/v) were used for resolution of Nor and Tnd by both techniques, respectively. Detection was carried at 280 nm. In the ratio spectra method, detection of Nor was carried at 282 nm. Linearity, accuracy and precision were found to be acceptable over concentration ranges of 20-225 microg/ml, 0.8-4 microg/spot and 1-7 microg/ml for Nor by LC, TLC and (2)DD methods and over concentration ranges of 37.5-375 microg/ml and 4.8-20 microg/spot for Tnd by LC and TLC methods respectively. The suggested methods were successfully applied for the determination of both drugs in bulk powder, laboratory prepared mixtures and in commercial samples. Statistical comparison between the results obtained by the proposed and the reference methods was carried out using Student t-test, F ratio and one way ANOVA.