Identification and understanding of the pathogens responsible for pleural infection is critical for appropriate antibiotic treatment. This study sought to determine the microbiological characteristics of pleural infection and to identify potential predictive factors associated with mortality.In this retrospective study, we analyzed patient data from 421 cases of parapneumonic effusion. A total of 184 microorganisms were isolated from 164 patients, using two culture systems: a standard method and a method using pairs of aerobic and anaerobic blood culture bottles.The most frequently isolated microorganisms were streptococci (31.5%), followed by staphylococci (23.4%), gram-negative bacteria (18.5%) and anaerobes (10.3%). Streptococci were the main microorganisms found in standard culture (41.9%) and community-acquired infections (52.2%), and were susceptible to all antimicrobial agents in drug sensitivity testing. Staphylococci were the most frequently isolated pathogens in blood cultures (30.8%) and hospital-acquired infections (38.3%), and were primarily multidrug-resistant (61.8%). In multivariate analysis, the following were significant predictive factors for 30-day mortality among the total population: CURB-65 ≥ 2 (aOR 5.549, 95% CI 2.296-13.407, p<0.001), structural lung disease (aOR 2.708, 95% CI 1.346-5.379, p = 0.004), PSI risk class IV-V (aOR 4.714, 95% CI 1.530-14.524, p = 0.007), no use of intrapleural fibrinolytics (aOR 3.062, 95% CI 1.102-8.511, p = 0.014), hospital-acquired infection (aOR 2.205, 95% CI 1.165-4.172, p = 0.015), age (aOR 0.964, 95% CI 0.935-0.994, p = 0.018), and SOFA score ≥2 (aOR 2.361, 95% CI 1.134-4.916, p = 0.022).In this study, common pathogens causing pleural infection were comparable to previous studies, and consisted of streptococci, staphylococci, and anaerobes. CURB-65 ≥2, structural lung disease, PSI risk class IV-V, no use of intrapleural fibrinolytics, hospital-acquired infection, older age, and SOFA score ≥ 2 are potential predictors of mortality in pleural infection.

ISEE-55 Objective: We aim to assess the association of air pollution and respiratory illness related school absenteeism among elementary students. Methods: We applied to time-series analyses of air pollution and school absenteeism data. For these analyses, we controlled long-term trends, seasonality, day of the week, holiday, and influenza outbreaks as well as meteorological variables. School absenteeism data from March 2nd to December 31st, 2002 was collected from student attendance reports of one elementary school in Seoul. The number of daily respiratory illness-related absenteeism was analyzed against the daily levels of air pollution by generalized additive Poisson regression. The relative risks for air pollution exposure of inter-quartile ranges on absenteeism were calculated on the same day. Results: Exposure to air pollutants such as particulate matter less than or equal to PM10, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, and ozone associated with respiratory illness-related absenteeism after controlling of influenza outbreaks. The estimated relative risks (RR) were 1.03 (95% Confidence Interval [CI] 0.99–1.08) per 39.93 mg/m3 increase of PM10, 1.10 (95% CI 1.05–1.16) per 2.59 ppb increase of sulfur dioxide, 1.13 (95% CI 1.07–1.19) per 17.33 ppb increase of nitrogen dioxide and 1.18 (95% CI 1.13–1.23) per 0.29 ppm increase of carbon monoxide. On the other hand, there was significant negative relationship between ozone level and respiratory illness-related absenteeism (RR=0.81, 95% CI 0.75–0.87). Conclusions: Air pollution associates with respiratory illness-related absences among elementary students.

ISEE-43 Abstract: The objective of the study was to compare the prevalence of respiratory symptoms between children living in more polluted area and less polluted area. A survey of respiratory symptoms was conducted for 939 school children from October 13th to 20th, 2003. One school was chosen from the area with high-traffic and the other school from a residential area. During October 13th–18th, 2003, we assessed the level of PM10 measured by b ray absorption method. The concentrations of PM10 of two districts were statistically different (70.3 mg/m3 vs. 22.4 mg/m3). To assess the risk of the respiratory disease of children living in the more polluted area, we calculated the odds and 95% confidence intervals of chronic respiratory illness, allergic rhinitis, and wheezing after adjusting for potential confounders. Children in the two districts showed difference in sociodemographic characteristics such as parental education, and environmental factors such as gas, air conditioner, and carpet use. The prevalence of allergic rhinitis was significantly higher in the more polluted area than the less polluted area. However, there was no significant difference of wheezing between the two districts. In the adjusted model, we found that children in the more polluted area had a higher prevalence in history of chronic respiratory illness (OR=1.10) and allergic rhinitis (OR=1.41), even though these results did not reach statistical significance. The adjusted OR of wheezing during the last 12 months for children in the more polluted area was 1.22 (95% CI 0.51–2.91). This study provides further evidence that prevalence of respiratory symptoms are increased among children living in polluted area.

Computational and experimental studies are performed to investigate the effect of swirl flow of gas turbine exhaust gas (GTEG) in an inlet duct of a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG). A supplemental-fired HRSG is chosen as the model studied because the uniformity of the GTEG at the inlet plane of the duct burner is essential in such applications. Both velocity and oxygen distributions are investigated at the inlet plane of the duct burner installed in the middle of the HRSG transition duct. Two important parameters, the swirl angle of GTEG and the momentum ratio of additional air to GTEG, are chosen for the investigation of mixing between the two streams. It has been found that a flow correction device (FCD) is essential to provide a uniform gas flow distribution at the inlet plane of the duct burner.

Technical Briefs The Production of Shear Flow Profiles in a Wind Tunnel by a Shaped Honeycomb Technique F. Ahmed, F. Ahmed Department of Mathematics, University of Bahrain, P O Box 32038, Bahrain Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar B. E. Lee B. E. Lee Department of Civil Engineering, Portsmouth University, Portsmouth, U.K. Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Author and Article Information F. Ahmed Department of Mathematics, University of Bahrain, P O Box 32038, Bahrain B. E. Lee Department of Civil Engineering, Portsmouth University, Portsmouth, U.K. J. Fluids Eng. Sep 1997, 119(3): 713-715 (3 pages) https://doi.org/10.1115/1.2819303 Published Online: September 1, 1997 Article history Received: October 20, 1994 Revised: May 31, 1997 Online: December 4, 2007

AbstractPorous films of poly(hydroxy ethyl methacrylate) have been made by photo‐polymerisation of solutions of the monomer. The permeability of homogeneous films depends on the cross‐link density and the concentration and composition of the polymerisation solvent. A membrane of minimum water permeability, in which the transport mechanism is principally diffusion, results from a cross‐link concentration of ∼9.4 mol‐% and a monomer concentration of ∼75% in an aqueous ethylene glycol solvent (20% ethylene glycol).More porous (macroporous) films were prepared by first cooling the solution such that the solvent freezes and the monomer occupies the interstices between the solvent crystals. After polymerisation and removal of the solvent, a porous structure results. The rate of freezing, the profile of the thermal gradient, and the solvent and crosslinker concentrations control the permeability of this film. Slow cooling gives random pores (K ≃6 × 10−15 cm2), but rapid, directional cooling from one face gives oriented pores with K ≃10−12 cm2. A 6‐order change in K results from varying the monomer concentration from 40 to 85% in a 4:1 water: ethylene glycol solvent, and a 3‐order change from increasing the ethylene glycol content of the solvent from 0 to 40% at a fixed monomer concentration.

AbstractPhenyl acetylene can be polymerized to low molecular weight polyenes using protonic acids. Gegen‐ion combination is the predominant termination mechanism. In the case of trifluoroacetic acid initiated polymerization the α‐phenyl vinyl trifluoroacetate (or polymers with this end group) which is formed is readily converted to acetophenone (or substituted derivatives). The terminated polyenes form a 1:1 addition complex with excess acid.