Peripherally Inserted Central Catheters May Lower The Incidene Of

Peripherally Inserted Central Catheters May Lower The Incidene Of Peripherally Inserted Central Catheters May Lower The Incidene Of Atheter Peripherally inserted central catheters may lower the incidence of catheter-Related Blood Stream Infections in Patients in Surgical Intensive Care UnitsName:Institution:Course:Tutor:Date:Keywords: Peripheral Inserted Central Catheters - PICCs, Central Venous Catheters – CVCs, Surgical Intensive Care Units - SICUs, Catheter-related Blood Stream Infections (CR-BSI), Major weakness during the studyIntroductionWeakness is a scientific research inadequacy known to hinder effective attainment of both accurate and reliable data. Two major ways of intravenous access include Central Venous Catheters (CVCs) and Peripheral Inserted Central Catheters (PICCs) (Gunst, Matsushima, Vanek, Gunst, Shafi, Frankel, 2011). Mainly, these apply to those patients who stay for longer periods in Surgical Intensive Care Units (SICUs) (Gunst, Matsushima, Vanek, Gunst, Shafi, Frankel, 2011). Throughout the entire study, the use of PICCs resulted in low rate infection of Catheter-related Blood Stream Infec tions (CR-BSI) among patients compared to the use of antiseptic CVCs (Gunst, Matsushima, Vanek, Gunst, Shafi, Frankel, 2011).The study comprises several weaknesses some of being lack of compatibility in the average time of stay in the SICUs for both the CVCs and the PICCs (Gunst, Matsushima, Vanek, Gunst, Shafi, Frankel, 2011). For instance, lines of infusion for fluids and medication stayed for a longer period in the CVCs than in the PICCs. Hence, turning to be detrimental to the patients because previous studies showed the rate of infection with the CVCs increased if the catheter was in place for a prolonged period. This could have led to the conclusion; the CVCs had a higher rate of infection. Chances of selection bias were also high due to failure of specific criteria for a CVC as well as PICC insertion (Gunst, Matsushima, Vanek, Gunst, Shafi, Frankel, 2011). This is because initially the study did not provide a specific and suitable criterion for catheter insertion. Therefore, the choice of insertion site depended on physician’s choice and limited to either internal jugular or the sub-clavian vein (Gunst, Matsushima, Vanek, Gunst, Shafi, Frankel, 2011). Thirdly, there was invalidity of data obtained for all patients in the intensive care unit. This is because the study featured a very small group of intensive care unit patients whereby its greater 63 % sample were patients with trauma, whereas neurosurgical patients, general surgical patients were 19% and 18% respectively (Gunst, Matsushima, Vanek, Gunst, Shafi, Frankel, 2011).ReferencesGunst, M., Matsushima, K., Vanek, S., Gunst, R., Shafi, S., Frankel, H. (2011). Peripherally inserted central catheters may lower the incidence of catheter-related blood stream infections in patients in surgical intensive care units. Surgical Infections, 12(4). 279-82. DOI: 10.1089/sur.2008.058.

Why Lithium Batteries Catch Fire

Why Lithium Batteries Catch Fire Lithium batteries are compact, lightweight batteries that hold considerable charge and fare well under constant discharge-recharge conditions. The batteries are found everywhere  -   in laptop computers, cameras, cell phones, and electric cars. Although accidents are rare, those that do occur may be spectacular, resulting in an explosion or fire. In order to understand why these batteries catch fire and how to minimize the risk of an accident, it helps to understand how the batteries function. How Lithium Batteries Work A lithium battery consists of two electrodes separated by an electrolyte. Typically, the batteries  transfer electrical charge from a lithium metal cathode  through an electrolyte consisting of an organic solvent containing lithium salts over to a carbon anode. The specifics depend on the battery, but lithium-ion batteries usually contain a metal coil and a flammable lithium-ion fluid. Tiny metal fragments float in the liquid. The contents of the battery are under pressure, so if a metal fragment punctures a partition that keeps the components separate or the battery is punctured, the lithium reacts with water in the air vigorously, generating high heat and sometimes producing a fire. Why Lithium Batteries Catch Fire or Explode Lithium batteries are made to deliver high output with minimal weight. Battery components are designed to be lightweight, which translates into thin partitions between cells and a thin outer covering. The partitions or coating are fairly fragile, so they can be punctured. If the battery is damaged, a short occurs. This spark can ignite the highly reactive lithium. Another possibility is that the battery can heat to the point of thermal runaway. Here, the heat of the contents exerts pressure on the battery, potentially producing an explosion. Minimize the Risk of Lithium Battery Fire The risk of fire or explosion increases if the battery is exposed to hot conditions or the battery or internal component is compromised. You can lessen the risk of an accident in several ways: Avoid storing at high temperatures. Dont keep batteries in hot vehicles. Dont allow a blanket to cover your laptop. Dont keep your cell phone in a warm pocket.  You get the idea.Avoid keeping all your items containing lithium-ion batteries together. When you travel, especially on a plane, youll have all your electronic items in one bag. This is unavoidable because the batteries have to be in your carry-on but usually, you can keep some space between battery-containing items. Although having lithium-ion batteries in close proximity does not increase the risk of a fire, if there is an accident, the other batteries can catch fire and make the situation worse.Avoid overcharging your batteries. These batteries do not suffer memory effect as badly as other types of rechargeable batteries, so they can be discharged and recharged many times nearly back to their original charge. However, they do not fare well if they are completely drained before recharging or are over-charged. Car chargers are notorious for overcharging batteries. Using any charger other than the one intended for the battery can increase the risk of damage.

Week 6 _Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Week 6 _Assignment - Essay Example It provides authentication as well as integrity of data and information of the user (Interpeak, 2005). IP Spoofing- An intruder connects to host server by duplicating his/her IP address when address-based authentication is been used. The IPSec protocol uses cryptographic authentication rather than address-based authentication for protecting from IP spoofing attack (Oppliger, 1998). Session Hacking- An intruder can connect to a server which is authenticated. At that point of time, IPSec helps to protect the connection as the intruder does not know the session key necessary for encrypting the data stream (Oppliger, 1998). Denial-of-Service- An intruder sends TCP messages to flood buffer space of targeted system but if there is IPSec protocol it will provide a denial-of-service attack and will reveal intruder’s identity if he/she is using original IP address (Oppliger, 1998). Application layer manages views of the user over the network. It defines about the processing of the application on different systems end communicate over the network. All the processes which are running in various systems or else end-users communicate with the help of application layer protocol (Rouda, 2006). XML stands for Extensible Markup Language, which is used to encode document in a format which is understandable by both human beings and machine. It facilitates to develop a common format of information in a flexible manner. Yes, it is possible to design a universal security solution at one layer. Generally, security suites work on one layer without collaborating with other protocols. A security system can be build with single layer of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model. The OSI model is really a theoretical device used to help explain how the network and internet functions. When a Web communications is secured using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) which is used for securing message transmission

Macro Economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Macro Economics - Essay Example INFORMATION PRESENTED IN THE ARTICLE: The article summarizes current situation of the economy of United States and comment on the different policies and initiatives taken by the government. Writer, with the help of this article, wants to explain the changing attitude of the consumers in the market of United States. The ongoing decreases in the income level have resulted in generation of feelings against the government of United States. There has been around 9.8 percent decline in the national income, for the period starting from recession till June 2011, which is highest in previous some decades (Pear). Although there have been slight improvement in the unemployment rate, the overall wage rate has been stagnant or decreasing. Different factors have been identified for this by the writer like increasing number of people looking for jobs, people are ready to work at low wages, and the wage rate per hour is not able to cover the increase in the overall cost because of inflation (Pear). Along with this the writer has presented the ideas of different economists and analysts, who are of the view that recession has not yet ended for the economy of United States of America. People are facing serious issues because of the lack of jobs and reduced wage rates. As a result the overall spending has also decreased. EVALULATION AND EXPLANATION OF THE ARTICLE: In the article, Pear has provided different statistics in order to prove the decline in the overall household income and take home wages. Article presents different reasons behind the decline of this wage rates and national income. One main reason is the growing unemployment rate, there are increasing number of people who are looking for jobs out there. Owing to the increase in the unemployment rate, people working in different organizations cannot demand for salary increase. Unemployed people are ready to work at low wage rates, which further put downward pressure on the average wage rates in United States. This change can be explained with the help of the concept of supply and demand in the labor market. It has been known through the concept of the Marginal Productivity, that there is an inverse relationship between the wage rate and the demand of the labor. On the other hand the supply of the labor is directly related with the wage rate. If the supply of the labor is more than the demand of the labor, a situation which results in unemployment, the overall wage rates in the economy decrease considerably (Mankiw, 376-388). The decreased wage rate and increasing unemployment level has direct impact on the consumption and spending of the consumers which in turn influence the total GDP and output of any economy. The total output or GDP consists of different components namely: private consumption, government spending, investments, and net exports i.e. exports minus the imports (Leamer, 44-45). GDP = C + I + X – M Private consumption is related to the level of earnings of the people. The disposa l income is the income earned by people after paying the taxes (Arnold, 209). The consumption is equal to disposal income plus savings. C = Yd + S Consumption function describes the direct relationship between private consumption and disposal income. Slope of the consumption function is known as the marginal propensity to consume, which explains the change in consumption because of the change in disposal income (Wessels, 139-141). C = a + bYd Where: a =

Microeconomics Math Problem Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Microeconomics - Math Problem Example For example, if the company decides not to fly, it will still incur the fixed costs as they are not related to the output. It will only save the variable costs. In this situation there's no revenue as firm's planes are lying idle. In this situation the firm will still have to pay its insurance and incur depreciation incurring a loss of $4000. However, if it flies between the two cities it makes a loss of only $2000. Hence, it is better for the company to fly between the two cities. However, if it keeps on making losses and they extend to the long-run, then it is better for the firm to shut-off its operations and invest its capital in an industry, where it could make a normal profit. b) At the product price of $28, the production will fall to 5 units. At his point the firm will be making a loss of = 140 - 175 = ($35). Despite the loss, the firm will continue to produce as it covering its variable costs. c) At the product price of $22, there will be no production at all. Looking at the data, the firm will try to equate its price with MR and the resulting output according to this should be 2 units. However, the revenue gained from this will be only $44, whereas the average costs will be $75, as a result the firm will not produce at all as its revenue is less than average costs and it will only increase the loss if the firm decides to go with the production. S

Dtmf Based Water Controller Essay Example for Free

Dtmf Based Water Controller Essay Along with these problems there is no facility for protection from unauthorized user access to the system switching. Why use Intelligent Water Pump? 1)Manual switching is not beneficial in if user is far away from switching station. 2)Timer based switching circuits are beneficial if duration of load operation is fixed. But most of the cases it is not fixed. 3)General remote switching facility provides the efficient solution for these problem. But it is also affected with the parameter range of operation. Intelligent Water Pump provides the exact solution for these problems. It uses the intelligence of microcontroller along with the powerful peripherals. It uses GSM network which is now a days available in most of the places. It also provides password protection facility to protect the system from unauthorized use. It not on provides the remote switching of the system but also provides the status of system electricity to the user. The system provides instant access along with uncommon voice interaction facility. Operation: . GSM network:- GSM stands for ‘Global System for Mobile Communication’ It provides the network service for communication to both user controller side mobile phone. 2. User side mobile phone:- User sends the accessing commands to the Pump control unit using his mobile phone. User’s mobile phone also plays the received voice feedback messages from Pump control system. 3. Controller side mobile phone:- Controller use this mobile phone to detect p resence of call users commands( in the form of DTMF code) from headset output. Also voice feedback messages are put on the Mic i/p of this mobile. 4. Ring detector:- When user make the call , at that time the presence of ring on receiver mobile phone is detected by this circuit to inform the controller that user wants to access the system. 5. DTMF decoder:- When user enters the choice,the decoder IC8870 decodes the choice equivalent binary no. are available on it’s o/p(Q1 to Q4). Whenever new code comes ,the DTMF decoder will pulse low (STB pin) informing microcontroller that codes are available please take them. 5. Speech circuit:- All the voice messages required to inform the user about controlling action are stored in the voice rom(IC APR 9600). As per the trigger and control i/p from microcontroller, speech circuit put respective voice message on the mic i/p of controller side mobile phone. 6.  µController:- Microcontroller(89S52) keeps co-ordination among all peripherals. Whenever call is detected it takes controlling action according to user’s choice and plays respective voice messages for user’s acknowledgment. It also provides controlling signal for switching circuit as per electricity status user choice. . Switching Circuit :- It is basically a driver circuit which provides the making and breaking of ac mains to the water pump as per signal from controller. It consist of electromechanical relay and relay driver(IC2803) to drive it. 8. Water Pump:- Water Pump is a load which is to be controlled by intelligence of microcontroller based system. 9. AC mains detector:- This block detects the presence of AC mains. Controller check the status of this block before providing ON switching signal to the Water pump. Also availability of electricity can be judged from this block. 10. Power Supply:- It provides necessary power to system components as per requirement for their operation. It provides the regulated power supply along with Battery Backup facility. Block diagram of Intelligent Water Pump [pic] User Side Mobile GSM Network Controller Side Mobile Mobile Ring Detector DTMF Decoder Speech Circuit Power Supply To All Blocks  µ C O N T R O L L E R Water Pump AC mains Detector Switching Circuit Mic i/p Headset

The Human Perception of Pain in Conjunction with the Mind-Body Problem

The Human Perception of Pain in Conjunction with the Mind-Body Problem There is more research surfacing supporting the notion that people can control their pain. What is left under-examined is the notion of whether the pain is mediated by the brain, mind, or both. We all know that pain is an instinctive "sense" if you will, necessary to the survival of all living beings. Without pain, it would go unrecognized and exacerbate to the point of death. Pain is a protective mechanism essential to survival. There are three important claims here: One is that pain is actually a perception. The second, is the brain mediates the suppression of pain through a "gate" in the spinal cord. Lastly, since pain is a perception, the mind may decide the degree to which the "gate" is open, which therefore influences to amount of pain reaching the brain. Recent research provides evidence that certain brain structures mediate the spinal cord gate. Still controversial is whether receptivity to pain is biological in origin and completely dependent on the brain, or whether the min d, the entity in an individual responsible for thought, and feelings, conscious or unconscious, controls the nervous system and in the end manipulates one's perception of pain. Pain is defined by the International Association for the Study of Pain as "an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage" (1). When pain is described in these terms we can see that pain is a perception, sort of like seeing and hearing. When pain is processed there are a number of brain structures activated, commonly referred to as the "central pain matrix" (2). It may seem irrelevant to delve into pain signal activation in the brain since it is seemi... ...that one's entire perception of pain may be conscious in origin and simply correlate to the mechanisms of the brain, rather than stem from just the brain entirely. References 1)Pain Anatomy http://www.ahs.uwaterloo.ca/~ranney/painanat.html 2)The Human Perception of Pain http://dubinserver.colorado.edu/prj/nva/humanperception.html 3)Brain Pain Pathways http://psych.athabascau.ca/html/Psych289/Biotutorials/19/intro.shtml?sso=true 4)Modification of pain within the spinal cord http://www.manbit.com/obstetspain/obnlp3.htm 5)The Skeptics Dictionary http://skepdic.com/mind.html 6)Mind and Body Interactions http://www.mindbody.org/ 7)Mind-Body-Medicine http://www.mind-body-medicine.com/ 8)Mind and Body Wellness http://membrane.com/ncata/lynn/ 9) Carlson, Neil R., Physiology of Behavior. Needham Heights: A Pearson Education Company, 2001.