Search Results (5)

Background: The inability to ensure adequate nutrition for patients, and failure to provide adequate calorie and protein intake, result in malnutrition, leading to increased morbidity and mortality. The present study assesses the two approaches to enteral nutrition—intermittent and continuous enteral feeding—in critically ill pediatric patients in Türkiye to determine the superiority of one method over the other. Methods: Included in this multicenter prospective study were patients receiving enteral nutrition via a tube who were followed up over a 3-month period. Anthropometric data, calorie and protein intake, and signs of feeding intolerance were evaluated in a comparison of the different feeding methods. Results: A total of 510 patients were examined. In the continuous enteral feeding (CEF) group, 20.2% of patients developed metabolic abnormalities, and 49.5% experienced enteral nutrition intolerance, both of which were higher than in the intermittent enteral feeding (IEF) group, and the differences were statistically significant. No significant differences were observed between the two feeding methods in terms of reaching the target calorie intake on days 2 and 7 (p > 0.05). On day 7, there were significant differences between the two feeding methods in terms of calorie and protein intake (p = 0.023 and 0.014, respectively). Conclusions: In the present study, assessing the IEF and CEF approaches to enteral nutrition, critically ill pediatric patients receiving intermittent feeding exhibited lower rates of enteral nutrition intolerance and metabolic abnormalities. Furthermore, the calorie and protein intake on day 7 were noted to be higher in the IEF group than in the CEF group. Further randomized controlled trials are needed to confirm the findings of the present study. Full article

Stainless-steel has become a widely preferred material type in the marine, aerospace, sanitary, industrial equipment, and construction industries due to its superior corrosion resistance, high mechanic properties, high strength, formability, and thermal and electrical conductivity. In this study, a multi-objective optimization method based on grey relational analysis was employed to optimize the fiber laser-cutting parameters of cutting speed, focal position, frequency, and duty cycle. Surface roughness and kerf width, which are the two most important parameters that determine laser-cutting quality, were simultaneously optimized. In order to assign the optimum level of each parameter individually, the Taguchi technique was applied. The cutting surface morphology was examined according to the grey relational grade with a 3D optical profilometer, and maps of the cutting surfaces were created. According to the results achieved using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), it was seen that the parameters that affected surface roughness and kerf width the most were duty cycle, with a contribution rate of 49.01%, and frequency, with a contribution rate of 31.2%. Frequency was the most important parameter in terms of multiple responses, with a contribution rate of 18.55%. Duty cycle and focal position were the second and third most effective parameters, respectively. It was determined that the optimum parameter values for minimum surface roughness and minimum kerf width that could be obtained with the fiber laser cutting of 20 mm thick AISI 304L (DIN EN 1.4301) material were 310 mm/min cutting speed, −11 mm focal position, 105 Hz frequency, and 60% duty cycle. Full article

Background: The outcome of patients with simultaneous diagnosis of haematological malignancies (HM) and COVID-19 is unknown and there are no specific treatment guidelines. Methods: We describe the clinical features and outcome of a cohort of 450 patients with simultaneous diagnosis of HM and COVID-19 registered in the EPICOVIDEHA registry between March 2020 to February 2022. Results: Acute leukaemia and lymphoma were the most frequent HM (35.8% and 35.1%, respectively). Overall, 343 (76.2%) patients received treatment for HM, which was delayed for longer than one month since diagnosis in 57 (16.6%). An overall response rate was observed in 140 (40.8%) patients after the first line of treatment. After a median follow-up of 35 days, overall mortality was 177/450 (39.3%); 30-day mortality was significantly higher in patients not receiving HM treatment (42.1%) than in those receiving treatment (27.4%, p = 0.004), either before and/or after COVID-19, or compared to patients receiving HM treatment at least after COVID-19 (15.2%, p < 0.001). Age, severe/critical COVID-19, ≥2 comorbidities, and lack of HM treatment were independent risk factors for mortality, whereas a lymphocyte count >500/mcl at COVID-19 onset was protective. Conclusions: HM treatment should be delivered as soon as possible for patients with simultaneous diagnosis of COVID-19 and HM requiring immediate therapy. Full article

Nowadays, environmental impact, safety and fuel efficiency are fundamental issues for the automotive industry. These objectives are met by using a combination of different types of steels in the auto bodies. Therefore, it is important to have an understanding of how dissimilar materials behave when they are welded. This paper presents the process parameters’ optimization procedure of fiber laser welded dissimilar high strength low alloy (HSLA) and martensitic steel (MART) steel using a Taguchi approach. The influence of laser power, welding speed and focal position on the mechanical and microstructural properties of the joints was determined. The optimum parameters for the maximum tensile load-minimum heat input were predicted, and the individual significance of parameters on the response was evaluated by ANOVA results. The optimum levels of the process parameters were defined. Furthermore, microstructural examination and microhardness measurements of the selected welds were conducted. The samples of the dissimilar joints showed a remarkable microstructural change from nearly fully martensitic in the weld bead to the unchanged microstructure in the base metals. The heat affected zone (HAZ) region of joints was divided into five subzones. The fusion zone resulted in an important hardness increase, but the formation of a soft zone in the HAZ region. Full article

Recently, sustainability has been a growing concern for many industries and especially for the transportation sector due to it being the second largest energy consumer and largest contributor of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions within the European Union. New legal restrictions on the emission rates have forced the automotive sector to examine different fuel-efficient technologies. Vehicle weight reduction is one of the most important methods of improving fuel efficiency and reducing CO₂ emissions. Accordingly, lighter, safer, more fuel efficient, and environmentally sustainable vehicles are a priority for European authorities. In the present work, the passenger seat structure was considered as the area for lightweighting due to its important role in the mass of commercial vehicles in terms of numbers per vehicle. In addition, seat structures presented the best opportunity for weight reduction using new materials and design techniques. Detailed (3D) finite element models of passenger seats were developed for finite element analyses (FEA). To obtain a lightweight and safe seat structure, different materials and thicknesses of profiles were analyzed. Lightweight passenger seat prototypes were developed and an overall 20% weight reduction was achieved including the structural frame, chassis and pillar. In addition, the new passenger seat meets ECE R14 safety norms. Full article