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Biomedical subjects

Peter Pang

Publications and source records attributed to Peter Pang.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

Decompression not escharotomy in acute burns.

The concept of escharotomy has long been associated with acute burns care. Nevertheless the practice of escharotomy is frequently flawed and there is considerable diversity in the teaching of the procedure. It is proposed that there should be a fundamental change in the teaching of acute burn management and the concept of decompression should be promoted. The justification for this change comes from a review of the present knowledge base using indexed, library and web-based information sources and also a review of a series of patients transferred to a regional burns unit over a five-year period which revealed that 37% of patients who required surgical decompression had not been appropriately treated prior to transfer. Based on relevant compartmental anatomy a change in the surgical decompression of limbs is proposed to allow safer and more effective management.

Burns↗

Entropic interaction chromatography: separating proteins on the basis of size using end-grafted polymer brushes.

Partitioning of a macromolecule into the interfacial volume occupied by a grafted polymer brush decreases the configurational entropy (DeltaSbrush(c)) of the terminally attached linear polymer chains due to a loss of free volume. Self-consistent field theory (SCF) calculations are used to show that DeltaSbrush(c) is a strong function of both the size (MWp) of the partitioning macromolecule and the depth of penetration into the brush volume. We further demonstrate that the strong dependence of DeltaSbrush(c) on MWp provides a novel and powerful platform, which we call entropic interaction chromatography (EIC), for efficiently separating mixtures of proteins on the basis of size. Two EIC columns, differing primarily in polymer grafting density, were prepared by growing a brush of poly(methoxyethyl acrylamide) chains on the surface of a wide-pore (1,000-A pores, 64-microm diameter rigid beads) resin (Toyopearl AF-650M) bearing surface aldehyde groups. Semipreparative 0.1-L columns packed with either EIC resin provide reduced-plate heights of 2 or less for efficient separation of globular protein mixtures over at least three molecular-weight decades. Protein partitioning within these wide-pore EIC columns is shown to be effectively modeled as a thermodynamically controlled process, allowing partition coefficients (K(P)) and elution chromatograms to be accurately predicted using a column model that combines SCF calculation of K(P) values with an equilibrium-dispersion type model of solute transport through the column. This model is used to explore the dependence of column separation efficiency on brush properties, predicting that optimal separation of proteins over a broad MWp range is achieved at low to moderate grafting densities and intermediate chain lengths.

Acrylamides↗

Syncope and burns.

Syncope is a common condition that may lead to serious injuries including burns and head injury. To date, here has been no specific discussion of syncope and burns in the literature. A retrospective case-note review of consecutive patients admitted to a Tertiary Burns Centre over a 3.5-year-period was conducted. Five hundred and fifty nine patients were admitted during the study period. Six of these had burns related to alterations of consciousness that excluded alcohol/drug ingestion and epilepsy. The mean percentage body surface area burnt was 9.7%, the mean length of hospital stay was 28.5 days and the mean length of stay per percentage surface area burnt was 4.0 days per percent body surface burnt. The mean size of the injury in syncopal patients is slightly larger than the general burns patients (8.4%) but the length of stay is doubled. This is partly related to surgery being delayed due to investigation of the syncope episode. Focused investigations should reduce both the overall length of hospital stay and the number of investigations.

Aged↗

A proprietary extract from North American ginseng (Panax quinquefolium) enhances IL-2 and IFN-gamma productions in murine spleen cells induced by Con-A.

A patented aqueous extract from North American ginseng (Panax quinquefolium), containing mainly oligosaccharides and polysaccharides, is commercially available over the counter as COLD-FX (CVT-E002). This proprietary extract is used for the treatment of upper respiratory tract infections. Its in vitro stimulating effects on the immunoglobulin production by B lymphocytes and on natural immune responses by peritoneal exudates macrophages have been previously reported. Using C57 BL/6 mice, an ex vivo study was conducted to examine Con-A-induced splenocytic productions of interleukin-2 (IL-2) and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) as markers of acquired immune responses. CVT-E002 (10-500 microg/ml) significantly increased Con-A-induced IL-2 and IFN-gamma productions in spleen cells in a dose-dependent manner. Such response was seen by the ginseng extract originated from three different lots, suggesting consistency between the lots.

Adjuvants, Immunologic↗

Near-continuous, noninvasive blood pressure monitoring in the out-of-hospital setting.

OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted to test out-of-hospital performance of a noninvasive radial artery tonometry device to assess blood pressure (BP), providing readings every 10-12 seconds. The primary objective was to determine the correlation between noninvasive BPs calculated with radial artery tonometry and standard oscillometric cuff methods. The secondary objective was to determine whether the difference observed between the two techniques was consistent over the range of BPs measured. METHODS: This prospective trial enrolled adults transported by helicopter (n = 9 patients), fixed-wing airplane (n = 1), or ground vehicle (n = 10) of a single transport service. Patients had BP assessed simultaneously, by both standard automatic cuff and radial artery tonometry device, every 5 minutes. Data were assessed with correlation coefficients, and Bland-Altman techniques were utilized to assess for bias over the range of mean arterial pressures (MAPs) encountered. For all tests, p was set at 0.05. RESULTS: No major problem with radial artery tonometry device field performance was noted. There were 139 pairs of MAP assessments in 20 patients. The correlation coefficient for the two assessment modalities was 0.96. Bland-Altman bias plot and Pitman's test (p = 0.11) revealed good correlation between the two assessment mechanisms over the entire range of MAPs (42 to 163 mm Hg) encountered in the study. CONCLUSION: The radial artery tonometry device provided MAP assessments that were highly correlated with readings from a standard oscillometric device. The radial artery tonometry device performed well in a variety of patient types and in multiple transport vehicles, and there was no sign that its performance was adversely affected by the out-of-hospital setting.

Adult↗