New Castle Historical Society

Introduction: The impact of COVID-19 was felt across cardiology as resources were redirected to critical care, delaying elective cardiology procedures. Hypothesis: To evaluate differences in outcomes of cardiac implantable electronic device (CIED) procedures in 2020 (height of COVID) vs. 2016-2019 (pre-COVID). Methods: Adults >= 18 years undergoing CIED procedures were identified from National Inpatient Sample Databases (NIS) 2016-2020. Complications and mortality were assessed based on the type of device: Permanent Pacemaker (PPM); Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD); Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy with Pacemaker (CRT-P) or defibrillator (CRT-D): Leadless PPM; Generator explant (GE), and Lead extraction (LE). Results: A 13.8% drop in CIED admissions was recorded between 2019 and 2020 (p<0.01). Fewer procedures involving PPM, ICD, CRT-P, CRT-D, LE, and GE were observed between 2019 and 2020. Leadless PPM utilization rose consistently between 2016-2020 (47.6% increase during 2020 vs 2019)(Figure). In 2020, a higher proportion of patients were classified with a Charlson Comorbidity Index score of ≥3 (severe) (47.4% in 2020 vs. 42.9% in 2016-2019, p<0.01). The table shows significantly higher complications during CIED implants with no changes in mortality related to procedures. Conclusions: Patients admitted for CIED implants in 2020 had more severe comorbidities and expressed considerable differences in complications than pre-COVID era (2016-2019), but mortality remained unchanged. Leadless PPM use increased during pandemic, as against a decrease in the use of other CIEDs.

Abstract BackgroundPlant-based analogues and substitutes for animal meat are receiving considerable attention within academia and the popular press. Once a niche product aimed at vegetarians, they are increasingly promoted to omnivores and meat-moderating “flexitarians”. Proponents view these new foods as a means of reducing livestock production and improving the environment, whilst industry sees opportunity to repurpose traditional and novel crops into high-value ingredients. To date, most research on meat alternatives has focused on public perception, processing technologies, hedonics and the consumer acceptability issues that underpin product development. There have been surprisingly few investigations into the nutritional, health and well-being consequences of consuming meat analogues over the short- or long term. The aim of our current trial is to consider the digestion, absorption and utilisation of a meat-analogue meal in Millennial consumers and compare that to matched meals featuring pasture-raised or grain-finished beef.MethodsA cohort of healthy, young (20-34 yrs) male participants will consume a single meal on three occasions in a treatment-crossover, blinded investigation. Each instance will be followed by five hours of repeated venous blood collection to assess the digestive and metabolic effects of the meal. The three meals include a popular commercial meat analogue comprising pea, bean and rice extracts plus plant fats and cellulose, or a beef patty from pasture-raised cattle or grain-fed cattle. Samples of the participants’ blood plasma will be measured for changes in amino acid profile, neurotransmitter proteins, chylomicron fatty acid distribution and biomarkers of general health.DiscussionTo our knowledge this is the first randomised controlled trial (RCT) comparing the acute nutritional effects of iso-caloric, blinded meals containing a plant-based meat analogue or pasture-fed- or grain-finished beef. The study provides proof of principle for only the effects of a single meal. Future work will translate these insights into longer-term, lifestyle interventions.Trial Registration This study, registered as Universal trial number: U1111-1244-9426. ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04545398 will be carried out under the auspices of The University of Auckland. The trial has been granted ethical approval by the Ministry of Health, Health and Disability Ethics Committee (Ref: 19/STH/226). Date and version: 9/05/22, version 1

The Christina River Force Main (CRFM) is an 84 in. prestressed concrete cylinder pipe (PCCP) force main owned and operated by New Castle County, Delaware. The New Castle County sanitary sewer system serves over 122,000 customers and handles 50 million gallons of wastewater every day. The system consists of approximately 45,000 manholes; 1,800 mi of sanitary sewer gravity collection system pipes ranging from 6 in. to 84 in. in diameter; 3 wastewater treatment plants; and 175 pump stations. In 2019, inspections conducted by the owner and engineer revealed that sections of this force main were critically deteriorated due to hydrogen sulfide attack—in some cases, portions of the inner concrete core had become completely disintegrated and/or disbonded and were found on the invert of the pipe. In the most extreme cases, the inner core was missing, the steel cylinder was completely corroded, and the outer core was starting to be attacked and deteriorated by up to about 1 in. depth. Replacement of the line was not possible due to the presence of a high-pressure gas mine running over a portion of the line. Relocation was not practical due to both area congestion and the anticipated duration of the permitting process. After a thorough analysis, New Castle County and AECOM determined that the best path forward was to structurally rehabilitate the CRFM using carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CRFP). The rehabilitation project began in the December 2019 and was completed in March 2020. It consisted of structurally rehabilitating 22 segments and installing a corrosion prevention barrier on 88 segments. The total project length was 1311 LF. This paper will discuss the challenges encountered during installation including cleaning and sanitizing the line; incremental shoring; debris removal; surface preparation/restoration; and installation of CFRP.

Random motions can occur in the intergalactic gas of galaxy clusters at all stages of their evolution. Depending on the poorly known value of the Reynolds number, these motions can or cannot become turbulent, but in any case they can generate random magnetic fields via dynamo action. We argue that magnetic fields inferred observationally for the intracluster medium require dynamo action, and then estimate parameters of random flows and magnetic fields at various stages of the cluster evolution. Polarization in cluster radio halos predicted by the model would be detectable with the SKA.

p53 gene and its protein is one of the most widely studied genetic abnormalities in cancer. Howeyer due to the restriction of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) to certain areas, mostly in Asia, scant attention has been paid to the over-expression of p53 in the high prevalence of NPC in the intemational literature. This study examined the immunohistological expression of p53 in 48 Indonesian NPC patients and correlated it with two NPC histological classifications. p53 protein over-expression were respectively found in 100%, 82.6Vo, and 62.5Vo of squamous cell carcinoma, type A carcinoma and type B carcinomn of Working Formulation classification. This statistically significant correlation gives the impression that p53 may have prognostic relevance in NPC.

This study investigated whether teaching mothers with low socioeconomic status (SES) to comment while reading to their children would increase communicative interaction in mother-child dyads and improve the children's emerging literacy skills. Three children with developmental disabilities and four at-risk children participated. Mothers were taught to comment on the literary content in books in a way that related events and characters in the story to the child's own experiences. A multiple baseline across participants with an embedded withdrawal design was used to evaluate the effects of intervention on parent-child interactions. All mothers increased their use of specific comments. Most mothers also increased other conversational acts that set the occasion for positive verbal interactions and increased their responsiveness to their children. All children demonstrated more assertive and responsive utterances during the commenting intervention. Four of the children showed improved emerging literacy skills on a standardized measure. These changes in interaction patterns during book reading seemed to provide improved opportunities for language learning and language use by low-SES children with and without developmental disabilities, as well as increased exposure to early literacy experiences.

Using first hand testimony this text tells how the citizens of California - from the tiny town of Wasco in the Central Valley to the vast suburbs of Los Angeles - challenged the threat of nuclear power and transformed the anti-nuclear movement in the years between 1958 to 1978.