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Aim: Geriatric patients are increasingly dominating the daily routine in emergency department (ED). The atypical clinical presentation of disease, multimorbidity, frailty and cognitive impairment of geriatric patients pose particular challenges for triage in the ED. Efficient and accurate emergency triage plays a key role in differentiating between geriatric patients who need timely treatment and those who can wait safely. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance of the modified Manchester Triage System (mMTS) in classifying geriatric patients. Design: An observational retrospective study. Methods: A retrospective study of 18,796 geriatric patients (≥65 years) attending the ED of a tertiary care hospital in Zhejiang province between 1 June 2020 and 30 June 2022. Baseline information on patients was collected and divided into two different study groups according to triage level: high priority (red/orange) and low priority (yellow/green). The sensitivity and specificity of the mMTS were estimated by verifying the triage classification received by the emergency geriatric patients and their survival at 7 days or the need for acute surgery within 72 h. Results: The study included a total of 17,764 geriatric patients with a median age of 72 years in ED. 10.7% (1896/17,764) of the geriatric patients were assigned to the high priority code group (red/orange) and 89.3% (15,868/17,764) were in the low priority code group (yellow/green). The sensitivity of the mMTS associated with death within 7 days was 85.7% (77.5–91.4), specificity was 89.8% (89.3–90.2), and accuracy was 89.8% (89.3–90.2). 1.8% of patients required surgery within 72 h. The sensitivity was 62.6% (57.0–67.9), specificity was 90.3% (89.8–90.7), and negative predictive value was 99.2% (99.0–99.4). Conclusions: The mMTS has good specificity, accuracy and negative predictive value for geriatric patients. However, its incorrect prediction of triage in high‐priority code patients results in lower sensitivity, which may serve as a protective strategy for these individuals. The current emergency triage system does not completely screen geriatric patients with severe acute illness who present to the ED, and it is necessary to add comprehensive assessment tools that match the characteristics of geriatric patients to improve triage outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fundamental transmission channels of smart wearable devices and systems should support function reconfiguration and environment cognition or self‐adaption. Here, a environment‐adaptive meta‐channel (EAMC) is proposed that is adaptive to the near‐field environment. Benefiting from the capability to manipulate environment‐wave interactions, EAMC can cognize the near‐field environment impurities with subwavelength resolution, in which different impurities can be distinguished and located accurately with the aid of machine learning method. Thus, EAMC can adapt itself to varying environment so that its customized function is stabilized. For instance, EAMC is used as a communication modulator to adapt to different dielectric impurities and human body contacts dynamically. The quality of transmitted picture signals with impurities will deteriorate seriously but can be repaired efficiently as the self‐adaptive process of EAMC is used. Hence, the proposed EAMC could be a candidate for fundamental transmission channels for future smart wearable devices and systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: ICUs follow a restrictive companionship policy, especially after the COVID‐19 outbreak. This strategy often limits the time families spend with patients, hinders their knowledge and skills in caregiving, and the sudden transfer of ICU patients to assist with disease monitoring and daily care can be very stressful for families. It is beneficial to use the transition period of transferring ICU patients to help families adjust to the role of caregiver. Aim: To develop and implement a patient‐ and family‐centered transitional care intervention plan for patients transferred to the ICU. Design: Prospective, pretest and posttest design. Methods: The experimental group received an individualized family‐centered transition plan led by the ICU liaison nurse that included 1) communication with health care professionals; distribution of a transfer booklet; 2) identification of nursing issues and communication with the ward nurse; invitation of family members to participate in the patient's rehabilitation; 3) follow‐up instruction on bedside range of motion exercises; and provision of a patient rehabilitation diary. Patients in the control group received only routine care. Data were collected using the General Information Questionnaire, Family Satisfaction with ICU Patients (FS‐ICU), the Family Relocation Stress Scale (FRSS), and the Stanford Acute Stress Response Questionnaire (SASRQR). Results: After the intervention, the total family satisfaction score of ICU patients in the experimental group was significantly higher than that of the control group (87.18 ± 8.38 vs 78.74 ± 10.63, p<0.001), and the satisfaction with the care and information provided was significantly higher in the experimental group compared to the control group (p < 0.001), with no significant difference between the two groups in terms of satisfaction with decision making (p>0.001). The level of relocation stress of patients' families was significantly lower in the experimental group compared to the control group after the intervention (p < 0.001). And there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in terms of patients' acute stress disorder scores (p>0.001). Conclusion: The implementation of a family‐involved transition care programme significantly improved the satisfaction of ICU patients' families and reduced the stress of relocation for patients' families. Relevance to clinical practice: Focusing on the transition of ICU patients to ensure continuity of critical care and improve the quality of care for ICU patient transfers can be accomplished through a family‐centered transition care plan led by the ICU liaison nurse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aqueous two-phase copolymerization of acrylamide(AM) and acryloyloxyethyl trimethyl ammonium chloride (DAC) was performed in poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) solution and in PEG chloride(Cl-PEG) solution, respectively. Series of cationic polyacrylamide(CPAM) aqueous dispersion were prepared using potassium persulfate (KPS) as initiator. The effect of total amount of monomers, the dosage of initiator, the content of dispersant, the mass ratio of AM to DAC, and the temperature on the conversion, molecular weight, cationic degree, and stability of aqueous dispersion were studied in detail. It is found that the increase of initiator and reaction temperature resulted in the increase of the final conversion, whereas the increase of DAC and PEG concentration resulted in the decrease of the final conversion. The optimum reaction conditions of synthesis were as follows: (1) PEG-H2O system: PEG 7.5 g, AM 8 g, DAC 2 g, KPS 0.05 g, H2O 100 mL, 70°C. In this process conditions, the molecular weight of CPAM was 3.21 × 106, the cationic degree of CPAM was 24.4%, the storage stability of the aqueous dispersion was over 3 months. (2) Cl-PEG-H2O system: Cl-PEG 7.5 g, AM 8 g, DAC 2 g, KPS 0.05 g, H2O 100 mL, 65°C. In this process conditions, the molecular weight was 3.68 × 106, the cationic degree was 23.3%, and the storage stability of the aqueous dispersion was over 6 months. In general, the stability of CPAM aqueous dispersion in Cl-PEG system is much better than in PEG system. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2012 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) adaptive array suffers from phase distortions owing to beam forming processing which in turn affect the navigation precision. In high precision GNSS applications, the distortions must be evaluated. Traditional phase performance evaluation approach is based on the fixed reception pattern antenna. A new approach to evaluate phase performance of adaptive array is presented. The method takes into account the interfering scenes and the average phase centre variation performance for different adaptive algorithm and array geometry can be obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Composite polyacrylate latex particles were prepared through a simple method by dissolving organosilicon monomer methyltrimethoxysilane in a monomer mixture of acrylic monomers methyl methacrylate (MMA), n-butyl acrylate ( n-BA), and acrylic acid (AA). With the addition of water needed for hydrolysis, methyltrimethoxylsilane hydrolyzed under catalysis by AA and further condensed to form polymeric methylsilsesquioxane (MSQ). The monomer mixture containing in situ-formed MSQ was then subjected to emulsification and emulsion polymerization. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images showed that the obtained latex particles had a core-shell structure. Differences between the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results of the contents of silicon atoms on surfaces of films formed at temperatures above and below glass transition temperatures ( Tgs) of polyacrylate evidenced that the cores were made up of MSQ and the shells were made up of polyacrylate. The static water contact angle measurements indicated that the incorporation of MSQ can result in composite latex with higher hydrophobicity. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Binary offset carrier (BOC) signals are applied in modernised global navigation satellite system. High‐order BOC signals provide good performance in spectrum separation and signal tracking. However, for high‐order BOC signals, the sampling frequency is much higher than that of binary phase‐shift keying signals, which increases computational complexity. Meanwhile, the zero crossings in the correlation function degrade the detection performance. In this Letter, band‐pass sampling is introduced for BOC signals to reduce the computational complexity and remove the zero crossings. A delayed replica of the received signal is used to construct a complex signal which is sampled with a much lower sampling frequency than the Nyquist frequency. The correlation function of the sampled signal has no secondary peaks. Thus, the detection probability is higher and the computational complexity is lower. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soy protein isolate (SPI) protein/polymer composite hydrogels (PPCGs) are fabricated in a urea solution of SPI using acrylic acid as monomer, ammonium persulphate (APS) as initiator, and N,N‐methylenebisacrylamide (BIS) and glutaraldehyde (GA) as cross‐linking agents. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) results show that SPI/polyacrylic (PAA) composite hydrogels formed network structure. In particular, in the absence of cross‐linking agent (GA), the network structure of composite hydrogels is also formed by BIS cross‐linking chains of PAA and the hydrophobic interactions between peptides from SPI and chain of PAA. In addition, composite hydrogels have good water absorption and present excellent pH sensitivity. Composite hydrogels adsorb bovine serum albumin (BSA) with higher adsorption capacity. BSA is the control released in pH 7.4 buffers and the accumulative release ratio achieved is 90%. It will be expected that these protein/polymer composite hydrogels could be applied for drug sustained release materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon dioxide (CO2)‐switchable composite nanogels are composed of biopolymer chitosan (CS) and synthetic polymer poly [N‐(3‐(dimethylamino) propyl) methacrylamide] (PDMAPMA). CS/PDMAPMA composite nanogels (CPCNGs) are fabricated in the solution of chitosan by soap‐free emulsion polymerization using N‐(3‐[dimethylamino] propyl) methacrylamide (DMAPMA) as the monomer and N,N‐methylenebis (acrylamide) (BIS) as the cross‐linker. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) results indicate that the nanogels are spherical nanoparticles with a diameter of about 50 nm. After purging with CO2, the original creamy‐white latex becomes a clear solution. While purging with N2, the clear solution is returned to the original latex state. Introduction of chitosan in nanogels remarkably enhances their CO2 sensitivity. In additional, the SEM results also suggest that phase transition behavior occurs through CO2 and N2 bubbling. The initial state of nanogels can be easily recovered by "washing off" the trigger gas with N2. Carbon dioxide (CO2)‐switchable composite nanogels consisting of biopolymer chitosan and synthetic polymer poly [N‐(3‐(dimethylamino) propyl) methacrylamide] are fabricated by soap‐free emulsion polymerization. Introduction of chitosan in nanogels remarkably enhances their CO2 sensitivity. Purging with CO2, the nanogel latex becomes clear gradually from the original creamy white. While purging with N2, the nanogel solution returns to the original latex state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antenna arrays equipped with space‐time adaptive processors (STAPs) are effective to maintain the integrity and functionality of global navigation satellite systems (GNSSs) in various applications. However, one of the major problems with existing space‐time processing methods is that they can introduce significant biases into the GNSS receiver measurements. A distortionless STAP is proposed. It could not only suppress the interfering signals and enhance the GNSS signals, but also introduce no biases into the code and carrier phase measurements. The key idea behind the proposed method is ensuring linearity of the space‐time processor response by constraining its coefficients. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by theoretical analysis and simulation results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]