Transepidermal water loss and resting energy expenditure in preterm infants.

Skin water loss of preterm infants, nursed naked in incubators under thermoneutral conditions, was assessed by a method based on the measurement of water vapor pressure gradient close to the skin surface. The corresponding skin evaporative heat loss was calculated using an energy equivalent of 0.58 kcal/g water vaporised. During the first 5 weeks of life, 128 sets of measurements were made on 56 infants whose gestational age ranged from 28 to 37 weeks. In the first week of life, infants of less than 30 weeks of gestation had substantially higher transepidermal water loss (TEWL) and skin evaporative heat loss (skin EHL) (41.5 +/- 11.5 g/kg X day TEWL; 24.1 +/- 6.5 kcal/kg X day skin EHL) than infants of 34 weeks and greater (11.1 +/- 4.1 g/kg X day; 6.4 +/- 2.4 kcal/kg X day). Infants of 30-33 weeks of gestation had intermediate values (22.4 +/- 7.6 g/kg X day; 13 +/- 4.4 kcal/kg X day). From the third week of life on, TEWL was similar for all preterm infants, i.e. 14.2 +/- 2.6 to 12.7 +/- 1.9 g/kg X day and corresponds to skin EHL of 8.2 +/- 1.5 to 7.4 +/- 1.1 kcal/kg X day. There was a significant inverse relationship between gestational age and TEWL and also between postnatal age and TEWL. In an additional group of 7 preterm infants (30-34 weeks of gestation, mean postnatal age of 21 +/- 9 days) transepidermal water loss and energy expenditure were measured simultaneously. The skin evaporative heat loss (8.8 +/- 2.5 kcal/kg X day) accounted for 17 +/- 5% of energy expenditure (53.3 +/- 4.1 kcal/kg X day). This study emphasizes that in infants of less than 30 weeks of gestation, the transepidermal water loss is of great importance and makes a major contribution to water and heat balances.

Asian/Pacific American heritage month, May 2005 (Asian/Pacific Americans in Iowa 2005)

Demographic profile of the Iowa population Asian and Pacific Islander descent.

Asian/Pacific Americans in Iowa May 2006

Demographic profile of the Iowa population Asian and Pacific Islander descent.

Asian/Pacific Americans in Iowa: 2007

Demographic profile of the Iowa population Asian and Pacific Islander descent.

Asian/Pacific Americans in Iowa: 2008

Demographic profile of the Iowa population Asian and Pacific Islander descent.

Asian/Pacific Americans in Iowa: 2009

Demographic profile of the Iowa population Asian and Pacific Islander descent.

Asian/Pacific Americans in Iowa: 2010

Demographic profile of the Iowa population Asian and Pacific Islander descent.

Asian/Pacific Americans in Iowa: 2011

Demographic profile of the Iowa population Asian and Pacific Islander descent.

Asian/Pacific Americans in Iowa: 2012

Demographic profile of the Iowa population Asian and Pacific Islander descent.

Asian/Pacific Americans in Iowa: 2013

Demographic profile of the Iowa population Asian and Pacific Islander descent.

Asian/Pacific Americans in Iowa: 2014

Demographic profile of the Iowa population Asian and Pacific Islander descent.

Asian/Pacific Americans in Iowa: 2015

Demographic profile of the Iowa population Asian and Pacific Islander descent.

Escala d'Intensitat dels Suports per a Infants i Adolescents : resultados de la prueba piloto

La actual concepción de discapacidad intelectual, de acuerdo con la American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD), pone de manifiesto que la implementación de apoyos adecuados mejora el funcionamiento individual de las personas con discapacidad intelectual (DI). Con el fin de valorar las necesidades de apoyo que los niños y adolescentes con DI manifiestan en su vida cotidiana y, a partir de dicho conocimiento facilitar la elaboración de planes de apoyo individualizados, actualmente un grupo de trabajo internacional liderado por la propia AAIDD, entre los que se encuentra el grupo Discapacitat i Qualitat de Vida: Aspectes Educatius, está desarrollando la Supports Intensity Scale (SIS) for Children. El objetivo del presente artículo es dar a conocer el proceso de adaptación transcultural de la SIS for Children al contexto catalán, así como algunos resultados obtenidos en la prueba piloto que se ha llevado a cabo con una muestra de 33 niños y adolescentes de Cataluña, los cuales destacan la fiabilidad y validez del instrumento. Finalmente, el trabajo de validación de la escala actualmente en proceso, permitirá a los profesionales planificar y supervisar planes individualizados dirigidos a la promoción de experiencias de inclusión educativa y de integración a la comunidad.

Organ volume measurements: comparison between MRI and autopsy findings in infants following sudden unexpected death.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the accuracy of a semiautomated 3D volume reconstruction method for organ volume measurement by postmortem MRI. METHODS: This prospective study was approved by the institutional review board and the infants' parents gave their consent. Postmortem MRI was performed in 16 infants (1 month to 1 year of age) at 1.5 T within 48 h of their sudden death. Virtual organ volumes were estimated using the Myrian software. Real volumes were recorded at autopsy by water displacement. The agreement between virtual and real volumes was quantified following the Bland and Altman's method. RESULTS: There was a good agreement between virtual and real volumes for brain (mean difference: -0.03% (-13.6 to +7.1)), liver (+8.3% (-9.6 to +26.2)) and lungs (+5.5% (-26.6 to +37.6)). For kidneys, spleen and thymus, the MRI/autopsy volume ratio was close to 1 (kidney: 0.87±0.1; spleen: 0.99±0.17; thymus: 0.94±0.25), but with a less good agreement. For heart, the MRI/real volume ratio was 1.29±0.76, possibly due to the presence of residual blood within the heart. The virtual volumes of adrenal glands were significantly underestimated (p=0.04), possibly due to their very small size during the first year of life. The percentage of interobserver and intraobserver variation was lower or equal to 10%, but for thymus (15.9% and 12.6%, respectively) and adrenal glands (69% and 25.9%). CONCLUSIONS: Virtual volumetry may provide significant information concerning the macroscopic features of the main organs and help pathologists in sampling organs that are more likely to yield histological findings.