Spectroscopic determination of relative Brønsted acidity as a predictor of reactivity in aprotic ionic liquids.

A simple titration technique utilizing pyridine as a FTIR spectroscopy probe is demonstrated to successfully predict relative Brønsted acid-limited reaction rates in different ionic liquid (IL) environments. Relative acidity is shown to vary across three aprotic ILs in a manner that is specific to the particular acid-IL pairing.

Poly(dimethylsiloxane)-supported ionogels with a high ionic liquid loading.

The immiscibility of poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) and ionic liquids (ILs) was overcome to create PDMS-supported IL gels (ionogels) with IL loadings of up to 80% by mass through a simple sol-gel reaction at room temperature. By stirring a mixture of a functionalized PDMS oligomer, formic acid, and an IL (or lithium-in-IL solution), a resin was formed that could be cast to create a freestanding, flexible ionogel. PDMS-supported ionogels exhibited favorable ionic conductivity (ca. 3 mS cm(-1)) and excellent mechanical behavior (elastic modulus: ca. 60 kPa; fatigue life: >5000 cycles; mechanically stable at temperatures up to 200 °C). The activation energy of ionic conductivity was shown to be nearly identical for the ionogel and the neat IL, in contrast to ionogel systems wherein the scaffold material is miscible with the IL. This similarity indicates that IL/scaffold chemical interactions are key to the understanding of ionogel electrical performance, especially at elevated temperatures.

Israeli hospital preparedness for terrorism-related multiple casualty incidents: can the surge capacity and injury severity distribution be better predicted?

BACKGROUND: The incidence of large-scale urban attacks on civilian populations has significantly increased across the globe over the past decade. These incidents often result in Hospital Multiple Casualty Incidents (HMCI), which are very challenging to hospital teams. 15 years ago the Emergency and Disaster Medicine Division in the Israeli Ministry of Health defined a key of 20 percent of each hospital's bed capacity as its readiness for multiple casualties. Half of those casualties are expected to require immediate medical treatment. This study was performed to evaluate the efficacy of the current readiness guidelines based on the epidemiology of encountered HMCIs. METHODS: A retrospective study of HMCIs was recorded in the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) home front command and the Israeli National Trauma Registry (ITR) between November 2000 and June 2003. An HMCI is defined by the Emergency and Disaster Medicine Division in the Israeli Ministry of Health as >or=10 casualties or >or=4 suffering from injuries with an ISS>or=16 arriving to a single hospital. RESULTS: The study includes a total of 32 attacks, resulting in 62 HMCIs and 1292 casualties. The mean number of arriving casualties to a single hospital was 20.8+/-13.3 (range 4-56, median 16.5). In 95% of the HMCIs the casualty load was

The effect of adnexal surgery on the ovarian response to stimulation in in vitro fertilization.

OBJECTIVES: The effect of adnexal surgery on ovarian function is a controversial issue of high clinical significance. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of adnexal surgery on ovarian function. STUDY DESIGN: All patients who underwent adnexal surgery in our department during an 8-year period (all records were obtained from the hospital database between January 1991 and December 1998) were cross-matched with our in vitro fertilization (IVF) database. We compared the baseline hormonal levels and the patients' response to IVF stimulation (assessed by the total amount of gonadotropins, maximal estradiol (E2) levels, number of retrieved and fertilized oocytes). RESULTS: Sixty-four consecutive patients who underwent adnexal surgery were compared with 68 matched controls. Neither of the analyzed parameters were affected by the tubal surgery. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude from our study adnexal surgery is not detrimental to ovarian function.