Predictors of functional independence, quality of life, and return to work in patients with burn injuries in mainland China.

BACKGROUND: Burn injury may be associated with long-term rehabilitation and disability, while research studies on the functional performance after injuries, quality of life (QOL), and abilities to return to work of burn patients are limited. These outcomes are related not just to the degree and nature of injuries, but also to the socio-economical background of the society. This study aimed to identify the factors which might affect burn patients' abilities to reintegrate back to the society based on a sample in mainland China. METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted to collect data of demographic characteristics, medical data about burn injuries, physical and psychological status, and self-perceived QOL at the initial phase and upon discharge from a rehabilitation hospital, timing of rehabilitation, and duration of rehabilitation intervention. Four hundred fifteen patients with burn injuries were recruited in the study. Multiple linear regression and logistic regression were used to obtain a model to predict the functional abilities and the perceived QOL at discharge and their changes during rehabilitation, as well as the post-injury work status within 6 months after discharge. RESULTS: The functional performance at discharge and its change were significantly predicted by the functional abilities and QOL at the admission, duration of treatment, timing of rehabilitation, payer source, and total body surface area burned. The perceived QOL at discharge and its change were significantly predicted by the baseline QOL at admission and duration of treatment. The significant predictors of work status within 6 months post-discharge included age, education, payer source, total body surface area burned, perceived QOL, and bodily pain at admission. CONCLUSIONS: The present study identified a number of factors affecting the rehabilitation outcomes of people with burn injuries. Identification of these predictors may help clinicians assess the rehabilitation potential of burn survivors and assist in resource allocation. Policy makers should ensure that resources are adequate to improve the outcomes based on these factors.

[Innovative ET cover system and its hydrologic evaluation].

The evapotranspiration (ET) cover system,as an alternative cover system of landfill, has been used in many remediation projects since 2003. It is an inexpensive, practical,and easily maintained biological system, but is mainly favorable in arid and semiarid sites due to limited water-holding capacity of the single loam layer and limited transpiration of grass. To improve the effectiveness of percolation control, an innovative scheme of ET was suggested in this paper: (1) a clay liner was added under the single loam layer to increase the water-holding capacity; (2) combined vegetation consisting of shrub and grass was used to replace the grass cover. Hydrologic evaluation of conventional cover,ET cover and the innovative ET cover under the same condition was performed using the computer program HELP, which showed the performance of the innovative ET cover is obviously superior to that of ET cover and conventional cover.

Ultra-low-k thin films of polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane/epoxy nanocomposites via covalent layer-by-layer assembly.

Polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane nanocomposites thin films on silicon surfaces were prepared by covalent layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly using octakis(glycidyldimethylsiloxy)octasilsesquioxane (OG-POSS) and 4,4(hexafluoroisopropylidene)dianiline (HID) as building blocks. The layer thickness increased linearly with the layer numbers. An ultra-low dielectric constant of approximately 1.57 was found with the LbL thin film. A novel approach to fabricate ultra low-k materials is demonstrated.

[Experiment and numerical simulation of percolation control using evapotranspirative landfill cover system].

An Evapotranspirative Landfill Cover (ET Landfill Cover) is a simple and economical percolation control system that involves a monolithic soil layer with a vegetative cover.Percolation control in an ET cover system relies on the storage of moisture within the cover soils during precipitation events and subsequently returns it to the atmosphere by evapotranspiration. Percolation control experiments of a bare soil cover and 5 different ET covers were implemented in comprehensive experimental station of water environment of Wuhan University and the water balance calculation of each cover system was conducted, the results shown that the ET cover of 60 cm loamy soil layer with shrub was the most effective among the 6 experimental disposals. However, the experiments demonstrated 60 cm thick of soil layer was not enough to prevent percolation during rainy season and keep the shrub alive during drought season without irrigation. So the Hydrus 2D was selected to simulate the soil water movement in ET covers with different cover thicknesses, the simulations shown that the optimal ET cover in Wuhan area should be 120-140 cm loamy soil layer with shrub.

[Field test and evaluation of landfill performance and structure with evapotranspiration cover].

Water balance performance of an evapotranspiration landfill was studied, considering vegetation structures, soil textile, and soil cover thickness. Results of six experiments showed that the transpiration process played an importance role in controlling water balance in the ET cover system. A nonlinear relationship was established between the transpiration amount and vegetation leaf area index. The evapotranspiration amount was 3.3 to 4.5 times as that of evaporation in the bare soil. In a 60 cm soil profile, the soil water storage capacities were 97.2 mm and 62.8 mm with and without a vegetation cover, respectively. Precipitation infiltration behaved preferentially and heterogeneously, and the preferential flow was the major contribution to percolation. The ratios between maximum and average infiltration depths were 3.65, 1.77, and 1.40, respectively, for 20 mm, 40 mm, and 60 mm of precipitation. Therefore, besides soil textile, soil cover thickness, and the initial water content, precipitation amount was an essential factor affecting the water storage capacity. Numerical simulated results indicated that using a sandy loam as the cover soil was more effective in removing water through evapotranspiration and reducing percolation than using a clay soil.