IntroductionCritically ill patients can develop hyperglycaemia even if they do not have diabetes. Intensive insulin therapy decreases morbidity and mortality rates in patients in a surgical intensive care unit (ICU) and decreases morbidity in patients in a medical ICU. The effect of this therapy on patients in a mixed medical/surgical ICU is unknown. Our goal was to assess whether the effect of intensive insulin therapy, compared with standard therapy, decreases morbidity and mortality in patients hospitalised in a mixed ICU.MethodsThis is a prospective, randomised, non-blinded, single-centre clinical trial in a medical/surgical ICU. Patients were randomly assigned to receive either intensive insulin therapy to maintain glucose levels between 80 and 110 mg/dl (4.4 to 6.1 mmol/l) or standard insulin therapy to maintain glucose levels between 180 and 200 mg/dl (10 and 11.1 mmol/l). The primary end point was mortality at 28 days.ResultsOver a period of 30 months, 504 patients were enrolled. The 28-day mortality rate was 32.4% (81 of 250) in the standard insulin therapy group and 36.6% (93 of 254) in the intensive insulin therapy group (Relative Risk [RR]: 1.1; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.85 to 1.42). The ICU mortality in the standard insulin therapy group was 31.2% (78 of 250) and 33.1% (84 of 254) in the intensive insulin therapy group (RR: 1.06; 95%CI: 0.82 to 1.36). There was no statistically significant reduction in the rate of ICU-acquired infections: 33.2% in the standard insulin therapy group compared with 27.17% in the intensive insulin therapy group (RR: 0.82; 95%CI: 0.63 to 1.07). The rate of hypoglycaemia (≤ 40 mg/dl) was 1.7% in the standard insulin therapy group and 8.5% in the intensive insulin therapy group (RR: 5.04; 95% CI: 1.20 to 21.12).ConclusionsIIT used to maintain glucose levels within normal limits did not reduce morbidity or mortality of patients admitted to a mixed medical/surgical ICU. Furthermore, this therapy increased the risk of hypoglycaemia.Trial Registrationclinicaltrials.gov Identifiers: 4374-04-13031; 094-2 in 000966421

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An accurate description of the hydrodynamics in the non-aerated region of the skimming flow on stepped spillways is of outmost importance, particularly in small structures at large discharges. In addition, the flow features upstream of the inception point of air entrainment determine the flow behavior in the downstream self-aerated region. In this work, numerical models of the flow in the non-aerated region of stepped spillways have been developed using diverse turbulence closures and discretization schemes implemented in two CFD codes: OpenFOAM and FLOW-3D ®. Partial VOF (Volume of Fluid) and "True" VOF (TruVOF) approaches are employed to capture the position of the free surface. The Standard, RNG and Realizable k-ε, in addition to the SST k-ω

Morbidity and mortality increase on a predictable trend with increasing age and BMI. There is increased risk of morbidity for stapling procedures when compared to gastric banding, but this must be considered in context of surgical efficacy when choosing a bariatric procedure. These data can be used in preoperative counseling and evaluation of surgical candidacy of bariatric surgical patients.

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Foregut and bariatric robotic surgery is a surgical field still in development. For the vast majority of the procedures in this area, the clinical outcomes of robotic surgery are the same of standard laparoscopy. However, the use of robots in selected cases may have specific advantages and may overcome the limitations of laparoscopic surgery. More research is needed, especially large and well-designed randomized clinical trials, to elucidate more accurate conclusions.

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