Purpose Thirty-day mortality of patients with hip fracture is well researched and predictive; validated scoring tools have been developed (Nottingham Hip Fracture Score, NHFS). COVID-19 has significantly greater mortality in the elderly and comorbid patients which includes hip fracture patients. Non-operative treatment is not appropriate due to significantly higher mortality, and therefore, these patients are often exposed to COVID-19 in the peri-operative period. What is unclear is the effect of concomitant COVID-19 infection in these patients. Methods A multicentre prospective study across ten sites in the United Kingdom (responsible for 7% of hip fracture patients per annum in the UK). Demographic and background information were collected by independent chart review. Data on surgical factors included American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score, time to theatre, Nottingham Hip fracture score (NHFS) and classification of fracture were also collected between 1st March 2020 and 30th April 2020 with a matched cohort from the same period in 2019. Results Actual and expected 30-day mortality was found to be significantly higher than expected for 2020 COVID-19 positive patients (RR 3.00 95% CI 1.57-5.75, p < 0.001), with 30 observed deaths compared against the 10 expected from NHFS risk stratification. Conclusion COVID-19 infection appears to be an independent risk factor for increased mortality in hip fracture patients. Whilst non-operative management of these fractures is not suggested due to the documented increased risks and mortality, this study provides evidence to the emerging literature of the severity of COVID-19 infection in surgical patients and the potential impact of COVID-19 on elective surgical patients in the peri-operative period.

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An “experimental friendly” model for zone refining process is proposed which predicts effective zone length in each refining passes that would lead to maximal solute removal, thereby leading to ultrapurification of the material for use in high-end electronic applications. The effectiveness of the model is experimentally tested and validated by purifying gallium from 4N (99.99%) to 6N5 (99.99995%) purity level at 30% yield and ∼6 N at 70% yield with respect to targeted metallic impurities such as, Zn, Cu, Al, Ca, Bi, Si, Pb, Ni, Mn, and Fe, as analyzed by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry, graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry, and high resolution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry techniques. The distribution coefficient (k) of all the targeted impurities, detected in the purified gallium, was found to be less than 1. By comparing the experimentally obtained axial concentration profiles with the theoretical calculations, the k values of some detected impurities, such as Ca and Al, are determined to be ∼0.8, Pb and Bi to be 0.7, Cu to be 0.65, and Fe to be 0.68, which prove the efficiency of the proposed model in reducing the concentration of these vulnerable impurities significantly. Following the model and as evidenced from the theoretical predictions, degradation of material purification containing a mixture of impurities having k less than as well as greater than 1 was elucidated experimentally by zone refining of 4N6 indium. Only a 40% yield of 5N6 indium was obtained, thereby highlighting the intricacies and problem areas in ultrapurification of these types of material.