No abstract

No abstract

This study investigated the general status of tube feeding for intensive care unit (ICU) inpatients and evaluated the consequent nutritional status of patients. This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of a general hospital located in Daegu metropolitan city. The subjects of this study were 80 adult patients who had been admitted to the ICU of a hospital, received fed tube feeding, and then been discharged. The differences in nutrition screening indicators, including percentage ideal body weight (PIBW), serum albumin, hemoglobin, total lymphocyte count, and total cholesterol, before and after tube feeding according to body mass index (BMI) or nutrient feeding levels were investigated. The ratios of actually provided amounts to calorie and protein requirements of patients were 72.8±15.8% and 72.6±19.8%, respectively. The change in PIBW before and after tube feeding was significantly different among the BMI groups (P＜0.01). The change in hemoglobin concentration before and after tube feeding was also significantly different among the BMI groups (P＜0.01). When subjects were divided into three groups (＜60%, 60∼79%, ≥80%) according to the ratio of actually provided calories to required calories, there was no significant difference in nutrition screening indicators before and after tube feeding. When the subjects were divided into three groups (＜60%, 60∼ 79%, ≥80%) according to the ratio of actually provided protein to required protein, serum albumin concentration showed a significant difference among the groups before and after tube feeding (P＜0.05). Therefore, an intensive nutrition intervention program would be needed for the nutritional improvement of ICU inpatients receiving tube feeding.

Macro-porous alumina was used as a support for a pellet-type Cu-based desulfurization sorbent in the gas purification process for producing blue hydrogen by the gasification of petroleum coke. The effects of the macro-porous alumina on the pellet-type sorbents in reducing the gas diffusion resistance into the pores were investigated. The results showed that the macro-porous alumina enhances the diffusion resistance, resulting in an improved sulfur capacity of CuO absorbents. Such effects were more significant on the pellet type CuO absorbents than the powder type. In addition, CO production was observed experimentally during the desulfurization reaction of carbonyl sulfide (COS) at low temperatures (~473 K). Density functional theory calculations were also performed to understand the kinetics of desulfurization and CO production. The simulation results predicted that the kinetics of desulfurization is strongly affected by the local surface environment. The CO generated from C–O bond breaking from COS had a lower adsorption energy than the CO2 formation. These results suggest that the Cu-based desulfurization sorbent has potential catalytic activity for producing CO from COS dissociation.