Mid-term psychiatric consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic: a 4 months observational study on emergency room admissions for psychiatric evaluation after the (first) lockdown period in Italy

Purpose: The aim of our study is to evaluate the number and the features of admissions to the emergency room (ER) requiring psychiatric consultation, in the period between May 4th and August 31st 2020. Methods: We carried out a retrospective longitudinal observational study examining the 4 months following the initial lockdown imposed during the COVID-19 outbreak (May 4th and August 31st 2020). More specifically, the ER admissions leading to psychiatric referral were reviewed at all seven public hospitals of AUSL Romagna (Emilia Romagna region, Italy). Socio-demographic variables, history of medical comorbidities or psychiatric disorders, reason for ER admission, psychiatric diagnosis at discharge, and actions taken by the psychiatrist were collected. Results: An 11.3% (p = 0.007) increase in psychiatric assessments was observed when compared with the same period of the previous year (2019). A positive personal history of psychiatric disorders (OR:0.68, CI: 0.53–0.87) and assessments leading to no indication for follow-up (OR: 0.22, CI: 0.13–0.39) were significantly less frequent, while there was a significant increase of cases featuring organic comorbidities (OR: 1.24, CI: 1.00–1.52) and suicidal ideation/self-harm/suicide attempt (OR: 1,71, CI: 1.19–2.45) or psychomotor agitation (OR: 1.46, CI: 1.02–2.07) as reason for admission. Conclusions: Our results showed an increase in ER psychiatric consultations compared to the previous year, underlying the increased psychological distress caused by the lockdown

How local is local? Evidence from bank competition and corporate innovation in U.S.

This paper aims to fill in a research gap in the effects of bank competition on corporate innovation. In addition to the evidence on the favorable effects of bank competition on corporate innovation, we show novel evidence on the substitution effects of bank competition in a wider region and neighbor-state to local bank competition in financing corporate innovation activities. In banking market, we show ‘how local is local’ depends on the operating scope and information transparency of firms. Local banks have an information advantage over distant banks in financing local businesses and informationally opaque corporate innovation activities

Hybrid hydrodynamic characteristic for hydrocephalus valve: A numerical investigation using electrical equivalent networks

International audienceNumerical simulations based on the classical Marmarou’s model have been carried out to analyse the dynamics of hydrocephalus valves. The evolution of the intracranial pressure in various case studies has been determined with a specific focus on flow control valves. It has been shown that their capability to prevent postural under- and over-drainage may be significantly altered by non-idealities of their hydrodynamic characteristics and by the inter-individual variability of the cerebrospinal fluid production rate. The use of microtechnology to improve the flow rate accuracy also enables the possibility to get original designs that are desirable to address specific restrictions of use associated with flow-control valves, in particular for patients exhibiting very high resistance to cerebrospinal fluid reabsorption. A new hybrid hydrodynamic characteristic of a hydrocephalus valve is proposed to stabilize the intracranial pressure. This new passive valve is equivalent to two pressure regulators at high and low relative pressures, corresponding respectively to upright and decubitus positions. The device is able to automatically switch from one configuration to the other as a function of the postural change. Numerical simulations suggest that this new hybrid valve should combine the advantages of both differential and flow control valves