Electrochemical detection of lead at zinc oxide nanostructure based modified electrode

A modified glassy carbon electrode (ZnO-Nafion/GCE) prepared by drop-casting technique, was investigated by square wave anodic stripping voltammetry (SWASV) for the detection of Pb2+ in synthetic and reals water samples

In Vitro Red Blood Cell Segregation in Sickle Cell Anemia

Red blood cells in sickle cell anemia (sRBC) are more heterogeneous in their physical properties than healthy red blood cells, spanning adhesiveness, rigidity, density, size, and shape. sRBC with increased adhesiveness to the vascular wall would trigger vaso-occlusive like complications, a hallmark of sickle cell anemia. We investigated whether segregation occurs among sRBC flowing in micron-sized channels and tested the impact of aggregation on segregation. Two populations of sRBC of different densities were separated, labeled, and mixed again. The mixed suspension was flowed within glass capillary tubes at different pressure-drops, hematocrit, and suspending media that promoted or not cell aggregation. Observations were made at a fixed channel position. The mean flow velocity was obtained by using the cells as tracking particles, and the cell depleted layer (CDL) by measuring the distance from the cell core border to the channel wall. The labeled sRBC were identified by stopping the flow and scanning the cells within the channel section. The tube hematocrit was estimated from the number of fluorescence cells identified in the field of view. In non-aggregating media, our results showed a heterogeneous distribution of sRBC according to their density: low-density sRBC population remained closer to the center of the channel, while the densest cells segregated towards the walls. There was no impact of the mean flow velocity and little impact of hematocrit. This segregation heterogeneity could influence the ability of sRBC to adhere to the vascular wall and slow down blood flow. However, promoting aggregation inhibited segregation while CDL thickness was enhanced by aggregation, highlighting a potential protective role against vaso-occlusion in patients with sickle cell anemia

Determination of cognitive workload variation in driving from ECG derived respiratory signal and heart rate

2nd International Neuroergonomics Conference, PHILADELPHIE, ETATS-UNIS, 27-/06/2018 - 29/06/2018Research works on operator monitoring underline the benefit of taking into consideration several signal modalities to improve accuracy for an objective mental state diagnosis. Heart rate (HR) is one of the most utilized systemic measures to assess cognitive workload (CW), whereas respiration parameters are hardly utilized. This study aims at verifying the contribution of analyzing respiratory signals to extract features to evaluate driver's activity and CW variations in driving with regard to cardiac activity. Eighteen subjects participated in the study. The participants carried out two different cognitive tasks requiring different CW demands, a single task as well as a competing cognitive task realized while driving in a simulator. Our results confirm that both HR and breathing rate (BR) increase in driving and are sensitive to CW. However, HR and BR are differently modulated by the CW variations in driving. Specifically, BR is suitable to evidence a variation of CW when driving is not required. On the other hand, spectral features characterizing respiratory signal could be also used similarly to HR variability indices to detect high CW episodes. These results hint the use of respiration to monitor the driver mental state in autonomic vehicles in order to predict the available cognitive resources if the user has to take over the vehicle

Hearing Screening in North Carolina\u27s NICU and Well-Baby Nurseries: Impact of JCIH 2019 and COVID-19

Purpose: Over an 18-month period in 2020–2021, the North Carolina Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) program in collaboration with the North Carolina Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) program conducted a statewide examination of newborn hearing screening practices in North Carolina’s 24 Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) and 86 well-baby nurseries to determine how current protocols and procedures conform to those recommended by the Joint Committee on Infant Hearing (JCIH) in its Year 2019 Position Statement: Principles and Guidelines for Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Programs. The COVID-19 pandemic emerged during the study period and motivated a second aim, to examine the impact of the pandemic on infant hearing screening. Results: Our findings revealed that the hospitals in North Carolina are fully committed to their hearing screening programs as demonstrated by a 100% response rate and numerous strengths in both the NICU and well-baby nurseries. Even so, for many hospitals we identified opportunities for program development or improvement based on JCIH 2019 recommendations, especially those concerning oversight of the screening program by a pediatric audiologist, direct referral to an audiologist for NICU babies who fail the in-hospital screening, and audiology referral for well babies who fail the outpatient rescreen. Following the investigation, the NC-EHDI program has worked in partnership with hospitals to provide information, technical assistance, and resources based on our findings and recommendations. The authors would be happy to share the survey instruments and other resources developed for this project with EHDI programs in other states interested in conducting a similar study

Respiration and Heart Rate Modulation Due to Competing Cognitive Tasks While Driving

Research works on operator monitoring underline the benefit of taking into consideration several signal modalities to improve accuracy for an objective mental state diagnosis. Heart rate (HR) is one of the most utilized systemic measures to assess cognitive workload (CW), whereas, respiration parameters are hardly utilized. This study aims at verifying the contribution of analyzing respiratory signals to extract features to evaluate driver’s activity and CW variations in driving. Eighteen subjects participated in the study. The participants carried out two different cognitive tasks requiring different CW demands, a single task as well as a competing cognitive task realized while driving in a simulator. Our results confirm that both HR and breathing rate (BR) increase in driving and are sensitive to CW. However, HR and BR are differently modulated by the CW variations in driving. Specifically, HR is affected by both driving activity and CW, whereas, BR is suitable to evidence a variation of CW only when driving is not required. On the other hand, spectral features characterizing respiratory signal could be also used similarly to HR variability indices to detect high CW episodes. These results hint the use of respiration as an alternative to HR to monitor the driver mental state in autonomic vehicles in order to predict the available cognitive resources if the user has to take over the vehicle

Mind wandering and driving: a responsibility case-control study

Objective To assess the association between mind wandering (i.e. thinking unrelated to the task at hand) and the risk of being responsible for the crash. Design Responsibility case-control study. Setting Adult emergency department of the Bordeaux University hospital (France) from April 2010 to August 2011. Participants 955 injured drivers presenting as a result of motor vehicle crash. Main outcome measures The main outcome variable was responsibility for the crash. Exposures were mind wandering, external distraction, negative affect, alcohol use, psychotropic medicine use, and sleep deprivation. Potential confounders were sociodemographic and crash characteristics. Results Beyond classical risk factors found to be associated with responsibility, the results showed that intense mind wandering was associated with being responsible for a crash (17% [responsible] vs. 9% [not responsible]; adjusted OR [95% CI]=2.12 [1.37-3.28]). Conclusions Mind wandering while driving, by decoupling attention from visual and auditory perceptions, may jeopardize the ability of the driver to incorporate information from the environment, thereby threatening safety on the roads. Our findings provide support for the latest research designed to develop systems to detect periods of driving vulnerability related to inattention. In addition, further research is recommended to assess how these results could lead to innovative interventions such as attentional training for drivers at risk of inattention

multicenter cohort study

Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Authors. Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology.Objective: Monochorionic (MC) triplet pregnancies are extremely rare and information on these pregnancies and their complications is limited. We aimed to investigate the risk of early and late pregnancy complications, perinatal outcome and the timing and methods of fetal intervention in these pregnancies. Methods: This was a multicenter retrospective cohort study of MC triamniotic (TA) triplet pregnancies managed in 21 participating centers around the world from 2007 onwards. Data on maternal age, mode of conception, diagnosis of major fetal structural anomalies or aneuploidy, gestational age (GA) at diagnosis of anomalies, twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS), twin anemia–polycythemia sequence (TAPS), twin reversed arterial perfusion (TRAP) sequence and or selective fetal growth restriction (sFGR) were retrieved from patient records. Data on antenatal interventions were collected, including data on selective fetal reduction (three to two or three to one), laser surgery and any other active fetal intervention (including amniodrainage). Data on perinatal outcome were collected, including numbers of live birth, intrauterine demise, neonatal death, perinatal death and termination of fetus or pregnancy (TOP). Neonatal data such as GA at birth, birth weight, admission to neonatal intensive care unit and neonatal morbidity were also collected. Perinatal outcomes were assessed according to whether the pregnancy was managed expectantly or underwent fetal intervention. Results: Of an initial cohort of 174 MCTA triplet pregnancies, 11 underwent early TOP, three had an early miscarriage, six were lost to follow-up and one was ongoing at the time of writing. Thus, the study cohort included 153 pregnancies, of which the majority (92.8%) were managed expectantly. The incidence of pregnancy affected by one or more fetal structural abnormality was 13.7% (21/153) and that of TRAP sequence was 5.2% (8/153). The most common antenatal complication related to chorionicity was TTTS, which affected just over one quarter (27.6%; 42/152, after removing a pregnancy with TOP < 24 weeks for fetal anomalies) of the pregnancies, followed by sFGR (16.4%; 25/152), while TAPS (spontaneous or post TTTS with or without laser treatment) occurred in only 4.6% (7/152) of pregnancies. No monochorionicity-related antenatal complication was recorded in 49.3% (75/152) of pregnancies. Survival was apparently associated largely with the development of these complications: there was at least one survivor beyond the neonatal period in 85.1% (57/67) of pregnancies without antenatal complications, in 100% (25/25) of those complicated by sFGR and in 47.6% (20/42) of those complicated by TTTS. The overall rate of preterm birth prior to 28 weeks was 14.5% (18/124) and that prior to 32 weeks' gestation was 49.2% (61/124). Conclusion: Monochorionicity-related complications, which can impact adversely perinatal outcome, occur in almost half of MCTA triplet pregnancies, creating a challenge with regard to counseling, surveillance and management.publishersversionpublishe

Corrélats électrophysiologiques de l'intégration des informations auditives et visuelles dans la perception intermodale chez l'homme

Jusqu'à récemment, les recherches sur les bases neurophysiologiques de la perception chez l'homme ont été menées dans les modalités sensorielles séparées. Pourtant, nous sommes quotidiennement confrontés à des objets ou des événements caractérisés par des composantes de plusieurs modalités sensorielles, en particulier auditives et visuelles (par ex., un chien qui aboie). Une question fondamentale est donc de savoir comment le cerveau intègre les éléments séparés d'un objet défini par plusieurs composantes sensorielles pour former un percept unifié. Par l'enregistrement de potentiels évoqués, Giard et Peronnet [J. Cogn Neurosci. 11(5) (1999)] ont montré que l'identification d'objets définis par des composantes auditives et visuelles redondantes induisait des interactions très précoces dans les cortex sensoriels (dès 40 ms après la présentation du stimulus) et dans des régions non-spécifiques. A la suite de cette étude, nous avons examiné par la même approche méthodologique l'influence du contexte expérimental sur l'organisation spatio-temporelle de ces réseaux d'interactions. Nous avons réalisé une série d'expériences utilisant les mêmes objets audio-visuels, en faisant varier tour à tour des paramètres exogènes (contenu informationnel des objets bimodaux et nature de la tâche à effectuer), et endogènes (attention). Les résultats confirment que les mécanismes intégratifs mettent en jeu des réseaux d'aires cérébrales distribuées impliquant à la fois les cortex modalité-spécifiques (auditif et visuel) et des régions non-spécifiques. Ils montrent de plus que ces mécanismes dépendent fortement des paramètres exogènes et endogènes étudiés, ainsi que de l'expertise sensorielle du sujet pour effectuer la tâche. L'ensemble de ces résultats traduit la variabilité des stratégies mises en place par le cerveau pour synthétiser efficacement les informations bimodales issues d'un même objet révélant, ainsi la flexibilité et le caractère hautement adaptatif des processus intégratifs.Until recently, research on the neurophysiological bases of sensory perception has been widely addressed in separate modalities. Yet, most of the objects or events in our daily environment are characterized by components of several sensory (particularly auditory and visual) modalities (e.g. a barking dog). A fundamental question, therefore, is to know how the brain integrates the different sensory features of a same object to form a unitary percept. Using event related potentials, Giard and Peronnet [J. Cogn. Neurosci. 11(5) (1999)] have shown that the identification of objects characterised by redundant auditory and visual features induces cross-modal interactions in sensory-specific cortices (as early as 40 ms in the visual cortex) and in non-specific areas. Following this study, we examined by the same methodological approach the influence of the experimental context on the spatio-temporal organization of these interaction networks. We carried out a series of experiments using the same audio-visual objects, in varying exogenous (informational content of the stimulus, or nature of the task to be performed) and endogenous (attention) parameters. The results confirm that multisensory integration involves distributed brain areas including modality-specific (auditory and visual) cortices and non-specific sites. In addition, they show that the integrative mechanisms strongly depend on the parameters manipulated as well as the sensory skill of the subject for the task required. In their overall, our results provide evidence for the variability of the strategies implemented by the brain to synthesize bimodal information from a same object as efficiently as possible, thereby revealing the exquisite flexibility and highly adaptive character of the integrative processes.LYON2/BRON-BU (690292101) / SudocSudocFranceF

Interest and validity of the additive model in electrophysiological studies of multisensory interactions

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