Feasibility of Self-Performed Lung Ultrasound with Remote Teleguidance for Monitoring at Home COVID-19 Patients

During the COVID-19 pandemic, use of telemedicine with the aim of reducing the rate of viral transmission increased. This proof-of-concept observational study was planned to test the feasibility of a home-based lung ultrasound (LUS) follow-up performed by patients with mild COVID-19 infection on themselves. We enrolled patients presenting to the emergency department with SARS-CoV-2 infection without signs of pneumonia and indication to discharge. Each patient received a brief training on how to perform LUS and a handheld ultrasound probe. Then, patients were contacted on a daily basis, and LUS images were acquired by the patients themselves under “teleguidance” by the investigator. Twenty-one patients were enrolled with a median age of 44 years. All evaluations were of sufficient quality for a follow up. Probability of a better LUS quality was related to higher degree (odds ratio, OR, 1.42, 95% CI 0.5–3.99) and a lower quality to evaluation time (from 0.71, 95% CI 0.55–0.92 for less than 7 min, to 0.52, 95% CI 0.38–0.7, between 7 and 10 min, and to 0.29, 95% CI 0.2–0.43, for evaluations longer than 10 min). No effect related to gender or age was detected. LUS performed by patients and remotely overseen by expert providers seems to be a feasible and reliable telemedicine tool

Mode-matching in multiresonant plasmonic nanoantennas for enhanced second harmonic generation

Boosting nonlinear frequency conversion in extremely confined volumes remains a key challenge in nano-optics, nanomedicine, photocatalysis, and background-free biosensing. To this aim, field enhancements in plasmonic nanostructures are often exploited to effectively compensate for the lack of phase-matching at the nanoscale. Second harmonic generation (SHG) is, however, strongly quenched by the high degree of symmetry in plasmonic materials at the atomic scale and in nanoantenna designs. Here, we devise a plasmonic nanoantenna lacking axial symmetry, which exhibits spatial and frequency mode overlap at both the excitation and the SHG wavelengths. The effective combination of these features in a single device allows obtaining unprecedented SHG conversion efficiency. Our results shed new light on the optimization of SHG at the nanoscale, paving the way to new classes of nanoscale coherent light sources and molecular sensing devices based on nonlinear plasmonic platforms.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figure

Telecondutas : asma

Telemedicin

The statistical analysis plan for the unification of treatments and interventions for tinnitus patients randomized clinical trial (UNITI-RCT)

Background Tinnitus is a leading cause of disease burden globally. Several therapeutic strategies are recommended in guidelines for the reduction of tinnitus distress; however, little is known about the potentially increased effectiveness of a combination of treatments and personalized treatments for each tinnitus patient. Methods Within the Unification of Treatments and Interventions for Tinnitus Patients project, a multicenter, randomized clinical trial is conducted with the aim to compare the effectiveness of single treatments and combined treatments on tinnitus distress (UNITI-RCT). Five different tinnitus centers across Europe aim to treat chronic tinnitus patients with either cognitive behavioral therapy, sound therapy, structured counseling, or hearing aids alone, or with a combination of two of these treatments, resulting in four treatment arms with single treatment and six treatment arms with combinational treatment. This statistical analysis plan describes the statistical methods to be deployed in the UNITI-RCT. Discussion The UNITI-RCT trial will provide important evidence about whether a combination of treatments is superior to a single treatment alone in the management of chronic tinnitus patients. This pre-specified statistical analysis plan details the methodology for the analysis of the UNITI trial results. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04663828. The trial is ongoing. Date of registration: December 11, 2020. All patients that finished their treatment before 19 December 2022 are included in the main RCT analysis

"Así que pasen cinco años" y su puesta en escena multimedia. Apuntes sobre el espectáculo de Caterina Genta y Marco Schiavoni

El estudio analiza la puesta en escena multimedia de Así que pasen cinco años por parte de Caterina Genta y Marco Schiavoni. A través de un recorrido que compara los espacios dramáticos y los lugares escénicos, y una observación explicativa de la interpretación de las indicaciones lorquianas, se sugiere la importancia fundamental de la pieza en la producción teatral del autor andaluz y su posición de obra vanguardista representable

Recensione di Rafael Alarcón Sierra, Juan Ramón Jiménez. Pasión perfecta

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Kinetics of Epstein-Barr Virus DNA Load in Different Blood Compartments of Pediatric Recipients of T-Cell-Depleted HLA-Haploidentical Stem Cell Transplantation▿

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA levels in whole-blood samples of 54 pediatric patients receiving T-cell-depleted haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) in 2003 to 2007 were retrospectively compared with EBV DNA loads in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). Determination of EBV DNA in whole blood missed 1 of 19 patients (5.2%), who tested positive for EBV DNA in PBMC. The analytical sensitivity of EBV DNA detection in whole-blood samples relative to that in PBMC was 94.7%. Regression analysis showed a significant correlation between DNA levels in PBMC and whole blood (r = 0.81; P < 0.001). Relative to that in PBMC, the appearance of EBV DNA in whole blood was delayed in 9/18 patients (median, 49 days; range, 6 to 226 days), while peak levels and clearance were reached simultaneously. Following peak levels, EBV DNA showed a slower decline in whole blood than in PBMC. In conclusion, (i) EBV DNA levels in PBMC were significantly correlated with those in whole blood; (ii) a differential kinetics of EBV DNA in the two blood compartments was observed; and (iii) monitoring of EBV DNA levels in whole blood appears to be a valuable alternative to PBMC in the follow-up of pediatric recipients of haploidentical T-cell-depleted HSCT