The Impact of COVID-19 Lockdown on Adults with Major Depressive Disorder from Catalonia : A Decentralized Longitudinal Study

The RADAR-CNS project received funding from the Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 Joint Undertaking under grant agreement No 115902. This Joint Undertaking receives support from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program and EFPIA (www.imi.europa.eu accessed on 8 February 2023). This communication reflects the views of the RADAR-CNS consortium and neither IMI nor the European Union and EFPIA are liable for any use that may be made of the information contained herein. The funding body has been involved in the design of the study, the collection or analysis of data, or the interpretation of data. MTPM (7Z22/009) is partially released of clinical activity through a personal research grant of IDIAP Jordi Gol and Institut Català de la Salut (ICS).The present study analyzes the effects of each containment phase of the first COVID-19 wave on depression levels in a cohort of 121 adults with a history of major depressive disorder (MDD) from Catalonia recruited from 1 November 2019, to 16 October 2020. This analysis is part of the Remote Assessment of Disease and Relapse-MDD (RADAR-MDD) study. Depression was evaluated with the Patient Health Questionnaire-8 (PHQ-8), and anxiety was evaluated with the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7). Depression's levels were explored across the phases (pre-lockdown, lockdown, and four post-lockdown phases) according to the restrictions of Spanish/Catalan governments. Then, a mixed model was fitted to estimate how depression varied over the phases. A significant rise in depression severity was found during the lockdown and phase 0 (early post-lockdown), compared with the pre-lockdown. Those with low pre-lockdown depression experienced an increase in depression severity during the "new normality", while those with high pre-lockdown depression decreased compared with the pre-lockdown. These findings suggest that COVID-19 restrictions affected the depression level depending on their pre-lockdown depression severity. Individuals with low levels of depression are more reactive to external stimuli than those with more severe depression, so the lockdown may have worse detrimental effects on them

AC and phase sensing of nanowires for biosensing

Silicon nanowires are label-free sensors that allow real-time measurements. They are economical and pave the road for point-of-care applications but require complex readout and skilled personnel. We propose a new model and technique for sensing nanowire sensors using alternating currents (AC) to capture both magnitude and phase information from the sensor. This approach combines the advantages of complex impedance spectroscopy with the noise reduction performances of lock-in techniques. Experimental results show how modifications of the sensors with different surface chemistries lead to the same direct-current (DC) response but can be discerned using the AC approach

On-Chip Sandwich Immunoassay in an Integrated Magneto-Optical CMOS Microsystem

We report on an innovative approach to on-chip detection of single fluorescently-labeled magnetic micro-particles by means of Single Photon Avalanche Diode (SPAD) arrays. Our system enables particle separation through magnetic actuation and highly sensitive, high signal-to-noise-ratio detection with integrated SPADs. We will present the capability of our system to detect and quantitatively distinguish fluorescently labeled particles. This represents a first step towards a complete lab-on-a-chip system for specific antibody detection. The selection of magnetic micro-particles as the mobile substrate in a bio-assay is motivated by their growing impact on the lab-on-a-chip research area, fueled by their ability of contactless manipulation and a handling that is independent from biological processes

AC and phase sensing of nanowires for biosensing

Data supporting the paper &quot;Crescentini, Marco, Rossi, Michele, Ashburn, Peter, Lombardini, Marta, Sangiorgi, Enrico, Morgan, Hywel and Tartagni, Marco (2016) AC and phase sensing of nanowires for biosensing. Biosensors, 6, (2), 1-14. (doi:10.3390/bios6020015)&quot;</span

Lung deposition of surfactant delivered via a dedicated laryngeal mask airway in piglets

It is unknown if the lung deposition of surfactant administered via a catheter placed through a laryngeal mask airway (LMA) is equivalent to that obtained by bolus instillation through an endotracheal tube. We compare the lung deposition of surfactant delivered via two types of LMA with the standard technique of endotracheal instillation. 25 newborn piglets on continuous positive airway pressure support (CPAP) were randomized into three groups: 1—LMA-camera (integrated camera and catheter channel; catheter tip below vocal cords), 2—LMA-standard (no camera, no channel; catheter tip above the glottis), 3—InSurE (Intubation, Surfactant administration, Extubation; catheter tip below end of endotracheal tube). All animals received 100 mg·kg−1 of poractant alfa mixed with99mTechnetium-nanocolloid. Surfactant deposition was measured by gamma scintigraphy as a percentage of the administered dose. The median (range) total lung surfactant deposition was 68% (10–85), 41% (5–88), and 88% (67–92) in LMA-camera, LMA-standard, and InSurE, respectively, which was higher (p < 0.05) in the latter. The deposition in the stomach and nasopharynx was higher with the LMA-standard. The surfactant deposition via an LMA was lower than that obtained with InSurE. Although not statistically significant, introducing the catheter below the vocal cords under visual control with an integrated camera improved surfactant LMA delivery by 65%