The experiences of early career geriatricians throughout Europe during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has severely affected older adults and brought about unprecedented challenges to geriatricians. We aimed to evaluate the experiences of early career geriatricians (residents or consultants with up to 10 years of experience) throughout Europe using an online survey. We obtained 721 responses. Most of the respondents were females (77.8%) and residents in geriatric medicine (54.6%). The majority (91.4%) were directly involved in the care of patients with COVID-19. The respondents reported moderate levels of anxiety and feelings of being overloaded with work. The anxiety levels were higher in women than in men. Most of the respondents experienced a feeling of a strong restriction on their private lives and a change in their work routine. The residents also reported a moderate disruption in their training and research activities. In conclusion, early career geriatricians experienced a major impact of COVID-19 on their professional and private lives

Providing care for older adults in the Emergency Department: expert clinical recommendations from the European Task Force on geriatric emergency medicine

PurposeDespite the rapidly expanding knowledge in the field of Geriatric Emergency Medicine in Europe, widespread implementation of change is still lacking. Many opportunities in everyday clinical care are missed to improve care for this susceptible and growing patient group. The aim was to develop expert clinical recommendations on Geriatric Emergency Medicine to be disseminated across Europe.MethodsA group of multi-disciplinary experts in the field of Geriatric Emergency Medicine in Europe was assembled. Using a modified Delphi procedure, a prioritized list of topics related to Geriatric Emergency Medicine was created. Next, a multi-disciplinary group of nurses, geriatricians and emergency physicians performed a review of recent guidelines and literature to create recommendations. These recommendations were voted upon by a group of experts and placed on visually attractive posters. The expert group identified the following eight subject areas to develop expert recommendations on: Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment in the Emergency Department (ED), age/frailty adjusted risk stratification, delirium and cognitive impairment, medication reviews in the ED for older adults, family involvement, ED environment, silver trauma, end of life care in the acute setting.ResultsEight posters with expert clinical recommendations on the most important topics in Geriatric Emergency Medicine are now available through https://posters.geriemeurope.eu/.ConclusionExpert clinical recommendations for Geriatric Emergency Medicine may help to improve care for older patients in the Emergency Department and are ready for dissemination across Europe.<br/

Myriad Mapping of nanoscale minerals reveals calcium carbonate hemihydrate in forming nacre and coral biominerals

Abstract Calcium carbonate (CaCO3) is abundant on Earth, is a major component of marine biominerals and thus of sedimentary and metamorphic rocks and it plays a major role in the global carbon cycle by storing atmospheric CO2 into solid biominerals. Six crystalline polymorphs of CaCO3 are known—3 anhydrous: calcite, aragonite, vaterite, and 3 hydrated: ikaite (CaCO3·6H2O), monohydrocalcite (CaCO3·1H2O, MHC), and calcium carbonate hemihydrate (CaCO3·½H2O, CCHH). CCHH was recently discovered and characterized, but exclusively as a synthetic material, not as a naturally occurring mineral. Here, analyzing 200 million spectra with Myriad Mapping (MM) of nanoscale mineral phases, we find CCHH and MHC, along with amorphous precursors, on freshly deposited coral skeleton and nacre surfaces, but not on sea urchin spines. Thus, biomineralization pathways are more complex and diverse than previously understood, opening new questions on isotopes and climate. Crystalline precursors are more accessible than amorphous ones to other spectroscopies and diffraction, in natural and bio-inspired materials