610 Fontan associated kidney and liver disease: can we predict organ involvement with echocardiographic assessment of systolic function and atrioventricular valve insufficiency?

Abstract Aims Fontan operation represents the surgical palliative option for congenital heart disease with single ventricle physiology. With the improvement of surgical and percutaneous technique, we are facing a growing population of patients with an unique pathophysiology and potential complications. Methods and results Patients that underwent Fontan palliation in our centre between 1993 and 2016 were included in this prospective study. We excluded patients with major congenital renal anomalies, those that underwent cardiac transplantation, and redo-Fontan patients. All the subjects underwent clinical evaluation, laboratory exams with complete renal and hepatic function, transient hepatic elastography, and complete cardiac evaluation. We used Schwartz equation for estimating glomerular filtration rate in patients younger than 18 years, and CDK-EPI equation for adult patients. We enrolled 35 patients, 46% female (N = 16), and 54% male (N = 19). Medium age was 17 years old, median age 15 years old (range: 10–31 years old). Medium time from Fontan completion was 160 months (range: 57–340 months). Regarding to cardiac anatomy, 10 patients had functional single left ventricle (FSLV, 28.5%) and 21 a functional single right ventricle (FSRV, 60%); 4 patients had undetermined single ventricle (11.5%). Total cavo-pulmonary connection (TCPC) with intracardiac lateral tunnel was performed in 7 patients (20%, N = 7), whereas 28 patients had TCPC with external conduit (80%). Data from echocardiographic evaluation showed a medium EF established with Simpson's method of 60% in patients with FSLV; patients with a FSRV or undetermined single ventricle had a medium FAC of 41.1%, with 15.1% having a reduced FAC < 35%. No FSLV patients had an EF < 50%. When using creatinine-based formula, data about renal function in our population showed a stage 2 chronic kidney disease (eGFR: 60–89 ml/min 1.73 mq) in 11% of total population (N = 4), that became 26% when using cystatin C-based equation (N = 9), with one patient showing a moderate reduced loss of kidney function (eGFR: 40–59 ml/min 1.73 mq). Urinalysis showed 29% (N = 10) of patients having microalbuminuria (microalbumin/creatinine ratio between 30 and 300 mg/g). Statistical analysis demonstrated a negative correlation between systolic function (TAPSE for FSRV) and cystatin C blood levels (Pearson's R −0.428, P = 0.053), and between systolic function (FAC and Simpson) and microalbuminuria (Pearson's R −0.414 with P = 0.049 and Pearson's R −0.754 with P = 0.019, respectively). Transient elastography reported 10 patients (29.4%) with abnormal hepatic stiffness for Fontan patients. That condition appeared to be more frequent in patients with higher grade of AV valve insufficiency (P < 0.05). Conclusions Our population showed an higher prevalence of FSRV Fontan patients, with an expected lower systolic function compared with FSLV. 2D evaluation of systolic function showed a linear inverse correlation with renal function, suggesting that Fontan patients need a closer renal monitoring. Hepatic stiffness, which is a warning sign of potential hepatic cirrhosis need to be monitored in all Fontan patients, especially those with a worse AV valve insufficiency

Analysis of the physical processes responsible for the degradation of deep-ultraviolet light emitting diodes

This paper reports an extensive analysis of the degradation of deep-ultraviolet light-emitting diodes submitted to dc stress test. The study was carried out by means of combined electrical and optical characterization techniques. Results described in the paper indicate that the following: i stress can induce a significant decrease in the optical power emitted by the devices; ii optical power decrease is more prominent at low measuring current levels, thus suggesting that degradation is related to an increase in the concentration of defects; iii stress induces a significant increase in the green-yellow parasitic emission of the devices; and iv stress causes a localized increase in the apparent charge distribution profiles in the active region of the devices. Experimental evidence collected within this work suggest that degradation is due to an increase in the defectiveness in the active layer of the devices, with subsequent worsening of their radiative efficiency

RISOLUZIONE DELL\u2019EDEMA MACULARE CISTOIDE (EMC) NELL\u2019UVEITE ASSOCIATAAD ARTRITE IDIOPATICA GIOVANILE (AIG) TRATTATA CON INFLIXIMAB

D.A.I. di Pediatria e *Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Universit\ue0 di Padova Introduzione: Il trattamento dell\u2019uveite cronica-AIG correlata rimane controverso. Non c\u2019\ue8 accordo sull\u2019uso degli immunosoppressori, come il Metotrexate e gli anti-TNF, di seconda linea nelle uveiti refrattarie. Obiettivo: Verificare efficacia e sicurezza di Infliximab (Remicade) nell\u2019uveite severa AIG-correlata. Metodo: Due pazienti (F, ANA+, 15 e 8 anni), con uveite cronica AIG-correlata complicata da EMC, sono state sottoposte a trattamento con Infliximab e.v. (3-3.5 mg/kg). Le infusioni sono state ripetute dopo 2, 6 e, successivamente, 6-8 settimane. Nel follow-up (3-24 mesi) sono stati monitorati la risposta clinica e gli effetti collaterali. Risultati: In entrambi i casi si \ue8 evidenziata completa remissione dell\u2019EMC, confermata all\u2019OCT. Il recupero funzionale, contemporaneo al miglioramento obiettivo in un caso, \ue8 iniziato in ritardo nel secondo. Una recidiva di EMC, comparsa dopo un intervallo del farmaco di 8 settimane, si \ue8 risolta anticipando a 4 settimane la dose successiva. Una paziente ha sviluppato ipertono oculare, senza effetti collaterali sistemici. Conclusioni: La nostra limitata esperienza dimostra efficacia di Infliximab sull\u2019EMC nell\u2019uveite cronica AIG-correlata. L\u2019intervallo fra le infusioni diventa critico oltre le 6 settimane. Si raccomanda controllo della tensione endoculare

USE OF NEAR INFRARED TECHNOLOGY TO PREDICT FATTY ACID GROUPS IN COMMERCIAL GROUND MEAT PRODUCTS

Near infrared transmittance (NIT, 850 to 1048 nm) spectroscopy was used to predict groups of fatty acids (FA), namely saturated FA (SFA), monounsaturated FA (MUFA) and polyunsaturated FA (PUFA), in commercial ground meat samples aiming to develope a fast and reliable method for their determination in support of label declaration by the new EC Regulation 1169/2011. Dataset was built using 81 samples of commercial ground meat from different species: beef, pork, chicken and turkey. In some samples, meat was mixtured with different ingredients such as bread, cheese, spices and additives. Samples were first analysed by NIT instrument for spectral information and reference FA values were obtained by gas chromatographic analysis. Prediction models for SFA, MUFA and PUFA expressed on total FA exhibited coefficients of determination of calibration of 0.822, 0.367 and 0.780 on intact samples, and 0.879, 0.726 and 0.908 on minced samples, respectively. Good results were also obtained when FA groups were expressed as g/100g of fresh meat: the coefficient of determination of calibration increased to values larger than 0.915. Moreover, comparing the slightly lower coefficient of determination in crossvalidation of intact compared with minced meat suggested that equations developed for minced samples were more accurate than those built for intact products. Results highlighted the effectiveness of NIT spectroscopy to predict the major FA groups in commercial meat products

Characterization of High-Voltage Charge-Trapping Effects in GaN-based Power HEMTs

We investigate the effects and the causes of highvoltage charge-trapping phenomena in AlGaN/GaN Schottky-HEMTs grown on SiC substrate, and we present an high-voltage pulsed system, implemented by a cost-effective fully-customable modular solution. The characterization methodology includes double-pulsed ID-VD measurements, time-resolved RON recovery transients, and leakage-currents analysis. The observed parasitic dynamic RON-increase is triggered by high drain-voltage (>50V), and likely originates from the trapping of parasitic electrons supplied by leakage currents at the crystallographic defect-states located within the epitaxial structure