On the imperfect synchrony between patient and ventilator

Because patient-ventilator asynchrony (PVA) is recognized as a major clinical problem for patients undergoing ventilatory assistance, automatic methods of PVA detection have been proposed in recent years. A novel approach is airflow spectral analysis, which, when related to visual inspection of airway pressure and flow waveforms, has been shown to reach a sensitivity and specificity of greater than 80% in detecting an asynchrony index of greater than 10%. The availability of automatic non-invasive methods of PVA detection at the bedside would likely be of benefit in intensive care unit practice, but they may be limited by shortcomings, so clear proof of their effectiveness is needed

Recent updates in mechanical ventilation

Recently, several studies have been performed to better outline the pathophysiology of acute respiratory failure and evaluate the therapeutic profile of different modes of ventilation and ventilator settings. Here we briefly report those we consider most relevant for daily intensive care unit clinical practice

Choosing a ventilator for home mechanical ventilation

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The prose lives of Venantius Fortunatus: Hagiography, lay piety and pastoral care in sixth-century Gaul

This study uses the prose hagiography of the poet Venantius Fortunatus (c.530-600/609 CE) to examine the relationship between hagiographical narrative and pastoral care in the early Merovingian kingdoms. Consisting of the lives of six bishops and the ascetic Queen Radegund, this body of work has been studied primarily as evidence for the social, religious and political power of the Gallic episcopacy and the literary promotion of saints’ cults in sixth-century Gaul. Hagiography, however, was also becoming increasingly instrumental in bishops’ religious instruction of the laity and in the laity’s own efforts to achieve salvation. This study uses stylistic, semiotic and intertextual analysis to examine the ways these works spoke to the laity’s fundamental religious concerns, particularly in the context of their public reading in the mass. These concerns include, among others, how salvation should be conceptualized, how sin should be dealt with, how Christians should live among non-Christians, and what role should be afforded women in the spiritual life of the church. A close reading of the prose lives reveals that Fortunatus exploited the multi-valency of religious images, concepts and symbols to provide answers to these questions within an orthodox pastoral framework. Moreover, this study shows that Fortunatus made innovative use of his narratives to intervene in his own pastoral voice. In so doing, this analysis also explores an under-appreciated side of the poet’s career, as a provider of pastoral care for a wide public

COVID-19 Vaccination Status among Adults Admitted to Intensive Care Units in Veneto, Italy

: This cohort study examines admissions to intensive care units for COVID-19–associated acute respiratory distress syndrome by COVID-19 vaccination status among adults in the Veneto region of Italy from May to December 2021

Automatic Forecast of Intensive Care Unit Admissions: The Experience During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy

The experience of the COVID-19 pandemic showed the importance of timely monitoring of admissions to the ICU admissions. The ability to promptly forecast the epidemic impact on the occupancy of beds in the ICU is a key issue for adequate management of the health care system. Despite this, most of the literature on predictive COVID-19 models in Italy has focused on predicting the number of infections, leaving trends in ordinary hospitalizations and ICU occupancies in the background. This work aims to present an ETS approach (Exponential Smoothing Time Series) time series forecasting tool for admissions to the ICU admissions based on ETS models. The results of the forecasting model are presented for the regions most affected by the epidemic, such as Veneto, Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna, and Piedmont. The mean absolute percentage errors (MAPE) between observed and predicted admissions to the ICU admissions remain lower than 11% for all considered geographical areas. In this epidemiological context, the proposed ETS forecasting model could be suitable to monitor, in a timely manner, the impact of COVID-19 disease on the health care system, not only during the early stages of the pandemic but also during the vaccination campaign, to quickly adapt possible preventive interventions

Comprehensive Sexual Education in the English pronunciation classroom

In 2006, the Comprehensive Sexual Education law was sanctioned in Argentina. Embracing all public and private educational environments, this law requires sexual education to be included cross-curricularly. It also states that the information transmitted needs to be up-to-date, promote gender equality and inclusion, and be applied according to the age and socio-economic background of the group members. What is more, it encourages teachers to consider students not as a homogeneous group but as diverse, cognitive, emotional, social and cultural individual beings. Since it was sanctioned, the law has fostered the educational community’s re-evaluation and renewal of teaching practices in different contexts. As students of the National University of La Pampa, we have witnessed this ongoing process in some of the subjects we have attended. However, we felt that in most of the subjects focused on pronunciation this re-evaluation and renewal was still lacking systematicity. In addition to our experience as students, we also collaborate as student assistants in the subject Phonetics and Phonology I. This is a teaching subject in charge of Mgr. Lilián Inés Ariztimuño, in which students who have successfully passed it are offered the possibility to participate in the process of planning the lessons. In this way, they are able to learn from the teachers in charge of the subject about the inner functioning of a university subject –i.e. which is the criteria and the pedagogical purpose followed when designing activities, lessons and exams, what to take into account when assessing learners, how to use different tools and different pedagogical approaches. Thus, while helping with the revision of the existent teaching materials as part of our contribution as student assistants of the subject, we suggested to take into consideration the requirements of the Comprehensive Sexual Education law. In this paper, we will share our experience adjusting and creating new materials as well as the preliminary outcomes after taking these materials to the classroom.Trabajo publicado en Caldiz, A. y Rafaelli, V. (coords.) (2020). Exploraciones fonolingüísticas. V Jornadas Internacionales de Fonética y Fonología y I Jornadas Nacionales de Fonética y Discurso.Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educació