Implicit memory and anesthesia: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

General anesthesia should induce unconsciousness and provide amnesia. Amnesia refers to the absence of explicit and implicit memories. Unlike explicit memory, implicit memory is not consciously recalled, and it can affect behavior/performance at a later time. The impact of general anesthesia in preventing implicit memory formation is not well‐established. We performed a systematic review with meta‐analysis of studies reporting implicit memory occurrence in adult patients after deep sedation (Observer’s Assessment of Alertness/Sedation of 0–1 with spontaneous breathing) or general anesthesia. We also evaluated the impact of different anesthetic/analgesic regimens and the time point of auditory task delivery on implicit memory formation. The metaanalysis included the estimation of odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). We included a total of 61 studies with 3906 patients and 119 different cohorts. For 43 cohorts (36.1%), implicit memory events were reported. The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status III–IV was associated with a higher likelihood of implicit memory formation (OR:3.48; 95%CI:1.18–10.25, p < 0.05) than ASA physical status I–II. Further, there was a lower likelihood of implicit memory formation for deep sedation cases, compared to general anesthesia (OR:0.10; 95%CI:0.01–0.76, p < 0.05) and for patients receiving premedication with benzodiazepines compared to not premedicated patients before general anesthesia (OR:0.35; 95%CI:0.13–0.93, p = 0.05)

Targeted temperature management in cardiac surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis on postoperative cognitive outcomes

Background: Postoperative cognitive decline occurs commonly after cardiac surgery. The available literature is inconclusive on the role of intraoperative causal or protective factors. Methods: We systematically reviewed studies evaluating delayed neurocognitive recovery (DNR), postoperative neurocognitive disorder (NCD), stroke, and the mortality rates among patients undergoing hypothermic or normothermic cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). We further performed a subgroup analysis for age, surgery type (coronary artery bypass grafting [CABG], valve surgery, or combined), and the mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) during CPB, and conducted a proportion meta-analysis after calculation of single proportions and confidence intervals (CIs). Results: We included a total of 58 studies with 9609 patients in our analysis. Among these, 1906 of 4010 patients (47.5%) had DNR, and 2071 of 7160 (28.9%) had postoperative NCD. Ninety of 4625 patients (2.0%) had a stroke, and 174 of 7589 (2.3%) died. There was no statistically significant relationship between the considered variables and DNR, NCD, stroke, and mortality. In the subgroup analysis comparing hypothermic with normothermic CPB, we found higher NCD rates after combined surgery; for normothermic CPB cases only, the rates of DNR and NCD were lower after combined surgery compared with CABG surgery. A MAP >70 mm Hg compared with MAP=50–70 mm Hg during CPB was associated with a lower rate of DNR. Conclusions: Temperature, MAP during CPB, age, and surgery type were not associated with neurocognitive disorders, stroke, and mortality in cardiac surgery. A normothermic CPB, particularly when performed with MAP >70 mm Hg, may reduce the risk of postoperative neurocognitive decline after cardiac surgery. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42019140844

Residue valorization in the iron and steel industries: Sustainable solutions for a cleaner and more competitive future europe

The steel industry is an important engine for sustainable growth, added value, and high-quality employment within the European Union. It is committed to reducing its CO2 emissions due to production by up to 50% by 2030 compared to 1990′s level by developing and upscaling the technologies required to contribute to European initiatives, such as the Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP) and the European Green Deal (EGD). The Clean Steel Partnership (CSP, a public– private partnership), which is led by the European Steel Association (EUROFER) and the European Steel Technology Platform (ESTEP), defined technological CO2 mitigation pathways comprising carbon direct avoidance (CDA), smart carbon usage SCU), and a circular economy (CE). CE approaches ensure competitiveness through increased resource efficiency and sustainability and consist of different issues, such as the valorization of steelmaking residues (dusts, slags, sludge) for internal recycling in the steelmaking process, enhanced steel recycling (scrap use), the use of secondary carbon carriers from non-steel sectors as a reducing agent and energy source in the steelmaking process chain, and CE business models (supply chain analyses). The current paper gives an overview of different technological CE approaches as obtained in a dedicated workshop called “Resi4Future—Residue valorization in iron and steel industry: sustainable solutions for a cleaner and more competitive future Europe” that was organized by ESTEP to focus on future challenges toward the final goal of industrial deployment