Design and Fabrication of Terahertz Metallic Gratings on a Two-Wire Waveguide

In this study, we present the design, fabrication and experimental characterization of waveguide-integrated gratings operating at THz frequencie

Electrical Impedance Tomography and Prone Position During Ventilation in COVID-19 Pneumonia: Case Reports and a Brief Literature Review

At the end of 2019, a novel coronavirus (COVID-19) was identified as the cause of a cluster of pneumonia cases, with high needs of mechanical ventilation in critically ill patients. It is still unclear whether different types of COVID-19 pneumonia require different ventilator strategies. With electrical impedance tomography (EIT) we evaluated, in real time and bedside, the distribution of ventilation in the different pulmonary regions before, during, and after pronation in COVID-19 respiratory failure. We present a brief literature review of EIT in non-COVID-19 patients and a report of 2 COVID-19 patients: one that did not respond well and another one that improved during and after pronation. EIT might be a useful tool to decide whether prone positioning should or should not be used in COVID-19 pneumonia

Pediatric ultrasound-guided dorsal penile nerve block and sedation in spontaneous breathing: a prospective observational study

Background: Worldwide, one of the most common surgical procedures in the pediatric population is circumcision. There is no consent on the best anesthesiologic approach. This study aimed to investigate ultrasound-guided dorsal penile nerve block (DPNB) plus sedation in spontaneous breathing as a time-saving, safe, effective, and opioid-sparing technique. Aims: The primary outcome was the assessment of the time from the end of surgery and the discharge to the post-anesthesia care unit. Secondary outcomes were to evaluate the cumulative dosages of opioids, differences in pain levels between the two groups, and complications at the awakening, 4 h and 72 h after surgery, respectively. Methods: This was a prospective study with a retrospective control group, approved by the Friuli–Venezia Giulia Ethics Committee. Children in the intervention group received an ultrasound-guided DPNB under sedation and spontaneous breathing. With the probe positioned transversally at the base of the penis using an in-plane approach with a modified technique, local anesthetic was injected under the deep fascia of the penis. Results: We recruited 70 children who underwent circumcision at the University Hospital of Udine, Italy, from 1 January 2016 to 1 October 2021: 35 children in the ultrasound-guided DPNB group and 35 children in the control group. Children who received ultrasound-guided DPNB had a statistically significant lower time to discharge from the operating room, did not require mechanical ventilation, maintained spontaneous breathing at all times, received fewer opioids, had lower mean intraoperative arterial pressures, and lower pain levels immediately after surgery. Conclusion: Ultrasound-guided DPNB associated with sedation and spontaneous breathing is a time-saving, opioid-sparing, safe, and effective strategy for the management of intraoperative and postoperative pain in children undergoing circumcision. Clinical trial registration: ClinicalTrial.gov (NCT04475458, 17 July 2020)

Effects of age and gender on neural correlates of emotion imagery

Mental imagery is part of people's own internal processing and plays an important role in everyday life, cognition and pathology. The neural network supporting mental imagery is bottom-up modulated by the imagery content. Here, we examined the complex associations of gender and age with the neural mechanisms underlying emotion imagery. We assessed the brain circuits involved in emotion mental imagery (vs. action imagery), controlled by a letter detection task on the same stimuli, chosen to ensure attention to the stimuli and to discourage imagery, in 91 men and women aged 14–65 years using fMRI. In women, compared with men, emotion imagery significantly increased activation within the right putamen, which is involved in emotional processing. Increasing age, significantly decreased mental imagery-related activation in the left insula and cingulate cortex, areas involved in awareness of ones' internal states, and it significantly decreased emotion verbs-related activation in the left putamen, which is part of the limbic system. This finding suggests a top-down mechanism by which gender and age, in interaction with bottom-up effect of type of stimulus, or directly, can modulate the brain mechanisms underlying mental imagery

Prehospital drugs for sedation in psychomotor agitation, friends or foes? An observational retrospective study

Altered mental status (AMS) describes an undifferentiated presentation of disorders of mentation. It represents a common problem for prehospital and hospital providers and may be found in 5% to 10% of patients admitted to the Emergency Department (ED). Psychomotor Agitation (PMA), a state of motor restlessness and mental tension associated with a variety of psychiatric conditions, is one of the most frequent manifestations of AMS. In this observational retrospective study we included all the patients who presented PMA, treated by the out-of-hospital Emergency Medical System (EMS), and transported to the ED of the University Hospital of Udine, Italy. The objectives were to determine the incidence of patients with PMA treated by EMS in the area of investigation, the evaluation of pharmacologically treated patients considering the most commonly administered drugs, the intubation rate, the fraction of inspired oxygen (FiO2) needs, the length of hospital stay (LOHS), the adverse drug reactions (ADRs), and the excited delirium syndrome (ExDS). From January 2017 to December 2018, 319 patients were enrolled. The prevalence of PMA was 2.5% and 0.5% were the cases of PMA managed by the EMS. The predominant drugs used for sedation were midazolam (19.75%) and ketamine (9.09%), alone or in association; patients with consistent PMA required more than one sedative. Statistically significant differences were found in FiO2 supplementation for ketamine-sedated psychiatric patients and midazolam-sedated psychiatric patients with chronic home therapy, in the LOHS >24 hours (h), with a longer stay in case of midazolam and ketamine use, and in LOHS and FiO2 supplementation due to polypharmacy administration with more than one sedative drug. PMA is a frequent and widespread phenomenon and in the prehospital setting requires rapid assessment and management. Therapeutical strategies with benzodiazepines, ketamine, and rarely associations of drugs are safe, do not increase hypoxia and intubation rate

Scalable Production of Graphene-Based Wearable E-Textiles

© 2017 American Chemical Society. Graphene-based wearable e-textiles are considered to be promising due to their advantages over traditional metal-based technology. However, the manufacturing process is complex and currently not suitable for industrial scale application. Here we report a simple, scalable, and cost-effective method of producing graphene-based wearable e-textiles through the chemical reduction of graphene oxide (GO) to make stable reduced graphene oxide (rGO) dispersion which can then be applied to the textile fabric using a simple pad-dry technique. This application method allows the potential manufacture of conductive graphene e-textiles at commercial production rates of ∼150 m/min. The graphene e-textile materials produced are durable and washable with acceptable softness/hand feel. The rGO coating enhanced the tensile strength of cotton fabric and also the flexibility due to the increase in strain% at maximum load. We demonstrate the potential application of these graphene e-textiles for wearable electronics with activity monitoring sensor. This could potentially lead to a multifunctional single graphene e-textile garment that can act both as sensors and flexible heating elements powered by the energy stored in graphene textile supercapacitors

Brain anatomical mediators of grin2b gene association with attention/hyperactivity problems: An integrated genetic\u2010neuroimaging study

This study aims to investigate the genetic and neural determinants of attention and hyperactivity problems. Using a proof\u2010of\u2010concept imaging genetics mediation design, we explore the relationship between the glutamatergic GRIN2B gene variants and inattention/hyperactivity with neuroanatomical measures as intermediates. Fifty\u2010eight children and adolescents were evaluated for behavioral problems at three time points over approximately 7 years. The final assessment included blood drawing for genetic analyses and 3T magnetic resonance imaging. Attention/hyperactivity problems based on the Child Behavior Checklist/6\u201018, six GRIN2B polymorphisms and regional cortical thickness, and surface area and volume were estimated. Using general linear model (GLM) and mediation analyses, we tested whether GRIN2B exerted an influence on stable inattention/hyperactivity over development, and to what extent this effect was mediated by brain morphology. GLM results enlightened the relation between GRIN2B rs5796555\u2010 /A, volume in the left cingulate isthmus and inferior parietal cortices and inattention/hyperactivity. The mediation results showed that rs5796555\u2010/A effect on inattention/hyperactivity was partially mediated by volume in the left isthmus of the cingulate cortex, suggesting a key role of this region in translating glutamatergic GRIN2B variations to attention/hyperactivity problems. This evidence can have important implications in the management of neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders