Evaluation of stakeholder opinion about Long Term Care Facilities for People with Dementia perceived quality: a web-based survey in the Italian context.

Background And Aim: Italy is a country where the percentage of elderly population is very high (23% over 65). The aim of the investigation is to bring out which aspects of the spaces intended to accommodate elderly People with Dementia pathologies should be most present and potentially interested in becoming cornerstones of a new model of Long-Term Care facilities (LTC).

Methods: This research uses a case studies analysis followed by a web based survey as methodological tools.

Grating Spectrometry and Spatial Heterodyne Fourier Transform Spectrometry: Comparative Noise Analysis for Raman Measurements.

The desire for portable Raman spectrometers is continuously driving the development of novel spectrometer architectures where miniaturisation can be achieved without the penalty of a poorer detection performance. Spatial heterodyne spectrometers are emerging as potential candidates for challenging the dominance of traditional grating spectrometers, thanks to their larger etendue and greater potential for miniaturisation. This paper provides a generic analytical model for estimating and comparing the detection performance of Raman spectrometers based on grating spectrometer and spatial heterodyne spectrometer designs by deriving the analytical expressions for the performance estimator (signal-to-noise ratio, SNR) for both types of spectrometers.

Potential for noninvasive assessment of lung inhomogeneity using highly precise, highly time-resolved measurements of gas exchange.

Inhomogeneity in the lung impairs gas exchange and can be an early marker of lung disease. We hypothesized that highly precise measurements of gas exchange contain sufficient information to quantify many aspects of the inhomogeneity noninvasively. Our aim was to explore whether one parameterization of lung inhomogeneity could both fit such data and provide reliable parameter estimates.

ICL-Based OF-CEAS: A Sensitive Tool for Analytical Chemistry.

Optical-feedback cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopy (OF-CEAS) using mid-infrared interband cascade lasers (ICLs) is a sensitive technique for trace gas sensing. The setup of a V-shaped optical cavity operating with a 3.29 μm cw ICL is detailed, and a quantitative characterization of the injection efficiency, locking stability, mode matching, and detection sensitivity is presented.

In-airway molecular flow sensing: A new technology for continuous, noninvasive monitoring of oxygen consumption in critical care.

There are no satisfactory methods for monitoring oxygen consumption in critical care. To address this, we adapted laser absorption spectroscopy to provide measurements of O2, CO2, and water vapor within the airway every 10 ms. The analyzer is integrated within a novel respiratory flow meter that is an order of magnitude more precise than other flow meters.

The Molecular Bronchoscope: A Tool for Measurement of Spatially Dependent CO2 Concentrations in the Lungs.

Respiratory physicians use bronchoscopy for visual assessment of the lungs' topography and collecting tissue samples for external analysis. We propose a novel bronchoscope tool that would enable spatially dependent measurements of the functioning of the lungs by determining local concentrations of carbon dioxide, which will be produced by healthy parts of the lung at rates that are higher than from portions where gas exchange is impaired. The gas analyzer is based on a compact laser absorption spectrometer making use of fiber optics for delivery and return of low intensity diode laser radiation to and from the measurement chamber at the distal end of a flexible conduit.

Enhancing the sensitivity of mid-IR quantum cascade laser-based cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopy using RF current perturbation.

The sensitivity of mid-IR quantum cascade laser (QCL) off-axis cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopy (CEAS), often limited by cavity mode structure and diffraction losses, was enhanced by applying a broadband RF noise to the laser current. A pump-probe measurement demonstrated that the addition of bandwidth-limited white noise effectively increased the laser linewidth, thereby reducing mode structure associated with CEAS. The broadband noise source offers a more sensitive, more robust alternative to applying single-frequency noise to the laser.

RF noise induced laser perturbation for improving the performance of non-resonant cavity enhanced absorption spectroscopy.

We present a novel strategy for suppressing mode structure which often degrades off-axis cavity enhanced absorption spectra. This strategy relies on promoting small, random fluctuations in the optical frequency by perturbing the injection current of the diode laser source with radio frequency (RF) bandwidth-limited white noise. A fast and compact oxygen sensor, constructed from a 764 nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) and an optical cavity with re-entrant configuration, is employed to demonstrate the potential of this scheme for improving the sensitivity and robustness of a field-deployable cavity spectrometer.

Demonstration of a novel laser-driven light source for broadband spectroscopy between 170 nm and 2.1 μm.

Combining broadband light sources with optical cavities is a well established approach to sensitive monitoring of trace species in both gas and liquid phases. Here we investigate for the first time the potential of a novel source based on laser-driven xenon plasma technology for spectroscopic studies of gaseous species over the 170-2100 nm spectral range.

Demonstration of a mid-infrared cavity enhanced absorption spectrometer for breath acetone detection.

A high-resolution absorption spectrum of gaseous acetone near 8.2 μm has been taken using both Fourier transform and quantum cascade laser (QCL)-based infrared spectrometers. Absolute absorption cross sections within the 1215-1222 cm(-1) range have been determined, and the spectral window around 1216.

Laser spectroscopy on volatile sulfur compounds: possibilities for breath analysis.

There is an emerging interest in the detection of volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs) in the breath environment, given their biological relevance as potential signatures of several pathological conditions. Particularly, laser-based spectroscopic sensors are candidates for conducting accurate breath diagnostics in clinical settings. With these aims in mind, the current status of VSC sensing via laser absorption spectroscopy is reviewed in this paper.

Optical detection of the anesthetic agent propofol in the gas phase.

The anesthetic agent propofol (2,6-diisopropylphenol) is the most widely used intravenously administered drug in general anesthesia. However, a viable online capability to monitor metabolized levels of propofol in patients does not currently exist. Here we show for the first time that optical spectroscopy has good potential to detect metabolized propofol from patients' exhaled breath.

Laser-based absorption spectroscopy as a technique for rapid in-line analysis of respired gas concentrations of O2 and CO2.

The use of sidestream analyzers for respired gas analysis is almost universal. However, they are not ideal for measurements of respiratory gas exchange because the analyses are both temporally dissociated from measurements of respiratory flow and also not generally conducted under the same physical conditions. This study explores the possibility of constructing an all optical, fast response, in-line breath analyzer for oxygen and carbon dioxide.

Phase-shift cavity ring-down spectroscopy using mid-IR light from a difference frequency generation PPLN waveguide.

Approximately 200 microW of mid-infrared (mid-IR) light around 3081 cm(-1), produced by difference frequency generation (DFG) in a periodically poled lithium niobate crystal waveguide, has been used for phase-shift cavity ring-down spectroscopy measurements. The overlapping (12)C(2)H(4) (R)P(0)(14) and (P)R(6)(10) and (12)CH(2) (13)CH(2) (P)Q(3)(10) rotational lines of the nu(9) fundamental ethene vibrational band at 3081.0016 cm(-1) were probed in proof-of-principle experiments, and ethene detection was demonstrated with a minimum absorption coefficient of 1.

A chemometric study on human breath mass spectra for biomarker identification in cystic fibrosis.

Alveolar breath samples from a small case-control study population have been collected and measured via ion-molecule reaction mass spectrometry, and a constructive statistical approach to the identification of volatile biomarkers has been formulated by applying multivariate statistical methods on the mass spectra. The nature of the data is such that the number of variables largely exceeds the observations, representing a typical experimental scenario when breath analysis is conducted using mass spectrometry. Principal components analysis has been performed on the high dimensional dataset of molecular abundances, providing evidence of case separation and reducing the number of functional discriminators by almost 90%.

Mid-infrared ethene detection using difference frequency generation in a quasi-phase-matched LiNbO3 waveguide.

A periodically poled LiNbO3 (PPLN) crystal waveguide has been used to produce up to 200 microW of mid-infrared light around 3081 cm(-1) with a wide tunability range of approximately 35 cm(-1). Two commercial near-infrared diode lasers at 1.064 microm (pump) and 1.

Assessment of water-soluble pi-extended squaraines as one- and two-photon singlet oxygen photosensitizers: design, synthesis, and characterization.

Singlet oxygen sensitization by organic molecules is a topic of major interest in the development of both efficient photodynamic therapy (PDT) and aerobic oxidations under complete green chemistry conditions. We report on the design, synthesis, biology, and complete spectroscopic characterization (vis-NIR linear and two-photon absorption spectroscopy, singlet oxygen generation efficiencies for both one- and two-photon excitation, electrochemistry, intrinsic dark toxicity, cellular uptake, and subcellular localization) of three classes of innovative singlet oxygen sensitizers pertaining to the family of symmetric squaraine derivatives originating from pi-excessive heterocycles. The main advantage of pi-extended squaraine photosensitizers over the large number of other known photosensitizers is their exceedingly strong two-photon absorption enabling, together with sizable singlet oxygen sensitization capabilities, for their use at the clinical application relevant wavelength of 806 nm.