The Diagnostic Yield of Endobronchial Ultrasound Transbronchial Needle Aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) in Respiratory Compromised Patients under General Anesthesia.

Background: Endobronchial ultrasound transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) is a frequently used method for obtaining tissue samples for the diagnosis of various respiratory conditions, including lung cancer staging. In most cases, EBUS-TBNA is performed under moderate sedation (MS). However, in cases of respiratory compromised patients, if this procedure is performed, it is conducted under general anesthesia (GA).

The Profile of COPD Patients with Prolonged Hospitalizations: A Retrospective Analysis of 200 Hospital Admissions.

Background: Patients with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) experience frequent exacerbations and need to be hospitalized, resulting in an economic and social burden. Although data exist regarding reasons of frequent hospitalizations, there is no data available about the impact on the length of stay (LOS).

Objectives: To characterize the causes of prolonged hospitalizations in COPD patients.

Compassionate use of convalescent plasma for treatment of moderate and severe pneumonia in COVID-19 patients and association with IgG antibody levels in donated plasma.

Background: We assessed outcome of patients with moderate and severe COVID-19 following treatment with convalescent plasma (CP) and the association with IgG levels in transfused CP.

Methods: A prospective cohort study. Primary outcome was improvement at day 14 defined as alive, not on mechanical ventilation, and moderate, mild, or recovered from COVID-19.

Clinical Course and Outcomes of Severe Covid-19: A National Scale Study.

Unlabelled: Knowledge of the outcomes of critically ill patients is crucial for health and government officials who are planning how to address local outbreaks. The factors associated with outcomes of critically ill patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) who required treatment in an intensive care unit (ICU) are yet to be determined.

Methods: This was a retrospective registry-based case series of patients with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 who were referred for ICU admission and treated in the ICUs of the 13 participating centers in Israel between 5 March and 27 April 2020.

Computed Tomography Angiography Findings in Pulmonary Embolism Patients Vary Following Thrombolytic Treatment.

Background: Pulmonary embolism (PE) is the third most frequently occurring cardiovascular disease. However, the clinical presentation in patients with PE is variable.

Objectives: To evaluate the prevalence of radiological findings detected in contrast-enhanced computed tomography angiography (CTA) and their significance in patients with PE; and to assess whether the CTA findings differed in patients receiving tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) therapy from those who did not.

Acute Infection in Ventilated Patients in the Intensive Care Unit: Association Between Resting Energy Expenditure and C-Reactive Protein.

Background: Sepsis is a common cause of hospitalization, particularly in intensive care units (ICUs), and is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Diagnosis is often difficult due to the absence of characteristic clinical signs (e.g.

In-band optical signal-to-noise ratio monitoring technique based on Brillouin fiber ring laser.

We propose an improved technique for in-band optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) monitoring based on a Brillouin fiber ring laser seeded by the optical channel to be monitored. This technique shows a reduction of the required input power into the monitor along with a large and tunable dynamic OSNR monitoring range. It is demonstrated experimentally and numerically for various bit rates and modulation formats.

Predictors of mortality of mechanically ventilated patients in internal medicine wards.

Purpose: Budget restrictions have led to shortage of intensive care unit (ICU) beds in several countries. Consequently, ventilated patients are often kept on the wards. This study examined survival likelihood among patients ventilated on the wards and the predictive value of commonly used severity-of-illness scores.

Stimulated Brillouin scattering based in-band OSNR monitoring technique for 40 Gbps and 100 Gbps optical transparent networks.

We demonstrate experimentally and numerically that the SBS based in-band OSNR monitoring technique can be used for dual polarization signals. We also present novel approach for a drastic enhancement of the sensitivity monitoring range by intentionally adding in-band ASE noise into the signal. Numerical results are provided for 44.

Computerized lung acoustic monitoring can help to differentiate between various chest radiographic densities in critically ill patients.

Background: Complementary bedside lung monitoring modalities are often sought in order to assist in the differentiation between several lung opacities in the intensive care unit (ICU).

Objectives: To evaluate the use of computerized lung acoustic monitoring as a complementary approach in the differentiation between various chest radiographic densities in critically ill patients.

Methods: Lung vibration intensity was assessed in 82 intensive care patients using vibration response imaging.

Changes in regional distribution of lung sounds as a function of positive end-expiratory pressure.

Introduction: Automated mapping of lung sound distribution is a novel area of interest currently investigated in mechanically ventilated, critically ill patients. The objective of the present study was to assess changes in thoracic sound distribution resulting from changes in positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP). Repeatability of automated lung sound measurements was also evaluated.

Small molecule activator of the human epithelial sodium channel.

The epithelial sodium channel (ENaC), a heterotrimeric complex composed of alpha, beta, and gamma subunits, belongs to the ENaC/degenerin family of ion channels and forms the principal route for apical Na(+) entry in many reabsorbing epithelia. Although high affinity ENaC blockers, including amiloride and derivatives, have been described, potent and specific small molecule ENaC activators have not been reported. Here we describe compound S3969 that fully and reversibly activates human ENaC (hENaC) in an amiloride-sensitive and dose-dependent manner in heterologous cells.

Lupus-associated pancreatitis.

A number of lupus patients develop episodes of acute "idiopathic" pancreatitis, unrelated to the known causes of mechanical obstruction of the pancreatic duct or toxic-metabolic etiologies. This lupus-associated pancreatitis is rare. The estimated annual incidence was 0.

Lupus-associated pancreatitis.

Objectives: Involvement of the pancreas in systemic lupus erythematosus is rare. The purpose of this article is to provide a detailed review of lupus-associated pancreatitis.

Methods: We describe 3 patients with lupus-associated pancreatitis and review the English literature of the last 30 years, including the demographic, clinical, therapeutic, and prognostic aspects of this disorder.

Tunable all optical delay via slow and fast light propagation in a Raman assisted fiber optical parametric amplifier: a route to all optical buffering.

We propose and demonstrate the use of narrow band optical parametric amplification for tunable slow and fast light propagation in optical fibers. The parametric gain is coupled to the Raman process which changes the gain value moderately but modifies the gain spectral shape. Consequently, the delay is enhanced at short wavelengths while it is moderated at long wavelengths.

Self-starting ultralow-jitter pulse source based on coupled optoelectronic oscillators with an intracavity fiber parametric amplifier.

A self-starting optical pulse source based on mutually coupled optoelectronic oscillators is described. The system employs a phototransistor-based microwave oscillator that is coupled to a fiber cavity optoelectronic oscillator with an intracavity fiber parametric amplifier. It self-starts and exhibits 3 ps pulses at a rate of 10 GHz with extremely low jitter of 30, 29, and 40 fs (for integration bandwidths of 100 Hz-15 kHz, 500 Hz-1 MHz, and 100 Hz-1 MHz, respectively).

A fluorophore attached to nicotinic acetylcholine receptor beta M2 detects productive binding of agonist to the alpha delta site.

To study conformational transitions at the muscle nicotinic acetylcholine (ACh) receptor (nAChR), a rhodamine fluorophore was tethered to a Cys side chain introduced at the beta 19' position in the M2 region of the nAChR expressed in Xenopus oocytes. This procedure led to only minor changes in receptor function. During agonist application, fluorescence increased by (Delta F/F) approximately 10%, and the emission peak shifted to lower wavelengths, indicating a more hydrophobic environment for the fluorophore.

Cys-loop receptors: new twists and turns.

New hypotheses and predictions have arisen from recent work revealing atomic-scale or near-atomic-scale structures of receptors in the 'Cys-loop' superfamily. How general is the cation-pi interaction between the natural ligand and a tryptophan residue in the aromatic box, and does this interaction extend to other ligands? What is the pathway from the binding site to gating, and what are the conformational changes during gating and desensitization? Is current flow through intracellular 'portals' in the wall of the channel a general feature? This article discusses these and related questions, emphasizing nicotinic ACh receptors and also discussing data from other members of this superfamily.

Noise-reduction capabilities of a raman-mediated wavelength converter.

We describe ultrawideband Raman-mediated wavelength conversion. The nonlinear conversion transfer function is calculated analytically and simulated numerically in the cw regime, and the predicted performance is confirmed experimentally. Data conversion from long- to short-wavelength bands with signal reshaping and significant noise reduction are demonstrated experimentally at 10 Gbits/s and modeled by numerical simulations.

A perturbed pK(a) at the binding site of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor: implications for nicotine binding.

A series of tethered quaternary ammonium derivatives of Tyr have been incorporated into the binding site of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) using the in vivo nonsense suppression method, producing constitutively active (self-gating) receptors. We have incorporated primary, secondary, and tertiary amine tethered agonists to give receptors whose constitutive activity can be modulated by pH. Lowering the pH protonates the tethered amine, giving it a positive charge and allowing it to reversibly activate the receptor.