Use of non-invasive respiratory supports in high-intensity internal medicine setting during the first two waves of the COVID-19 pandemic emergency in Italy: a multicenter, real-life experience.

During the first two waves of the COVID-19 emergency in Italy, internal medicine high-dependency wards (HDW) have been organized to manage patients with acute respiratory failure (ARF). There is heterogeneous evidence about the feasibility and outcomes of non-invasive respiratory supports (NIRS) in settings outside the intensive care unit (ICU), including in patients deemed not eligible for intubation (i.e.

[Accurate compiling of the hospital discharge records according to clinicians' perception: critical issues and perspectives].

Objectives: to explore clinicians vision on hospital discharge records in order to identify useful elements to foster a more accurate compiling.

Design: qualitative research with phenomenological approach.

Setting And Participants: participants were selected through purposive sampling among clinicians of two hospitals located in Sardinia; the sample included 76 people (32 medical directors and 44 doctors in training).

Arsenic exposure in Latin America: biomarkers, risk assessments and related health effects.

In Latin America, several regions have a long history of widespread arsenic (As) contamination from both natural and anthropological sources. Yet, relatively little is known about the extent of As exposure from drinking water and its related health consequences in these countries. It has been estimated that at least 4.

Toward continuous glucose monitoring with planar modified biosensors and microdialysis. Study of temperature, oxygen dependence and in vivo experiment.

Glucose biosensors based on the use of planar screen-printed electrodes modified with an electrochemical mediator and with glucose oxidase have been optimised for their application in the continuous glucose monitoring in diabetic patients. A full study of their operative stability and temperature dependence has been accomplished, thus giving useful information for in vivo applications. The effect of dissolved oxygen concentration in the working solution was also studied in order to evaluate its effect on the linearity of the sensors.

Antimicrobial and antifungal activity of crude extracts and isolated saponins from Astragalus verrucosus.

The antimicrobial and antifungal properties of several crude extracts and pure saponins, astraverrucins I-VI, from the aerial parts of Astragalus verrucosus were investigated by the disc diffusion method. Antimycotic activity was observed on more polar extracts, but only one saponin showed an appreciable activity.