Artificial vitriols: a contemporary interpretation of historical ingredients.

"Vitriol" is a term that appeared during the Middle-Ages to indicate a wide range of ingredients widely used both in medicinal and alchemical recipes. Green, blue, or white vitriols are easily associated with iron(ii), copper(ii), and zinc sulphate respectively thanks to the historical sources composed in the time period when the ancient and modern nomenclatures overlapped. However, other colours of vitriols are attested throughout history, such as yellow, red, or black.

Making Yellows Last with Nitric Acid: Exploring Colour Permanence in Art and Knowledge, 1600-1850.

Nitric acid became commonly available in the seventeenth century. Since then, it held the interest of chemists, especially those interested in the art of dyeing. Due to what is now called the xanthoproteic reaction (from Greek , describing shades of yellow), nitric acid produces a stable yellow colouration in proteinaceous materials, such as wool, silk, and bones.

Incidence and Determinants of Acute Kidney Injury after Prone Positioning in Severe COVID-19 Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome.

(1) Background: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is common among critically ill COVID-19 patients, but its temporal association with prone positioning (PP) is still unknown, and no data exist on the possibility of predicting PP-associated AKI from bedside clinical variables. (2) Methods: We analyzed data from 93 COVID-19-related ARDS patients who underwent invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) and at least one PP cycle. We collected hemodynamic variables, respiratory mechanics, and circulating biomarkers before, during, and after the first PP cycle.

Nasal high flow higher than 60 L/min in patients with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure: a physiological study.

Background: Nasal high flow delivered at flow rates higher than 60 L/min in patients with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure might be associated with improved physiological effects. However, poor comfort might limit feasibility of its clinical use.

Methods: We performed a prospective randomized cross-over physiological study on 12 ICU patients with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure.

Impaired platelet reactivity in patients with septic shock: a proof-of-concept study.

Coagulation disorders and thrombocytopenia are common in patients with septic shock, but only few studies have focused on platelet variables beyond platelet count. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether platelets reactivity predicts sepsis-induced thrombocytopenia in patients with septic shock. We therefore enrolled consecutive patients with septic shock and platelets count >150*10/μL on the day of the diagnosis.