Publications by authors named "Grau L"

Nd-Fe-B-type permanent magnets, containing approximately 30% critical rare-earth elements by weight, are essential components in renewable energy systems (e.g., wind turbines, hydroelectric generators) and electric vehicles.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Demagnetization is an essential step for the demounting and safe handling of end-of-life NdFeB. Thermal demagnetization in air is a straightforward option to demount adhesive-fixed or segmented magnets. However, this process is suspected to increase the uptake of contaminants like O, C and Zn from coatings and adhesives, potentially degrading the recyclate quality.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study focused on improving the diagnosis of dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), especially in its early stages, when symptoms can overlap with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.
  • Researchers conducted a cross-sectional study comparing newly diagnosed DLB patients to those with Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and a control group, utilizing transcranial sonography (TCS) to measure specific brain parameters.
  • Results indicated that higher echogenicity in the substantia nigra (SN) and wider frontal horns of lateral ventricles were strong predictors for diagnosing DLB, suggesting these TCS parameters could help differentiate DLB from other neurodegenerative disorders.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The recycling of NdFeB magnets is necessary to ensure a reliable and ethical supply of rare earth elements as critical raw materials. This has been recognized internationally, prompting the implementation of large-scale legislative measured aimed at its resolution; for example, an ambitious recycling quote has been established in the Critical Raw Materials Act Successful recycling in sufficient quantities is challenged by product designs that do not allow the extraction and recycling of these high-performance permanent magnets without excessive effort and cost. This is particularly true for smaller motors using NdFeB magnets.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: The opioid overdose crisis continues within the United States, and the role of prescribed opioids and prescribing patterns in overdose deaths remains an important area of research. This study investigated patterns of prescription opioids dispensed in the 12 months before opioid-detected overdose death in Connecticut between May 8, 2016, and January 2, 2018, considering differences by demographic characteristics.

Method: The sample included decedents who had an opioid dispensed within 30 days preceding death.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Brain injury and poor neurodevelopment have been consistently reported in infants and adults born before term. These changes occur, at least in part, prenatally and are associated with intra-amniotic inflammation. The pattern of brain changes has been partially documented by magnetic resonance imaging but not by neurosonography along with amniotic fluid brain injury biomarkers.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Scientists wanted to know if higher estradiol levels (a hormone) on the day of embryo transfer (ET) helped to have better pregnancy outcomes (like healthy babies).
  • They looked at a lot of fresh ET cycles from different clinics and excluded patients with specific issues, finding that out of over 17,000 cycles, about 29% resulted in good pregnancy outcomes.
  • The study showed that higher estradiol levels can lead to better outcomes, but after reaching 2000-2999 pg/mL, the benefits stopped increasing, meaning they stayed about the same for even higher levels.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Importance: Transportation barriers have long been associated with poorer health outcomes; this burden is especially acute for individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD), a chronic disease often associated with low socioeconomic status. Conventional travel time analyses may not fully account for experiential components of travel, thereby understating the true travel burden and overstating treatment accessibility to opioid treatment programs (OTPs).

Objective: To develop a metric of feels-like accessibility for those using public transit to access OTPs that accounts for the realistic travel burden on individuals with OUD.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Preterm delivery is associated with cardiovascular remodeling and dysfunction in children and adults. However, it is unknown whether these effects are caused by the neonatal consequences of preterm birth or if these are already present in utero.

Objective: We evaluated fetal cardiac morphology and function in fetuses of mothers admitted for preterm labor or preterm prelabor rupture of membranes and the association of these changes with the presence of intra-amniotic infection and/or inflammation.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Neurofibromatosis Type 1 (NF1) is an autosomal dominant genetic disorder that can cause an individual significant chronic pain (CP). CP affects quality of life and daily functioning, yet there are limited effective treatments for CP within NF1. The current study describes the impact of CP using the Neurofibromatosis Pain Module (NFPM).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: To determine the relative risk of death following exposure to treatments for OUD compared to no treatment.

Methods: In this retrospective cohort study we compiled and merged state agency data on accidental and undetermined opioid overdose deaths in 2017 and exposures to OUD treatment in the prior six months to determine incidence rates following exposure to different treatment modalities. These rates were compared to the estimated incidence among those exposed to no treatment to determine relative risk of death for each treatment exposure.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The experiences and perceived support needs of harm reduction workers in the USA have been understudied. While previous research has explored staff burnout and role-related stress, there is a research gap around potential supports for staff wellbeing and individual longevity in their roles. This is especially critical given the growing overdose crisis and the need for sustainable harm reduction programming.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objectives: Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) exert a heavy mortality burden in low- to middle-income countries (LMIC). ACOG revised HDP diagnostic guidelines to improve identifying pregnancies at greatest risk but whether they are used in LMIC is unknown.

Study Design: We held a workshop to review ACOG guidelines in La Paz, Bolivia (BO) and then reviewed prenatal, labor and delivery records for all HDP diagnoses and twice as many controls at its three largest delivery sites during the year before and the nine months after a workshop (n = 1376 cases, 2851 controls during the two periods).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Most patients diagnosed with thyroid cancer have low-risk disease, but some have a higher risk for persistent or recurrent disease and even death from thyroid cancer. Few studies have evaluated potential anthropometric, lifestyle, or dietary risk factors for advanced or aggressive types of thyroid cancer.

Methods: Using data from a large US cohort study, we examined associations for high-risk thyroid cancer (HRTC) and, separately, low-risk thyroid cancer (LRTC) in relation to anthropometric factors, diet, smoking, and alcohol consumption.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Xylazine, a sedative analgesic drug approved as an animal tranquilizer but not for human use, has become an adulterant in the illicit opioid marketplace in North America. Recently declared an emerging health threat in the U.S.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Contact investigation is a proven intervention for tuberculosis (TB) case finding and prevention. Although widely endorsed by national public health authorities and the World Health Organization, many countries struggle to implement it effectively. The objective of the study is to describe and characterize the barriers and facilitators of TB contact investigation in Cali, Colombia from the perspective and experience of the key stakeholders involved.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: We sought to determine real-world accuracy of inpatient continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) at multiple levels of acuity in a large safety-net hospital.

Research Design And Methods: We analyzed records from hospitalized patients on Dexcom G6 CGM, including clinical, point of care (POC), and laboratory (Lab) glucose, and CGM data. POC/Lab values were matched to the closest timed CGM value.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: We investigated the interaction between arrests for technical violations vs. receiving new charges with receiving community-based methadone treatment on time-to reincarceration (TTR) in a cohort of men with opioid use disorder (OUD) released from custody from two Connecticut jails from 2014 to 2018.

Methods: Hazard ratios (HR) were estimated for time to reincarceration for technical violations/infractions, misdemeanors only, felonies only, and both misdemeanors and felonies after adjusting for age, race/ethnicity, and receiving methadone treatment during incarceration or in the community following release.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Changes in Meaning in life (MIL) have been shown to be particularly important when people face very stressful events such as receiving a cancer diagnosis and treatment. Active coping strategies have been related to higher levels of MIL in people with a diagnosis of cancer.

Objective: To explore the evolution of MIL in a sample of cancer patients at the time of their diagnosis and three, six, and nine months after surgery, and identify the association between coping strategies three months after diagnosis (T2) and levels of MIL at the different moments in the cancer process (T1-T4).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

•We developed a two-session behavioral intervention to prevent HCV reinfection.•The intervention was piloted at an OTP and integrated into HCV treatment.•Baseline data showed limited knowledge & application of safer injection practices.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: To evaluate the maternal, fetal, and neonatal outcomes of pregnant women complicated with preterm prelabor rupture of membranes (PPROM) eligible for outpatient care.

Methods: This study included a retrospective cohort of patients with singleton pregnancies with PPROM between 23 to 34 weeks who remained pregnant after the first 72 h. Outpatient management was considered in women with clinical, ultrasound and analytical stability, and easy access to hospital.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Opioid overdoses are a leading cause of preventable death in the United States. There is limited research linking decedents' receipt of controlled substances and presence of controlled substances on post-mortem toxicology (PMT).

Methods: We linked data on opioid-detected deaths in Connecticut between May 3, 2016, and December 31, 2017 from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Department of Consumer Protection, and Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Americans of lower SES use tobacco products at disproportionately high rates and are over-represented as patients of emergency departments. Accordingly, emergency department visits are an ideal time to initiate tobacco treatment and aftercare for this vulnerable and understudied population. This research estimates the costs per quit of emergency department smoking-cessation interventions and compares them with those of other approaches.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF