Early Tracheostomy for Managing ICU Capacity During the COVID-19 Outbreak: A Propensity-Matched Cohort Study.

Background: During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, shortages of ventilators and ICU beds overwhelmed health care systems. Whether early tracheostomy reduces the duration of mechanical ventilation and ICU stay is controversial.

Research Question: Can failure-free day outcomes focused on ICU resources help to decide the optimal timing of tracheostomy in overburdened health care systems during viral epidemics?

Study Design And Methods: This retrospective cohort study included consecutive patients with COVID-19 pneumonia who had undergone tracheostomy in 15 Spanish ICUs during the surge, when ICU occupancy modified clinician criteria to perform tracheostomy in Patients with COVID-19.

Design and Manufacturing of a Disposable, Cyclo-Olefin Copolymer, Microfluidic Device for a Biosensor .

This contribution outlines the design and manufacturing of a microfluidic device implemented as a biosensor for retrieval and detection of bacteria RNA. The device is fully made of Cyclo-Olefin Copolymer (COC), which features low auto-fluorescence, biocompatibility and manufacturability by hot-embossing. The RNA retrieval was carried on after bacteria heat-lysis by an on-chip micro-heater, whose function was characterized at different working parameters.

Normal transcription of the C1 inhibitor gene is dependent upon a polypurine-polypyrimidine region within the promoter.

Analysis of the transcriptional activity of C1 inhibitor (CIINH) promoter reporter constructs with mutations in the R-Y region indicate that triplex formation by this region is not a predictor of transcriptional activity and that normal promoter function depends on the interaction of trans acting factors with specific elements within this region. Electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) of Hep3B nuclear extracts using the wild type promoter probe (nucleotides -98 to -9) yielded four major bands. Incubation of the same extracts with probes lacking the HNF-1 site resulted in the disappearance of one band.