Progressive Recovery Research Articles

P197 TAKO TSUBO SYNDROME IN MAN FOR ‘SMART WORKING’ COMPLICATED BY ACUTE HEART FAILURE AND SAM. PRESENCE OF MYOCARDIAL BRIDGE OF IVA ‘INNOCENT BYSTANDER’ OF THE CLINICAL PICTURE

Abstract Male, 59 years old with no significant pathological history or cardiovascular risk factors. Access to the ER ( 12.30 AM ) with infero–lateral STEMI (Killip I, 2 hours of symptom onset; haemodynamic and electrical stability): chest pain associated with profuse sweating and transient arterial hypotension, ST elevation in V3–V6 and inferior leads on the ECG and apical hypokinesia with slight reduction of LVEF (50%) on the Trans–Thoracic Echocardiography. Urgent coronary angiography: non–obstructive coronary arteries stenosis, short intramyocardial tract of DA with moderate systolic compression with ‘milking effect‘. Blood sampling: mild elevation of cardiac troponin hs value (479 pg / ml), mild anemia and thrombocytopenia; normal value of markes of liver and kidney function. Hospitalization in Cardiac ICU with standard antithrombotic and anti–ischemic therapy. 12 hours after admission (01.00 PM) acute low–flow heart failure with pulmonary edema treated with inotropic agent and need of endotracheal intubation and ventilatory support (ineffective attempt of NIV); ECG unchanged from the previous one and appearance of LVEF 25% for akinesia of septum, apex and lateral wall. Peak of troponin 2083 pg / ml III day: effective extubation with successive cycles of NIV and weaning from noradrenaline. Progressive recovery of LVEF with appearance of SAM with LVOT dynamic obstruction (v max> 4m / s at pulsed doppler) and moderate mitral regurgitation: stop inotropic agent and start beta–blocker therapy (atenolol) not tolerated for hypokinetic arrhythmias (also total BAV) and then successful replaced in the following days with low doses of bisoprolol. Post–Iintubation pneumonia treated with antibiotic therapy. X day: hemodynamic and electrical stability, disappearance of the SAM with complete recovery of the left ventricle contractile function, mild mitral regurgitation(minimal valve prolapse) Cardiac MRI: normal LVEF, absence of myocardial LGE with the exception of small areas of the papillary muscles due to traction of the mitral flaps. In the patient‘s medical history: stressful last months related to smart working and family problems; absence of a specific identifiable trigger. Conclusions Stress cardiomyopathy in man patient complicated by progressive acute heart failure and SAM with rapid restitutio ad integrum. Presence of DA myocardial bridge with absence of myocardial LGE on MRI.

Vigilance and Behavioral State-Dependent Modulation of Cortical Neuronal Activity throughout the Sleep/Wake Cycle.

GABAergic inhibitory neurons, through their molecular, anatomic, and physiological diversity, provide a substrate for the modulation of ongoing cortical circuit activity throughout the sleep/wake cycle. Here, we investigated neuronal activity dynamics of parvalbumin (PV), vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP), and somatostatin (SST) neurons in naturally sleeping head-restrained mice at the level of layer 2/3 of the primary somatosensory barrel cortex of mice. Through calcium imaging and targeted single-unit loose-patch or whole-cell recordings, we found that PV action potential firing activity was largest during both rapid eye movement (REM) and nonrapid eye movement (NREM) sleep stages, that VIP neurons were most active during REM sleep, and that the overall activity of SST neurons remained stable throughout the sleep/wake cycle. Analysis of neuronal activity dynamics uncovered rapid decreases in PV cell firing at wake onset followed by a progressive recovery during wake. Simultaneous local field potential (LFP) recordings further revealed that except for SST neurons, a large proportion of neurons were modulated by ongoing delta and theta oscillations. During NREM sleep spindles, PV and SST activity increased and decreased, respectively. Finally, we uncovered the presence of whisking behavior in mice during REM sleep and show that the activity of VIP and SST is differentially modulated during awake and sleeping whisking bouts, which may provide a neuronal substrate for internal brain representations occurring during sleep.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT In the sensory cortex, the balance between excitation and inhibition is believed to be highly dynamic throughout the sleep/wake cycle, shaping the response of cortical circuits to external stimuli while allowing the formation of newly encoded memory. Using in vivo two-photon calcium imaging or targeted single-unit recordings combined with LFP recordings, we describe the vigilance state and whisking-behavior-dependent activity of excitatory pyramidal and inhibitory GABAergic neurons in the supragranular layers of mouse somatosensory cortex. Interneuronal activity was found to be differentially modulated by ongoing delta and theta waves, sleep spindles, and a novel type of whisking observed during REM sleep, potentially providing a neuronal substrate for internal brain representations occurring during sleep.

Visual Evoked Potentials to Monitor Myelin Cuprizone-Induced Functional Changes.

The visual system is one of the most accessible routes to study the central nervous system under pathological conditions, such as in multiple sclerosis (MS). Non-invasive visual evoked potential (VEP) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) were used to assess visual function and neuroretinal thickness in C57BL/6 taking 0.2% cuprizone for 7 weeks and at 5, 8, 12, and 15 days after returning to a normal diet. VEPs were significantly delayed starting from 4 weeks on cuprizone, with progressive recovery off cuprizone, becoming significant at day 8, complete at day 15. In contrast, OCT and neurofilament staining showed no significant axonal thinning. Optic nerve histology indicated that whilst there was significant myelin loss at 7 weeks on the cuprizone diet compared with healthy mice, at 15 days off cuprizone diet demyelination was significantly less severe. The number of Iba 1+ cells was found increased in cuprizone mice at 7 weeks on and 15 days off cuprizone. The combined use of VEPs and OCT allowed us to characterize non-invasively, in vivo, the functional and structural changes associated with demyelination and remyelination in a preclinical model of MS. This approach contributes to the non-invasive study of possible effective treatments to promote remyelination in demyelinating pathologies.

Progressive Slice Recovery With Guaranteed Slice Connectivity After Massive Failures

In presence of multiple failures affecting their network infrastructure, operators are faced with the Progressive Network Recovery (PNR) problem, i.e., deciding the best sequence of repairs during recovery. With incoming deployments of 5G networks, PNR must evolve to incorporate new recovery opportunities offered by network slicing. In this study, we introduce the new problem of Progressive Slice Recovery (PSR), which is addressed with eight different strategies, i.e., allowing or not to change slice embedding during the recovery, and/or by enforcing different versions of slice connectivity (i.e., network vs. content connectivity). We propose a comprehensive PSR scheme, which can be applied to all recovery strategies and achieves fast recovery of slices. We first prove the PSR’s NP-hardness and design an integer linear programming (ILP) model, which can obtain the best recovery sequence and is extensible for all the recovery strategies. Then, to address scalability issues of the ILP model, we devise an efficient two-phases progressive slice recovery (2-phase PSR) meta-heuristic algorithm, small optimality gap, consisting of two main steps: i) determination of recovery sequence, achieved through a linear-programming relaxation that works in polynomial time; and ii) slice-embedding recovery, for which we design an auxiliary-graph-based column generation to re-embed failed slice nodes/links to working substrate elements within a given number of actions. Numerical results compare the different strategies and validate that amount of recovered slices can be improved up to 50% if operators decide to reconfigure only few slice nodes and guarantee content connectivity.

Sustenance of the digital transformations induced by the COVID-19 pandemic response: lessons from Tanzanian public sector

PurposeThe emergency of the COVID-19 pandemic has affected organizations differently, leading to adopting alternative business operation models, including digital technologies. The rapid adoption of digital technologies during the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates how adaptive technologies intersect with human and social institutions in potentially risky or inequitable ways. However, the sustenance of the digital transformations (DTs) induced by the COVID-19 crisis is still unclear. Thus, this study aims to evaluate the sustenance of DTs accelerated by the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic response in the Tanzanian context amid the crisis.Design/methodology/approachThe study used a qualitative approach that included a literature review and semi-structured interviews with Information and Communication Technology (ICT) personnel from selected public institutions in Tanzania. The interviews elicited interviewees’ perspectives on the following: the digital revolution that occurred during the COVID-19 outbreak; how it affects their work; and the country’s future digital landscape. Additionally, a literature analysis established and generalized the practices used by the governments during the COVID-19 crisis.FindingsThe results show that there is enormous, colossal press toward adopting digital solutions. The use of digital technologies, such as digital payments, e-commerce, telemedicine and online education, has attracted the attention of businesses and individuals in Tanzania. Consequently, the move has enabled the country to cope with the cascading impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and progressive economic recovery to achieve its development goals. Furthermore, the findings offer policy strategies for taking the induced DTs to the next level and sustaining it.Originality/valueThis study reports the lessons from the DTs induced by COVID-19 and their sustenance. It also contributes toward forward-thinking reforms and policy measures that could help Tanzania and the likes harness the DTs'’ potential in the wake of the pandemic.

Return to sport after capsuloplasty with a bone block in shoulder instability

Objective: Propose a post-surgical rehabilitation program identifying the steps necessary for a progressive recovery of the joint function in compliance with the surgical needs. Material & method: In the anterior and posterior glenohumeral instability, the presence of bone defects, especially at the glenoid side requires surgery and the use of the bone block, associated with the repair of the soft tissues (capsuloplasty). The arthroscopic technique, compared to open surgery, allows respecting the periarticular anatomical structures, essential for optimal functional recovery. Results: The post-surgical rehabilitation program follows a progressive recovery timing, divided into 3 phases: phase 1 pain control and joint mobility recovery, phase 2 the recovery of strength and specific sport movements and finally phase 3 the return to sports activities. The rehabilitation progress must achieve two objectives: ROM recovery without disturbing the bone graft area, to achieve its integration. Conclusion: the rehabilitation program is ultimately guided by the surgeon considering the strategy adopted in the operating room, the use of the bone-block technique and above all the sealing of the grafts. The physiotherapist following the proposed steps will optimize the final functional result.

1-year radiological, functional and quality-of-life outcomes in patients with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia - A prospective observational study

All over the world, SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia is causing a significant short and medium-term morbidity and mortality, with reported persisting symptoms, radiological and lung alterations up to 6 months after symptoms onset. Nevertheless, the 1-year impact on affected patients is still poorly known. In this prospective observational study, 39 patients with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia were recruited from a single COVID-19 hospital in Southern Switzerland. They underwent a 3-month and 1-year follow-ups. At 1 year, 38 patients underwent functional follow-up through lung function tests and six minutes walking test and submitted SF-12 and SGRQ questionnaires about health-related quality of life. At 1 year most of the patients showed a persistence of the radiological and functional abnormalities and a reduction of the health-related quality of life. Thirty patients (96.8%) still presented some residual abnormalities on CT scans (31 patients at 3 months), though with a general reduction of the lesional load in all lung lobes. Twenty patients (52.6%) had persisting lung function tests impairment, with an overall improvement of DLCO. As concerning the functional status, lowest SpO2 during 6MWT increased significantly. Finally, 19 patients (50%) reported a pathological St. George’s Respiratory Questionnaire, and respectively 12 (31.6%) and 11 (28.9%) patients a pathological Short Form Survey-12 in physical and mental components. At 1-year follow-up SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia survivors still present a substantial impairment in radiological and functional findings and in health-related quality of life, despite showing a progressive recovery.

Impact of actinide-induced crystal defects on REE-bearing titanite reactivity

Titanite is a widespread accessory silicate which, in some deposits, hosts rare earth elements (REEs) at levels where it can be considered an important carrier. As titanite also accommodates Th and U at concentrations up to 2000 ppm, evidence of metamitctization, a process where radioactive decay of the actinides progressively damages the crystalline structure, is often observed. The current study aims to investigate how the extent of metamictization within a natural titanite specimen may impact its reactivity, principally in the context of REE recovery. Detailed structural characterization revealed the presence of crystalline domains coexisting with sectors having a dominant amorphous component. Compositionally, the density of irradiation-induced defects, leading to amorphization, shows a strong positive correlation not only with the abundance of actinides, but also with the REE concentration. Heat treatment of titanite performed at temperatures ranging from 400 to 800 °C indicates that, while the compositional zonation is maintained, thermal annealing of the defects results in progressive recovery of the crystalline structure. After treatment in sulfuric acid at 200 °C, the habit of reacted titanite grains is highly irregular, indicating distinct decomposition rates for specific sectors, where the more refractory regions coincide with the REE-depleted crystalline domains. A more detailed visualization of the impact of crystal properties on titanite reactivity, obtained by exposing polished grains to a 50% NaOH solution at 50 °C, reveals that, for pristine titanite, the extent of etching observed on crystal surfaces is controlled by the density of the actinide-induced defects, mainly concentrated in the REEs- and Th-enriched amorphous domains. On the other hand, for grains that were initially heat-treated, the etching features are much weaker, emphasizing that thermal annealing renders the crystals less reactive. From these observations, selective REE recovery, where only the more accessible amorphous titanite domains need to be decomposed, seems possible as long as the ore pre-treatment does not involve a high-temperature stage.

Primary Pigmented Nodular Adrenocortical Disease (PPNAD) Presenting as ACTH-Independent Cushing’s Syndrome: A Case Report

Cushing’s syndrome diagnosis in childhood is a challenge, due to its atypical presentation. Primary Pigmented Nodular Adrenocortical Disease (PPNAD) is a rare cause of ACTH- independent Cushing’s Disease. We present the case of a four-year-old patient evaluated for Cushing’s Syndrome due to a rapid onset of obesity, pubarche and hirsutism with a characteristic phenotypic appearance. Initial biochemical examinations were compatible with ACTH- independent Cushing’s Syndrome, but imaging studies were confusing (pituitary MRI detected an image compatible with adenoma). The study was completed with tests which confirmed independence from ACTH and finally the patient underwent a bilateral adrenalectomy. The anatomopathological findings of adrenal glands confirmed the diagnosis. Replacement hormonal treatment was applied, leading to the progressive recovery of a normal phenotype

Temporal changes in the screening, diagnosis and surgical treatment of genitourinary (GU) malignancies during the COVID-19 pandemic.

281 Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has been associated with a significant disruption in healthcare services including cancer screening and diagnosis. Delays in cancer screening and treatment may lead to increased mortality. We aimed to analyze changes in screening, diagnosis and surgical treatment of common GU malignancies in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: We evaluated screening, novel diagnoses, and surgical management modalities of prostate cancer (PCa), urothelial carcinoma (UC) and renal cell carcinoma (RCC) within Massachusetts General Brigham, the largest healthcare system in the Northeastern United States, over four 3-month time periods during the pandemic (March 2020- March 2021). The percentage change in screening, diagnoses and management modalities during pandemic periods as compared to the immediate pre-pandemic period (December 2019-March 2020) was calculated as (Nperiod – Ncontrol)/Ncontrol. The difference in “predicted” versus “observed” diagnoses in each pandemic period was compared to the average of the four preceding 3-month periods (March 2019-March 2020) to account for seasonal variation. Results: The first pandemic peak (March-June 2020) was associated with a significant decline across screening, diagnosis and treatment, ranging from -15.7 to -64.8%, followed by a progressive recovery, ranging from -5.9 to +25.1% in the latest period (December 2020-March 2021) (Table). Although 725 diagnoses were “missed“ between March and June 2020 as compared to the previous 12 months, 971 diagnoses were “recovered” between June 2020 and March 2021. Conclusions: A substantial disruption in the screening, diagnosis and treatment of GU malignancies was observed early in the pandemic, followed by a progressive rebound and recovery. The highest declines were observed for PSA screening, and the lowest for cystectomy procedures, reflecting triaging of care based on severity during the pandemic.[Table: see text]

EVALUATION OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF TREATMENT WITH INTRAVITREAL TRIAMCINOLONE IN CYSTOID MACULAR EDEMA SECONDARY TO RETINAL VEIN OCCLUSION

PURPOSE. To evaluate retinal functional improvement by means of visual acuity after intravitreal triamcinolone in patients affected by cystoid macular edema secondary to retinal vein occlusion. Twenty-six consecut METHODS. ive patients affected by retinal vein occlusion complicated by cystoid macular edema were enrolled in this prospective interventional study. All patients underwent a baseline complete ophthalmological evaluation as well as retinal angiography and OCT examination. Baseline functional evaluation showed mean visual acuity of 0.63±0 RESULTS. .42 LogMAR after treatment, at day 30 we found, 0.43±0,.8 Log MAR (p<0.05, compared to baseline) at day 90, we found 0.44±0.32 (p<0.05), at day 180, we found 0.41±0.31 (p<0.05). Baseline morphological evaluation showed a central retinal thickness (CRT) of 398.21±181.65 μm after treatment; we found a CRT of 222.64±95.21 μm at day 30 (p<0.05, compared to baseline), 307.50±120.25 μm (p<0.05) at day 90, and 294.93±135.86 μm (p<0.05) at day 180. About 15.3% patients showed already at month 3 a recurrence of macular edema. They underwent a retreatment before month 6 as for treatment guidelines. Our analysis showed increase in retinal function in the early phases of the f CONCLUSION. ollowup. Visual Acuity showed a stronger correlation in macular edema reabsorption, better underlying progressive functional recovery and increase in quality of vision and life for the patients.

Natural Halogen Emissions to the Atmosphere: Sources, Flux, and Environmental Impact

Understanding the atmospheric geochemical cycle of both natural and anthropogenic halogens is important because of the detrimental effect halogens have on the environment, notably on tropospheric and stratospheric ozone. Oceans are the primary natural source for atmospheric Cl, F, Br, and I, but anthropogenic emissions are still important, especially for Cl. While emissions of human-made halocarbons (e.g., chlorofluorocarbons or CFCs) are expected to continue to decrease allowing progressive stratospheric ozone recovery, volcanic activity (e.g., clusters of mid-scale explosive eruptions or large-scale explosive eruptions) might disturb this recovery over the next decades. This review provides a synthesis of natural halogen fluxes from oceanic, terrestrial, and volcanic sources, and discusses the role of natural halogen species on atmosphere chemistry and their environmental impact.

Effect of Cell Therapy and Exercise Training in a Stroke Model, Considering the Cell Track by Molecular Image and Behavioral Analysis.

The goal of this study is to see how combining physical activity with cell treatment impacts functional recovery in a stroke model. Molecular imaging and multimodal nanoparticles assisted in cell tracking and longitudinal monitoring (MNP). The viability of mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) was determined using a 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5 diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay and bioluminescent image (BLI) after lentiviral transduction and MNP labeling. At random, the animals were divided into 5 groups (control-G1, and experimental G2-G5). The photothrombotic stroke induction was confirmed by local blood perfusion reduction and Triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC), and MSC in the G3 and G5 groups were implanted after 24 h, with BLI and near-infrared fluorescence image (NIRF) tracking these cells at 28 h, 2, 7, 14, and 28 days. During a 28-day period, the G5 also conducted physical training, whereas the G4 simply did the training. At 0, 7, 14, and 28 days, the animals were functionally tested using a cylinder test and a spontaneous motor activity test. MNP internalization in MSC was confirmed using brightfield and fluorescence microscopy. In relation to G1 group, only 3% of cell viability reduced. The G2–G5 groups showed more than 69% of blood perfusion reduction. The G5 group performed better over time, with a progressive recovery of symmetry and an increase of fast vertical movements. Up to 7 days, BLI and NIRF followed MSC at the damaged site, demonstrating a signal rise that could be connected to cell proliferation at the injury site during the acute phase of stroke. Local MSC therapy mixed with physical activity resulted in better results in alleviating motor dysfunction, particularly during the acute period. When it comes to neurorehabilitation, this alternative therapy could be a suitable fit.

Sacral Nerves Reconstruction After Surgical Resection of a Large Sacral Chordoma Restores the Urinary and Sexual Function and the Anal Continence.

ObjectiveChordomas are slow-growing tumors, with a high tendency to local relapse. En bloc resection is related to the most favorable outcome in terms of survival but is frequently associated with permanent neurological deficits involving sphincters and sexual functions. In the present article, we describe an innovative technique of en bloc resection followed by reconstruction of the sacral nerves with nerve grafts. MethodsThe chordoma was excised through a posterior approach after dividing the proximal and distal sacral nerves using the established technique. After that, a microsurgical S2-S3-S4 nerve reconstruction was performed connecting the proximal and distal stumps with sural nerve grafts withdrawn from both lower limbs. ResultsImmediately after surgery, the patient experienced complete impairment of sexual function and sphincters with urinary and fecal incontinence. After 6 months, there was a progressive recovery of sexual function and sphincter control. One year after the operation, the patient achieved an adequate sexual life (erection and ejaculation) and complete control of the bladder and anal sphincter. ConclusionReconstruction of nerves sacrificed during sacral tumor removal has been shown to be effective in restoring sphincter and sexual function and is a promising technique that may significantly improve patients' quality of life.

Neural oscillations track recovery of consciousness in acute traumatic brain injury patients.

Electroencephalography (EEG), easily deployed at the bedside, is an attractive modality for deriving quantitative biomarkers of prognosis and differential diagnosis in severe brain injury and disorders of consciousness (DOC). Prior work by Schiff has identified four dynamic regimes of progressive recovery of consciousness defined by the presence or absence of thalamically‐driven EEG oscillations. These four predefined categories (ABCD model) relate, on a theoretical level, to thalamocortical integrity and, on an empirical level, to behavioral outcome in patients with cardiac arrest coma etiologies. However, whether this theory‐based stratification of patients might be useful as a diagnostic biomarker in DOC and measurably linked to thalamocortical dysfunction remains unknown. In this work, we relate the reemergence of thalamically‐driven EEG oscillations to behavioral recovery from traumatic brain injury (TBI) in a cohort of N = 38 acute patients with moderate‐to‐severe TBI and an average of 1 week of EEG recorded per patient. We analyzed an average of 3.4 hr of EEG per patient, sampled to coincide with 30‐min periods of maximal behavioral arousal. Our work tests and supports the ABCD model, showing that it outperforms a data‐driven clustering approach and may perform equally well compared to a more parsimonious categorization. Additionally, in a subset of patients (N = 11), we correlated EEG findings with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) connectivity between nodes in the mesocircuit—which has been theoretically implicated by Schiff in DOC—and report a trend‐level relationship that warrants further investigation in larger studies.

Progressive Attention-Based Feature Recovery With Scribble Supervision for Saliency Detection in Optical Remote Sensing Image

Salient object detection (SOD) task for optical remote sensing images (RSIs) plays an important role in many remote sensing applications. Most of the existing methods train their networks depending on a large amount of pixel-wise datasets. However, such expensive and time-consuming training setting prevents the approaches becoming flexible and scalable solutions. To this end, we explore efficient SOD for optical RSIs based on easily accessible weak supervision source. In this work, we propose a novel end-to-end progressive attention-based feature recovery framework with scribble supervision. Specifically, to better locate challenging salient objects in optical RSIs, an object position module (OPM) is proposed to capture and enhance the long-range semantic dependence of objects’ position information, which depends on the complementary attention mechanism. And to restore the entire salient objects, a context refinement module (CRM) is proposed, which extract local contextual information for better propagating high-level semantics to low-level details. Moreover, to improve the adaptability of the network to the changing scenarios of optical RSIs, we propose a salient region correcting (SRC) mechanism to help the predicted salient regions rectify their saliency values by constraining the saliency relationship between predictions from different augmentation models. In addition, due to the lack of dataset for weakly supervised SOD for optical RSIs, we relabeled an existing large-scale optical RSIs dataset with scribbles, namely EORSSD-S. Experimental results on benchmark datasets demonstrate that the proposed method can outperform other weakly supervised SOD methods. And the proposed method even outperformed some fully supervised methods. https://github.com/melonless/PAFR.

Chronica Hispana saeculi VIII et IX ed. by Juan Gil

Reviewed by: Chronica Hispana saeculi VIII et IX ed. by Juan Gil Hélène Sirantoine Gil, Juan, ed., Chronica Hispana saeculi viii et ix (Corpus Christianorum Continuatio Mediaevalis, 65), Turnhout, Brepols, 2018; hardback; pp. 563; 4 colour illustrations; R.R.P. €340.00; ISBN 9782503574813. None of the texts gathered in this volume of the prestigious Brepols series ‘Corpus Christianorum Continuatio Mediaevalis’ needed a new edition. And with good reason, since the editor Juan Gil, a member of the Real Academia Española since 2011, is the same scholar to whom we already owe the excellent editions, published decades ago, of the four Latin narratives included in this issue dedicated to Hispanic chronicles of the eighth and ninth centuries. However, eadem sed aliter (as Gil notes in his prologue, p. 7), they now find themselves for the first time presented together, allowing readers to contrast two very distinct moments that punctuated what is otherwise regarded as a historiographical desert for the early Latino-Iberian Middle Ages. The mid-eighth century saw the composition in al-Andalus of two texts that Gil included in Volume i of his Corpus scriptorum Muzarabicorum (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 1973). The Chronica Byzantia-Arabica [End Page 239] was crafted around 741–44 by an anonymous author (Christian or recently converted to Islam) on the basis of an oriental, probably Greek, text. It presents in parallel the history of Byzantium since the reign of Phocas (602–10) and that of the growing Islamic Empire up to the year 741. To this core were interpolated notices about the Hispanic Visigothic kingdom up to its conquest by Muslims, narrated in quite a detached manner. In that sense, the neutrality of this early chronicle strongly differs from the lamentations found in the Chronica Muzarabica, which a Christian dhimmi, probably a cleric, crafted soon after. This second composition also chronicles concomitantly the history of Byzantium, Islam, and Iberia since the early seventh century up to 754, the date of its completion. Its author, however, contemplated the settlement of Muslims in the peninsula with much more bitterness. Thus, the Chronica Muzarabica constitutes the first chronicle in which the idea of the ruin and loss of Christian Iberia, promised to a great future, emerged as a historiographical theme. This theme would be elaborated upon in the next two chronicles, which Gil had previously edited as Crónicas asturianas (Universidad de Oviedo, 1985), along with a Spanish translation by José Moralejo and an introductory essay by Juan Ruiz de la Peña. Crafted in the curial milieu of the expanding Asturian kingdom of the late ninth century, this historiographical revival must be linked to the propagandistic agenda surrounding the figure of Alfonso III (866–910), and marked the emergence of two intertwined ideological stances: that of ‘Reconquest’—an interpretation of the historical interaction between Asturias and al-Andalus as the progressive recovery by the Christians of a territory conceived as theirs—and neo-gothicism—a political project glorifying Asturian kings as the regenerated successors of their Visigothic ancestors. Conserved in two versions, both dependent on an archetype no longer extant, the Chronicle of Alfonso III offers biographies of the Visigothic, then Asturian kings, from Wamba (r. 672–80) to the end of the reign of Ordoño I, Alfonso III’s father, in 866. As for the Chronicle of Albelda, completed in 883, it compiles brief Hispanic geographical and chronographic miscellanies, followed by longer historiographical ordines dedicated to Roman, Visigothic, and finally Asturian rulers up to the ongoing reign of Alfonso III. It incorporates in its final paragraphs the Prophetic Chronicle, predicting the collapse of al-Andalus and restoration of the Visigothic kingdom by November 884. Novelties in the edition of the four chronicles are limited, although Gil notes that new readings resulted from the discoveries in their manuscript transmission made by Francisco Bautista. The three-hundred-page introduction, however, offers introductory chapters for each chronicle, scrupulously updated in light of the studies they have been the object of since Gil first edited them, including by himself. The choice of an uneven structure of presentation makes it perhaps the most challenging part of the book for the neophyte who, without...

Quasi-Periodic Phase Coding for Long-Depth-Range 3-D Measurements of Moving Objects

Fringe projection profilometry (FPP) requires an auxiliary projection sequence or spatial landmark to remove phase ambiguity, thereby severely limiting the measurement speed or depth range for moving objects. In this article, we propose a novel quasi-periodic phase coding method for long-depth-range 3-D measurements of moving objects without temporal or spatial limitations. This article mainly focuses on the construction of the encoding schema for quasi-periodic fringe patterns and the execution of the phase decoding framework for long-depth-range 3-D measurements of moving surfaces. First, a set of stripes with similar periods is designed on the basis of a preset equivalent period, and the various combinations of these stripes constitute quasi-periodic fringe patterns. Second, we present a progressive phase recovery strategy for decoding quasi-periodic fringe images, in which the wrapped phase is converted first into a continuous phase distribution and then into the absolute phase. In this strategy, the absolute phase map is effectively screened via the piecewise linear transformation from the quasi-periodic phase to the equivalent phase. Compared with the existing FPP methods, the proposed method avoids the low-frame-rate constraint and the need for landmark configuration. Simulation and experimental results verify that the proposed method is applicable for dynamic 3-D measurements of moving objects over a large-depth range.

Assessment of visuospatial memory in drug addicts admitted to the blue cross reception center of Côte d’ivoire

In recent years, being a country of drug trafficking and transit in West Africa, Ivory coast has become a country of drug consumption. Indeed, in 2016, UNODC study established that 12% of the Ivorian population aged between 14 and 64 years old consume drugs. This dramatic situation is at the root of many security problems throughout the country. According to literature, drug use can lead to more or less severe complications on cognitive abilities. This is particularly alarming as the majority of drug users are teenagers, putting their future at risk. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of narcotics on the memory abilities of users admitted for treatment at the Blue Cross reception centre. To this end, an evaluation of their visuospatial memory was carried out by means of the memory test of 9 images of familiar objects. The naming test consisted of pointing out with the finger in the square frame to the box corresponding to the image presented by the investigatorr. The memory performance of pre-withdrawal patients (Prwp), patients undergoing withdrawal (Puw) and post withdrawal patients (Pwp) was compared with that of controls (patients who were not drug users). The results showed that Prwp and Puw do not pass the test. They therefore have delayed learning, unlike the pwp and controls. Thus, after withdrawal, a progressive recovery of the memory ability of drug users was observed.

COVID-19 Related Acute Lower Limb Ischemia Treated Via Percutaneous Thrombectomy and Catheter Direct Thrombolisis

Background: The aim of this report is to describe and discuss a unique case of acute lower limb ischemia presented in a recovered COVID-19 patient treated via percutaneous mechanical thrombectomy and catheter directed thrombolysis. Starting from this singular case a wide literature review regarding COVID-19-related thrombo-embolic complications has been accomplished. Methods: A 47-year-old male was admitted to the emergency unit with acute lower limb ischemia three weeks after testing positive for COVID-19. He had been isolated at home because of minor COVID-19-related symptoms. Angio-CT-imaging showed a segmental occlusion of the common iliac artery coupled with retro-articular popliteal artery and leg vessels thrombosis. The patient was first unsuccessfully submitted to trans-femoral iliac thrombo-embolectomy. Results: Instead of peripheral limb vessel re-thromboembolectomy, a percutaneous mechanical thrombectomy coupled with leg vessel catheter direct thrombolysis was performed. The completion angiography showed the recanalization of the popliteal artery and leg vessels as far as the ankle but with a reduced forefoot vascularization. The fibrinolytic treatment was continued for 8 hours post-operatively. A compartment syndrome complicated the early post-operative course. There was a progressive recovery of ischemic symptoms and at 6-month follow-up, peripheral pulses were palpable with an almost complete normalization of foot and toe perfusion and motility. Conclusion: Acute lower limb ischemia following COVID-19-related arterial thrombo-embolic events represents a severe complication of COVID-19 infection and may result in a high rate of revascularization failure. In these cases, Percutaneous Mechanical thrombectomy coupled with catheter directed thrombolysis might represent a less traumatic and more selective approach.