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Background and Objectives: Buprenorphine is a partial µ-receptor agonist resistant to displacement from receptors by conventional opioids, which can block the effect of conventional opioids and may interfere with postoperative pain management. We aimed to quantify perioperative opioid use in patients receiving transdermal buprenorphine (TdBUP).Methods: We identified patients receiving TdBUP who underwent surgery between 2004 and 2016. To compare opioid requirements (intravenous morphine equivalents (IV-MEq)), we constructed a matched study, matching each TdBUP patient with two opioid-naive patients by sex, age, and type of anesthesia and procedure.Results: Nineteen unique patients underwent 22 procedures while receiving TdBUP. Total (IQR) amounts of IV-MEq (intraoperative, recovery room, and 24 hours after recovery-room discharge) were 98 (63, 145) and 46 (30, 65) mg IV-MEq for TdBUP and opioid-naive patients, respectively (p<0.001). Postoperative IV-MEq requirements were 54 (38, 90) and 15 (3, 35) mg for TdBUP and opioid-naive patients, respectively (p<0.001). Among TdBUP patients, higher preoperative doses of TdBUP were associated with greater postoperative opioid requirements (p=0.02). Specifically, patients with a 20 µg/hour TdBUP patch required 133.8 mg IV-MEq more postoperatively than patients with a 5 µg/hour patch (p=0.002). Following discharge from the recovery room, 17 (77%) TdBUP patients and 15 (34%) opioid-naive patients reported severe pain (OR 6.6 (95% CI 2.0 to 21.3); p<0.001; adjusting for baseline pain score, 5.0 (95% CI, 1.4 to 17.8); p=0.01).Conclusions: Analgesic management for patients receiving TdBUP therapy must account for increased opioid needs, and greater preoperative doses of TdBUP were associated with greater postoperative opioid requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Potentiostatic polarization of different stainless steel grades with a mirror surface finishing was performed in order to investigate the role of Mo on stainless steels corrosion behaviour. In the attempt to gain more insight into transpassive dissolution mechanism, passive films were grown in neutral aqueous solution (pH ∼ 7) at different polarizing potentials ranging from passive to transpassive conditions. According to the photoelectrochemical characterization, Cr dissolution occurs even at low polarizing potentials in the case of AISI 304L, while higher band gap values were obtained for passive films grown on austenitic 316L and duplex SSs. Capacitance measurements suggest that the flat band potential values estimated for passive films grown on austenitic 316L and duplex SS are more noble if compared to that of AISI 304L at all polarizing potentials. This is rationalized by considering that passive films on 316L and duplex are doped with Mo during film growth, changing their electronics properties (band gap and flat band potential) with a consequent shift to more positive value of the potential for chromate formation and dissolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An example of how scientific and NGOs' worlds unite for the common purpose of people's wellbeing. • Fast-developing countries face the challenge of ensuring a sustainable development. • Research and NGOs collaborated for the purpose of safe development in North Vietnam. • The degree of POPs contamination was determined and national law limits verified. • A series of suggestions were provided to better address specific pollution issues. • The presented approach can be transferred to other developing countries. The International Cooperation GVC-UCODEP project "Promotion of environmental protection in the Việt Yên, Yên Dũng and Hiệp Hòa districts in the Bắc Giang Province, Vietnam" aimed at the restoration and preservation of natural resources together with the improvement of life conditions of the local population. It focused on the management of pollutant factors and ecological resources of the Bắc Giang Province. An important part of the project was devoted to the implementation of an institutional frame for monitoring the status of the environment, and within this frame a scientific survey was promoted in order to assess the degree of contamination from persistent organic pollutants in soils and sediments of selected areas of the Bắc Giang Province and the bordering Cầu River. The toxicological significance of measured concentrations, and the relative importance of pollutant sources were also investigated. At the same time, enforced Vietnamese regulations were studied to check their effectiveness in protecting the population and the environment. Results of this combined work provided a series of suggestions to central and local authorities in order to ensure people's health and a better monitoring of local natural resources. It is our hope that the described approach and methodology could inspire similar synergies between research and non-governmental institutions in other developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Severe metabolic acidosis often occurs in the setting of septic shock and hemodynamic collapse. Acid buffering agents such as sodium bicarbonate are often used to improve acidosis, although the hemodynamic benefit of improving the serum pH is uncertain and has been evaluated only in a few small clinical studies. Design: A retrospective cohort of patients with vasopressor-dependent septic shock who were treated with sodium bicarbonate. Setting: A single-center mixed medical-cardiac-surgical intensive care unit. Patients and participants: 21 patients with vasopressor-dependent septic shock who were treated with sodium bicarbonate. Patients with vasopressor-dependent septic shock who were not treated with sodium bicarbonate served as a matched control group. Interventions: The primary endpoint was the change in norepinephrine equivalent (NEEq) dose at 24 and 48 hours after initiation of sodium bicarbonate when compared to non-sodium bicarbonate treated patients. Secondary outcomes included: hospital mortality, the impact of hypocalcemia on vasopressor requirements, and the impact of hypercapnia on vasopressor requirements in sodium bicarbonate treated patients. Measurements and results: Patients with vasopressor-dependent septic shock who were not treated with sodium bicarbonate had no difference in the decline of vasopressor requirements than those administered sodium bicarbonate at 24 hours (0.09 µg/kg/min; 95% CI, [-0.23, 0.05], p=0.19) and at 48 hours (0.04 µg/kg/min; 95% CI [-0.11, 0.18], p=0.60). In patients with pH≤7.15, there was no difference in the change in NEEq dose between sodium bicarbonate treated or non-bicarbonate treated patients at 24 hours (0.05 µg/kg/min, 95% CI, [-0.09, 0.11], p=0.69) or at 48 hours (0.19 µg/kg/min, 95% CI, [-0.52, 0.14], p=0.17). Conclusions: Administration of sodium bicarbonate did not improve vasopressor requirements at 24 or 48 hours, even in patients with a pH less than 7.15. Mortality and vasopressor needs are high in patients with pH less than 7.15 and unaffected by sodium bicarbonate administration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates living benthic foraminiferal assemblages as bio-indicators of anthropogenic activities in a coastal area within the Gulf of Palermo (Sicily, Italy), affected by industrial and urban activities, and evaluates the environmental quality through the calibration of a Tolerant Species index (%TS std ). Sediments from 6 stations were sampled along a bathymetric transect from the coast to offshore. Sediment grain size, TOC, major, minor and trace elements and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were compared to benthic foraminiferal assemblages and species at each station. Diversity and density of benthic foraminiferal assemblages were not affected by the presence of pollutants, while tolerant species increased with organic (TOC and PAHs) or chemical (As and Pb) concentrations. Moreover, the calibration of the %TS std formula to > 125 μm foraminiferal assemblage, gives a detailed description of environmental quality along the transect, representing a good and sensitive tool to evaluate marine coastal environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which examines the acoustic behaviour of the Eastern spiny lobster Palinurus elephas in the presence or absence of predators or conspecifics. The study observed the 25 adult lobsters in a tank with five common octopuses, which is equipped with digital video and acoustic recording and monitoring systems. The results showed that audible rasps were produced for anti-predatory purposes and the ultrasound screeches were emitted during non-stressful conditions.

Tertiary geological processes and Quaternary climatic oscillations significantly contributed in determining plant species ranges in the Mediterranean basin, making it difficult to distinguish between relative influence of habitat fragmentation and long-distance dispersal in shaping actual species distribution across disjointed regions. We studied the phylogeographic structure of Anacamptis longicornu, a Western Mediterranean orchid species spanning over the main continental islands (Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, Balearic Islands) and North Africa. We aimed to answer the question whether the highly disjointed distribution of this orchid was determined by: (I) recent over-sea dispersion after the last glacial phase; (2) range fragmentation after the refilling of Mediterranean basin at the end of the Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC); (3) ancient dispersal events linked to the insurgence of favourable bioclimatic conditions in the basin. Haplotype differentiation, haplotype network, and mismatch analysis support the hypothesis that the current distribution ofA. longicornu is more likely explained by allopatric separation and restricted gene flow in connection with fragmentation of a continuous range or a series of ancient dispersal events, after the MSC but before the most recent glaciations. Recent over-sea dispersion, if occurring, must have played a marginal role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]