Objective
We aim to explore the differential presence of symptoms of anxiety, depression, and acute stress between men and women during the COVID‐19 outbreak, and to study the relationship between ...these symptoms and two environmental variables, coexistence, and violence.
Methods
We conducted a cross‐sectional study starting on March 29 to April 5, 2020, based on a national online survey using snowball sampling techniques. Symptoms of anxiety (Hamilton Anxiety Scale), depression (Beck Depression Inventory), and acute stress (Acute Stress Disorder Inventory) were assessed. Differences in the presence of symptoms and the relationship of coexistence and domestic violence were evaluated from a gender perspective.
Results
Men showed significant lower mean (SD) in anxiety, depression, and acute stress levels than women HARS, 14.1 (9.8) versus. 18.4 (10.2), F = 56.2, p < .001; BDI 3.4 (3.9) versus 4.5 (4.3), F = 16.6, p < .001, and ASDI 3.6 (2.9) versus 4.7 (3.1), F = 39.0, p < .001, respectively), as well as a weaker depressive syndrome (28.1% males versus 39.9% females, χ2 = 25.5, p < .001). In addition, an interaction Gender × Coexistence was found in anxiety (F = 56.2, p < .001) and acute stress (F = 3.52, p = .06) and, according to depressive symptoms, an interaction Gender × Violence was found marginally significant (F = 3.3, p = .07).
Conclusions
Findings indicate that women present greater severity in symptoms of anxiety, depression, and acute stress. Moreover, loneliness and violence specifically worsen the emotional state in women. These results can undoubtedly guide better healthcare planning adopting a gender perspective.
Our results indicate that women present greater severity in symptoms of anxiety, depression, and acute stress Moreover, loneliness and violence specifically worsen the emotional state in women.
Mental Health in Elderly Spanish People in Times of COVID-19 Outbreak García-Fernández, Lorena; Romero-Ferreiro, Verónica; López-Roldán, Pedro David ...
American journal of geriatric psychiatry/The American journal of geriatric psychiatry,
10/2020, Volume:
28, Issue:
10
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
We aim to assess COVID-19 outbreak-related emotional symptoms, identify gender differences, and study the relationship between the emotional state and environmental features in the elderly.
We ...conducted a cross-sectional study starting on March 29 to April 5, 2020 based on a national online survey using snowball sampling techniques. Symptoms of anxiety (Hamilton Anxiety Scale), depression (Beck Depression Inventory) and acute stress (Acute Stress Disorder Inventory) were compared between people over and under 60 years old. Gender differences and the relationship of loneliness, regular exercise, economic losses and use of anxiolytics on the mental state were evaluated.
One thousand six hundred thirty-nine (150 9.2% aged ≥60) participants completed the survey. The greater than or equal to 60 group showed lower mean (SD) BDI levels than the less than 60 group (3.02 3.28 versus 4.30 4.93); and lower mean (SD) acute stress disorder inventory scores than the less than 60 group (3.68 3.20 versus 4.45 3.06). There were no gender differences in any of the clinical measures. The presence of economic losses as well as the increase in the use of anxiolytics was significantly associated with higher emotional distress in the elderly compared to the younger group.
Older people have shown less emotional distress, with no differences between men and women. Economic loss and substance use should be monitored to guarantee the emotional well-being of the elderly.
Photonic Glasses: A Step Beyond White Paint García, Pedro David; Sapienza, Riccardo; López, Cefe
Advanced materials (Weinheim),
January 5, 2010, Volume:
22, Issue:
1
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Self‐assembly techniques are widely used to grow ordered structures such as, for example, opal‐based photonic crystals. Here, we report on photonic glasses, new disordered materials obtained via a ...modified self‐assembling technique. These random materials are solid thin films which exhibit rich novel light diffusion properties originating from the optical properties of their building blocks. This novel material inaugurated a wide range of nanophotonic materials with fascinating applications, such as resonant random lasers or Anderson localization.
Colloidal self‐assembly is a well‐known technique for the preparation of opal‐based photonic crystals. However, it is equally well‐suited for the fabrication of photonic glasses, a new photonic material whose principal characteristic is its internal disorder. These solid random dielectrics exhibit rich novel light‐diffusion properties originating from the monodispersity of their building blocks. This novel material inaugurates a wide range of photonic materials with intriguing applications, such as resonant random lasers or Anderson localization.
The backscattering mean free path ξ, the average ballistic propagation length along a waveguide, quantifies the resistance of slow light against unwanted imperfections in the critical dimensions of ...the nanostructure. This figure of merit determines the crossover between acceptable slow-light transmission affected by minimal scattering losses and a strong backscattering-induced destructive interference when the waveguide length L exceeds ξ. Here, we calculate the backscattering mean free path for a topological photonic waveguide for a specific and determined amount of disorder and, equally relevant, for a fixed value of the group index n_{g} which is the slowdown factor of the group velocity with respect to the speed of light in vacuum. These two figures of merit, ξ and n_{g}, should be taken into account when quantifying the robustness of topological and conventional (nontopological) slow-light transport at the nanoscale. Otherwise, any claim on a better performance of topological guided light over a conventional one is not justified.
We report optical transmission measurements on suspended silicon photonic-crystal waveguides, where one side of the photonic lattice is shifted by half a period along the waveguide axis. The ...combination of this glide symmetry and slow light leads to a strongly enhanced chiral light-matter interaction but the interplay between slow light and backscattering has not been investigated experimentally in such waveguides. We build photonic-crystal resonators consisting of glide-symmetric waveguides terminated by reflectors and use transmission measurements as well as evanescent coupling to map out the dispersion relation. We find excellent agreement with theory and measure group indices exceeding 90, implying significant potential for applications in slow-light devices and chiral quantum optics. By measuring resonators of different length, we assess the role of backscattering induced by fabrication imperfections and its intimate connection to the group index.
Electrically pumped random lasers with distributed feedback can be obtained by introducing random defects into the device active layer, modifying the epitaxial growth process and losing the ease of ...fabrication potentially offered by disordered structures. We recently demonstrated an alternative and more practical approach in which random lasing emission is obtained from a modified Fabry-Perot laser diode after pulsed laser ablation of its output mirror. Here, we improve our fabrication technique by sweeping the ablating laser beam along the output mirror at different speeds and with different pulse energies, obtaining control over the total energy delivered at each point. We optimize the ablation parameters by evaluating the device performances in terms of lasing threshold and output power and we present the device emission characteristics. The proposed technique is tunable, fast and reliable, allowing the fabrication of devices with different properties by proper selection of the ablation parameters.
Propensity score matching is increasingly being used in the medical literature. Choice of matching algorithms, reporting quality, and estimands are oftentimes not discussed. We evaluated the impact ...of propensity score matching algorithms, based on a recent clinical dataset, with three commonly used outcomes. The resulting estimands for different strengths of treatment effects were compared in a neutral comparison study and based on a thoroughly designed simulation study. Different algorithms yielded different levels of balance after matching. Along with full matching and genetic matching with replacement, good balance was achieved with nearest neighbor matching with caliper but thereby more than one fifth of the treated units were discarded. Average marginal treatment effect estimates were least biased with genetic or nearest neighbor matching, both with replacement and full matching. Double adjustment yielded conditional treatment effects that were closer to the true values, throughout. The choice of the matching algorithm had an impact on covariate balance after matching as well as treatment effect estimates. In comparison, genetic matching with replacement yielded better covariate balance than all other matching algorithms. A literature review in the British Medical Journal including its subjournals revealed frequent use of propensity score matching; however, the use of different matching algorithms before treatment effect estimation was only reported in one out of 21 studies. Propensity score matching is a methodology for causal treatment effect estimation from observational data; however, the methodological difficulties and low reporting quality in applied medical research need to be addressed.
The quality factor, Q, of photonic resonators permeates most figures of merit in applications that rely on cavity-enhanced light–matter interaction such as all-optical information processing, ...high-resolution sensing, or ultralow-threshold lasing. As a consequence, large-scale efforts have been devoted to understanding and efficiently computing and optimizing the Q of optical resonators in the design stage. This has generated large know-how on the relation between physical quantities of the cavity, e.g., Q, and controllable parameters, e.g., hole positions, for engineered cavities in gaped photonic crystals. However, such a correspondence is much less intuitive in the case of modes in disordered photonic media, e.g., Anderson-localized modes. Here, we demonstrate that the theoretical framework of quasinormal modes (QNMs), a non-Hermitian perturbation theory for shifting material boundaries, and a finite-element complex eigensolver provide an ideal toolbox for the automated shape optimization of Q of a single photonic mode in both ordered and disordered environments. We benchmark the non-Hermitian perturbation formula and employ it to optimize the Q-factor of a photonic mode relative to the position of vertically etched holes in a dielectric slab for two different settings: first, for the fundamental mode of L3 cavities with various footprints, demonstrating that the approach simultaneously takes in-plane and out-of-plane losses into account and leads to minor modal structure modifications; and second, for an Anderson-localized mode with an initial Q of 200, which evolves into a completely different mode, displaying a threefold reduction in the mode volume, a different overall spatial location, and, notably, a 3 order of magnitude increase in Q.
Background
The use of awake prone position concomitant to non-invasive mechanical ventilation in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) secondary to COVID-19 has shown to improve gas exchange, ...whereas its effect on the work of breathing remain unclear. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of awake prone position during helmet continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) ventilation on inspiratory effort, gas exchange and comfort of breathing.
Methods
Forty consecutive patients presenting with ARDS due to COVID-19 were prospectively enrolled. Gas exchange, esophageal pressure swing (ΔPes), dynamic transpulmonary pressure (dTPP), modified pressure time product (mPTP), work of breathing (WOB) and comfort of breathing, were recorded on supine position and after 3 h on prone position.
Results
The median applied PEEP with helmet CPAP was 10 8–10 cmH
2
O. The PaO
2
/FiO
2
was higher in prone compared to supine position (Supine: 166 136–224 mmHg, Prone: 314 232–398 mmHg,
p
< 0.001). Respiratory rate and minute ventilation decreased from supine to prone position from 20 17–24 to 17 15–19 b/min (
p
< 0.001) and from 8.6 7.3–10.6 to 7.7 6.6–8.6 L/min (
p
< 0.001), respectively. Prone position did not reduce ΔPes (Supine: − 7 − 9 to − 5 cmH
2
O, Prone: − 6 − 9 to − 5 cmH
2
O,
p
= 0.31) and dTPP (Supine: 17 14–19 cmH
2
O, Prone: 16 14–18 cmH
2
O,
p
= 0.34). Conversely, mPTP and WOB decreased from 152 104–197 to 118 90–150 cmH
2
O/min (
p
< 0.001) and from 146 120–185 to 114 95–151 cmH
2
O L/min (
p
< 0.001), respectively. Twenty-six (65%) patients experienced a reduction in WOB of more than 10%. The overall sensation of dyspnea was lower in prone position (
p
= 0.005).
Conclusions
Awake prone position with helmet CPAP enables a reduction in the work of breathing and an improvement in oxygenation in COVID-19-associated ARDS.
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