Background Post-spinal anesthesia (PSA) hypotension in elderly patients is challenging. Correction of PSA hypotension by fluids either colloids or crystalloids or by vasoconstrictors pose the risk of volume overload or compromising cardiac conditions. Dexamethasone is used to treat conditions manifested by decrease of peripheral vascular resistance. The research team was the first to test the hypothesis of its role in preventing or decreasing the incidence of PSA hypotension. Methods One hundred ten patients, aged 60 years or more were recruited to receive a single preoperative dose of dexamethasone 8 mg IVI in 100 ml normal saline (D group) (55 patients) 2 h preoperatively, and 55 patients were given placebo (C group) in a randomized, double-blind trial. Variations in blood pressure and heart rate in addition to the needs of ephedrine and/or atropine following spinal anesthesia (SA) were recorded. SA was achieved using subarachnoid injection of 3 ml hyperbaric bupivacaine 0.5%. Results Demographic data and the quality of sensory and motor block were comparable between groups. At 5th, 10th minutes post SA; systolic, diastolic and mean arterial pressures were statistically significant higher in D group. At 20th minutes post SA; the obtained blood pressure readings and heart rate changes didn’t show any statistically significance between groups. The need for ephedrine and side effects were statistically significant lower in D group than C group. Conclusion Post-spinal anesthesia hypotension, nausea, vomiting and shivering in elderly patients were less common after receiving a single preoperative dose of dexamethasone 8 mg IVI than control. Registration number ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT 03664037, Registered 17 September 2018 - Retrospectively registered, http://www.ClinicalTrial.gov

Background:The clinical spectrum of COVID-19 is extremely variable. Thus, it is likely that the heterogeneity in the genetic make-up of the host may contribute to disease severity. Toll-like receptor (TLR)-4 plays a vital role in the innate immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection. The susceptibility of humans to severe COVID-19 concerning TLR-4 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) has not been well examined. Objective: The goal of this research was to investigate the association between TLR-4 (Asp299Gly and Thr399Ile) SNPs and COVID-19 severity and progression as well as the cytokine storm in Egyptian patients. Methods: We genotyped 300 adult COVID-19 Egyptian patients for TLR-4 (Asp299Gly and Thr399Ile) SNPs using PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). We also measured interleukin (IL)-6 levels by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) as an indicator of the cytokine storm. Results: The minor 299Gly (G) and 399Ile (T) alleles were associated with a significant (P < 0.001) positive risk of severe COVID-19 (OR = 3.14; 95% CI = 2.02-4.88 and OR = 2.75; 95% CI = 1.66-4.57), their frequency in the severe group were 71.8% (84/150) and 70.7% (58/150), respectively. We detected significant differences between TLR-4 (Asp299Gly, Thr399Ile) genotypes with regard to serum levels of IL-6. Levels of IL-6 increased significantly with the presence of the mutant 299Gly (G) and 399Ile (T) alleles to reach the highest levels in the Gly299Gly (GG) and the Ile399Ile (TT) genotypes (170 pg/mL (145-208.25) and 112 pg/mL (24-284.75), respectively). Conclusion:The TLR-4 (Asp299Gly and Thr399Ile) minor alleles 299Gly (G) and 399Ile (T) are associated with COVID-19 severity, mortality, and the cytokine storm.

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Lumbar and thoracic epidural morphine administered as once-daily injection to patients with severe isolated blunt chest wall trauma were comparable in terms of pain control, incidence of pulmonary complications, and occurrence of epidural morphine-related side effects.

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This paper presents a new testing approach for analogue circuits based on the digital signature analysis. In this paper, the efficient parametric fault detection approach for analogue circuits using the simulation environment is presented. This approach has three main parts, an analogue test pattern generator (ATPG), an analogue test response compactor (ATRC), and an analogue circuit under test (ACUT) model, build in the PSpice circuit simulator. The proper ATPG is designed to sweep the applying sinusoidal frequencies to match the frequency domain of the ACUT. The output test response of the ACUT is acquired via the analogue-to-digital converter (ADC). The ATRC accumulates digital samples of the output response from the ADC to generate a digital signature that can characterize the situation of the ACUT. The signature comparison is achieved based on signature boundaries based on the worst-case analysis. In addition, the signature curve for each component variations of the ACUT is presented to be illustrated as image of some parameters affected in the transfer function of the ACUT. It combines effective parameters of the transfer function of the ACUT with respect to the component variations. These parameters are the band-with and the passband transmission. Using the signature curve, a parametric fault of each component of the ACUT can be detected under the sweep sinusoidal frequency of the ATPG. The presented testing approach is applied to the analogue benchmark circuit to validate the presented testing approach.

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