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Purpose of Review: Electrical storm (ES) is a life-threatening medical emergency of repetitive episodes of sustained ventricular arrhythmias within a short period. Its occurrence is associated with poor short- and long-term survival, even in patients with implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICD). Management of ES is challenging and mainly based on retrospective studies. This article reviews the existing literature on ES, presents the available data regarding its management, and proposes a new algorithm based on current evidence. Recent Findings: Recent research could modify the management of ES supporting the role of non-selective β1 and β2 blockade and the early intervention with catheter ablation as well as strengthening the role of cardiac sympathetic denervation. Summary: A multipronged approach should be considered for the management of ES including identification and correction of reversible causes, ICD reprogramming, drug therapy (beta-blockers—especially non-selective ones—and other anti-arrhythmic drugs) and non-pharmacologic therapies such as catheter ablation and techniques of neuroaxial modulation. Although current data suggest early aggressive management, further research is required to clarify the optimal order and combination of therapies for the prevention of future events. © 2019, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.

Allgrove syndrome (or triple A syndrome) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by alacrima, achalasia, ACTH-resistant adrenal insufficiency and autonomic/neurological abnormalities. It is caused by mutations in the AAAS gene. located on chromosome 12q13. We describe a 42-year-old patient who presented with neuropathy and was found to have alacrima, achalasia, mild autonomic dysfunction with significant central and peripheral nervous system involvement. She was later diagnosed with oligosymptomatic triple A syndrome. Sequencing of the AAAS gene identified two heterozygous mutations within exon 14 and its donor splice site (p.L430F - c.1288C>T and c.1331 + 1G>T), one of which is novel. Allgrove syndrome should be suspected in patients with neurological impairment associated with two or more of the main symptoms (alacrima, achalasia or adrenal insufficiency). (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Direct communication between vehicles and surrounding objects, called vehicle-to-everything (V2X), is ready for the market and promises to raise the level of safety and comfort while driving. To this aim, specific bands have been reserved in some countries worldwide and different wireless technologies have been developed; however, these are not interoperable. Recently, the issue of co-channel coexistence has been raised, leading the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to propose a number of solutions, called mitigation methods, for the coexistence of the IEEE 802.11p based ITS-G5 and the 3GPP fourth generation (4G) long term evolution (LTE)-V2X sidelink. In this work, several of the envisioned alternatives are investigated when adapted to the coexistence of the IEEE 802.11p with its enhancement IEEE 802.11bd and the latest 3GPP standards, i.e., the fifth generation (5G) new radio (NR)-V2X. The results, obtained through an open-source simulator that is shared with the research community for the evaluation of additional proposals, show that the methods called A and C, which require modifications to the standards, improve the transmission range of one or both systems without affecting the other, at least in low-density scenarios.

The cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) sidelink technology, specified in the long-term evolution (LTE) and further improved in the 5G new radio (NR) standards to facilitate direct data exchange between vehicles, will play a crucial role in revolutionizing transportation systems. However, the demand for very high reliability and ultralow latency services especially challenges the sidelink resource allocation mechanism when performed by distributed vehicles, in the so-called autonomous mode. One of the major causes of ­performance degradation is the resource allocation mechanism, which was designed for orthogonal multiple access (OMA) and can generate interference and collisions under high load conditions. In this context, here we argue in favor of the use of non-OMA (NOMA) as a game changer for the sidelink in the upcoming 6G V2X, and the purpose of this article is to provide a reference for further intriguing studies in the field. Additionally, the gain achievable over conventional allocation schemes by enabling NOMA through the use of successive interference cancelation (SIC) at the receiver is measured through realistic simulations conducted when considering the latest C-V2X specifications.

Cellular-vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) is gaining an increasing interest among the technologies under consideration for future connected and automated vehicles, especially for sidelink LTE-V2X Mode 4 and sidelink 5G-V2X Mode 2, where nodes autonomously perform resource allocations and transmissions, without relying on any infrastructure. In these cases, the allocation process has been designed based on the assumption of periodic packet generation constrained to a few possible allocation periods. Nevertheless, even assuming that the awareness messages are continuously exchanged, the packet generation might not always be exactly periodical or might come with a periodicity not constrained to the expected values, as for example with the Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS) standard defined by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). The non-ideal periodicity of packet generation, if not properly taken into account, can significantly impact the operation and performance of C-V2X when vehicles autonomously select their radio resources. This paper provides an analysis of how a misalignment between packet generation and resource allocation affects the system performance and provides insights into how to design the parameter settings to improve the performance. A case study is provided, focusing on LTE-V2X Mode 4 and the cooperative awareness message (CAM) generation in agreement with the the ETSI specifications. Results show that the performance generally improves if the smallest allocation interval is adopted and if the reservation is maintained even when no packets are ready for transmission. It is also shown how the parameter controlling the maximum latency in LTE-V2X, jointly with the misalignment between the allocation and generation intervals, can further affect the packet reception rate.

PURPOSE: The optimal approach for minimally invasive (MIS) right colectomy remains under debate. This study aimed to describe surgical trends in the treatment of nonmetastatic right colon cancer and to identify predictors of short-term surgical outcomes. METHODS: A retrospective multicenter cohort study of Minimally-invasivE surgery for oncologic Right ColectomY (MERCY) was conducted on patients who underwent laparoscopic or robotic right colectomy between 2014 and 2020. Classification tree approach was used to describe the extracorporeal (EA) or intracorporeal (IA) anastomosis choice. Mixed-model regressions were used to identify patient- and surgery-related factors predictive of postoperative outcomes. A questionnaire was used to evaluate the surgeons' perspectives. RESULTS: The MERCY database comprised 1870 patients; 87.2% underwent laparoscopy, and 68.1% received an EA. A clear surgical trend was noted, with an increasing rate of IA and robotic procedures after 2017. EA represented 41% of anastomoses in centers equipped with a robotic surgical system. Mixed-model regressions (on 1088 patients) showed that age, sex, BMI, comorbidity, robotics, IA, and conversion to open surgery were predictors of surgical outcomes. In particular, IA was a predictor of a shorter time to regular diet and fewer surgical site infections. Based on the questionnaire, IA was the preferred over EA by 72% of surgeons. CONCLUSION: MIS continues to evolve, with an increasing number of IA being performed in the recent years and when using a robotic surgical system. Understanding the role of predictors of surgical outcomes may help surgeons personalize decision-making among the different MIS options to manage right colon cancer.