Comparison of Emergence Behavior in Pediatric Dental Patients Undergoing General Anesthesia with Sevoflurane versus Desflurane

Purpose: To determine which maintenance gas (sevoflurane versus desflurane) resulted in a faster emergence from general anesthesia and investigate the patient\u27s emergence agitation. Methods: One group was maintained during general anesthesia with sevoflurane and the other with desflurane. Upon emergence the patient\u27s behavior was evaluated.Results: The average emergence time for desflurane was 9.8; while the average for sevoflurane was 13.98 minutes. Patients who received premedication had an emergence time of 15.43 minutes, while patients who received no premedication emerged after 8.34 minutes.Zofran® was a significant predictor of purposeful actions. Patients were more aware of their surroundings when they received Zofran® compared to patients who did not receive Zofran®.Conclusion: Maintaining with desflurane and not premedicating patients allowed for a faster emergence from general anesthesia. Patients given Zofran® in their IV during the surgery had less emergence agitation then their counterparts

Abiotic and biotic factors influencing western United States coniferous forests

2019 Spring.Includes bibliographical references.In the next decade, climate models suggest that global temperatures will continue to rise. In the western United States, increases in temperatures and changes in precipitation patterns will escalate the risk of drought conditions. These potentially warmer, drier conditions could induce physiological changes within trees, subsequently increasing stress on coniferous forests that are adapted to cool, wet environments. The abiotic stress accompanied by drought conditions can predispose susceptible hosts to biotic stress of insect and disease populations. In particular, high elevation subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa) have encountered higher than average mortality rates throughout the western United States in association with abiotic and biotic agents. Chapter 2 of this thesis investigated the potential drivers of subalpine fir mortality and determined how climatic factors and site and stand characteristics influenced the presence of mortality and biotic agents. The objectives were to identify factors driving subalpine fir mortality in Colorado and included 1) determine abiotic and biotic factors that directly and indirectly affect subalpine fir mortality, 2) determine factors associated with the presence of D. confusus or Armillaria spp., and 3) determine if climate variables were correlated to subalpine fir mortality or the presence of D. confusus and Armillaria spp. I hypothesized that sites with a higher density (i.e. basal area, trees per hectare, or canopy closure) would experience greater mortality due to decreased growth rates from competition and that D. confusus or Armillaria spp. prevalence would be a function of tree stress (i.e. increased density), elevation, slope, and departures from normal precipitation (i.e. drought), and minimum and maximum temperatures. Stand health monitoring plots found that the most relevant factors to subalpine fir mortality are the presence of D. confusus (p = 0.003) and the percent subalpine fir on plot (p = <0.0001). I identified that stand density (p = 0.0038), elevation (p = 0.0581), and Armillaria spp. (p = 0.0006) were the greatest influences on the presence of D. confusus, while the largest influences on the presence of Armillaria spp. are warmer maximum summer temperatures (p = 0.0136) and the presence of D. confusus (p = 0.0289). Results indicated that increased subalpine fir mortality was attributed to high stand density as a predisposing factor, warming temperatures as an inciting factor, and bark beetles (Dryocoetes confusus) and root disease (Armillaria spp.) as contributing factors. The combination of predisposing, inciting, and contributing factors suggests that subalpine mortality can be defined as subalpine fir decline. Management strategies used to reduce the impact of subalpine fir decline will need to address ways to improve stand health, while decreasing populations of both, D. confusus and Armillaria spp. In regards to Armillaria, the inability to successfully manage the disease using current techniques highlights the need to find novel management strategies to minimize its impacts. Since this disease is a root pathogen, soil microbes likely influence its growth and survival. Utilizing soil microbial communities as biocontrols may assist in management of Armillaria. Field sampling within the Priest River Experimental Forest in northern Idaho provided the opportunity to observe how soil microbial communities are associated with two species of Armillaria, A. solidipes (primary pathogen) and A. altimontana (weak pathogen). My research objective for Chapter 3 was to identify the soil fungal communities associated with tree health status (healthy, moderate and dead) and each Armillaria species, A. solidipes and A. altimontana, both of which have differing ecological behaviors (virulent pathogen and non-pathogen, respectively) on western white pine. I hypothesized that soil microbial communities associated with virulent A. solidipes and non-pathogenic A. altimontana would differ in fungal richness and diversity with the latter having a greater richness and diversity due to its beneficial qualities to tree health. While richness and diversity is likely to shift among tree health with a greater diversity and richness for soils associated with healthy trees due to root exudate production near the rhizosphere. Soil samples were collected alongside western white pine (Pinus monticola), while Armillaria rhizomorphs were excavated near the roots. The most abundant fungal taxon was Mortierella spp., which functions as saprophyte decomposing dead and down wood. No significant differences in fungal diversity or richness were found in soils associated with Armillaria species, but, although not significant, there where slight differences between soils associated with moderate and dead trees with a greater diversity and richness in soils with dead trees (p = 0.18). Additionally, soil pH was significantly influenced by soil carbon, nitrogen, and organic matter, while moisture significantly influenced soil carbon, nitrogen, and organic matter, acting as indicators to overall health in the stand. Although not significantly different, more Hypocreaceae (Trichoderma), a known biocontrol for root pathogens, were found within soils associated with A. altimontana and healthy trees. More research is needed to solidify differences, yet these factors give insight into potential beneficial aspects of soil fungal communities in association with Armillaria species and tree health. Changing climates regimes outside of 30-year averages cause increased stress to forests. This stress may predispose trees to a greater abundance biotic agents such as bark beetles and secondary pathogens, such as Armillaria root disease specifically in association with subalpine fir in Colorado. Understanding the role that soil fungal communities play in association to Armillaria root disease and tree health may assist in forest management practices to increase the health of high elevation forests

Soil microbial communities associated with forest root diseases and Rocky Mountain forests

Includes bibliographical references.2022 Fall.To view the abstract, please see the full text of the document

Biomarqueurs prédictifs de la maladie d'Alzheimer dans un modèle de souris : approche métabolomique par spectroscopies RMN et études comportementales

La maladie d'Alzheimer (MA) est un trouble neurodégénératif lié à l'âge entraînant une diminution des fonctions cognitives. Les traitements actuels ne sont que symptomatiques. Il en résulte un besoin urgent d'outils diagnostiques permettant de déceler la MA avant les premiers signes de déclin cognitif. Une étude métabolomique par RMN 1H a tout d'abord été réalisée sur cinq parties de cerveau de souris contrôles (Tg-) ou développant une démence amyloïde (Tg+) âgées de 1 à 11 mois afin de caractériser les perturbations métaboliques associées au développement de la MA. L'hippocampe (Hipp) est métaboliquement affecté précocement au cours de l'évolution de la MA. La taurine (Tau) et la créatine (Cr), métabolites neuroprotecteurs et osmorégulateurs, augmentent dans l'Hipp des Tg+ dès l'âge de 6 mois. La SRM et la RMN 1H ont ensuite été couplées pour analyser l'Hipp de jeunes souris traitées au clioquinol (CQ). Le CQ accroît la formation de Tau et Cr avant les premiers signes de déclin cognitif. Enfin, des tests comportementaux ont été réalisés sur des souris de 13 mois dans un environnement enrichi (EE) ou traitées par du CQ. Les profils métaboliques ont été analysés par RMN 1H. L'EE et le CQ ont amélioré la mémoire épisodique des Tg+ lorsqu'elles étaient dans un environnement familier. Aucune différence métabolique n'a pu être mise en évidence dans l'Hipp en fonction du génotype. Le couplage statistique des données comportementales et métabolomiques a montré que les Tg+ non traitées au CQ ou non EE développaient des troubles de la mémoire épisodique associés à une concentration de Tau et Cr plus élevée. Ainsi, un EE précoce ou un traitement tardif au CQ améliorerait les fonctions cognitives même à un âge où les plaques amyloïdes sont apparues.Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an age-dependent neurodegenerative disorder that causes a progressive decline in cognitive functions. Current treatments are only symptomatic. So, there is an urgent need for diagnostic tools able to detect AD prior to the onset of signs of cognitive impairment. A metabolomic study by 1H NMR was first carried out on five brain regions of control (Tg-) or amyloidopathy-developing mice (Tg+) aged 1 to 11 months to characterize the metabolic alterations linked to the development of AD. The hippocampus (Hipp) is metabolically affected early during the progression of AD. Taurine (Tau) and creatine (Cr), two neuroprotective and osmoregulatory metabolites, increase in the Hipp of Tg+ from the age of 6 months. 1H SRM and NMR were then coupled to analyze the Hipp of young mice treated with clioquinol (CQ). CQ increases the formation of Tau and Cr before the first signs of cognitive decline. Finally, behavioral tests were performed on 13 month-old mice in an enriched environment (EE) or treated by CQ. The metabolic profiles were analyzed by 1H NMR. The EE and CQ improved episodic memory of Tg+ when they were in a familiar environment. No metabolic difference between control and transgenic mice could be demonstrated in the Hipp. The statistical coupling of metabolomic and behavioral data showed that untreated-CQ and non-EE Tg+ mice developed disorders of episodic memory associated with higher Cr and Tau concentrations. Thus, an early EE or a late CQ treatment would improve cognitive functions even at an age when amyloid plaques have started to form

“Making a Modern Bolus”: The Non-Poetic Path to the New American Poetry of William Carlos Williams, 1921-1932

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Languages and Literature of Bard College

Vertical export of biogenic matter in the Chukchi and Barents Seas

Drifting sediment traps were deployed in 2004 in the ChukchiSeato investigate the variability in the vertical flux of biogenic matter in the presence and absence of sea ice. Measurements of chlorophyll-a, particulate organic carbon (POC), particulate organic nitrogen, phytoplankton, zooplankton fecal pellets, and the stable carbon isotope composition of the sinking material were accomplished along two shelf-to-basin transects. POC fluxes obtained in ice-covered and ice-free conditions were of different composition but of similar magnitude, indicating that the export fluxes in the presence of ice cover contributed significantly to the annual export of biogenic matter in the Chukchi Sea. These results suggest that a reduction or disappearance of ice cover on the Chukchi continental shelf would not necessarily increase the annual export of POC. Large-volume sampling of 234Th was conducted simultaneously with drifting sediment trap deployments in the Chukchi Sea. Measurements of 234Th and particulate organic carbon export fluxes obtained with in situ pumps and drifting sediments traps agreed to within a factor of 2 for 70% of the measurements. Despite the good agreement between methods, discrepancies in POC export fluxes measured using in situ pumps and sediment traps may be reasonably explained by differences in the estimated POC/234Th ratios that arise from differences between the techniques, such as time-scale of measurement and size and composition of the collected particles. Large-volume sampling of 234Th was conducted to estimate POC export in conjunction with drifting sediment trap deployments in the northern Barents Sea in 2003 and 2005. Although 234Th fluxes measured with both methods agreed within a factor 2 at most stations and depths sampled, sediment trap POC fluxes were much lower than large-volume POC fluxes at almost every station. One possibility is that the offset between the two methods may be due to the prominent presence of the prymnesiophyte Phaeocystis pouchetii in the Barents Sea, which could potentially cause the large variation observed in POC/234Th ratios. If this is the case, the use of drifting sediment traps might be a more reliable method to measure the vertical export of biogenic matter in the Barents Sea, in particular during P. pouchetii blooms