3,478 research outputs found
Functional MRI To Evaluate âSense of Selfâ following Perforator Flap Breast Reconstruction
Background: Breast reconstruction is associated with high levels of patient satisfaction. Previous patient satisfaction studies have been subjective. This study utilizes functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to objectively evaluate âsense of selfâ following deep inferior epigastric perforator (DIEP) flap breast reconstruction in an attempt to better understand patient perception.
Methods: Prospective fMRI analysis was performed on four patients before and after delayed unilateral DIEP flap breast reconstruction, and on four patients after immediate unilateral DIEP flap breast reconstruction. Patients were randomly cued to palpate their natural breast, mastectomy site or breast reconstruction, and external silicone models. Three regions of interest (ROIs) associated with self-recognition were examined using a general linear model, and compared using a fixed effects and random effects ANOVA, respectively.
Results: In the delayed reconstruction group, activation of the ROIs was significantly lower at the mastectomy site compared to the natural breast (p<0.01). Ten months following reconstruction, activation of the ROIs in the reconstructed breast was not significantly different from that observed with natural breast palpation. In the immediate reconstruction group, palpation of the reconstructed breast was also similar to the natural breast. This activity was greater than that observed during palpation of external artificial models (p<0.01).
Conclusions: Similar activation patterns were observed during palpation of the reconstructed and natural breasts as compared to the non-reconstructed mastectomy site and artificial models. The cognitive process represented by this pattern may be a mechanism by which breast reconstruction improves self-perception, and thus patient satisfaction following mastectomy
Asthma, Food Allergy, and How They Relate to Each Other
The association between atopic diseases is well known, and previous research has shown that having one atopic disease can predispose to having another. The link between asthma and food allergy has been well researched, but the exact relationship between the two atopic conditions is not fully understood. Food allergic infants are at increased risk for the development of asthma and are at risk of food-induced asthmatic episodes and also anaphylaxis. Having a diagnosis of both food allergy and asthma has also been shown to have an effect on the severity of a patientâs disease including being at greater risk of severe asthmatic episodes. Therefore, understanding the relationship between these two conditions in order to treat and manage these children safely is crucial to clinicians
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Inflammatory Biomarkers in Childhood Arterial Ischemic Stroke: Correlates of Stroke Cause and Recurrence.
Background and purposeAmong children with arterial ischemic stroke (AIS), those with arteriopathy have the highest recurrence risk. We hypothesized that arteriopathy progression is an inflammatory process and that inflammatory biomarkers would predict recurrent AIS.MethodsIn an international study of childhood AIS, we selected cases classified into 1 of the 3 most common childhood AIS causes: definite arteriopathic (n=103), cardioembolic (n=55), or idiopathic (n=78). We measured serum concentrations of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, serum amyloid A, myeloperoxidase, and tumor necrosis factor-Îą. We used linear regression to compare analyte concentrations across the subtypes and Cox proportional hazards models to determine predictors of recurrent AIS.ResultsMedian age at index stroke was 8.2 years (interquartile range, 3.6-14.3); serum samples were collected at median 5.5 days post stroke (interquartile range, 3-10 days). In adjusted models (including age, infarct volume, and time to sample collection) with idiopathic as the reference, the cardioembolic (but not arteriopathic) group had higher concentrations of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and myeloperoxidase, whereas both cardioembolic and arteriopathic groups had higher serum amyloid A. In the arteriopathic (but not cardioembolic) group, higher high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and serum amyloid A predicted recurrent AIS. Children with progressive arteriopathies on follow-up imaging had higher recurrence rates, and a trend toward higher high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and serum amyloid A, compared with children with stable or improved arteriopathies.ConclusionsAmong children with AIS, specific inflammatory biomarkers correlate with cause and-in the arteriopathy group-risk of stroke recurrence. Interventions targeting inflammation should be considered for pediatric secondary stroke prevention trials
The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Two-Season ACTPol Lensing Power Spectrum
We report a measurement of the power spectrum of cosmic microwave background
(CMB) lensing from two seasons of Atacama Cosmology Telescope Polarimeter
(ACTPol) CMB data. The CMB lensing power spectrum is extracted from both
temperature and polarization data using quadratic estimators. We obtain results
that are consistent with the expectation from the best-fit Planck LCDM model
over a range of multipoles L=80-2100, with an amplitude of lensing A_lens =
1.06 +/- 0.15 (stat.) +/- 0.06 (sys.) relative to Planck. Our measurement of
the CMB lensing power spectrum gives sigma_8 Omega_m^0.25 = 0.643 +/- 0.054;
including baryon acoustic oscillation scale data, we constrain the amplitude of
density fluctuations to be sigma_8 = 0.831 +/- 0.053. We also update
constraints on the neutrino mass sum. We verify our lensing measurement with a
number of null tests and systematic checks, finding no evidence of significant
systematic errors. This measurement relies on a small fraction of the ACTPol
data already taken; more precise lensing results can therefore be expected from
the full ACTPol dataset.Comment: 17 pages, 11 figures, to be submitted to Physical Review
The Leptonic Higgs as a Messenger of Dark Matter
We propose that the leptonic cosmic ray signals seen by PAMELA and ATIC
result from the annihilation or decay of dark matter particles via states of a
leptonic Higgs doublet to leptons, linking cosmic ray signals of dark
matter to LHC signals of the Higgs sector. The states of the leptonic Higgs
doublet are lighter than about 200 GeV, yielding large and
event rates at the LHC. Simple models are
given for the dark matter particle and its interactions with the leptonic
Higgs, for cosmic ray signals arising from both annihilations and decays in the
galactic halo. For the case of annihilations, cosmic photon and neutrino
signals are on the verge of discovery.Comment: 34 pages, 9 figures, minor typos corrected, references adde
Flavour physics from an approximate U(2)^3 symmetry
The quark sector of the Standard Model exhibits an approximate U(2)^3 flavour
symmetry. This symmetry, broken in specific directions dictated by minimality,
can explain the success of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa picture of flavour
mixing and CP violation, confirmed by the data so far, while allowing for
observable deviations from it, as expected in most models of ElectroWeak
Symmetry Breaking. Building on previous work in the specific context of
supersymmetry, we analyze the expected effects and we quantify the current
bounds in a general Effective Field Theory framework. As a further relevant
example we then show how the U(2)^3 symmetry and its breaking can be
implemented in a generic composite Higgs model and we make a first analysis of
its peculiar consequences. We also discuss how some partial extension of U(2)^3
to the lepton sector can arise, both in general and in composite Higgs models.
An optimistic though conceivable interpretation of the considerations developed
in this paper gives reasons to think that new physics searches in the flavour
sector may be about to explore an interesting realm of phenomena.Comment: 29 pages, 5 figure
Charmless Hadronic Two-Body B Meson Decays
We report the results of a study of two-body B meson decays to the complete
set of K pi, pi pi, and K K final states. The study is performed on a data
sample of 31.7 +/- 0.3 million B B-bar events recorded on the Upsilon(4S)
resonance by the Belle experiment at KEKB. We observe significant signals in
all K pi final states and in the pi+ pi- and pi+ pi0 final states. We set
limits on the pi0 pi0 and K K final states. A search is performed for
partial-rate asymmetries between conjugate states for flavor-specific final
states.Comment: Submitted to PR
Deweyan tools for inquiry and the epistemological context of critical pedagogy
This article develops the notion of resistance as articulated in the literature of critical pedagogy as being both culturally sponsored and cognitively manifested. To do so, the authors draw upon John Dewey\u27s conception of tools for inquiry. Dewey provides a way to conceptualize student resistance not as a form of willful disputation, but instead as a function of socialization into cultural models of thought that actively truncate inquiry. In other words, resistance can be construed as the cognitive and emotive dimensions of the ongoing failure of institutions to provide ideas that help individuals both recognize social problems and imagine possible solutions. Focusing on Dewey\u27s epistemological framework, specifically tools for inquiry, provides a way to grasp this problem. It also affords some innovative solutions; for instance, it helps conceive of possible links between the regular curriculum and the study of specific social justice issues, a relationship that is often under-examined. The aims of critical pedagogy depend upon students developing dexterity with the conceptual tools they use to make meaning of the evidence they confront; these are background skills that the regular curriculum can be made to serve even outside social justice-focused curricula. Furthermore, the article concludes that because such inquiry involves the exploration and potential revision of students\u27 world-ordering beliefs, developing flexibility in how one thinks may be better achieved within academic subjects and topics that are not so intimately connected to students\u27 current social lives, especially where students may be directly implicated
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