Sleep quality as a confounding factor of maternal weight and preschool wheezing

Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Psychobiol, São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Psychobiol, São Paulo, BrazilWeb of Scienc

Human longevity is associated with regular sleep patterns, maintenance of slow wave sleep, and favorable lipid profile

Some individuals are able to successfully reach very old ages, reflecting higher adaptation against age-associated effects. Sleep is one of the processes deeply affected by aging; however few studies evaluating sleep in long-lived individuals (aged over 85) have been reported to date. the aim of this study was to characterize the sleep patterns and biochemical profile of oldest old individuals (N = 10, age 85-105 years old) and compare them to young adults (N = 15, age 20-30 years old) and older adults (N = 13, age 60-70 years old). All subjects underwent full-night polysomnography, 1-week of actigraphic recording and peripheral blood collection. Sleep electroencephalogram spectral analysis was also performed. the oldest old individuals showed lower sleep efficiency and REM sleep when compared to the older adults, while stage N3 percentage and delta power were similar across the groups. Oldest old individuals maintained strictly regular sleep-wake schedules and also presented higher HDL-cholesterol and lower triglyceride levels than older adults. the present study revealed novel data regarding specific sleep patterns and maintenance of slow wave sleep in the oldest old group. Taken together with the favorable lipid profile, these results contribute with evidence to the importance of sleep and lipid metabolism regulation in the maintenance of longevity in humans.Associacao Fundo de Incentivo a Pesquisa (AFIP)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Psicobiol, BR-04024002 São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Disciplina Geriatria & Gerontol, BR-04024002 São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Prevent Med, BR-04024002 São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Psicobiol, BR-04024002 São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Disciplina Geriatria & Gerontol, BR-04024002 São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Prevent Med, BR-04024002 São Paulo, BrazilFAPESP: 11/18976-9Web of Scienc

Development and simultaneous application of multiple care protocols in critical care: amulticenter feasibility study

Objective: To test the feasibility of and interactions among three software-driven critical care protocols. Design: Prospective cohort study. Setting: Intensive care units in six European and American university hospitals. Patients: 174 cardiac surgery and 41 septic patients. Interventions: Application of software-driven protocols for cardiovascular management, sedation, and weaning during the first 7days of intensive care. Measurements and results: All protocols were used simultaneously in 85% of the cardiac surgery and 44% of the septic patients, and any one of the protocols was used for 73 and 44% of study duration, respectively. Protocol use was discontinued in 12% of patients by the treating clinician and in 6% for technical/administrative reasons. The number of protocol steps per unit of time was similar in the two diagnostic groups (n.s. for all protocols). Initial hemodynamic stability (a protocol target) was achieved in 26 ± 18 min (mean ± SD) in cardiac surgery and in 24 ± 18 min in septic patients. Sedation targets were reached in 2.4 ± 0.2 h in cardiac surgery and in 3.6 ± 0.2 h in septic patients. Weaning protocol was started in 164 (94%; 154 extubated) cardiac surgery and in 25 (60%; 9 extubated) septic patients. The median (interquartile range) time from starting weaning to extubation (a protocol target) was 89 min (range 44-154 min) for the cardiac surgery patients and 96 min (range 56-205 min) for the septic patients. Conclusions: Multiple software-driven treatment protocols can be simultaneously applied with high acceptance and rapid achievement of primary treatment goals. Time to reach these primary goals may provide aperformance indicato

IBM, Elsevier Science, and Academic Freedom

Elsevier Science refused to publish a study of IBM workers that IBM sought to keep from public view. Occupational and environmental health (OEH) suffers from the absence of a level playing field on which science can thrive. Industry pays for a substantial portion of OEH research. Studies done by private consulting firms or academic institutions may be published if the results suit the sponsoring companies, or they may be censored. OEH journals often reflect the dominance of industry influence on research in the papers they publish, sometimes withdrawing or modifying papers in line with industry and advertising agendas. Although such practices are widely recognized, no fundamental change is supported by government and industry or by professional organizations

Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Malaria in a Representative Sample of Childbearing Women in Kigali, Rwanda

In 1986-1987 a consecutive sample of 3702 women presenting to prenatal and pediatric clinics at the only hospital in Kigali, Rwanda, was screened for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and malaria infection. The prevalence of HIV antibodies was 29%, and that of malaria parasites was 9%. HIV antibodies were more prevalent in women from the urban center than in those from the outskirts (31% vs. 20%, P < .001), and malaria parasites showed the opposite prevalence pattern (8% vs. 15%, P < .001); after stratifying by location, there was no association between HIV and the presence or degree of malaria parasitemia. HIV prevalence was 45% in women who had received a blood transfusion between 1980-1985 (before screening of donated blood began), and 28% among the great majority (94%) who had never been transfused. HIV prevalence was 44% in single mothers, 34% in women in common law unions, and 20% in those in legal marriages. These high rates of infection in the general population of Kigali highlight the need to develop effective programs for preventing further spread of sexually transmitted HI

Uniform magnetic fields in density-functional theory

We construct a density-functional formalism adapted to uniform external magnetic fields that is intermediate between conventional Density Functional Theory and Current-Density Functional Theory (CDFT). In the intermediate theory, which we term LDFT, the basic variables are the den- sity, the canonical momentum, and the paramagnetic contribution to the magnetic moment. Both a constrained-search formulation and a convex formulation in terms of Legendre–Fenchel transfor- mations are constructed. Many theoretical issues in CDFT find simplified analogues in LDFT. We prove results concerning N-representability, Hohenberg–Kohn-like mappings, existence of minimiz- ers in the constrained-search expression, and a restricted analogue to gauge invariance. The issue of additivity of the energy over non-interacting subsystems, which is qualitatively different in LDFT and CDFT, is also discussed

Primary hepatocytes as targets for hepatitis C virus replication

Much of our current understanding of hepatitis C virus (HCV) replication has hailed from the use of a small number of cloned viral genomes and transformed hepatoma cell lines. Recent evidence suggests that lipoproteins play a key role in the HCV life cycle and virus particles derived from the sera of infected patients exist in association with host lipoproteins. This report will review the literature on HCV replication in primary hepatocytes and transformed cell lines, focusing largely on host factors defining particle entry

Formation and dynamics of van der Waals molecules in buffer-gas traps

We show that weakly bound He-containing van der Waals molecules can be produced and magnetically trapped in buffer-gas cooling experiments, and provide a general model for the formation and dynamics of these molecules. Our analysis shows that, at typical experimental parameters, thermodynamics favors the formation of van der Waals complexes composed of a helium atom bound to most open-shell atoms and molecules, and that complex formation occurs quickly enough to ensure chemical equilibrium. For molecular pairs composed of a He atom and an S-state atom, the molecular spin is stable during formation, dissociation, and collisions, and thus these molecules can be magnetically trapped. Collisional spin relaxations are too slow to affect trap lifetimes. However, helium-3-containing complexes can change spin due to adiabatic crossings between trapped and untrapped Zeeman states, mediated by the anisotropic hyperfine interaction, causing trap loss. We provide a detailed model for Ag3He molecules, using ab initio calculation of Ag-He interaction potentials and spin interactions, quantum scattering theory, and direct Monte Carlo simulations to describe formation and spin relaxation in this system. The calculated rate of spin-change agrees quantitatively with experimental observations, providing indirect evidence for molecular formation in buffer-gas-cooled magnetic traps.Comment: 20 pages, 13 figure

Status Report of the DPHEP Study Group: Towards a Global Effort for Sustainable Data Preservation in High Energy Physics

Data from high-energy physics (HEP) experiments are collected with significant financial and human effort and are mostly unique. An inter-experimental study group on HEP data preservation and long-term analysis was convened as a panel of the International Committee for Future Accelerators (ICFA). The group was formed by large collider-based experiments and investigated the technical and organisational aspects of HEP data preservation. An intermediate report was released in November 2009 addressing the general issues of data preservation in HEP. This paper includes and extends the intermediate report. It provides an analysis of the research case for data preservation and a detailed description of the various projects at experiment, laboratory and international levels. In addition, the paper provides a concrete proposal for an international organisation in charge of the data management and policies in high-energy physics