Remifentanil Patient Controlled Analgesia Use in Laboring Women: A Feasibility Pilot Project

Labor pain is a significant source of anxiety for most pregnant women. Parturients who are excluded from epidural analgesia (EA), the most common and most effective technique to reduce this pain, deserve access to the next best choice. Remifentanil patient controlled analgesia (RPCA), due to its fast onset, short half-life and demonstrated effect at reducing pain and boosting satisfaction is the next best option when compared to EA. Adoption of this strategy represents an opportunity to help bring this evidence based technique into a mainstream health system. This project reports on the first stage of a pilot project to bring RPCA to a medium sized obstetrical ward. Data revealed that the target patient population at this clinical site has an approximate 1.2% prevalence of parturients who are denied EA due to some comorbidity or anti-coagulant therapy. Extrapolating that figure to an annual rate would indicate that approximately 36 women per year are excluded from EA, the gold standard for pain relief during labor. Data also indicate that this subgroup is more likely to request parenteral opioids than the population of laboring women. In time, this technique should improve the labor experience for women at this clinical site and help advance the best practice throughout the United States

Enhanced Retention In The Passive-Avoidance Task By 5-HT1A Receptor Blockade Is Not Associated With Increased Activity Of The Central Nucleus Of The Amygdala

The effect of blockade of S-HT1A receptors was investigated on (1) retention in a mildly aversive passive-avoidance task, and (2) spontaneous single-unit activity of central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA) neurons, a brain site implicated in modulation of retention. Systemic administration of the selective S-HT1A antagonist NAN-190 immediately after training markedly-and dose-dependently-facilitated retention in the passive-avoidance task; enhanced retention was time-dependent and was not attributable to variations in wattages of shock received by animals. Systemic administration of NAN-190 had mixed effects on spontaneous single-unit activity of CeA neurons recorded extracellularly in vivo; microiontophoretic application of S-HT, in contrast, consistently and potently suppressed CeA activity. The present findings-that S-HT1A receptor blockade by NAN-190 (1) enhances retention in the passive-avoidance task, and (2) does not consistently increase spontaneous neuronal activity of the CeA-provide evidence that a serotonergic system tonically inhibits modulation of retention in the passive-avoidance task through activation of the S-HT1A receptor subtype at brain sites located outside the CeA

Hollywood Indian Sidekicks and American Identity

The Hollywood movie industry has often employed non-Indian actors to portray Indian characters, and reduced Indian characters to villains or secondary roles. In the wake of centuries of misperceptions and misrepresentations, Hollywood has invented a new form of the “white man’s Indian”, the Indian sidekick. Drawing examples from a dozen movies, this paper attempts to analyze how the Indian sidekick is a symptom of the ambiguous place Native Americans have in the American psyche. Without the Indian sidekick, would the typical American hero be complete?Hollywood a souvent employé des acteurs non indiens dans des rôles d’Indiens, et réduit les personnages indiens aux méchants ou aux seconds couteaux. À la suite de plusieurs siècles de méconnaissance et de représentations fallacieuses, Hollywood a inventé une nouvelle forme de « l’Indien de l’homme blanc », le comparse indien. À partir d’exemples tirés d’une douzaine de films, cette contribution s’efforce de montrer comment l’on peut dire que le comparse indien est un symptôme de la place ambiguë occupée par les Indiens dans l’imaginaire américain. Sans son comparse indien, le héro américain serait-il totalement accompli

Space Launch System Base Heating Test: Tunable Diode Laser Absorption Spectroscopy

This paper describes the Tunable Diode Laser Absorption Spectroscopy (TDLAS) measurement of several water transitions that were interrogated during a hot-fire testing of the Space Launch Systems (SLS) sub-scale vehicle installed in LENS II. The temperature of the recirculating gas flow over the base plate was found to increase with altitude and is consistent with CFD results. It was also observed that the gas above the base plate has significant velocity along the optical path of the sensor at the higher altitudes. The line-by-line analysis of the H2O absorption features must include the effects of the Doppler shift phenomena particularly at high altitude. The TDLAS experimental measurements and the analysis procedure which incorporates the velocity dependent flow will be described

Scaled Rocket Testing in Hypersonic Flow

NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) uses four clustered liquid rocket engines along with two solid rocket boosters. The interaction between all six rocket exhaust plumes will produce a complex and severe thermal environment in the base of the vehicle. This work focuses on a recent 2% scale, hot-fire SLS base heating test. These base heating tests are short-duration tests executed with chamber pressures near the full-scale values with gaseous hydrogen/oxygen engines and RSRMV analogous solid propellant motors. The LENS II shock tunnel/Ludwieg tube tunnel was used at or near flight duplicated conditions up to Mach 5. Model development was strongly based on the Space Shuttle base heating tests with several improvements including doubling of the maximum chamber pressures and duplication of freestream conditions. Detailed base heating results are outside of the scope of the current work, rather test methodology and techniques are presented along with broader applicability toward scaled rocket testing in supersonic and hypersonic flow

Assessment of transparent and reproducible research practices in the psychiatry literature

Objective: Reproducibility is a cornerstone of scientific advancement; however, many published works may lack the core components needed for study reproducibility. In this study, we evaluate the state of transparency and reproducibility in the field of Psychiatry using specific indicators as proxies for these practices.Methods: An increasing number of publications have investigated indicators of reproducibility, including research by Harwicke et al., from which we based the methodology for our observational, cross-sectional study. From a random five-year sample of 300 publications in PubMed-indexed psychiatry journals, two researchers extracted data in a duplicate, blinded fashion using a piloted Google Form. The publications were examined for indicators of reproducibility and transparency, which included availability of: materials, data, protocol, analysis script, open-access, conflict of interest, funding, and online pre-registration.Results: This study ultimately evaluated 296 randomly-selected publications with a 3.20 median impact factor. Only 107 were available online. Most primary authors originated from the United States, United Kingdom, and Netherlands. The top three publication types were cohort studies, surveys, and clinical trials. Regarding indicators of reproducibility, 17 publications gave access to necessary materials, four provided in-depth protocol, and one contained raw data required to reproduce the outcomes. One publication offered its analysis script upon request; four provided a protocol availability statement. Only 107 publications were publicly available: 13 were registered in online repositories and four, ten, and eight publications included their hypothesis, methods, and analysis, respectively. Conflict of interest was addressed by 177 and reported by 31 publications. Of 185 publications with a funding statement, 153 were funded and 32 were unfunded.Conclusions: Currently, Psychiatry research has significant potential to improve adherence to reproducibility and transparency practices. Thus, this study presents a reference point for the state of reproducibility and transparency in Psychiatry literature. Future assessments are recommended to evaluate and encourage progress

New Moon Explorer Mission Concept

New Moon Explorer (NME) is a smallsat reconnaissance mission concept to explore Earths New Moon, the recently discovered Earth orbital companion asteroid 469219 Kamooalewa (formerly 2016HO3), using solar sail propulsion. NME would determine Kamooalewas spin rate, pole position, shape, structure, mass, density, chemical composition, temperature, thermal inertia, regolith characteristics, and spectral type using onboard instrumentation. If flown, NME would demonstrate multiple enabling technologies, including solar sail propulsion, large-area thin film power generation, and small spacecraft technology tailored for interplanetary space missions. Leveraging the solar sail technology and mission expertise developed by NASA for the Near Earth Asteroid (NEA) Scout mission, affordably learning more about our newest near neighbor is now a possibility. The mission is not yet planned for flight

Creating a driving profile for older adults using GPS devices and naturalistic driving methodology

Background/Objectives: Road tests and driving simulators are most commonly used in research studies and clinical evaluations of older drivers. Our objective was to describe the process and associated challenges in adapting an existing, commercial, off-the-shelf (COTS), in-vehicle device for naturalistic, longitudinal research to better understand daily driving behavior in older drivers. Design: The Azuga G2 Tracking DeviceTM was installed in each participant’s vehicle, and we collected data over 5 months (speed, latitude/longitude) every 30-seconds when the vehicle was driven.  Setting: The Knight Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at Washington University School of Medicine. Participants: Five individuals enrolled in a larger, longitudinal study assessing preclinical Alzheimer disease and driving performance.  Participants were aged 65+ years and had normal cognition. Measurements:  Spatial components included Primary Location(s), Driving Areas, Mean Centers and Unique Destinations.  Temporal components included number of trips taken during different times of the day.  Behavioral components included number of hard braking, speeding and sudden acceleration events. Methods:  Individual 30-second observations, each comprising one breadcrumb, and trip-level data were collected and analyzed in R and ArcGIS.  Results: Primary locations were confirmed to be 100% accurate when compared to known addresses.  Based on the locations of the breadcrumbs, we were able to successfully identify frequently visited locations and general travel patterns.  Based on the reported time from the breadcrumbs, we could assess number of trips driven in daylight vs. night.  Data on additional events while driving allowed us to compute the number of adverse driving alerts over the course of the 5-month period. Conclusions: Compared to cameras and highly instrumented vehicle in other naturalistic studies, the compact COTS device was quickly installed and transmitted high volumes of data. Driving Profiles for older adults can be created and compared month-to-month or year-to-year, allowing researchers to identify changes in driving patterns that are unavailable in controlled conditions

Pericardial Fat and Myocardial Perfusion in Asymptomatic Adults from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis

BACKGROUND:Pericardial fat has adverse effects on the surrounding vasculature. Previous studies suggest that pericardial fat may contribute to myocardial ischemia in symptomatic individuals. However, it is unknown if pericardial fat has similar effects in asymptomatic individuals. METHODS:We determined the association between pericardial fat and myocardial blood flow (MBF) in 214 adults with no prior history of cardiovascular disease from the Minnesota field center of the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (43% female, 56% Caucasian, 44% Hispanic). Pericardial fat volume was measured by computed tomography. MBF was measured by MRI at rest and during adenosine-induced hyperemia. Myocardial perfusion reserve (PR) was calculated as the ratio of hyperemic to resting MBF. RESULTS:Gender-stratified analyses revealed significant differences between men and women including less pericardial fat (71.9±31.3 vs. 105.2±57.5 cm(3), p<0.0001) and higher resting MBF (1.12±0.23 vs. 0.93±0.19 ml/min/g, p<0.0001), hyperemic MBF (3.49±0.76 vs. 2.65±0.72 ml/min/g, p<0.0001), and PR (3.19±0.78 vs. 2.93±0.89, p = 0.03) in women. Correlations between pericardial fat and clinical and hemodynamic variables were stronger in women. In women only (p = 0.01 for gender interaction) higher pericardial fat was associated with higher resting MBF (p = 0.008). However, this association was attenuated after accounting for body mass index or rate-pressure product. There were no significant associations between pericardial fat and hyperemic MBF or PR after multivariate adjustment in either gender. In logistic regression analyses there was also no association between impaired coronary vasoreactivity, defined as having a PR <2.5, and pericardial fat in men (OR, 1.18; 95% CI, 0.82-1.70) or women (OR, 1.11; 95% CI, 0.68-1.82). CONCLUSIONS:Our data fail to support an independent association between pericardial fat and myocardial perfusion in adults without symptomatic cardiovascular disease. Nevertheless, these findings highlight potentially important differences between asymptomatic and symptomatic individuals with respect to the underlying subclinical disease burden

Ξ−d→nΛΛ\Xi^{-} d\to n\Lambda\Lambda and the ΛΛ\Lambda\Lambda final state interaction

The reaction $\Xi^-d\to n\Lambda\Lambda$ is studied within the framework of the Faddeev equations as a possible tool to gain insight into the final state $\Lambda$--$\Lambda$ interaction. The neutron differential energy spectrum gives a final state interaction that is sensitive to both the $\Lambda$--$\Lambda$ amplitude at threshold, and the coupling between the $\Lambda$--$\Lambda$ and $\Xi$--$N$ channels. The latter is a result of interference between two mechanisms for the production of the final state, which suggests that this reaction could give a measure of flavor SU(3) violation in the two-baryon system.Comment: 24 pages, 8 figures, submitted to Physical Reviw