RISK OF SLEEP DISORDERS IN PATIENTS WITH DECOMPRESSION SICKNESS: A NATIONWIDE, POPULATION-BASED STUDY IN TAIWAN

Background: Decompression sickness (DCS) primarily manifests musculoskeletal pain, cutaneous manifestations, lymphatic symptoms, and neurological symptoms. DCS might affect the central nervous system and induce the stress in the patients, but few studies about the psychiatric morbidity after DCS have been conducted. This study aimed to investigate the association between DCS and the risk of developing psychiatric disorders. Subjects and methods: This study was a population-based, matched cohort design. A total of 738 enrolled patients, with 123 study subjects who had suffered from DCS, and 615 controls matched for sex and age, from the Longitudinal Health Insurance Databank from 2000-2010 in Taiwan, and selected from the National Health Insurance Research Database. After adjusting for the confounding factors, Cox proportional hazards analysis was used to compare the risk of developing psychiatric disorders during the 10 years of follow-up period. Results: Of the study subjects, 10 (8.13%) developed psychiatric disorders when compared to 35 (5.69%) in the control group. The study subjects were more likely to develop psychiatric disorders (crude hazard ratio [HR]: 2.79 (95% CI=1.37-5.69, P<0.01). After adjusting for sex, age, monthly income, urbanization level, geographic region, and comorbidities, the adjusted HR was 3.83 (95% CI=1.60-9.16, P<0.01). Sleep disorders was associated with DCS with the adjusted HR as 5.74 (95% CI=1.04-31.56, P<0.01). Hyperbaric oxygenation therapy was not associated with a lower risk of psychiatric disorders. Conclusions: Patients who suffered from DCS have a 3.8-fold risk of developing psychiatric disorders, and a 5.7-fold risk of sleep disorders. This finding is a reminder for the clinicians that a regular psychiatric follow-up might well be needed for these patients

Construction of a virtual reality learning environment for teaching structural analysis.

ABSTRACT: This article discusses applying virtual reality (VR) to civil engineering education. It first describes the difficulties of teaching structural analysis in the traditional classroom setting and then outlines the potentials and limitations of using VR for civil engineering education. A VR-based learning center has been developed for structural analysis curriculum, and its design, development, and evaluation are reported

A genome-wide scanning and fine mapping study of COGA data

A thorough genetic mapping study was performed to identify predisposing genes for alcoholism dependence using the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA) data. The procedure comprised whole-genome linkage and confirmation analyses, single locus and haplotype fine mapping analyses, and gene × environment haplotype regression. Stratified analysis was considered to reduce the ethnic heterogeneity and simultaneously family-based and case-control study designs were applied to detect potential genetic signals. By using different methods and markers, we found high linkage signals at D1S225 (253.7 cM), D1S547 (279.2 cM), D2S1356 (64.6 cM), and D7S2846 (56.8 cM) with nonparametric linkage scores of 3.92, 4.10, 4.44, and 3.55, respectively. We also conducted haplotype and odds ratio analyses, where the response was the dichotomous status of alcohol dependence, explanatory variables were the inferred individual haplotypes and the three statistically significant covariates were age, gender, and max drink (the maximum number of drinks consumed in a 24-hr period). The final model identified important AD-related haplotypes within a candidate region of NRXN1 at 2p21 and a few others in the inter-gene regions. The relative magnitude of risks to the identified risky/protective haplotypes was elucidated

Changes in corneal curvature after wearing the orthokeratology lens

AbstractIntroductionThe orthokeratology lens (OK lens) is designed to reshape the cornea and correct refraction error. Owing to the convenience of ceasing the use of glasses during the day, the use of the OK lens is increasing in myopic children. In this study, changes in corneal curvature and astigmatism after wearing the OK lens were analyzed.MethodsThis retrospective cohort study included 65 children (130 eyes) who underwent full and regular examinations. None of the participants had any ocular disease other than myopia and astigmatism. The OK lenses used in this study were four-zone, reverse-geometry lenses. The corneal curvature of each patient was checked annually after the patients discontinued daily wearing of the OK lens for 10 days. Student t test and repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) analyses were performed to compare the results.ResultsThe radius of corneal curvature showed a progressive annual increase with significant differences, both in the steepest and flattest radius of the corneal curvature (p < 0.001 and p = 0.001, respectively). The mean radius of the steepest and flattest corneal curvature increased significantly from baseline to the following years consecutively (all p < 0.001). Nevertheless, astigmatism did not change significantly in any of the tests.ConclusionCorneal curvature changed as the patients grew older. There was a statistically significant increase in the radius of the corneal curvature in the myopic children studied. For correct fit of OK lenses, the radius of the corneal curvature should be regularly checked prior to dispensing a new set of lenses

Therapeutic Effect of C-Phycocyanin Extracted from Blue Green Algae in a Rat Model of Acute Lung Injury Induced by Lipopolysaccharide

C-Phycocyanin (CPC), extracted from blue green algae, is a dietary nutritional supplement due to its several beneficial pharmacological effects. This study was conducted to evaluate whether CPC protects against lipopolysaccharide- (LPS-) induced acute lung injury (ALI) in rats. Rats were challenged with LPS (5 mg/kg body weight) intratracheally to induce ALI. After 3 h LPS instillation, rats were administrated with CPC (50 mg/kg body weight, i.p.) for another 3 h. Our results showed that posttreatment with CPC significantly inhibited LPS-induced elevation of protein concentration, nitrite/nitrate level, release of proinflammatory cytokines, the number of total polymorphonuclear cells in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, and lung edema evidenced by decrease of lung wet/dry weight ratio accompanied by a remarkable improvement of lung histopathological alterations. Furthermore, CPC significantly attenuated LPS-induced myeloperoxidase activity, O2− formation, expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase, and cyclooxygenase-2 as well as nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) activation in lungs. Additionally, CPC significantly downregulated proapoptotic proteins such as caspase-3 and Bax, but upregulated antiapoptotic proteins such as Bcl-2 and Bcl-XL in lungs exposed to LPS. These findings indicate that CPC could be potentially useful for treatment of LPS-related ALI by inhibiting inflammatory responses and apoptosis in lung tissues

Socioeconomic impacts of innovative dairy supply chain practices. The case of the Laiterie du Berger in the Senegalese Sahel

This study analyzes the Laiterie Du Berger (LDB)'s milk supply chain and its contribution to strengthening the food security and socioeconomic resources of Senegalese Sahelian pastoral households. Porter's value chain model is used to characterize the innovations introduced by the LDB dairy in its milk inbound logistics and supplier relationships. A socioeconomic food security index and qualitative data are used to assess the dairy's supply chain's contribution to strengthen smallholder households' livelihoods. Data for this research were obtained through individual surveys, focus groups and in-depth interviews of LDB managers and milk suppliers. Results show that milk income contributes significantly to household food security. Suppliers who stabilize their dairy income between rainy and dry seasons, diversify income sources and have larger herds are more likely to remain food secure. The LDB innovations contribute by helping herders access biophysical and economic resources, leading to better livestock feed and household food security. (Résumé d'auteur