Dynamic risk control by human nucleus accumbens

Real-world decisions about reward often involve a complex counterbalance of risk and value. Although the nucleus accumbens has been implicated in the underlying neural substrate, its criticality to human behaviour remains an open question, best addressed with interventional methodology that probes the behavioural consequences of focal neural modulation. Combining a psychometric index of risky decision-making with transient electrical modulation of the nucleus accumbens, here we reveal profound, highly dynamic alteration of the relation between probability of reward and choice during therapeutic deep brain stimulation in four patients with treatment-resistant psychiatric disease. Short-lived phasic electrical stimulation of the region of the nucleus accumbens dynamically altered risk behaviour, transiently shifting the psychometric function towards more risky decisions only for the duration of stimulation. A critical, on-line role of human nucleus accumbens in dynamic risk control is thereby established

Comparación en los resultados de pacientes con bronquiolitis manejados con dos diferentes métodos de administrar oxígeno. Informe preliminar de avance del Hospital General de Niños Dr. Pedro de Elizalde

Introducción: La oxigenoterapia en el tratamiento de niños con bronquiolitis puede ser administrada mediantes cánulas nasales con bajo o alto flujo (CNAF). Las CNAF podrían ser una alternativa a la ventilación no invasiva, requiriendo menos recursos que los cuidados intensivos (UCIP). Objetivo: Evaluar si existe diferencia en la proporción de sujetos hospitalizados por bronquiolitis que requiere UCIP o en la duración de su hospitalización, según oxigenoterapia (convencional o CNAF). Métodos: Estudio observacional incluyendo lactantes hospitalizados por bronquiolitis en los meses de junio a agosto de 2017. Los pacientes fueron tratados según el servicio donde se encontraban (las unidades 1, 2 y 3 con oxigenoterapia convencional, y las unidades 4 y 5 con CNAF), al que fueron asignados según disponibilidad de cama. Resultados: Se incluyeron 329 pacientes, con edad promedio de 7,2 meses, que permanecieron hospitalizados 5,9 días y recibieron 4,6 días de oxigenoterapia. Todos recibieron oxigenoterapia, 84 (25,5%) CNAF y 245 (74,5%) convencional. Sólo 10 (3,1%) requirieron UCIP. De los que ingresaron a UCIP 5/84 recibieron CNAF y 5/245 recibieron terapia convencional (OR: 3,1; IC 95%: 0,8-10,7; p=0,07). Los pacientes con CNAF permanecieron significativamente más tiempo hospitalizados (6,9 ± 3,9 días vs. 5,6 ±3,2; p=0,003), luego de controlar por edad, la etiología viral y requerimiento de UCIP. Conclusión: En la población analizada no se observó diferencia en la proporción de pacientes que requirieron UTIP según hubieran recibido oxigenoterapia por CNAF o en forma convencional.Background: Oxygen in bronchiolitis treatment can be delivered by nasal cannulas using low or high flow (HFNC). HFNC can be an alternative to non-invasive ventilation or intensive care (PICU). Objective: To evaluate PICU requirement and length of stay (LOS) according to oxygen delivery method in children hospitalized for bronchiolitis. Methods: Observational study including infants hospitalized for bronchiolitis from June to August 2017. Patients received oxygen based on to the unit in which they were hospitalized (units 1, 2 and 3 received conventional oxygen therapy, while units 4 and 5 received HFNC), assigned according to bed availability. Results: We included 329 patients, aged 7.2 months, with a LOS of 5.9 days, and receiving oxygen for 4.6 days. All of them received oxygen, 84 (25.5%) HFNC and 245 (74,5%) conventional therapy. Only 10 (3.1%) required PICU, 5 using HFNC and 5 on conventional therapy (OR: 3,1; 95%IC: 0.8-10.7; p=0.07). After controlling for age, viral etiology and PICU requirement, patients on HFNC showed a significantly longer LOS (6.9 ± 3.9 vs. 5.6 ± 3.2 days; p=0.003). Conclusion: Patients who received oxygen trough HFNC required PICU less frequently than those in conventional therapy but showed a longer length of stay.Fil: Potasnik, J.. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Niños Pedro Elizalde (ex Casa Cuna); ArgentinaFil: Golubicki, A.. Ministerio de Salud de la Nación; ArgentinaFil: Fernandez, A.. Gobierno de la Ciudad Autonoma de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Agudos Carlos Durand.; ArgentinaFil: Raiden, Silvina Claudia. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Niños Pedro Elizalde (ex Casa Cuna); Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay; ArgentinaFil: Sosa, R.. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Niños Pedro Elizalde (ex Casa Cuna); ArgentinaFil: Gonzalez, N.. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Niños Pedro Elizalde (ex Casa Cuna); ArgentinaFil: Cairoli, H.. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Niños Pedro Elizalde (ex Casa Cuna); ArgentinaFil: De Lillo, L.. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Niños Pedro Elizalde (ex Casa Cuna); ArgentinaFil: Sanluis Fenelli, G.. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Niños Pedro Elizalde (ex Casa Cuna); ArgentinaFil: Planovsky, H.. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Niños Pedro Elizalde (ex Casa Cuna); ArgentinaFil: Checacci, E.. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Niños Pedro Elizalde (ex Casa Cuna); ArgentinaFil: Lopez, M.. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Niños Pedro Elizalde (ex Casa Cuna); ArgentinaFil: Gigliotti, E.. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Niños Pedro Elizalde (ex Casa Cuna); ArgentinaFil: Torres, F.. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Niños Pedro Elizalde (ex Casa Cuna); ArgentinaFil: Ferrero, F.. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Niños Pedro Elizalde (ex Casa Cuna); Argentin

Harmonized-Multinational qEEG Norms (HarMNqEEG)

This paper extends the frequency domain quantitative electroencephalography (qEEG) methods pursuing higher sensitivity to detect Brain Developmental Disorders. Prior qEEG work lacked integration of cross-spectral information omitting important functional connectivity descriptors. Lack of geographical diversity precluded accounting for site-specific variance, increasing qEEG nuisance variance. We ameliorate these weaknesses. i) Create lifespan Riemannian multinational qEEG norms for cross-spectral tensors. These norms result from the HarMNqEEG project fostered by the Global Brain Consortium. We calculate the norms with data from 9 countries, 12 devices, and 14 studies, including 1564 subjects. Instead of raw data, only anonymized metadata and EEG cross-spectral tensors were shared. After visual and automatic quality control, developmental equations for the mean and standard deviation of qEEG traditional and Riemannian DPs were calculated using additive mixed-effects models. We demonstrate qEEG "batch effects" and provide methods to calculate harmonized z-scores. ii) We also show that the multinational harmonized Riemannian norms produce z-scores with increased diagnostic accuracy to predict brain dysfunction at school-age produced by malnutrition only in the first year of life. iii) We offer open code and data to calculate different individual z-scores from the HarMNqEEG dataset. These results contribute to developing bias-free, low-cost neuroimaging technologies applicable in various health settings

Comparación de la violencia y agresiones sufridas por el personal de salud durante la pandemia de COVID-19 en Argentina y el resto de Latinoamérica

Objetivos. Explorar la frecuencia e impacto de la violencia contra los trabajadores de salud de Argentina y compararlo con el resto de sus pares de Latinoamérica en el contexto de la pandemia por COVID-19. Materiales y métodos. Estudio de corte transversal a través de una encuesta electrónica al personal médico y no médico de Latinoamérica que desempeño tareas asistenciales desde marzo de 2020. Se utilizó una regresión de Poisson para estimar las Razones de Prevalencia crudas (RP) y ajustadas (RPa) con sus respectivos intervalos de confianza al 95%. Resultados. Un total de 3544 participantes de 19 países respondieron la encuesta; 1992 (56,0%) residían en Argentina. Entre los mismos, el 62,9% padeció al menos un hecho de violencia: 97,7% refirió violencia verbal y 11,8% violencia física. El 41,5% de los agredidos padecieron situaciones de violencia al menos una vez por semana. El personal de salud de Argentina vivenció más frecuentemente violencia que los de otros países (62,9% vs. 54,6%, p<0,001), siendo estos eventos más habituales y estresantes (p<0,05). Además, refirieron más frecuentemente haber considerado cambiar sus tareas asistenciales y/o deseos de abandonar su profesión (p<0,001). En la regresión de Poisson, los participantes de Argentina tuvieron una prevalencia de violencia mayor que los trabajadores de salud de la región (14,6%; p<0,001). Conclusiones. Existió una elevada prevalencia de violencia contra el personal de salud de Argentina durante la pandemia por COVID-19. Estos hechos tuvieron un alto impacto negativo entre quienes los padecieron. Nuestros datos sugieren que, esto podría haber sido más frecuente en Argentina respecto de otras regiones del continente

Search for squarks and gluinos in events with isolated leptons, jets and missing transverse momentum at s√=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The results of a search for supersymmetry in final states containing at least one isolated lepton (electron or muon), jets and large missing transverse momentum with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider are reported. The search is based on proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy s√=8 TeV collected in 2012, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20 fb−1. No significant excess above the Standard Model expectation is observed. Limits are set on supersymmetric particle masses for various supersymmetric models. Depending on the model, the search excludes gluino masses up to 1.32 TeV and squark masses up to 840 GeV. Limits are also set on the parameters of a minimal universal extra dimension model, excluding a compactification radius of 1/R c = 950 GeV for a cut-off scale times radius (ΛR c) of approximately 30

Constraints on the χ_(c1) versus χ_(c2) polarizations in proton-proton collisions at √s = 8 TeV

The polarizations of promptly produced χ_(c1) and χ_(c2) mesons are studied using data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC, in proton-proton collisions at √s=8  TeV. The χ_c states are reconstructed via their radiative decays χ_c → J/ψγ, with the photons being measured through conversions to e⁺e⁻, which allows the two states to be well resolved. The polarizations are measured in the helicity frame, through the analysis of the χ_(c2) to χ_(c1) yield ratio as a function of the polar or azimuthal angle of the positive muon emitted in the J/ψ → μ⁺μ⁻ decay, in three bins of J/ψ transverse momentum. While no differences are seen between the two states in terms of azimuthal decay angle distributions, they are observed to have significantly different polar anisotropies. The measurement favors a scenario where at least one of the two states is strongly polarized along the helicity quantization axis, in agreement with nonrelativistic quantum chromodynamics predictions. This is the first measurement of significantly polarized quarkonia produced at high transverse momentum

CP violation in strange baryon decays: A report from Fermilab experiment 871

Fermilab experiment 871, HyperCP, is a search for direct CP violation in Ξ and Λ hyperon decays. A non-zero value in the asymmetry parameter A, defined in terms of the decay parameter products αΞαΛαΞαΛ and ,αΞ̄αΛ̄, would be unambiguous evidence for direct CP violation. The first data-taking run finished at the end of 1997 and accumulated over one billion Ξ−Ξ− and +Ξ̄+ decays. A sensitivity in A of ≈ 10−4≈10−4 is expected. A review of CP violation in hyperon decays is given, the HyperCP detector is described, and the status of the data analysis is discussed. © 1999 American Institute of Physics.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/87472/2/107_1.pd

CP Violation in Hyperon and Charged Kaon Decays

The primary purpose of the HyperCP experiment at Fermilab is to test CP in hyperon decays by comparing the decay distributions for Ξ− (“cascade”) decays in the decay sequence: Ξ− → π− + Λ0, Λ0 → π− + p, with those for the antiparticle Ξ̄+. In addition, we can test CP in charged kaon decays by comparing the slopes of the Dalitz plot for Κ+ and Κ− decays. We are also looking at rare decay modes of charged kaons and hyperons, particularly those involving muons. In two runs in 1997 and 1999, we collected approx. 500 millon charged kaon decays, 2.5 billion Ξ− and Ξ̄+ decays, and 19 million Ω− and Ω̄+ decays. This is the largest sample of fully reconstructed particle decays ever collected. © 2002 American Institute of PhysicsPeer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/87464/2/298_1.pd

Rhodococcus equi venous catheter infection: a case report and review of the literature

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p><it>Rhodococcus equi </it>is an animal pathogen that was initially isolated from horses and is being increasingly reported as a cause of infection in humans with impaired cellular immunity. However, this pathogen is underestimated as a challenging antagonist and is frequently considered to be a mere contaminant despite the potential for life-threatening infections. Most case reports have occurred in immunocompromised patients who have received organ transplants (for example kidney, heart, bone marrow) or those with human immunodeficiency virus infection. Infections often manifest as pulmonary involvement or soft tissue abscesses. Bacteremia related to <it>R. equi </it>infections of tunneled central venous catheters has rarely been described.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We report the case of a 63-year-old non-transplant recipient, non-HIV infected Caucasian woman with endometrial carcinoma who developed recurrent bloodstream infections and septic shock due to <it>R. equi </it>and ultimately required the removal of her port catheter, a subcutaneous implantable central venous catheter. We also review the medical literature related to human infections with <it>R. equi</it>.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p><it>R. equi </it>should be considered a serious pathogen, not a contaminant, particularly in an immunocompromised patient who presents with a central venous catheter-related bloodstream infection. Counseling patients with central venous catheters who participate in activities involving exposure to domesticated animals is recommended.</p