Propofol Sedation for Oesophago-Gastro-Duodenoscopy

A questionnaire was sent to 53 patients who had undergone an upper gastrointestinal endoscopy under total intravenous anaesthesia (TIVA) using intermittent Propofol. All of the patients would accept the same technique again. Out of 20 patients who had previously had the procedure performed under Diazepam sedation, 18 preferred the use of Propofol. This technique can only be used with an anaesthetist present

Prospective, double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized trial of cimetidine in gastric cancer

Cimetidine is thought to inhibit suppressor T-lymphocyte function and preliminary evidence from a randomized trial indicated that it might prolong survival for patients with operable and inoperable gastric cancer. The British Stomach Cancer Group conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial examining the effects of cimetidine (400 mg or 800 mg twice a day) on the survival of patients with early (stages I, II and III: n = 229) and advanced (stages IVa and IVb: n = 201) gastric cancer. The primary end point was death. A total of 442 patients were randomized by 59 consultants in 39 hospitals between February 1990 and March 1995. Log-rank survival analysis was used to assess differences between the groups. Three hundred and forty patients died during the study: 166 (49%) in the cimetidine treatment groups and 174 (51%) in the placebo groups. Median survival for patients receiving cimetidine was 13 months (95% confidence interval (CI) 9–16 months) and 11 months in the placebo arm (95% CI 9–14 months). There was no significant difference in survival between the two treatment groups (P = 0.42) or between different doses of cimetidine tablets (P = 0.46). Five-year survival of those patients randomized to cimetidine was 21% compared to 18% for those patients randomized to placebo. Cimetidine at a dose of 400 mg or 800 mg twice a day does not have a significant influence on the survival of patients with gastric cancer compared to placebo. © 1999 Cancer Research Campaig

Yield stress, heterogeneities and activated processes in soft glassy materials

The rheological behavior of soft glassy materials basically results from the interplay between shearing forces and an intrinsic slow dynamics. This competition can be described by a microscopic theory, which can be viewed as a nonequilibrium schematic mode-coupling theory. This statistical mechanics approach to rheology results in a series of detailed theoretical predictions, some of which still awaiting for their experimental verification. We present new, preliminary, results about the description of yield stress, flow heterogeneities and activated processes within this theoretical framework.Comment: Paper presented at "III Workshop on Non Equilibrium Phenomena...", Pisa 22-27 Sep. 200

Report of the Advisory Committee in Seismology

The Advisory Committee in Seismology has pleasure in reporting the continued progress of its study of California earth movements during the year 1924-1925 without essential change of plan. A considerable amount of geologic work in the study of fault zones has been done during the year in the Mojave Desert and in Death Valley, the system of primary triangulation for the detection and measurement of horizontal displacements has progressed rapidly and effectively, and the development of suitable instruments for determining the two horizontal components of local earth movements has progressed to completion. Ground for a new laboratory has been purchased by the California Institute of Technology and the construction of the central station laboratory building upon it has been begun. The laboratory is expected to be occupied by Mr. H. O. Wood, Research Associate in Seismology, and his associates, about January 1, 1926. It is hoped that additional stations will also be occupied before the close of the present calendar year (1925), and that actual work in what has been happily termed the seismologic triangulation of California will be successfully inaugurated

Geodetic Constraints on the 2014 M 6.0 South Napa Earthquake

On 24 August 2014, the M 6.0 South Napa earthquake shook much of the San Francisco Bay area, leading to significant damage in the Napa Valley. The earthquake occurred in the vicinity of the West Napa fault (122.313° W, 38.22° N, 11.3 km), a mapped structure located between the Rodger’s Creek and Green Valley faults, with nearly pure right‐lateral strike‐slip motion (strike 157°, dip 77°, rake –169°; http://comcat.cr.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/nc72282711#summary, last accessed December 2014) (Fig. 1). The West Napa fault previously experienced an M 5 strike‐slip event in 2000 but otherwise exhibited no previous definitive evidence of historic earthquake rupture (Rodgers et al., 2008; Wesling and Hanson, 2008). Evans et al. (2012) found slip rates of ∼9.5  mm/yr along the West Napa fault, with most slip rate models for the Bay area placing higher slip rates and greater earthquake potential on the Rodger’s Creek and Green Valley faults, respectively (e.g., Savage et al., 1999; d’Alessio et al., 2005; Funning et al., 2007)

Mortality associated with delays between clinic entry and ART initiation in resource-limited settings: results of a transition-state model.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the mortality impact of delay in antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation from the time of entry into care. DESIGN: A state-transition Markov process model. This technique allows for assessing mortality before and after ART initiation associated with delays in ART initiation among a general population of ART-eligible patients without conducting a randomized trial. METHODS: We used patient-level data from 3 South African cohorts to determine transition probabilities for pre-ART CD4 count changes and pre-ART and on-ART mortality. For each parameter, we generated probabilities and distributions for Monte Carlo simulations with 1-week cycles to estimate mortality 52 weeks from clinic entry. RESULTS: We estimated an increase in mortality from 11.0% to 14.7% (relative increase of 34%) with a 10-week delay in ART for patients entering care with our pre-ART cohort CD4 distribution. When we examined low CD4 ranges, the relative increase in mortality delays remained similar; however, the absolute increase in mortality rose. For example, among patients entering with CD4 count 50-99 cells per cubic millimeter, 12-month mortality increased from 13.3% with no delay compared with 17.0% with a 10-week delay and 22.9% with a 6-month delay. CONCLUSIONS: Delays in ART initiation, common in routine HIV programs, can lead to important increases in mortality. Prompt ART initiation for patients entering clinical care and eligible for ART, especially those with lower CD4 counts, could be a relatively low-cost approach with a potential marked impact on mortality

Shear yielding of amorphous glassy solids: Effect of temperature and strain rate

We study shear yielding and steady state flow of glassy materials with molecular dynamics simulations of two standard models: amorphous polymers and bidisperse Lennard-Jones glasses. For a fixed strain rate, the maximum shear yield stress and the steady state flow stress in simple shear both drop linearly with increasing temperature. The dependence on strain rate can be described by a either a logarithm or a power-law added to a constant. In marked contrast to predictions of traditional thermal activation models, the rate dependence is nearly independent of temperature. The relation to more recent models of plastic deformation and glassy rheology is discussed, and the dynamics of particles and stress in small regions is examined in light of these findings

Electrochemical Interaction of Few-Layer Molybdenum Disulfide Composites vs Sodium: New Insights on the Reaction Mechanism

The direct observation of real time electrochemical processes is of great importance for fundamental research on battery materials. Here, we use electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy to monitor the electrochemical reaction of sodium ions with few-layer MoS2 and its composite with carbon nanotubes (CNTs), thereby uncovering new details of the reaction mechanism. We propose that the sodiation reaction takes place initially in structural defects at the MoS2 surface that have been created during the synthetic process (ultrasonic exfoliation), leading to a decrease in the density of Mo5+ at low symmetry sites that can be related to the electrochemical irreversibility of the process. In the case of the few-layer MoS2/CNTs composite, we found metallic-type conduction behavior for the electrons associated with the Mo paramagnetic centers and improved electrochemical reversibility. The reversible nature of the EPR spectra implies that adsorption/desorption of Na+ ions occurs on the Mo5+ defects, or that they are neutralized during sodiation and subsequently created upon Na+ extraction. These effects help us to understand the higher capacities obtained in the exfoliated samples, as the sum of electrosorption of ions and faradaic effects, and support the suggestion of a different reaction mechanism in the few-layer chalcogenide, which is not exclusively an insertion process

Weighting for the beat: Using a dance cue to facilitate turning in people with Parkinson's Disease and freezing of gait

Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Freezing of gait (FOG) can severely compromise daily functioning in people with Parkinson’s disease. Inability to initiate a step from FOG is likely underpinned, at least in part, by a deficient preparatory weight-shift. Conscious attempts to weight-shift in preparation to step can improve success of initiating forward steps following FOG. However, FOG often occurs during turning, where weight-shifting is more complex and risk of falling is higher. We explored the effectiveness of a dance-based (‘cha-cha’) weight-shifting strategy to re-initiate stepping following FOG during turning. Results suggest that this simple movement strategy can enhance turning steps following FOG, without compromising safety.Parkinson's UK project grant (K-1604)