Decreased Cognitive/CNS Function in Young Adults at Risk for Hypertension: Effects of Sleep Deprivation

Hypertension has been linked to impaired cognitive/CNS function, and some of these changes may precede development of frank essential hypertension. The stress and fatigue of sleep deprivation may exacerbate these cognitive changes in young adults at risk. We hypothesize that individuals at risk for hypertension will show significant declines in cognitive function during a night of sleep deprivation. Fifty-one young adults were recruited for 28-hour total sleep deprivation studies. Hypertension risk was assessed by mildly elevated resting blood pressure and by family history of hypertension. A series of cognitive memory tasks was given at four test sessions across the sleep deprivation period. Although initially comparable in cognitive performance, persons at risk showed larger declines across the night for several indices of working memory, including code substitution, category, and order recall. These results suggest that cognitive/CNS changes may parallel or precede blood pressure dysregulation in the early stages of hypertension development. The role of CNS changes in the etiology of essential hypertension is discussed

Auditory Attention and Comprehension During a Simulated Night Shift: Effects of Task Characteristics

OBJECTIVE: The current study investigated performance on a dual auditory task during a simulated night shift. BACKGROUND: Night shifts and sleep deprivation negatively affect performance on vigilance-based tasks, but less is known about the effects on complex tasks. Because language processing is necessary for successful work performance, it is important to understand how it is affected by night work and sleep deprivation. METHOD: Sixty-two participants completed a simulated night shift resulting in 28 hr of total sleep deprivation. Performance on a vigilance task and a dual auditory language task was examined across four testing sessions. RESULTS: The results indicate that working at night negatively impacts vigilance, auditory attention, and comprehension. The effects on the auditory task varied based on the content of the auditory material. When the material was interesting and easy, the participants performed better. Night work had a greater negative effect when the auditory material was less interesting and more difficult. CONCLUSION: These findings support research that vigilance decreases during the night. The results suggest that auditory comprehension suffers when individuals are required to work at night. Maintaining attention and controlling effort especially on passages that are less interesting or more difficult could improve performance during night shifts. APPLICATION: The results from the current study apply to many work environments where decision making is necessary in response to complex auditory information. Better predicting the effects of night work on language processing is important for developing improved means of coping with shiftwork

Tissue tolerance: an essential but elusive trait for salt-tolerant crops

For a plant to persist in saline soil, osmotic adjustment of all plant cells is essential. The more salt-tolerant species accumulate Na+ and Cl– to concentrations in leaves and roots that are similar to the external solution, thus allowing energy-efficient osmotic adjustment. Adverse effects of Na+ and Cl– on metabolism must be avoided, resulting in a situation known as ‘tissue tolerance’. The strategy of sequestering Na+ and Cl– in vacuoles and keeping concentrations low in the cytoplasm is an important contributor to tissue tolerance. Although there are clear differences between species in the ability to accommodate these ions in their leaves, it remains unknown whether there is genetic variation in this ability within a species. This viewpoint considers the concept of tissue tolerance, and how to measure it. Four conclusions are drawn: (1) osmotic adjustment is inseparable from the trait of tissue tolerance; (2) energy-efficient osmotic adjustment should involve ions and only minimal organic solutes; (3) screening methods should focus on measuring tolerance, not injury; and (4) high-throughput protocols that avoid the need for control plants and multiple Na+ or Cl- measurements should be developed. We present guidelines to identify useful genetic variation in tissue tolerance that can be harnessed for plant breeding of salt tolerance

Measurement of the production of a W boson in association with a charm quark in pp collisions at √s = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The production of a W boson in association with a single charm quark is studied using 4.6 fb−1 of pp collision data at s√ = 7 TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. In events in which a W boson decays to an electron or muon, the charm quark is tagged either by its semileptonic decay to a muon or by the presence of a charmed meson. The integrated and differential cross sections as a function of the pseudorapidity of the lepton from the W-boson decay are measured. Results are compared to the predictions of next-to-leading-order QCD calculations obtained from various parton distribution function parameterisations. The ratio of the strange-to-down sea-quark distributions is determined to be 0.96+0.26−0.30 at Q 2 = 1.9 GeV2, which supports the hypothesis of an SU(3)-symmetric composition of the light-quark sea. Additionally, the cross-section ratio σ(W + +c¯¯)/σ(W − + c) is compared to the predictions obtained using parton distribution function parameterisations with different assumptions about the s−s¯¯¯ quark asymmetry

Carotid Baroreflex Activation: Past, Present, and Future

Electrical activation of the carotid baroreceptor system is an attractive therapy for the treatment of resistant hypertension. In the past, several attempts were made to directly activate the baroreceptor system in humans, but the method had to be restricted to a few selected patients. Adverse effects, the need for better electrical devices and better surgical techniques, and the lack of knowledge about long-term effects has greatly hampered developments in this area for many years. Recently, a new and promising device was evaluated in a multicenter feasibility trial, which showed a clinically and statistically significant reduction in office systolic blood pressure (>20 mm Hg). This reduction could be sustained for at least 2 years with an acceptable safety profile. In the future, this new device may stimulate further application of electrical activation of the carotid baroreflex in treatment-resistant hypertension

Search for Supersymmetry with Gauge-Mediated Breaking in Diphoton Events with Missing Transverse Energy at CDF II

accepted to Phys. Rev. LettWe present the results of a search for supersymmetry with gauge-mediated breaking and \NONE\to\gamma\Gravitino in the $\gamma\gamma$+missing transverse energy final state. In 2.6$\pm$0.2 \invfb of $p{\bar p}$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}$$=$1.96 TeV recorded by the CDF II detector we observe no candidate events, consistent with a standard model background expectation of 1.4$\pm$0.4 events. We set limits on the cross section at the 95% C.L. and place the world's best limit of 149\gevc on the \none mass at $\tau_{\tilde{\chi}_1^0}$$We present the results of a search for supersymmetry with gauge-mediated breaking and χ˜10→γG˜ in the γγ+missing transverse energy final state. In 2.6±0.2  fb-1 of pp̅ collisions at √s=1.96  TeV recorded by the CDF II detector we observe no candidate events, consistent with a standard model background expectation of 1.4±0.4 events. We set limits on the cross section at the 95% C.L. and place the world’s best limit of 149  GeV/c2 on the χ˜10 mass at τχ˜10≪1  ns. We also exclude regions in the χ˜10 mass-lifetime plane for τχ˜10≲2  ns.Peer reviewe

Measurements of branching fraction ratios and CP asymmetries in B+/- ->D_CP K+/- decays in hadron collisions

We reconstruct B+/- -> D K+/- decays in a data sample collected by the CDF II detector at the Tevatron collider corresponding to 1 fb-1 of integrated luminosity. We select decay modes where the D meson decays to either K- pi+ (flavor eigenstate) or K- K+, pi- pi+ (CP-even eigenstates), and measure the direct CP asymmetry A_CP+ = 0.39 +/- 0.17(stat) +/- 0.04(syst), and the double ratio of CP-even to flavor eigenstate branching fractions R_CP+ = 1.30 +/- 0.24(stat) +/- 0.12(syst). These measurements will improve the determination of the CKM angle gamma. They are performed here for the first time using data from hadron collisions.We reconstruct B±→DK± decays in a data sample collected by the CDF II detector at the Tevatron collider corresponding to 1  fb-1 of integrated luminosity. We select decay modes where the D meson decays to either K-π+ (flavor eigenstate) or K-K+, π-π+ (CP-even eigenstates), and measure the direct CP asymmetry ACP+=0.39±0.17(stat)±0.04(syst), and the double ratio of CP-even to flavor eigenstate branching fractions RCP+=1.30±0.24(stat)±0.12(syst). These measurements will improve the determination of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa angle γ. They are performed here for the first time using data from hadron collisions.Peer reviewe