Identification of hypoglycemic states for patients with T1DM using various parameters derived from EEG signals

For patients with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus (T1DM), hypoglycemia is a very common but dangerous complication which can lead to unconsciousness, coma and even death. The variety of hypoglycemia symptoms is originated from the inadequate supply of glucose to the brain. In this study, we explore the connection between hypoglycemic episodes and the electrical activity of neurons within the brain or electroencephalogram (EEG) signals. By analyzing EEG signals from a clinical study of five children with T1DM, associated with hypoglycemia at night, we find that some EEG parameters change significantly under hypoglycemia condition. Based on these parameters, a method of detecting hypoglycemic episodes using EEG signals with a feed-forward multi-layer neural network is proposed. In our application, the classification results are 72% sensitivity and 55% specificity when the EEG signals are acquired from 2 electrodes C3 and O2. Furthermore, signals from different channels are also analyzed to observe the contributions of each channel to the performance of hypoglycemia classification. © 2011 IEEE

Measurement properties of quality of life measurement instruments for infants, children and adolescents with eczema: protocol for a systematic review

Background: Eczema is a common chronic or chronically relapsing skin disease that has a substantial impact on quality of life (QoL). By means of a consensus-based process, the Harmonising Outcome Measures in Eczema (HOME) initiative has identified QoL as one of the four core outcome domains to be assessed in all eczema trials. Few measurement instruments exist to measure QoL in infants and children with eczema, but there is a great variability in both content and quality (for example, reliability and validity) of the instruments used, and it is not always clear if the best instrument is being used. Therefore, the aim of the proposed research is a comprehensive systematic assessment of the measurement properties of the existing measurement instruments that were developed and/or validated for the measurement of patient-reported QoL in infants and children with eczema. Methods/Design: This study is a systematic review of the measurement properties of patient-reported measures of QoL developed and/or validated for infants and children with eczema. Medline via PubMed and EMBASE will be searched using a selection of relevant search terms. Eligible studies will be primary empirical studies evaluating, describing, or comparing measurement properties of QoL instruments for infants and children with eczema. Eligibility assessment and data abstraction will be performed independently by two reviewers. Evidence tables will be generated for study characteristics, instrument characteristics, measurement properties, and interpretability. The adequacy of the measurement properties will be assessed using predefined criteria. Methodological quality of studies will be assessed using the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) checklist. A best evidence synthesis will be undertaken if more than one study has investigated a particular measurement property. Discussion: The proposed systematic review will produce a comprehensive assessment of measurement properties of existing QoL instruments in infants and children with eczema. We aim to identify one best currently available instrument to measure QoL in infants and/or children with eczema

Measurements of the longitudinal energy distribution of low energy electrons

The Transverse Energy Spread Spectrometer (TESS) is an ASTeC experiment designed to measure the energy of electrons from different cathode materials. It is a dedicated test stand for future light sources. A full particle tracking code has been developed in the QUASAR Group, which simulates particle trajectories through TESS. Using this code it is possible to simulate different operational conditions of the experiment and cathode materials. The simulation results can then be benchmarked against experimental data to test the validity of the emission and beam transport model. Within this paper, results from simulation studies are presented and compared against experimental data as a collaboration within the Cockcroft Institute between ASTeC and the QUASAR Group for the case of measuring the longitudinal velocity distribution of electrons emitted from a gallium arsenide cathode using a grid structure as an energy filter

Depressed Adolescents’ Pupillary Response to Peer Acceptance and Rejection: The Role of Rumination

Heightened emotional reactivity to peer feedback is predictive of adolescents’ depression risk. Examining variation in emotional reactivity within currently depressed adolescents may identify subgroups that struggle the most with these daily interactions. We tested whether trait rumination, which amplifies emotional reactions, explained variance in depressed adolescents’ physiological reactivity to peer feedback, hypothesizing that rumination would be associated with greater pupillary response to peer rejection and diminished response to peer acceptance. Twenty currently depressed adolescents (12–17) completed a virtual peer interaction paradigm where they received fictitious rejection and acceptance feedback. Pupillary response provided a time-sensitive index of physiological arousal. Rumination was associated with greater initial pupil dilation to both peer rejection and acceptance, and diminished late pupillary response to peer acceptance trials only. Results indicate that depressed adolescents high on trait rumination are more reactive to social feedback regardless of valence, but fail to sustain cognitive-affective load on positive feedback

Factors associated with crisis pregnancies in Ireland: Findings from three nationally representative sexual health surveys

Background: Findings on the demographic and sexual health characteristics associated with the experience of a crisis pregnancy is important to inform the public health policy of a country, including Ireland. Findings from other jurisdictions have suggested that certain demographic groups are at risk for unintended pregnancies and the disparity between the groups have been growing in recent years. Ireland is a country which experienced much economic and societal change in the first decade of the 21st century, changes which are likely to have affected demographic variables pertaining to sexual health. The current study had two aims: to investigate changes in the socioeconomic characteristics associated with crisis pregnancies over a seven year period [2003 to 2010], and to investigate the recent [2010] socioeconomic risk factors associated with crisis pregnancies in Ireland. Methods: The study compared the results from 18-45 year old women using data from three broadly similar nationally representative Irish sexual health surveys carried out in 2003, 2004-2006 and 2010. Chi square analysis compared of the socioeconomic characteristics across the seven year period and found that a higher proportion of women with two or more children and women for whom religion was not important reported a crisis pregnancy in 2010 compared with earlier years. A logistic regression then investigated the sexual health history and socioeconomic factors associated with the experience of a recent crisis pregnancy using the most recent 2010 data. Results: Receipt of sex education and contraception use at first sex significantly predicted the experiencing of a recent crisis pregnancy. Younger women and those with a lower level of education were more likely to report having experienced a recent crisis pregnancy. Conclusion: Similar demographic groups are at risk for experiencing a crisis pregnancy in Ireland compared with international research, yet the disparities between demographic groups who have experienced a crisis pregnancy appear to be decreasing rather than increasing over a seven year period. Recommendations are made with regard to the provision of continued sex education throughout the lifespan, particularly for those women who are at an increased risk of experiencing a crisis pregnancy

Measurement properties of asthma-specific quality-of-life measures: protocol for a systematic

Background: Asthma is a frequent chronic inflammatory disease of the airways, and the assessment of health-related quality of life (HrQoL) is important in both research and routine care. Various asthma-specific measures of HrQoL exist but there is uncertainty which measures are best suited for use in research and routine care. Therefore, the aim of the proposed research is a comprehensive systematic assessment of the measurement properties of the existing measures that were developed to measure asthma-specific quality of life. Methods/design: This study is a systematic review of the measurement properties of asthma-specific measures of health-related quality of life. PubMed and Embase will be searched using a selection of relevant search terms. Eligible studies will be primary empirical studies evaluating, describing or comparing measurement properties of asthma-specific HRQL tools. Eligibility assessment and data abstraction will be performed independently by two reviewers. Evidence tables will be generated for study characteristics, instrument characteristics, measurement properties and interpretability. The quality of the measurement properties will be assessed using predefined criteria. Methodological quality of studies will be assessed using the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) checklist. A best evidence synthesis will be undertaken if more than one study have investigated a particular measurement property. Discussion: The proposed systematic review will produce a comprehensive assessment of measurement properties of existing measures of asthma-specific health-related quality of life. We also aim to derive recommendations in order to help researchers and practitioners alike in the choice of instrument

Breast cancer risk in relation to history of preeclampsia and hyperemesis gravidarum: Prospective analysis in the Generations Study.

Preeclampsia and hyperemesis are pregnancy complications associated with altered sex hormone levels. Previous studies suggest preeclampsia may be associated with a decreased risk of subsequent breast cancer and hyperemesis with an increased risk, but the evidence remains unclear. We used data from the Generations Study, a large prospective study of women in the United Kingdom, to estimate relative risks of breast cancer in relation to a history of preeclampsia and hyperemesis using Cox Regression adjusting for known breast cancer risk factors. During 7.5 years average follow-up of 82,053 parous women, 1,969 were diagnosed with invasive or in-situ breast cancer. Women who had experienced preeclampsia during pregnancy had a significantly decreased risk of premenopausal breast cancer (hazard ratio (HR) =0.67, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.49-0.90) and of HER2-enriched tumours (HR=0.33, 95% CI: 0.12-0.91), but there was no association with overall (HR=0.90, 95% CI: 0.80-1.02) or postmenopausal (HR=0.97, 95% CI: 0.85-1.12) breast cancer risk. Risk reductions among premenopausal women were strongest within 20 years since the last pregnancy with preeclampsia. Hyperemesis was associated with a significantly increased risk of HER2-enriched tumours (HR=1.76, 95% CI: 1.07-2.87), but not with other intrinsic subtypes or breast cancer risk overall. These results provide evidence that preeclampsia is associated with a decreased risk of premenopausal and HER2-enriched breast cancer and that hyperemesis, although not associated with breast cancer risk overall, may be associated with raised risk of HER2-enriched tumours. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

Smoking and risk of breast cancer in the Generations Study cohort.

Plausible biological reasons exist regarding why smoking could affect breast cancer risk, but epidemiological evidence is inconsistent.We used serial questionnaire information from the Generations Study cohort (United Kingdom) to estimate HRs for breast cancer in relation to smoking adjusted for potentially confounding factors, including alcohol intake.Among 102,927 women recruited 2003-2013, with an average of 7.7 years of follow-up, 1815 developed invasive breast cancer. The HR (reference group was never smokers) was 1.14 (95% CI 1.03-1.25; P = 0.010) for ever smokers, 1.24 (95% CI 1.08-1.43; P = 0.002) for starting smoking at ages < 17 years, and 1.23 (1.07-1.41; P = 0.004) for starting smoking 1-4 years after menarche. Breast cancer risk was not statistically associated with interval from initiation of smoking to first birth (P-trend = 0.97). Women with a family history of breast cancer (ever smoker vs never smoker HR 1.35; 95% CI 1.12-1.62; P = 0.002) had a significantly larger HR in relation to ever smokers (P for interaction = 0.039) than women without (ever smoker vs never smoker HR 1.07; 95% CI 0.96-1.20; P = 0.22). The interaction was prominent for age at starting smoking (P = 0.003) and starting smoking relative to age at menarche (P = 0.0001).Smoking was associated with a modest but significantly increased risk of breast cancer, particularly among women who started smoking at adolescent or peri-menarcheal ages. The relative risk of breast cancer associated with smoking was greater for women with a family history of the disease