Seizure detection with automated EEG analysis: a validation study focusing on periodic patterns.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate an automated seizure detection (ASD) algorithm in EEGs with periodic and other challenging patterns. METHODS: Selected EEGs recorded in patients over 1year old were classified into four groups: A. Periodic lateralized epileptiform discharges (PLEDs) with intermixed electrical seizures. B. PLEDs without seizures. C. Electrical seizures and no PLEDs. D. No PLEDs or seizures. Recordings were analyzed by the Persyst P12 software, and compared to the raw EEG, interpreted by two experienced neurophysiologists; Positive percent agreement (PPA) and false-positive rates/hour (FPR) were calculated. RESULTS: We assessed 98 recordings (Group A=21 patients; B=29, C=17, D=31). Total duration was 82.7h (median: 1h); containing 268 seizures. The software detected 204 (=76.1%) seizures; all ictal events were captured in 29/38 (76.3%) patients; in only in 3 (7.7%) no seizures were detected. Median PPA was 100% (range 0-100; interquartile range 50-100), and the median FPR 0/h (range 0-75.8; interquartile range 0-4.5); however, lower performances were seen in the groups containing periodic discharges. CONCLUSION: This analysis provides data regarding the yield of the ASD in a particularly difficult subset of EEG recordings, showing that periodic discharges may bias the results. SIGNIFICANCE: Ongoing refinements in this technique might enhance its utility and lead to a more extensive application

Complementary feeding practices in a cohort of Italian late preterm infants

Limited data are available on complementary feeding in preterm infants, who show increased nutritional needs and are at risk of altered postnatal growth. The aim of this study was to investigate the timing and content of complementary feeding in a cohort of late preterm infants. We conducted a prospective, observational study, including mothers who had given birth to infants admitted to level I or II of care with a gestational age between 34 and 36 weeks. Mothers were contacted at 3, 6 and 12 months after delivery by phone calls and were asked about their infant\u2019s mode of feeding and the timing and schedule of the introduction of different solid foods types. A total of 49 mothers and 57 infants completed the study. The mean postnatal age of the introduction of complementary foods was 5.7 \ub1 0.7 months. Low energy and/or low protein-dense foods were first introduced in most infants. Fruit as the first type of complementary food in the infant\u2019s diet was associated with a 1.6-month advance in initiating complementary feeding. The present findings provide further insight into complementary feeding practices in late preterm infants and underline the need for specific recommendations addressing this vulnerable population

ICln : a new regulator of non-erythroid 4.1R localisation and function

To optimise the efficiency of cell machinery, cells can use the same protein (often called a hub protein) to participate in different cell functions by simply changing its target molecules. There are large data sets describing protein-protein interactions ("interactome") but they frequently fail to consider the functional significance of the interactions themselves. We studied the interaction between two potential hub proteins, ICln and 4.1R (in the form of its two splicing variants 4.1R80 and 4.1R135), which are involved in such crucial cell functions as proliferation, RNA processing, cytoskeleton organisation and volume regulation. The sub-cellular localisation and role of native and chimeric 4.1R over-expressed proteins in human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293 cells were examined. ICln interacts with both 4.1R80 and 4.1R135 and its over-expression displaces 4.1R from the membrane regions, thus affecting 4.1R interaction with f-actin. It was found that 4.1R80 and 4.1R135 are differently involved in regulating the swelling activated anion current (ICl,swell) upon hypotonic shock, a condition under which both isoforms are dislocated from the membrane region and thus contribute to ICl,swell current regulation. Both 4.1R isoforms are also differently involved in regulating cell morphology, and ICln counteracts their effects. The findings of this study confirm that 4.1R plays a role in cell volume regulation and cell morphology and indicate that ICln is a new negative regulator of 4.1R functions

Short- and long- term effects of cigarette smoke exposure on glutathione homeostasis in human bronchial epithelial cells

Background: Cigarette smoke extract (CSE), a model for studying the effects of tobacco smoke in vivo and in vitro, induces cell oxidative stress and affects the antioxidative glutathione system. We evaluated the impact of CSE on airway epithelial cells and the possible cytoprotective effect of the mucolitic drug S-carboximethilcysteine lysine salt (S-CMC-Lys). Methods: Reduced glutathione (GSH) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) intracellular levels were evaluated by fluorimetry in human bronchial epithelial cells (16-HBE) and the expression and activity of enzymes of the GSH metabolic pathway were investigated by RT-PCR, Western blot and colorimetric assays. Results: CSE significantly increased cell mortality in a time and dose dependent manner, via an apoptosis-independent pathway. Short-term (3 hours) CSE exposure induced an increase in ROS levels and a GSH intracellular concentration drop. In parallel, the expression of glutathione peroxidases 2 and 3, glutathione reductase and glutamate-cysteine-ligase was increased. S-CMC-Lys was effective in counteracting these effects. Conclusion: CSE affects ROS levels, GSH concentration and GSH enzymes pathway. These effects can be to some extent reversed by S-CMC-Lys, that could represent a therapeutic tool to counteract CSE induced oxidative cellular injuries

Search for displaced vertices arising from decays of new heavy particles in 7 TeV pp collisions at ATLAS

We present the results of a search for new, heavy particles that decay at a significant distance from their production point into a final state containing charged hadrons in association with a high-momentum muon. The search is conducted in a pp-collision data sample with a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV and an integrated luminosity of 33 pb^-1 collected in 2010 by the ATLAS detector operating at the Large Hadron Collider. Production of such particles is expected in various scenarios of physics beyond the standard model. We observe no signal and place limits on the production cross-section of supersymmetric particles in an R-parity-violating scenario as a function of the neutralino lifetime. Limits are presented for different squark and neutralino masses, enabling extension of the limits to a variety of other models.Comment: 8 pages plus author list (20 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version to appear in Physics Letters

Measurement of the polarisation of W bosons produced with large transverse momentum in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS experiment

This paper describes an analysis of the angular distribution of W->enu and W->munu decays, using data from pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2010, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 35 pb^-1. Using the decay lepton transverse momentum and the missing transverse energy, the W decay angular distribution projected onto the transverse plane is obtained and analysed in terms of helicity fractions f0, fL and fR over two ranges of W transverse momentum (ptw): 35 < ptw < 50 GeV and ptw > 50 GeV. Good agreement is found with theoretical predictions. For ptw > 50 GeV, the values of f0 and fL-fR, averaged over charge and lepton flavour, are measured to be : f0 = 0.127 +/- 0.030 +/- 0.108 and fL-fR = 0.252 +/- 0.017 +/- 0.030, where the first uncertainties are statistical, and the second include all systematic effects.Comment: 19 pages plus author list (34 pages total), 9 figures, 11 tables, revised author list, matches European Journal of Physics C versio

Observation of a new chi_b state in radiative transitions to Upsilon(1S) and Upsilon(2S) at ATLAS

The chi_b(nP) quarkonium states are produced in proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV and recorded by the ATLAS detector. Using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.4 fb^-1, these states are reconstructed through their radiative decays to Upsilon(1S,2S) with Upsilon->mu+mu-. In addition to the mass peaks corresponding to the decay modes chi_b(1P,2P)->Upsilon(1S)gamma, a new structure centered at a mass of 10.530+/-0.005 (stat.)+/-0.009 (syst.) GeV is also observed, in both the Upsilon(1S)gamma and Upsilon(2S)gamma decay modes. This is interpreted as the chi_b(3P) system.Comment: 5 pages plus author list (18 pages total), 2 figures, 1 table, corrected author list, matches final version in Physical Review Letter