Central precocious puberty during COVID-19 pandemic and sleep disturbance: an exploratory study

Background: Increased incidence of central precocious puberty (CPP) after coronavirus infectious disease-19 lockdown has been reported. Our study aims in investigating changes in CPP rates and in sleep patterns in CPP and healthy controls. Methods: CPP were retrospectively evaluated from April 2020 to April 2021. Parents of girls diagnosed with CPP during lockdown and of matched healthy controls filled out a questionnaire about sleep disturbances (SDSC questionnaire) and sleep schedules. Results: Thirty-five CPP and 37 controls completed the survey. Incidence of new CPP cases significantly increased in 2020–2021 compared to 2017–2020 (5:100 vs 2:100, p = 0.02). Sleep disturbance rates did not differ between CPP and healthy controls before lockdown. During lockdown, CPP reported higher rates of sleep disturbs for total score (p = 0.005), excessive somnolence (p = 0.049), sleep breathing disorders (p = 0.049), and sleep–wake transition disorders (p = 0.005). Moreover, CPP group more frequently shifted toward later bedtime (p = 0.03) during lockdown compared to controls. Hours of sleep and smartphone exposure around bedtime did not differ between groups. Conclusions: Our study confirms the observation of increased incidence of CPP after lockdown measures. Additionally, CPP showed higher rates of sleep disturbances and later bedtime compared to controls. The causality link between sleep disturbances and CPP should be further investigated to gain knowledge in this association

High-density mapping to guide ablation of a right bundle branch morphology premature ventricular contraction from the right outflow tract

The Rhythmia ultrahigh-density mapping system with a specific algorithm seems to be helpful in identifying the target area to successfully treat multiple morphologies by catheter ablation in the right ventricular outflow tract RVOT. Interestingly, the acquisition process seemed to be extremely faster than a standard manual point-by-point premature ventricular contraction (PVC) mapping

Endothelial-Mesenchymal Transition of Brain Endothelial Cells: Possible Role during Metastatic Extravasation

Cancer progression towards metastasis follows a defined sequence of events described as the metastatic cascade. For extravasation and transendothelial migration metastatic cells interact first with endothelial cells. Yet the role of endothelial cells during the process of metastasis formation and extravasation is still unclear, and the interaction between metastatic and endothelial cells during transendothelial migration is poorly understood. Since tumor cells are well known to express TGF-beta, and the compact endothelial layer undergoes a series of changes during metastatic extravasation (cell contact disruption, cytoskeletal reorganization, enhanced contractility), we hypothesized that an EndMT may be necessary for metastatic extravasation. We demonstrate that primary cultured rat brain endothelial cells (BEC) undergo EndMT upon TGF-beta 1 treatment, characterized by the loss of tight and adherens junction proteins, expression of fibronectin, beta 1-integrin, calponin and a-smooth muscle actin (SMA). B16/F10 cell line conditioned and activated medium (ACM) had similar effects: claudin-5 down-regulation, fibronectin and SMA expression. Inhibition of TGF-beta signaling during B16/F10 ACM stimulation using SB-431542 maintained claudin-5 levels and mitigated fibronectin and SMA expression. B16/F10 ACM stimulation of BECs led to phosphorylation of Smad2 and Smad3. SB-431542 prevented SMA up-regulation upon stimulation of BECs with A2058, MCF-7 and MDA-MB231 ACM as well. Moreover, B16/F10 ACM caused a reduction in trans-endothelial electrical resistance, enhanced the number of melanoma cells adhering to and transmigrating through the endothelial layer, in a TGF-beta-dependent manner. These effects were not confined to BECs: HUVECs showed TGF-beta-dependent SMA expression when stimulated with breast cancer cell line ACM. Our results indicate that an EndMT may be necessary for metastatic transendothelial migration, and this transition may be one of the potential mechanisms occurring during the complex phenomenon known as metastatic extravasation

Plasma-wall interaction studies within the EUROfusion consortium: Progress on plasma-facing components development and qualification

This work has been carried out within the framework of the EUROfusion Consortium and has received funding from the Euratom research and training programme 2014-2018 under grant agreement No 633053. The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of the European Commission.The provision of a particle and power exhaust solution which is compatible with first-wall components and edge-plasma conditions is a key area of present-day fusion research and mandatory for a successful operation of ITER and DEMO. The work package plasma-facing components (WP PFC) within the European fusion programme complements with laboratory experiments, i.e. in linear plasma devices, electron and ion beam loading facilities, the studies performed in toroidally confined magnetic devices, such as JET, ASDEX Upgrade, WEST etc. The connection of both groups is done via common physics and engineering studies, including the qualification and specification of plasma-facing components, and by modelling codes that simulate edge-plasma conditions and the plasma-material interaction as well as the study of fundamental processes. WP PFC addresses these critical points in order to ensure reliable and efficient use of conventional, solid PFCs in ITER (Be and W) and DEMO (W and steel) with respect to heat-load capabilities (transient and steady-state heat and particle loads), lifetime estimates (erosion, material mixing and surface morphology), and safety aspects (fuel retention, fuel removal, material migration and dust formation) particularly for quasi-steady-state conditions. Alternative scenarios and concepts (liquid Sn or Li as PFCs) for DEMO are developed and tested in the event that the conventional solution turns out to not be functional. Here, we present an overview of the activities with an emphasis on a few key results: (i) the observed synergistic effects in particle and heat loading of ITER-grade W with the available set of exposition devices on material properties such as roughness, ductility and microstructure; (ii) the progress in understanding of fuel retention, diffusion and outgassing in different W-based materials, including the impact of damage and impurities like N; and (iii), the preferential sputtering of Fe in EUROFER steel providing an in situ W surface and a potential first-wall solution for DEMO.European Commission; Consortium for Ocean Leadership 633053; Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia as the Center of Excellence has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme H2020-WIDESPREAD-01-2016-2017-TeamingPhase2 under grant agreement No. 739508, project CAMART

On the mechanisms governing gas penetration into a tokamak plasma during a massive gas injection

A new 1D radial fluid code, IMAGINE, is used to simulate the penetration of gas into a tokamak plasma during a massive gas injection (MGI). The main result is that the gas is in general strongly braked as it reaches the plasma, due to mechanisms related to charge exchange and (to a smaller extent) recombination. As a result, only a fraction of the gas penetrates into the plasma. Also, a shock wave is created in the gas which propagates away from the plasma, braking and compressing the incoming gas. Simulation results are quantitatively consistent, at least in terms of orders of magnitude, with experimental data for a D 2 MGI into a JET Ohmic plasma. Simulations of MGI into the background plasma surrounding a runaway electron beam show that if the background electron density is too high, the gas may not penetrate, suggesting a possible explanation for the recent results of Reux et al in JET (2015 Nucl. Fusion 55 093013)