A Randomized Trial Examining Preoperative Sedative Medication and Post-operative Sleep in Children

Study Objective Midazolam has been found to have beneficial effects on anxiety in children in the preoperative setting. Prior studies have examined various postoperative behaviors of children, but little research has examined the effects of preoperative use of midazolam with postoperative sleep. The purpose of this investigation was to compare postoperative sleep in children as a function of preoperative sedative medication use. Design This study was a 2-group randomized controlled trial. Setting Participants were recruited from Yale-New Haven Children\u27s Hospital. Patients Participants included a convenience sample of 70 children between the ages of 3 to 12 years undergoing ambulatory tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy. Interventions Children were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 groups: a control group who received preoperative acetaminophen only (n = 32) and an experimental group who received both acetaminophen and midazolam preoperatively (n = 38). Measurements Parents completed measures of postoperative behavioral recovery and a subset of children wore actigraphs to examine objective sleep data. Main Results Children who received midazolam experienced similar sleep changes compared to children in the control group. The actigraph data revealed that children who received midazolam were awake significantly less during the night compared to the control group (P= .01). Conclusion Children who received midazolam before surgery had similar postoperative sleep changes compared to children who did not receive midazolam. Further understanding of the postoperative behavioral effects of midazolam on children will help guide healthcare providers in their practice

Controlling and creating plasmonic absorption processes in graphene nanostructures

In this presentation, it will be shown that the plasmonic absorption of a graphene sheet can be enhanced and perturbed in controllable ways by controlling the thickness and permittivity of the supporting substrate. We will show the results of recent experiments where 25% absorption is achieved in the plasmonic modes of a graphene sheet by carefully selecting the properties of an underlying silicon nitride substrate. We also demonstrate how additional absorption pathways can be created by modifying the surrounding dielectric environment to have optical resonances that can couple to the graphene plasmons

Physical, cognitive, social and mental health in near-centenarians and centenarians living in New York City: findings from the Fordham Centenarian Study

Background: Despite their strong increase, the population of the very old, including near-centenarians and centenarians, represent an unstudied and underserved population. Available studies mostly concentrate on predictors of exceptional longevity, but rarely extend their focus to other areas of functioning. Also, little is known about what contributes to experiencing a quality life in very old age. The present population-based study aims at providing a comprehensive picture of key domain of functioning, including physical, cognitive, social and mental function in very old individuals and to determine predictors of mental health indicators. Methods: A total of 119 individuals aged 95 to 107 living in private dwellings and residential care facilities were recruited based on the New York City Voters Registry. Participants answered questions regarding their health and activities of daily living. Their cognitive functioning was determined using the Mini-Mental State Examination and the Global Deterioration Scale. Social resources were measured with number of children and the Lubben Scale. Mental health was assessed with the Geriatric Depression Scale and the Satisfaction with Life Scale. Results: An unexpectedly large proportion of the sample lived in the community. On average, cognitive functioning was high. Although five diseases were reported on average, participants reported good health. Functional status was reduced. Most participants had at least one person for communication/social support. On average, depression was below cut-off, and most participants reported high life satisfaction. Regression analyses indicated that individual differences in depression were associated with subjective health, IADL and relatives support. For life satisfaction, subjective health, ADL and number of children were most important. Demographic characteristics, number of illnesses or cognitive status were not significant. Conclusions: Despite reduced levels of physical functioning and social resources, very old participants were in good mental health suggesting high resilience and ability to adapt to age-associated challenges. That a large proportion of them lived in the community further highlights their desire for leading an autonomous life, which may have been facilitated by New York service culture. More research is necessary to provide guidance for the development of well-suited services for this very old population

The Association of Intensive Blood Pressure Treatment and Non-Fatal Cardiovascular or Serious Adverse Events in Older Adults With Mortality: Mediation Analysis in Sprint

AIMS: Randomized clinical trials of hypertension treatment intensity evaluate the effects on incident major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) and serious adverse events (SAEs). Occurrences after a non-fatal index event have not been rigorously evaluated. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association of intensive (\u3c120 \u3emmHg) to standard (\u3c140 \u3emmHg) blood pressure (BP) treatment with mortality mediated through a non-fatal MACE or non-fatal SAE in 9361 participants in the Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial. METHODS AND RESULTS: Logistic regression and causal mediation modelling to obtain direct and mediated effects of intensive BP treatment. Primary outcome was all-cause mortality (ACM). Secondary outcomes were cardiovascular (CVM) and non-CV mortality (non-CVM). The direct effect of intensive treatment was a lowering of ACM [odds ratio (OR) 0.75, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.60-0.94]. The MACE-mediated effect substantially attenuated (OR 0.96, 95% CI: 0.92-0.99) ACM, while the SAE-mediated effect was associated with increased (OR 1.03, 95% CI: 1.01-1.05) ACM. Similar patterns were noted for intensive BP treatment on CVM and non-CVM. We also noted that SAE incidence was 3.9-fold higher than MACE incidence (13.7 vs. 3.5%), and there were a total of 365 (3.9%) ACM cases, with non-CVM being 2.6-fold higher than CVM [2.81% (263/9361) vs. 1.09% (102/9361)]. The SAE to MACE and non-CVM to CVM preponderance was found across all age groups, with the ≥80-year age group having the highest differences. CONCLUSION: The current analytic techniques demonstrated that intensive BP treatment was associated with an attenuated mortality benefit when it was MACE-mediated and possibly harmful when it was SAE-mediated. Current cardiovascular trial reporting of treatment effects does not allow expansion of the lens to focus on important occurrences after the index event

Controlling and creating plasmonic absorption processes in graphene nanostructures

In this presentation, it will be shown that the plasmonic absorption of a graphene sheet can be enhanced and perturbed in controllable ways by controlling the thickness and permittivity of the supporting substrate. We will show the results of recent experiments where 25% absorption is achieved in the plasmonic modes of a graphene sheet by carefully selecting the properties of an underlying silicon nitride substrate. We also demonstrate how additional absorption pathways can be created by modifying the surrounding dielectric environment to have optical resonances that can couple to the graphene plasmons

Effects of Hepatitis B Surface Antigen on Virus-specific and Global T Cells in Patients With Chronic HBV infection

10.1053/j.gastro.2020.04.019Gastroenterolog

Важливе історико-географічне дослідження

Рец. на кн. Темушева В.Н. "Гомельская земля в конце XV первой половине XVI в. Территориальные трансформации в пограничном регионе". — М.: "Квадрига", 2009. — 190 с.Review of the book: Temushev V.N. "Gomel Land in the Late 15th — the 1st half of the 16th Centuries. Territorial Transformations in the Frontier Area". — Moscow: "Kvadriga", 2009. — 190 p

A multi-stage genome-wide association study of bladder cancer identifies multiple susceptibility loci.

We conducted a multi-stage, genome-wide association study of bladder cancer with a primary scan of 591,637 SNPs in 3,532 affected individuals (cases) and 5,120 controls of European descent from five studies followed by a replication strategy, which included 8,382 cases and 48,275 controls from 16 studies. In a combined analysis, we identified three new regions associated with bladder cancer on chromosomes 22q13.1, 19q12 and 2q37.1: rs1014971, (P = 8 × 10⁻¹²) maps to a non-genic region of chromosome 22q13.1, rs8102137 (P = 2 × 10⁻¹¹) on 19q12 maps to CCNE1 and rs11892031 (P = 1 × 10⁻⁷) maps to the UGT1A cluster on 2q37.1. We confirmed four previously identified genome-wide associations on chromosomes 3q28, 4p16.3, 8q24.21 and 8q24.3, validated previous candidate associations for the GSTM1 deletion (P = 4 × 10⁻¹¹) and a tag SNP for NAT2 acetylation status (P = 4 × 10⁻¹¹), and found interactions with smoking in both regions. Our findings on common variants associated with bladder cancer risk should provide new insights into the mechanisms of carcinogenesis

SQUIDs in biomagnetism : A roadmap towards improved healthcare

This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 686865.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Copper complexes as a source of redox active MRI contrast agents

The study reports an advance in designing copper-based redox sensing MRI contrast agents. Although the data demonstrate that copper(II) complexes are not able to compete with lanthanoids species in terms of contrast, the redox-dependent switch between diamagnetic copper(I) and paramagnetic copper(II) yields a novel redox-sensitive contrast moiety with potential for reversibility