Aging is associated with positive responding to neutral information but reduced recovery from negative information

Studies on aging and emotion suggest an increase in reported positive affect, a processing bias of positive over negative information, as well as increasingly adaptive regulation in response to negative events with advancing age. These findings imply that older individuals evaluate information differently, resulting in lowered reactivity to, and/or faster recovery from, negative information, while maintaining more positive responding to positive information. We examined this hypothesis in an ongoing study on Midlife in the US (MIDUS II) where emotional reactivity and recovery were assessed in a large number of respondents (N = 159) from a wide age range (36–84 years). We recorded eye-blink startle magnitudes and corrugator activity during and after the presentation of positive, neutral and negative pictures. The most robust age effect was found in response to neutral stimuli, where increasing age is associated with a decreased corrugator and eyeblink startle response to neutral stimuli. These data suggest that an age-related positivity effect does not essentially alter the response to emotion-laden information, but is reflected in a more positive interpretation of affectively ambiguous information. Furthermore, older women showed reduced corrugator recovery from negative pictures relative to the younger women and men, suggesting that an age-related prioritization of well-being is not necessarily reflected in adaptive regulation of negative affect

Perioperative hypothermia is associated with increased 30-day mortality in hip fracture patients in the UK. Α systematic review and meta-analysis

Introduction/Objectives: Peri-operative hypothermia is common in trauma and surgical patients. The aim of this study was to undertake a systematic review and meta-analysis to determine the relationship between perioperative hypothermia and mortality following surgery for hip fracture. A systematic literature search of Medline, EMBASE, CINAHL, and Cochrane CENTRAL databases was performed using the Cochrane methodology for systematic reviews. The identified studies were assessed and compared against predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Data extraction and quality appraisal was performed on selected articles. A meta-analysis was conducted using a random-effects model. The literature search identified 1016 records. After removing duplicates and those not meeting inclusion criteria, 3 studies measuring 30-day mortality were included. All included studies were carried out in the UK. The mortality rate was higher in the hypothermic groups as compared to the normothermic group in all the studies, with the difference being significant in two of the studies (p<0.0001). The meta-analysis showed that low body temperature was associated with an increased mortality risk (estimated OR: 2.660; 95%CI:1.948-3.632, P<0.001) in patients undergoing surgery for hip fracture. This study shows that low body temperature in hip fracture patients is associated with an increased 30-day mortality risk in the UK. Randomised control trials are required to determine whether the association between perioperative hypothermia in hip fracture patients and mortality is causal. Nevertheless, based on this analysis we urge the maintenance of normal body temperature in the peri-operative period to be included in national hip fracture guidelines. Prognostic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2021 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.

QCD equation of state matched to lattice data and exhibiting a critical point singularity

We construct a family of equations of state for QCD in the temperature range 30MeV≤T≤800MeV and in the chemical potential range 0≤μ_{B}≤450MeV. These equations of state match available lattice QCD results up to O(μ_{B}^{4}) and in each of them we place a critical point in the three-dimensional (3D) Ising model universality class. The position of this critical point can be chosen in the range of chemical potentials covered by the second Beam Energy Scan at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. We discuss possible choices for the free parameters, which arise from mapping the Ising model onto QCD. Our results for the pressure, entropy density, baryon density, energy density, and speed of sound can be used as inputs in the hydrodynamical simulations of the fireball created in heavy ion collisions. We also show our result for the second cumulant of the baryon number in thermal equilibrium, displaying its divergence at the critical point. In the future, comparisons between RHIC data and the output of the hydrodynamic simulations, including calculations of fluctuation observables, built upon the model equations of state that we have constructed may be used to locate the critical point in the QCD phase diagram, if there is one to be found

MOS-Technologie fuer Leistungsbauelemente Schlussbericht

With 63 figs., 20 refs. and 11 tabs.SIGLEDEGerman

Behavioral deficits and striatal DA signaling in LRRK2 p.G2019S transgenic rats: a multimodal investigation including PET neuroimaging

Background: A major risk-factor for developing Parkinson's disease (PD) is genetic variability in leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2), most notably the p.G2019S mutation. Examination of the effects of this mutation is necessary to determine the etiology of PD and to guide therapeutic development. Objective: Assess the behavioral consequences of LRRK2 p.G2019S overexpression in transgenic rats as they age and test the functional integrity of the nigro-striatal dopamine system. Conduct positron emission tomography (PET) neuroimaging to compare transgenic rats with previous data from human LRRK2 mutation carriers. Methods: Rats overexpressing human LRRK2 p.G2019S were generated by BAC transgenesis and compared to non-transgenic (NT) littermates. Motor skill tests were performed at 3, 6 and 12 months-of-age. PET, performed at 12 months, assessed the density of dopamine and vesicular monoamine transporters (DAT and VMAT2, respectively) and measured dopamine synthesis, storage and availability. Brain tissue was assayed for D2, DAT, dopamine and cAMP-regulated phosphoprotein (DARPP32) and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) expression by Western blot, and TH by immunohistochemistry. Results: Transgenic rats had no abnormalities in measures of striatal dopamine function at 12 months. A behavioral phenotype was present, with LRRK2 p.G2019S rats performing significantly worse on the rotarod than non-transgenic littermates (26% reduction in average running duration at 6 months), but with normal performance in other motor tests. Conclusions: Neuroimaging using dopaminergic PET did not recapitulate prior studies in human LRRK2 mutation carriers. Consistently, LRRK2 p.G2019S rats do not develop overt neurodegeneration; however, they do exhibit behavioral abnormalities