The effect of stress and anxiety associated with maternal prenatal diagnosis on feto-maternal attachment

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A couple's decision to undergo an invasive test based on a screening test result is a process associated with anxiety. The aim of this study was to determine whether anxiety and prenatal attachment were affected by undergoing an invasive test compared to women in early pregnancy and after a reassuring anomaly scan.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>200 women were recruited at booking, 14 women and 20 partners after an invasive test and 81 women following an anomaly scan. A questionnaire was completed using the Beck Anxiety Inventory and Maternal or Paternal Antenatal Attachment Scales.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Women who have had an invasive test have higher levels of anxiety compared to women at booking (P < 0.01) and after an anomaly scan (P = 0.002). Anxiety declines from booking to the time of an anomaly scan (P = 0.025), whilst attachment increases (P < 0.001). There is a positive correlation between anxiety and attachment in women who have had an invasive test (r = 0.479). Partners of women undergoing an invasive test experience lower levels of anxiety (P < 0.05).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Women undergoing prenatal diagnostic procedures experience more psychological distress, which may be currently underestimated. Establishment of interdisciplinary treatment settings where access to psychological support is facilitated may be beneficial.</p

Cardiovascular risk assessment scores for people with diabetes: a systematic review

People with type 2 diabetes have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Multivariate cardiovascular risk scores have been used in many countries to identify individuals who are at high risk of CVD. These risk scores include those originally developed in individuals with diabetes and those developed in a general population. This article reviews the published evidence for the performance of CVD risk scores in diabetic patients by: (1) examining the overall rationale for using risk scores; (2) systematically reviewing the literature on available scores; and (3) exploring methodological issues surrounding the development, validation and comparison of risk scores. The predictive performance of cardiovascular risk scores varies substantially between different populations. There is little evidence to suggest that risk scores developed in individuals with diabetes estimate cardiovascular risk more accurately than those developed in the general population. The inconsistency in the methods used in evaluation studies makes it difficult to compare and summarise the predictive ability of risk scores. Overall, CVD risk scores rank individuals reasonably accurately and are therefore useful in the management of diabetes with regard to targeting therapy to patients at highest risk. However, due to the uncertainty in estimation of true risk, care is needed when using scores to communicate absolute CVD risk to individuals

DEIMOS: A beamline dedicated to dichroism measurements in the 350-2500 eV energy range:

The DEIMOS (Dichroism Experimental Installation for Magneto-Optical Spectroscopy) beamline was part of the second phase of the beamline development at French Synchrotron SOLEIL (Source Optimisee de Lumiere a Energie Intermediaire du LURE) and opened to users in March 2011. It delivers polarized soft x-rays to perform x-ray absorption spectroscopy, x-ray magnetic circular dichroism, and x-ray linear dichroism in the energy range 350-2500 eV. The beamline has been optimized for stability and reproducibility in terms of photon flux and photon energy. The main end-station consists in a cryo-magnet with 2 split coils providing a 7 T magnetic field along the beam or 2 T perpendicular to the beam with a controllable temperature on the sample from 370 K down to 1.5 K. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC

A Meta-Analysis of Probiotic Efficacy for Gastrointestinal Diseases

Background: Meta-analyses on the effects of probiotics on specific gastrointestinal diseases have generally shown positive effects on disease prevention and treatment; however, the relative efficacy of probiotic use for treatment and prevention across different gastrointestinal diseases, with differing etiology and mechanisms of action, has not been addressed. Methods/Principal Findings: We included randomized controlled trials in humans that used a specified probiotic in the treatment or prevention of Pouchitis, Infectious diarrhea, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Helicobacter pylori, Clostridium difficile Disease, Antibiotic Associated Diarrhea, Traveler’s Diarrhea, or Necrotizing Enterocolitis. Random effects models were used to evaluate efficacy as pooled relative risks across the eight diseases as well as across probiotic species, single vs. multiple species, patient ages, dosages, and length of treatment. Probiotics had a positive significant effect across all eight gastrointestinal diseases with a relative risk of 0.58 (95 % (CI) 0.51–0.65). Six of the eight diseases: Pouchitis, Infectious diarrhea, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Helicobacter pylori, Clostridium difficile Disease, and Antibiotic Associated Diarrhea, showed positive significant effects. Traveler’s Diarrhea and Necrotizing Enterocolitis did not show significant effects of probiotcs. Of the 11 species and species mixtures, all showed positive significant effects except for Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus plantarum, and Bifidobacterium infantis. Across all diseases and probiotic species, positive significant effects of probiotics were observed for all age groups, single vs. multiple species, and treatment lengths

Traitement théorique du spectre d'absorption translationnelle induit dans les mélanges de gaz rares

A theoretical study of the absorption coefficient based upon a quantum mechanical description of the translational motion is presented. Calculations are developed within the framework of a model using a particular form of both the potential and the induced moment. Terms corresponding to quantum effects appear in the expansion of the transition probability function. Furthermore the influence of these quantum effects on the reduced total intensity has been determined exactly.On présente une étude théorique du coefficient d'absorption sur la base d'une descrip- tion quantique du mouvement de translation. On développe ensuite un calcul dans le cadre d'un modèle faisant intervenir une forme particulière du potentiel et du moment induit. Des termes correspondant à des effets quantiques apparaissent dans le développement de la probabilité de transition. Par ailleurs, l'influence de ces effets quantiques sur l'intensité totale réduite a pu être déterminée de façon exacte

Cuve haute pression à fenêtres en diamant pour spectroscopie d'absorption en infrarouge lointain (16 à 250 cm-1)

In order to study compressed fluids throughout the entire frequency range of the Lecomte and Hadni far infrared spectrometer (Cameca SI 36), we have found necessary to construct a high pressure cell with diamond windows. We describe in this article the high pressure cell with its accessories, as well as the focalisation of the beam on the detector.L'étude spectroscopique des fluides comprimés sur tout le domaine spectral du spectromètre pour infrarouge lointain de Lecomte et Hadni (Cameca SI 36) (16 à 250 cm-1) conduit à réaliser une cuve haute pression à fenêtres en diamant. La cuve comporte un système de serrage élastique contrôlé des fenêtres. Le trajet optique est entièrement assuré par des guides de lumière sous vide. On décrit un système de refocalisation du faisceau lumineux sur le détecteur à la sortie du guide

n-hexane soot oxidation reactivity in N

This paper discusses some aspects of n-hexane soot reactivity in a multi-pin to plate pulsed corona discharge working in the nanosecond regime at atmospheric pressure. The soot-discharge interaction was quantified by measuring the densities of CO, CO2, O3 and NO2 out-coming from the discharge cell. Results showed that CO2 is the major product of soot oxidation. They also showed a strong enhancement of soot oxidation for O2 percentage greater than 10% and cathode temperatures above 425 K. The soot reactivity is significantly enhanced when the discharge frequency is increased. The results obtained were interpreted in term of the competition between the kinetics of plasma active species adsorption and oxidation product desorption