A trial of three non-invasive blood pressure monitors compared with invasive blood pressure assessment in atrial fibrillation and sinus rhythm

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the accuracy of three non‐invasive blood pressure (BP) devices in atrial fibrillation (AF) compared with invasive arterial BP. METHODS: One hundred patients aged 45‐90 years, 63% male (50 in AF and 50 age matched controls in sinus rhythm [SR]) were identified with arterial lines measuring beat‐to‐beat BP fluctuation. Non‐invasive BP measurements utilising the manual sphygmomanometer (MS), PulseCor R6.5 (PC) and automated sphygmomanometer (AS) were taken simultaneously with invasive BP in a randomised sequence. This was repeated three times in each patient. RESULTS: In SR differences in systolic BP (SBP) for MS, AS and PC were −0.34 mm Hg (95% CI −2.31 to 1.63; P = .733), −3.80 mm Hg (95% CI −5.73 to −1.87; P = .0001) and −3.90 mm Hg (95% CI −5.90 to −1.90; P = .0001) and for diastolic BP (DBP) were 6.02 mm Hg (95% CI 4.39‐7.64; P < .0001), 8.95 mm Hg (95% CI 7.36‐10.55; P < .0001) and 7.54 mm Hg (95% CI 5.89‐9.18; P < .0001), respectively. In AF mean differences in SBP for MS, AS and PC were −7.33 mm Hg (95% CI −9.11 to −5.55; P < .0001), −5.29 mm Hg (95% CI −7.08 to −3.50; P < .0001) and −5.75 mm Hg (95% CI −7.54 to −3.96; P < .0001) respectively and for DBP were 5.28 mm Hg (95% CI 4.03‐6.54; P < .0001), 6.26 mm Hg (95% CI 5.00‐7.52; P < .0001) and 6.89 mm Hg (95% CI 5.64‐8.15; P < .0001) respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The MS is accurate in SR because of direct assessment of Korotkoff sounds. Non‐invasive BP assessment in AF is significantly less accurate. These findings have important prognostic and therapeutic implications

Friend or foe? The current epidemiologic evidence on selenium and human cancer risk.

Scientific opinion on the relationship between selenium and the risk of cancer has undergone radical change over the years, with selenium first viewed as a possible carcinogen in the 1940s then as a possible cancer preventive agent in the 1960s-2000s. More recently, randomized controlled trials have found no effect on cancer risk but suggest possible low-dose dermatologic and endocrine toxicity, and animal studies indicate both carcinogenic and cancer-preventive effects. A growing body of evidence from human and laboratory studies indicates dramatically different biological effects of the various inorganic and organic chemical forms of selenium, which may explain apparent inconsistencies across studies. These chemical form-specific effects also have important implications for exposure and health risk assessment. Overall, available epidemiologic evidence suggests no cancer preventive effect of increased selenium intake in healthy individuals and possible increased risk of other diseases and disorders

Therapeutic approach to Gradenigo's syndrome: a case report

Abstract Introduction Traditional management of Gradenigo's syndrome requires aggressive and radical surgery without any attempt to preserve hearing. Recent reports, however, describe a successful outcome after conservative surgical intervention without labyrinthectomy. A similar outcome has also been reported in patients who were only prescribed with antibiotics and did not undergo myringotomy. Case presentation We report the case of a 24-year-old Caucasian Greek woman with Gradenigo's syndrome who was treated by draining her petrous apex via an infralabyrithine approach between her posterior semicircular canal and the jugular bulb. Her inner ear was not sacrificed during the procedure. She presented pre-operatively with ipsilateral conductive hearing loss, which recovered completely four weeks after the surgery. Conclusions Patients with Gradenigo's syndrome may be successfully treated with a combination of long-term permanent drainage and ventilation of the apical cells with corresponding hearing preservation. This can be achieved via a combination of transmastoid, infralabyrinthine and suprajugular approaches, if such would be allowed by the anatomy of the region or if there is enough space between the posterior semicircular canal and the jugular bulb.</p

Measurement of Exclusive B Decays to Final States Containing a Charmed Baryon

Using data collected by the CLEO detector in the Upsilon(4S) region, we report new measurements of the exclusive decays of B mesons into final states of the type Lambda_c^+ p-bar n(pi), where n=0,1,2,3. We find signals in modes with one, two and three pions and an upper limit for the two body decay Lambda_c^+ pbar. We also make the first measurements of exclusive decays of B mesons to Sigma_c p-bar n(pi), where n=0,1,2. We find signals in modes with one and two pions and an upper limit for the two body decay Sigma_c p-bar. Measurements of these modes shed light on the mechanisms involved in B decays to baryons.Comment: 11 pages postscript, also available through http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLNS, submitted to PR

Measurement of the Masses and Widths of the Sigma_c^++ and Sigma_c^0 Charmed Baryons

Using data recorded by the CLEO II and CLEO II.V detector configurations at CESR, we report new measurements of the masses of the Sigma_c^{++} and Sigma_c^0 charmed baryons, and the first measurements of their intrinsic widths. We find M(Sigma_c^{++}) - M(Lambda_c^+) = 167.4 +- 0.1 +- 0.2 MeV, Gamma(Sigma_c^{++}) = 2.3 +- 0.2 +- 0.3 MeV, and M(Sigma_c^0) - M(Lambda_c^+) = 167.2 +- 0.1 +- 0.2 MeV, Gamma(Sigma_c^0) = 2.5 +- 0.2 +- 0.3 MeV, where the uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively.Comment: 9 pages postscript, also available through http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLNS, submitted to PRD, Rapid Communications. Reference [13] correcte

Evidence for the Decay D0→K+π−π+π−D^0\to K^+ \pi^-\pi^+\pi^-

We present a search for the ``wrong-sign'' decay D0 -> K+ pi- pi+ pi- using 9 fb-1 of e+e- collisions on and just below the Upsilon(4S) resonance. This decay can occur either through a doubly Cabibbo-suppressed process or through mixing to a D0bar followed by a Cabibbo-favored process. Our result for the time-integrated wrong-sign rate relative to the decay D0 -> K- pi+ pi- pi+ is (0.0041 +0.0012-0.0011(stat.) +-0.0004(syst.))x(1.07 +-0.10)(phase space), which has a statistical significance of 3.9 standard deviations.Comment: 9 pages postscript, also available through http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLNS, submitted to PR

Hadronic Mass Moments in Inclusive Semileptonic B Meson Decays

We have measured the first and second moments of the hadronic mass-squared distribution in B -> X_c l nu, for P(lepton) > 1.5 GeV/c. We find <M_X^2 - M_D[Bar]^2> = 0.251 +- 0.066 GeV^2, )^2 > = 0.576 +- 0.170 GeV^4, where M_D[Bar] is the spin-averaged D meson mass. From that first moment and the first moment of the photon energy spectrum in b -> s gamma, we find the HQET parameter lambda_1 (MS[Bar], to order 1/M^3 and beta_0 alpha_s^2) to be -0.24 +- 0.11 GeV^2. Using these first moments and the B semileptonic width, and assuming parton-hadron duality, we obtain |V_cb| = 0.0404 +- 0.0013.Comment: 11 pages postscript, also available through http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLNS, submitted to PR

Observation of Exclusive barB --> D(*) K*- Decays

We report the first observation of the exclusive decays \bar B\to D^{(*)}K^{*-}, using 9.66 x 10^{6} B\bar{B} pairs collected at the \Upsilon(4S) with the CLEO detector. We measure the following branching fractions: {\cal B}(B^- -> D^0 K^{*-})=(6.1 +- 1.6 +-1.7)x10^{-4}, {\cal B}(\bar{B^0} -> D^+K^{*-})=(3.7 +- 1.5 +- 1.0) x 10^{-4}, {\cal B}(\bar{B^0} -> D^{*+}K^{*-})=(3.8 +- 1.3 +- 0.8) x 10^{-4} and {\cal B}(B^- --> D^{*0} K^{*-})=(7.7 +- 2.2 +- 2.6) x 10^{-4}. The \bar B ->D^*K^{*-} branching ratios are the averages of those corresponding to the 00 and 11 helicity states. The errors shown are statistical and systematic, respectively.Comment: 9 pages postscript, also available through http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLNS, Published in Phys.Rev.Lett.88:101803,200

An “Electronic Fluorescent Pictograph” Browser for Exploring and Analyzing Large-Scale Biological Data Sets

Background. The exploration of microarray data and data from other high-throughput projects for hypothesis generation has become a vital aspect of post-genomic research. For the non-bioinformatics specialist, however, many of the currently available tools provide overwhelming amounts of data that are presented in a non-intuitive way. Methodology/Principal Findings. In order to facilitate the interpretation and analysis of microarray data and data from other large-scale data sets, we have developed a tool, which we have dubbed the electronic Fluorescent Pictograph – or eFP – Browser, available a

Observation of the Ωc0\Omega_{c}^{0} Charmed Baryon at CLEO

The CLEO experiment at the CESR collider has used 13.7 fb$^{-1}$ of data to search for the production of the $\Omega_c^0$ (css-ground state) in $e^{+}e^{-}$ collisions at $\sqrt{s} \simeq 10.6$ {\rm GeV}. The modes used to study the $\Omega_c^0$ are $\Omega^- \pi^+$, $\Omega^- \pi^+ \pi^0$, $\Xi^- K^- pi^+ \pi^+$, $\Xi^0 K^- pi^+$, and $\Omega^- \pi^+ \pi^- \pi^+$. We observe a signal of 40.4$\pm$9.0(stat) events at a mass of 2694.6$\pm$2.6(stat)$\pm$1.9(syst) {\rm MeV/$c^2$}, for all modes combined.Comment: 10 pages postscript, also available through http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLN