Epidemiology and burden of nasal congestion

Nasal congestion, which may be described as fullness, obstruction, reduced airflow, or being "stuffed up," is a commonly encountered symptom in clinical practice. Systematic study of congestion has largely considered it as a component of a disease state. Conditions associated with congestion include nasal polyposis, obstructive sleep apnea, and anatomic variation; however, most information on the burden of congestion comes from studies of allergic rhinitis and rhinosinusitis, diseases of which congestion is the major symptom. Congestion can be caused by other rhinologic conditions, such as non-allergic rhinitis, viral or bacterial rhinitis, and vasomotor rhinitis. Allergic rhinitis affects as much as one quarter of the population worldwide and imposes a significant economic burden. Additionally, allergic rhinitis significantly impairs quality of life; congestion causes allergic rhinitis sufferers decreased daytime productivity at work or school and reduces night-time sleep time and quality. Annually, rhinosinusitis affects tens of millions of Americans and leads to approximately $6 billion in overall health care expenditures; it has been found to be one of the most costly physical conditions for US employers. Given the high prevalence and significant social and economic burden of nasal congestion, this symptom should be a key consideration in treating patients with rhinologic disease, and there continues to be a significant unmet medical need for effective treatment options for this condition. © 2010 Stewart et al

Type 1 diabetes mellitus and the brain: influence of clinical complications and genetic factors on brain structure and cognitive function

Type 1 diabetes mellitus is characterised by absolute insulin deficiency, chronic hyperglycaemia and intermittent hypoglycaemia consequent upon treatment with insulin. Severe hypoglycaemia, defined as hypoglycaemia sufficient to necessitate third party intervention for recovery, commonly complicates insulin therapy and repeated exposure may be detrimental to the brain. Microvascular disease, manifest as retinopathy, neuropathy or nephropathy, frequently complicates diabetes, the risk being related to long-term glucose control and increasing disease duration. Microvascular disease may also affect the cerebral circulation and could potentially compromise brain structure and intellectual performance. Type 1 diabetes commonly develops in childhood before full maturation of the central nervous system and the developing brain may exhibit relative vulnerability to damage as a consequence of exposure to severe hypoglycaemia, or the development of Diabetic Keto-Acidosis, in early childhood. Genetic factors influence the vulnerability of an individual to develop cognitive impairment following pathological processes known to disadvantage the central nervous system. Polymorphism of the Apolipoprotein-E gene has been identified as one such factor and is known to influence the prognosis and cognitive outcomes following a wide variety of cerebral insultsThe studies contained within this Thesis explore the long-term consequences the clinical factors described above on brain structure and the cognitive performance of young adults with Type 1 diabetes mellitus of long duration. The effects of polymorphism of the Apolipoprotein-E gene on the cognitive performance of young adults who have Type 1 diabetes mellitus are also evaluated

Late-Onset Meningeal Metastases in Liposarcoma: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

Intracranial metastases from liposarcoma are rare and almost always preceded by the development of systemic tumour spread. We report here a case of liposarcoma with spread to the cranial nervous system 23 years after treatment of the primary tumour. The literature on brain metastases from soft tissue sarcoma is also reviewed

Leveraging Your Local Resources and National Cyberinfrastructure Resources without Tears

Compute resources for conducting research inhabit a wide range from researchers' personal computers, servers in labs, campus clusters and condos, regional resource-sharing models, and national cyberinfrastructure. Researchers agree that there are not enough resources available on a broad scale, and significant barriers exist for getting analyses moved from smaller- to larger-scale cyberinfrastructure. The XSEDE Campus Bridging program disseminates a several tools that assist researchers and campus IT administrators in reducing barriers to the effective use of national cyberinfrastructure for research. Tools for data management, job submission and steering, best practices for building and administering clusters, and common documentation and training activities all support a flexible environment that allows cyberinfrastructure to be as simple to utilize as a plug-and-play peripheral. In this paper and the accompanying poster we provide an overview of Campus Bridging, including specific challenges and solutions to the problem of making the computerized parts of research easier. We focus particularly on tools that facilitate management of campus computing clusters and integration of such clusters with the national cyberinfrastructure

Exploring effeminate gay men’s experiences of dating using gay dating and hook-up applications: an interpretative phenomenological analysis

Background: Research indicates that effeminate gay men (EGM) experience marginalization and subordination through consistent romantic and sexual rejection amongst gay men with a preference for masculine or ‘straight-acting’ partners. Furthermore, research has found Gay Dating and Hookup Applications (GDHAs) to be a breeding ground of toxic masculinity regulated by femmephobia in promoting gender-based oppression through the use of derogatory anti-effeminacy language that glorify masculine ideals. The research indicates that EGM are exposed to stressors at an individual and societal level, such as prejudice and discrimination, stigma and hate-crime, which may impact upon their identity as well as developing mental health difficulties. Aims: The aim of this study is to explore EGM’s experience of dating using GDHAs. It is hoped that this study will contribute and enhance health care professionals and/or services, by better understanding the experiences of EGM in the context of dating using GDHAs. Methodology: A semi structured interview was completed with six participants who identified as effeminate, and analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Findings: This study produced three superordinate themes (the evolving gender identity, the impact of femmephobia, and the effects of romantic and sexual rejection) and nine sub-themes. Conclusion: Throughout this study, the findings appear to be underpinned by toxic masculinity regulated by femmephobia, which continues to marginalise and subordinate EGM. The findings indicate that EGM continue to experience romantic and sexual rejection across GDHAs, creating difficulties in establishing healthy and meaningful relationships with other gay men. As a result of femmephobia combined with romantic and sexual rejection, EGM appear to be at increased risk of psychological distress and poor coping strategies such as substance misuse and/or sexual risk taking. In particular, the findings emphasise the need to embrace effeminacy in order to achieve emotional and mental stability as well as challenging hegemonic norms

A Candidate Brightest Proto-Cluster Galaxy at z = 3.03

We report the discovery of a very bright (m_R = 22.2) Lyman break galaxy at z = 3.03 that appears to be a massive system in a late stage of merging. Deep imaging reveals multiple peaks in the brightness profile with angular separations of ~0.''8 (~25 h^-1 kpc comoving). In addition, high signal-to-noise ratio rest-frame UV spectroscopy shows evidence for ~5 components based on stellar photospheric and ISM absorption lines with a velocity dispersion of sigma ~460 km s^-1 for the three strongest components. Both the dynamics and high luminosity, as well as our analysis of a LCDM numerical simulation, suggest a very massive system with halo mass M ~ 10^13 M_solar. The simulation finds that all halos at z = 3 of this mass contain sub-halos in agreement with the properties of these observed components and that such systems typically evolve into M ~ 10^14 M_solar halos in groups and clusters by z = 0. This discovery provides a rare opportunity to study the properties and individual components of z ~ 3 systems that are likely to be the progenitors to brightest cluster galaxies.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, submitted to ApJ Letter