Bispectral index is a topographically dependent variable in patients receiving propofol anaesthesia

Background. As very strong agreement has been reported between bispectral index (BIS) values measured from the occipital and frontal skull areas, we compared BIS values measured from central and parietal areas with those from frontal area to investigate whether BIS is really a topographically dependent or topographically independent variable. Methods. Twenty patients, ASA I-II, non-obese, aged 18-62 yr and with no neurological disorders were enrolled. Based on the 10-20 international landmarks, five silver dome electrodes were positioned: F7, C3, P7, Cz (common reference) and Fp1 (ground). Using frontal (F7-Cz), central (C3-Cz) and parietal (P7-Cz) electrode montages, the corresponding BIS values were simultaneously recorded with an Aspect A-1000 monitor (software v3.12). The BIS values were recorded at the propofol concentration allowing laryngeal mask insertion, which was maintained during the 10 min data collection period in absence of additional external stimuli. Data were analysed using the Kruskall-Wallis, Wilcoxon paired sign with Bonferroni correction, Bland-Altman and linear correlation tests. Results. At the predicted effect target propofol concentration 4-8 μg ml−1, the 10 min mean BIS (median [min-max]) were 32 [20-44], 46 [28-68] and 58 [41-72] for the frontal, central and parietal leads, respectively. Differences between these BIS recordings were statistically significant (P<0.0001, Kruskall-Wallis; P<0.005, Wilcoxon paired sign test). Conclusions. The present results provide evidence that BIS index is a topographically dependent variable in patients receiving propofol anaesthesi

The influence of visual objects and music on anxiety levels of breast cancer patients scheduled to experience chemotherapy for the first time: a prospective randomized clinical study

Objective: To investigate the influence of music together with visual objects as an ambiance in the waiting room on anxiety levels of breast cancer patients scheduled to receive chemotherapy in outpatient setting for the first time. Material and method: Breast cancer patients planned to receive adjuvant or neoadjuvant chemotherapy for the first time between November 1, 2020, and July 31, 2021, were included. Two designs, including a standard waiting room (StWR) and an intervention waiting room (IWR) that was created by adding music and visual objects to the standard room, were constructed. These 2 designs were repeated sequentially in monthly periods, and a total of 104 patients with 52 in each group were randomized. The State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADs) were used for assessments. Results of the patients in StWR and IWR groups were compared. Results: Both HADs anxiety and STAI-state anxiety scale scores were lower in patients who waited in IWR compared to those who waited in StWR (p = 0.041, p = 0.012, respectively). In patients in the IWR group, mean heart rate was lower by 7.6 bpm (p = 0.009). No difference was found between the groups with regard to HADs depression score and STAI-trait anxiety score (p = 0.305, p = 0.535, respectively). For all patients, HADs anxiety scale (r = 0.400, p = < 0.001) and STAI-state anxiety scale (r = 0.475, p = < 0.001) scores increased as the waiting time increased. Discussion and conclusion: The present study is the first to investigate the influence of adding music together with visual objects to the standard ambiance of the chemotherapy waiting room on anxiety levels of breast cancer patients. We propose that introduction of paintings, artificial plants, and music to the ambiance of the waiting room has a significantly positive effect on alleviating anxiety levels of cancer patients waiting for chemotherapy. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.The funding was supported by the authors themselves without the involvement of grants, research scholarships, or any other funding sources

A socio-spatial analysis of urban transformation at a neighborhood scale: The case of the relocation of Kadifekale inhabitants to TOKI˙ Uzundere in I˙zmir

Particularly in the last two decades, urban governors have presented urban transformation projects as ideal solutions to help low-income urban residents improve their living conditions. However, the way they have been carried out and their consequences mean that these projects do not, in most cases, bring the expected improvements. Most projects involve relocating residents to new, more peripheral districts of the city, which causes social isolation and certain socio-spatial incompatibilities between their previous and new habitats. Using a case from Izmir in Turkey, this study aims to analyze such socio-spatial incompatibilities in the lives of low-income residents that are caused by relocation within the framework of urban transformation projects. One of Izmir's earliest inner-city gecekondu neighborhoods, Kadifekale was chosen by Izmir Metropolitan Municipality as a site for urban transformation due to the risk of landslide in the area. Before the start of the project, the neighborhood contained 7324 housing units accommodating rural-to-urban migrants, mainly from the southeast of Turkey. This urban transformation project aimed to relocate at least some of the inhabitants from their homes in Kadifekale to recently constructed apartment blocks in the TOKI˙ Uzundere Public Housing Project on the periphery of the city. Although many residents were reluctant to exchange their houses for new apartments, some were persuaded to move to TOKI˙, which was presented as the ideal solution by the municipal officials. This study critically evaluates the Kadifekale urban transformation project, particularly with regard to the relocation of some Kadifekale residents from their one- or two-story houses in Kadifekale to apartment blocks on the periphery of the city. The analysis is based on a comparison between the socio-spatial experiences of migrants in Kadifekale and their recent experiences in Uzundere and the possibility of certain incompatibilities in these two experiences. The argument aims to demonstrate the changed conditions of social life and daily life practices as a result of altered spatial properties at a neighborhood scale: their use of outdoor spaces, the meanings they attributed to neighborhood space ("intimacy of place" within categories of sensual (visual and olfactory) recognition), and their sociospatial network. The argument draws both implicitly and explicitly on Henri Lefebvre's spatial triad and De Certeau's conceptualization of tactic versus strategy as the major conceptual inspirations for this study. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd

Karyotype and nuclear DNA content of hexa-, octo-, and duodecaploid lines of Bromus subgen. Ceratochloa

The subgenus Ceratochloa of the genus Bromus includes a number of closely related allopolyploid forms or species that present a difficult taxonomic problem. The present work combines data concerning chromosome length, heterochromatin distribution and nuclear genome size of different 6x, 8x and 12x accessions in this subgenus. Special attention is paid to the karyotype structure and genomic constitution of duodecaploid plants recently found in South America. Hexaploid lineages possess six almost indistinguishable genomes and a nuclear DNA content between 12.72 pg and 15.10 pg (mean 1Cx value = 2.32 pg), whereas octoploid lineages contain the same six genomes (AABBCC) plus two that are characterized by longer chromosomes and a greater DNA content (1Cx = 4.47 pg). Two duodecaploid accessions found in South America resemble each other and apparently differ from the North American duodecaploid B. arizonicus as regards chromosome size and nuclear DNA content (40.00 and 40.50 pg vs. 27.59 pg). These observations suggest that the South American duodecaploids represent a separate evolutionary lineage of the B. subgenus Ceratochloa, unrecognized heretofore

Short-Term Pain and Long-Term Gain: Using Phased-In Minimum Size Limits to Rebuild Stocks-the Pacific Bluefin Tuna Example

Like many stocks, the Pacific Bluefin Tuna Thunnus orientalis has been considerably depleted. High exploitation rates on very young fish have reduced the spawning stock biomass (SSB) to 2.6% of the unexploited level. We provide a framework for exploring potential benefits of minimum size regulations as a mechanism for rebuilding stocks, and we illustrate the approach using simulations patterned after Pacific Bluefin Tuna dynamics. We attempt to mitigate short-term losses in yield by considering a phased-in management strategy. With this approach, the minimum size limit (MSL) is gradually increased as biomass rebuilds, giving fishing communities time to adjust to new restrictions. We estimated short- and long-term effects of different MSLs on yield and biomass by using data from the 2016 assessment. A variety of scenarios was considered for growth compensation, discard mortality, and interest rates. The long-term value of the fishery was maximized by setting an MSL of 92 cm FL, which resulted in a 70% loss in yield during the first year (short-term pain). By implementing the MSL in two phases (64 cm FL in year 1; 92 cm FL in subsequent years), the long-term value of the fishery was maintained, and the short-term pain was reduced to a maximum 46% loss in yield during any 1 year. Under a three-phase implementation (55 cm FL in year 1; 77 cm FL in year 2; and 92 cm FL in subsequent years), the short-term pain was further reduced to a maximum loss of 30% during any 1 year. With no discard mortality, long-term yield increased by 165% and SSB increased 13-fold (to 33% of virgin SSB), regardless of the number of phases used. Long-term benefits were quickly diminished with increasing discard mortality. This simulation approach is widely applicable to cases where minimum size changes are contemplated; for Pacific Bluefin Tuna, our simulations demonstrate that size limits should be considered

Fragmentation branching ratios of highly excited hydrocarbon molecules CnH and their cations CnH+ (n<4)

We have measured fragmentation branching ratios of neutral CnH and CnH+ cations produced in high velocity (4.5 a.u) collisions between incident CnH+ cations and helium atoms. Electron capture gives rise to excited neutral species CnH and electronic excitation to excited cations CnH+. Thanks to a dedicated set-up, based on coincident detection of all fragments, the dissociation of the neutral and cationic parents were recorded separately and in a complete way. For the fragmentation of CnH, the H-loss channel is found to be dominant, as already observed by other authors. By contrast, the H-loss and C-loss channels equally dominate the two-fragment break up of CnH+ species. For these cations, we provide the first fragmentation data (n > 2). Results are also discussed in the context of astrochemistry

Reverse Engineering Gene Networks with ANN: Variability in Network Inference Algorithms

Motivation :Reconstructing the topology of a gene regulatory network is one of the key tasks in systems biology. Despite of the wide variety of proposed methods, very little work has been dedicated to the assessment of their stability properties. Here we present a methodical comparison of the performance of a novel method (RegnANN) for gene network inference based on multilayer perceptrons with three reference algorithms (ARACNE, CLR, KELLER), focussing our analysis on the prediction variability induced by both the network intrinsic structure and the available data. Results: The extensive evaluation on both synthetic data and a selection of gene modules of "Escherichia coli" indicates that all the algorithms suffer of instability and variability issues with regards to the reconstruction of the topology of the network. This instability makes objectively very hard the task of establishing which method performs best. Nevertheless, RegnANN shows MCC scores that compare very favorably with all the other inference methods tested. Availability: The software for the RegnANN inference algorithm is distributed under GPL3 and it is available at the corresponding author home page (http://mpba.fbk.eu/grimaldi/regnann-supmat

Robotic Wireless Sensor Networks

In this chapter, we present a literature survey of an emerging, cutting-edge, and multi-disciplinary field of research at the intersection of Robotics and Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) which we refer to as Robotic Wireless Sensor Networks (RWSN). We define a RWSN as an autonomous networked multi-robot system that aims to achieve certain sensing goals while meeting and maintaining certain communication performance requirements, through cooperative control, learning and adaptation. While both of the component areas, i.e., Robotics and WSN, are very well-known and well-explored, there exist a whole set of new opportunities and research directions at the intersection of these two fields which are relatively or even completely unexplored. One such example would be the use of a set of robotic routers to set up a temporary communication path between a sender and a receiver that uses the controlled mobility to the advantage of packet routing. We find that there exist only a limited number of articles to be directly categorized as RWSN related works whereas there exist a range of articles in the robotics and the WSN literature that are also relevant to this new field of research. To connect the dots, we first identify the core problems and research trends related to RWSN such as connectivity, localization, routing, and robust flow of information. Next, we classify the existing research on RWSN as well as the relevant state-of-the-arts from robotics and WSN community according to the problems and trends identified in the first step. Lastly, we analyze what is missing in the existing literature, and identify topics that require more research attention in the future