Treatment of acute migraine by a partial rebreathing device : A randomized controlled pilot study

Background Impaired brain oxygen delivery can trigger and exacerbate migraine attacks. Normoxic hypercapnia increases brain oxygen delivery markedly by vasodilation of the cerebral vasculature, and hypercapnia has been shown to abort migraine attacks. Stable normoxic hypercapnia can be induced by a compact partial rebreathing device. This pilot study aimed to provide initial data on the device's efficacy and safety. Methods Using a double-blinded, randomized, cross-over study design, adult migraine-with-aura patients self-administered the partial rebreathing device or a sham device for 20 minutes at the onset of aura symptoms. Results Eleven participants (mean age 35.5, three men) self-treated 41 migraine attacks (20 with the partial rebreathing device, 21 with sham). The partial rebreathing device increased mean End Tidal CO2 by 24%, while retaining mean oxygen saturation above 97%. The primary end point (headache intensity difference between first aura symptoms and two hours after treatment (0-3 scale) - active/sham difference) did not reach statistical significance (-0.55 (95% CI: -1.13-0.04), p=0.096), whereas the difference in percentage of attacks with pain relief at two hours was significant (p=0.043), as was user satisfaction (p=0.022). A marked efficacy increase was seen from first to second time use of the partial rebreathing device. No adverse events occurred, and side effects were absent or mild. Conclusion Normoxic hypercapnia shows promise as an adjunctive/alternative migraine treatment, meriting further investigation in a larger population. Clinical study registered at ClinicalTrials.gov with identifier NCT03472417Peer reviewe

Scattering and absorption of ultracold atoms by nanotubes

We investigate theoretically how cold atoms, including Bose-Einstein condensates, are scattered from, or absorbed by nanotubes with a view to analysing recent experiments. In particular we consider the role of potential strength, quantum reflection, atomic interactions and tube vibrations on atom loss rates. Lifshitz theory calculations deliver a significantly stronger scattering potential than that found in experiment and we discuss possible reasons for this. We find that the scattering potential for dielectric tubes can be calculated to a good approximation using a modified pairwise summation approach, which is efficient and easily extendable to arbitrary geometries. Quantum reflection of atoms from a nanotube may become a significant factor at low temperatures, especially for non-metallic tubes. Interatomic interactions are shown to increase the rate at which atoms are lost to the nanotube and lead to non-trivial dynamics. Thermal nanotube vibrations do not significantly increase loss rates or reduce condensate fractions, but lower frequency oscillations can dramatically heat the cloud.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

Trapping of ultra-cold atoms with the magnetic field of vortices in a thin film superconducting micro-structure

We store and control ultra-cold atoms in a new type of trap using magnetic fields of vortices in a high temperature superconducting micro-structure. This is the first time ultra-cold atoms have been trapped in the field of magnetic flux quanta. We generate the attractive trapping potential for the atoms by combining the magnetic field of a superconductor in the remanent state with external homogeneous magnetic fields. We show the control of crucial atom trap characteristics such as an efficient intrinsic loading mechanism, spatial positioning of the trapped atoms and the vortex density in the superconductor. The measured trap characteristics are in good agreement with our numerical simulations.Comment: 4pages, comments are welcom

Multi-hop hierarchical routing based on the node health status in wireless sensor network

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019. This paper proposed multi-hop hierarchical routing to monitor forest fire using wireless sensor network. The node health status is introduced in choosing Cluster Head (CH) in order to avoid route breakages caused by CH that burns off. CHs transmit their data to the closest CH which is in the direction to the Base Station. The performance of the proposed method is compared to the Leach, MTE, and the direct algorithm. The extensive simulation is done by NS2 with results showing that the proposed method outperforms others in term of the number of packets received, energy consumed, the number of nodes alive, and average end to end delay

Trapped electron coupled to superconducting devices

We propose to couple a trapped single electron to superconducting structures located at a variable distance from the electron. The electron is captured in a cryogenic Penning trap using electric fields and a static magnetic field in the Tesla range. Measurements on the electron will allow investigating the properties of the superconductor such as vortex structure, damping and decoherence. We propose to couple a superconducting microwave resonator to the electron in order to realize a circuit QED-like experiment, as well as to couple superconducting Josephson junctions or superconducting quantum interferometers (SQUIDs) to the electron. The electron may also be coupled to a vortex which is situated in a double well potential, realized by nearby pinning centers in the superconductor, acting as a quantum mechanical two level system that can be controlled by a transport current tilting the double well potential. When the vortex is trapped in the interferometer arms of a SQUID, this would allow its detection both by the SQUID and by the electron.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figure