Monitoring Sleep and Scratch Improves Quality of Life in Patients with Atopic Dermatitis

Atopic dermatitis itch may cause sleep disturbance and impair quality of life. For patients finding topical therapy difficult to continue, it is important to control itch and reduce scratching. This study developed algorithms to measure nocturnal sleep and scratch, using an actigraph device worn on the back of the hand, and assessed smartphone application feedback to improve adherence with therapy. In the first trial, actigraph measurements in 5 participants who wore the device were highly correlated with measurements by a sleep-monitoring device beneath the mattress. Total actigraph-measured scratching duration for each hour of sleep was highly correlated with measurements by a person rating infrared video-recording of the sleepers. In the second trial, 40 patients with atopic dermatitis were randomly allocated into an intervention group that used the actigraph and smartphone application, and a control group that did not. Both groups were instructed to use the same moisturizer. Dermatology Life Quality Index scores decreased significantly from baseline and were lower than those in the control group at week 8. It is suggested that the device and associated smartphone application reinforced therapy adherence, moisturizer use, and contributed to improved quality of life in patients with atopic dermatitis

TIARES Project -Tomographic investigation by seafloor array experiment for the Society hotspot

http://www.godac.jamstec.go.jp/darwin/cruise/mirai/mr08-06_leg1/

Hyperoxemia and excess oxygen use in early acute respiratory distress syndrome : Insights from the LUNG SAFE study

Publisher Copyright: © 2020 The Author(s). Copyright: Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.Background: Concerns exist regarding the prevalence and impact of unnecessary oxygen use in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). We examined this issue in patients with ARDS enrolled in the Large observational study to UNderstand the Global impact of Severe Acute respiratory FailurE (LUNG SAFE) study. Methods: In this secondary analysis of the LUNG SAFE study, we wished to determine the prevalence and the outcomes associated with hyperoxemia on day 1, sustained hyperoxemia, and excessive oxygen use in patients with early ARDS. Patients who fulfilled criteria of ARDS on day 1 and day 2 of acute hypoxemic respiratory failure were categorized based on the presence of hyperoxemia (PaO2 > 100 mmHg) on day 1, sustained (i.e., present on day 1 and day 2) hyperoxemia, or excessive oxygen use (FIO2 ≥ 0.60 during hyperoxemia). Results: Of 2005 patients that met the inclusion criteria, 131 (6.5%) were hypoxemic (PaO2 < 55 mmHg), 607 (30%) had hyperoxemia on day 1, and 250 (12%) had sustained hyperoxemia. Excess FIO2 use occurred in 400 (66%) out of 607 patients with hyperoxemia. Excess FIO2 use decreased from day 1 to day 2 of ARDS, with most hyperoxemic patients on day 2 receiving relatively low FIO2. Multivariate analyses found no independent relationship between day 1 hyperoxemia, sustained hyperoxemia, or excess FIO2 use and adverse clinical outcomes. Mortality was 42% in patients with excess FIO2 use, compared to 39% in a propensity-matched sample of normoxemic (PaO2 55-100 mmHg) patients (P = 0.47). Conclusions: Hyperoxemia and excess oxygen use are both prevalent in early ARDS but are most often non-sustained. No relationship was found between hyperoxemia or excessive oxygen use and patient outcome in this cohort. Trial registration: LUNG-SAFE is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02010073publishersversionPeer reviewe

Shape of Fe-Ni grains and magnetic susceptibility anisotropy in Antarctic chondrites

Magnetic susceptibility anisotropy is measured for various petrologic types of ordinary chondrites from Antarctica, which are three H types : ALH-77233 (H4), ALH-77182 (H5) and ALH-77115 (H6); four L types : Y-74191 (L3), ALH-77230 (L4), ALH-77254 (L5) and ALH-77231 (L6); and four LL types : Y-75258 (LL6), Y-790519 (LL), Y-790723 (LL) and Y-790964 (LL). The last three are shock-melted chondrites and have high strengths, whereas Y-75258 has a very low strength. Magnetic susceptibility anisotropy appears to be low for LL chondrites and seems to bear no correlation with porosity and petrologic types among H and L chondrites. Both prolate and oblate susceptibility ellipsoids are obtained. To characterize the shape irregularity of metallic grains, the Fourier descriptors representation with an arc-length coordinate system is introduced for two-dimensional outline of grains. Unlike the normally used polar coordinate system, this method is applicable to any complicated shape of grain boundary. Some advantages of the present method are demonstrated for several selected Fe-Ni grains from the same specimens as those used for the magnetic and the strength measurements. Newly proposed parameters representing deviations from circular and elliptical shapes are shown to distinguish different complex outlines of Fe-Ni grains