Psychological factors are thought to drive inter-patient variations in anaesthetic and analgesic requirements. This cross-sectional study investigated whether preoperative psychological factors can ...predict anaesthetic requirements and postoperative pain.
Before total thyroidectomy, 100 consecutive women completed the Spielberger's State–Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and the pain sensitivity questionnaire (PSQ). Target-controlled propofol was administered for induction of anaesthesia, and sevoflurane–oxygen–air was given to maintain equal depths of anaesthesia, as determined by bispectral index (BIS) monitoring.
Patients with higher anxiety scores (state and trait) required greater amounts of propofol to reach light (BIS=85) and moderate (BIS=75) levels of sedation, but only trait anxiety was significantly associated with propofol requirements in reaching a deep level of sedation (BIS=65). The MAC-hour of sevoflurane was significantly correlated only with PSQ scores. The postoperative pain intensity was significantly correlated with both STAI and PSQ.
Preoperative anxiety and pain sensitivity are independent predictors of propofol and sevoflurane requirements in general anaesthesia. Anaesthetic and analgesic doses could be modified based on the patient's preoperative anxiety and pain sensitivity.
Caudal block is commonly administered for postoperative analgesia in children. Although caudal block with 1.5 ml kg−1 local anaesthetic has been reported to reduce cerebral oxygenation in infants, ...the effect of caudal block on intracranial pressure (ICP) in children has not been well investigated. Optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) correlates with degree of ICP. This study aimed to estimate the effects of caudal block on ICP according to volume of local anaesthetic using ultrasonographic measurement of ONSD in children.
Eighty patients, 6- to 48-months-old, were randomly allocated to the high-volume (HV) or low-volume (LV) groups for caudal block with ropivacaine 0.15%, 1.5 ml kg−1 or 1.0 ml kg−1, respectively. Measurement of ONSD was performed before (T0), immediately after (T1), and 10 min (T2) and 30 min (T3) after caudal block.
The two groups exhibited significant differences in ONSD according to time (PGroup x Time=0.003). The HV group exhibited significantly greater changes in ONSD from T0 to T2 and T3 than the LV group. However, in both groups, ONSDs at T1, T2 and T3 were significantly greater compared with those at T0, with the highest values at T2.
Caudal block with a high volume of local anaesthetic can cause a greater increase in ICP than caudal block with a low volume of local anaesthetic. However, caudal block with 1.0 ml kg−1 of local anaesthetic can also result in a significant increase in ICP.
NCT02768493.
In the present study, CNT-embedded electric heating composites were fabricated and the effects of silica aerogel addition on the electric heating capabilities and heat-induced electrical stability ...were examined. Silica aerogel at levels of 0%, 0.5%, and 1.0% by mass of polymer were incorporated into the polymeric composites incorporating 4% CNT. The fabrication details, tunneling-induced electrical characteristics, and electric heating capabilities during cyclic and long-term heating conditions were reported. The electric heating test results were discussed in terms of the SEM observations, thermal images taken during the heating process, and schematic descriptions of the heating process. The test results showed that the incorporating silica aerogel could reduce the redistribution of the individual CNT particles, improving the electric heating capabilities including the heat generation stability and the heat-induced electrical stability during the heating process. Moreover, incorporating silica aerogel increased the cooling time, and improving the heat-storage capability related to the heating efficiency. Thus, it can be concluded that the silica aerogel addition has clear potential to improve the electric heating capability and heat-induced electrical stability of CNT-embedded electric heating composites.
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•A highly flexible CNT-embedded self-heating polymeric composites was designed.•Effects of silica aerogel incorporation on the self-heating capabilities of the self-heating composites were investigated.•Incorporation of silica aerogel improved the electrical and thermal stability of the self-heating composites.•Heat-storage capability related to the heating efficiency was improved with an addition of silica aerogel.
It is anticipated that more than 75 Mb/s per subscriber is required for the convergence service such as triple-play service (TPS). Among several types of high-speed access network technologies, ...wavelength-division-multiplexing passive optical network (WDM-PON) is the most favorable for the required bandwidth in the near future. Furthermore, WDM technologies, such as athermal arrayed-waveguide grating (AWG) and low-cost light source, have matured enough to be applied in the access network. In this paper, the authors propose and implement a WDM-PON system as a platform for TPS. The system employs an amplified spontaneous emission (ASE)-injected Fabry-Pe/spl acute/rot laser diode scheme. It has 32 channels of 125 Mb/s and adopts Ethernet as Layer 2. Multicast and virtual local area network features are used for the integration of services such as Internet protocol high-definition broadcast, voice-over Internet protocol, video on demand, and video telephone. The services were demonstrated using the WDM-PON system.
This study characterizes reactive MgO-modified calcium sulfoaluminate (CSA) cement upon carbonation. Paste samples were fabricated by replacing CSA cement with reactive MgO at levels of 0, 5, 10, and ...20 wt%. The samples were cured for 56 days and further cured at a CO2 concentration of 3% for 28 days. MgO incorporation into the CSA cement favored the formation of monosulfate over ettringite. Externally supplied MgO in the CSA cement reduced Al uptake in C-A-S-H and formed hydrotalcite as a secondary phase, which is associated with a reduction in the carbonation degree. In addition, the incorporated MgO inhibited the carbonation of ettringite and monosulfate, while more C-A-S-H and aluminum hydroxide were formed in neat CSA cement upon carbonation, showing the nearly full decomposition of ettringite and monosulfate. The tetrahedral Al network of the MgO-modified sample was not altered upon carbonation, indicating that MgO modified the route of carbonation.
We report an analysis of the planetary microlensing event OGLE-2018-BLG-1185, which was observed by a large number of ground-based telescopes and by the Spitzer Space Telescope. The ground-based ...light curve indicates a low planet–host star mass ratio ofq=(6.9±0.2)×10−5, which is near the peak of the wide-orbit exoplanet mass-ratio distribution. We estimate the host star and planet masses with a Bayesian analysis using the measured angular Einstein radius under the assumption that stars of all masses have an equal probability of hosting the planet. The flux variation observed by Spitzer is marginal, but still places a constraint on the microlens parallax. Imposing a conservative constraint that this flux variation should beΔfSpz<4 instrumental flux units yields a host mass of=-+MM0.37 host 0.210.35 and a planet mass of =-+ÅmM8.4p4.77.9. A Bayesian analysis including the full parallax constraint from Spitzer suggests smaller host star and planet masses of =-+MM0.091 host 0.0180.064 and =-+ÅmM2.1p0.41.5, respectively. Future high-resolution imaging observations with the Hubble Space Telescope or Extremely Large Telescope could distinguish between these two scenarios and help reveal the planetary system properties in more detail.
Background Robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (RALRP) is gaining popularity as a less traumatic and minimally invasive alternative to open radical retropubic prostatectomy (RRP). The ...aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence and grade of venous gas embolism (VGE) during RALRP compared with those during RRP using transoesophageal echocardiography (TOE). Methods Fifty-two patients undergoing RRP (n=26) or RALRP (n=26) were consecutively enrolled. TOE was continuously applied during surgery and VGE was graded by an independent researcher. Results The total incidence of VGE (proportion, 95% CI) in the RRP group was higher than that in the RALRP group 20/25 (0.80, 0.60–0.92) and 10/26 (0.38, 0.22–0.58), respectively. Most VGE in the RALRP group occurred during the transection of the deep dorsal venous complex. There was no difference in the incidence of severe VGE between the two groups. No patients with cardiorespiratory instabilities even with severe VGE were observed in this study. Conclusions In contrast to general belief, VGE occurred less frequently during RALRP. Although the VGE in this study did not cause any cardiorespiratory instability, close monitoring for possibly fatal VGE must be considered during both types of radical prostatectomy because those who undergo radical prostatectomy frequently have cardiopulmonary co-morbidities.
The genome of soybean (Glycine max), a commercially important crop, has recently been sequenced and is one of six crop species to have been sequenced. Here we report the genome sequence of G. soja, ...the undomesticated ancestor of G. max (in particular, G. soja var. IT182932). The 48.8-Gb Illumina Genome Analyzer (Illumina-GA) short DNA reads were aligned to the G. max reference genome and a consensus was determined for G. soja. This consensus sequence spanned 915.4 Mb, representing a coverage of 97.65% of the G. max published genome sequence and an average mapping depth of 43-fold. The nucleotide sequence of the G. soja genome, which contains 2.5 Mb of substituted bases and 406 kb of small insertions/deletions relative to G. max, is ∼0.31% different from that of G. max. In addition to the mapped 915.4-Mb consensus sequence, 32.4 Mb of large deletions and 8.3 Mb of novel sequence contigs in the G. soja genome were also detected. Nucleotide variants of G. soja versus G. max confirmed by Roche Genome Sequencer FLX sequencing showed a 99.99% concordance in single-nucleotide polymorphism and a 98.82% agreement in insertion/deletion calls on Illumina-GA reads. Data presented in this study suggest that the G. soja/G. max complex may be at least 0.27 million y old, appearing before the relatively recent event of domestication (6,000∼9,000 y ago). This suggests that soybean domestication is complicated and that more in-depth study of population genetics is needed. In any case, genome comparison of domesticated and undomesticated forms of soybean can facilitate its improvement.
The current experiment was conducted to determine the toxic level of dietary mercury (Hg) and to predict Hg intake and tissue Hg concentrations in broiler chickens from feather Hg concentrations. A ...total of 800 3-d-old broiler chickens (400 male and 400 female birds) were allotted to one of 80 battery cages in 2 × 5 factorial arrangements of sex and 5 concentrations of Hg in diets with 0, 50, 100, 250, or 500 mg/kg. The mercury chloride was used to increase Hg concentrations in diets. Experiment lasted for 32 d. There were no interactions between sex and dietary treatments for all measurements. A greater than 250 mg/kg Hg had negative effects on broiler performance. The one-slope broken-line analysis with dietary Hg concentrations and BW gain revealed that a greater than 209 mg/kg Hg in diets was toxic to broiler chickens. Feather Hg concentrations were greater than liver and breast Hg concentrations across all treatments, indicating that the feather is the most responsive tissue to dietary Hg concentrations. Accordingly, the equations for predicting daily Hg intake and Hg concentrations in the liver and breast were generated from Hg concentrations in the feather. Resulting equations indicated that feather Hg concentrations are good predictors of both Hg intake and Hg concentrations in the liver and breast. In conclusion, the toxic level of Hg is near to 200 mg/kg in broiler diets. The Hg intake and Hg concentrations in the liver and breast can be precisely predicted from Hg concentrations in the feather.
Dexamethasone has a powerful anti-inflammatory action and has demonstrated reduced morbidity after surgery. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of a single i.v. dose of dexamethasone in ...combination with caudal block on postoperative analgesia in children.
Seventy-seven children (aged 1–5 yr) undergoing day-case orchiopexy were included in this prospective, randomized, double-blinded study at a single university hospital. After inhalation induction of general anaesthesia, children received either dexamethasone 0.5 mg kg−1 (maximum 10 mg) (n=39) or the same volume of saline (n=38) i.v. A caudal anaesthetic block was then performed using 1.5 ml kg−1 of ropivacaine 0.15% in all patients. After surgery, rescue analgesic consumption, pain scores, and adverse effects were evaluated for 24 h.
Significantly, fewer patients in the dexamethasone group required fentanyl for rescue analgesia (7.9% vs 38.5%) in the post-anaesthetic care unit or acetaminophen (23.7% vs 64.1%) after discharge compared with the control group. The time to first administration of oral acetaminophen was significantly longer in the dexamethasone group (646 vs 430 min). Postoperative pain scores were lower in the dexamethasone group and the incidence of adverse effects was similar in both groups.
Intravenous dexamethasone 0.5 mg kg−1 in combination with a caudal block augmented the intensity and duration of postoperative analgesia without adverse effects in children undergoing day-case paediatric orchiopexy.
Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov. The number of registration: NCT01041378.
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