Impact of sleep disorder treatment on fatigue in multiple sclerosis

BACKGROUND

We recently reported that sleep disorders are significantly associated with fatigue in multiple sclerosis (MS).

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this paper is to assess the effects of sleep disorder treatment on fatigue and related clinical outcomes in MS.

METHODS

This was a controlled, non-randomized clinical treatment study. Sixty-two MS patients completed standardized questionnaires including the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS), Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI), Epworth Sleepiness scale (ESS) and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and underwent polysomnography (PSG). Patients with sleep disorders were offered standard treatment. Fifty-six subjects repeated the questionnaires after ≥ three months, and were assigned to one of three groups: sleep disorders that were treated (SD-Tx, n=21), sleep disorders remaining untreated (SD-NonTx, n=18) and no sleep disorder (NoSD, n=17).

RESULTS

FSS and MFI general and mental fatigue scores improved significantly from baseline to follow-up in SD-Tx (p <0.03), but not SD-NonTx or NoSD subjects. ESS and PSQI scores also improved significantly in SD-Tx subjects (p <0.001). Adjusted multivariate analyses confirmed significant effects of sleep disorder treatment on FSS (-0.87, p = 0.005), MFI general fatigue score (p = 0.034), ESS (p = 0.042) and PSQI (p = 0.023).

CONCLUSION

Treatment of sleep disorders can improve fatigue and other clinical outcomes in MS.

Preoperative scar hyperalgesia is associated with post-operative pain in women undergoing a repeat Caesarean delivery

BACKGROUND

Over 1.4 million Caesarean deliveries are performed annually in the United States, out of which 30% are elective repeat procedures. Post-operative hyperalgesia is associated with an increased risk for persistent post-surgical pain; however, there are no data on whether residual scar hyperalgesia (SHA) from a previous Caesarean delivery (CD) persists until the next delivery. We hypothesized that residual SHA may be present in a substantial proportion of women and is associated with increased post-operative pain.

METHODS

One hundred and sixty-three women scheduled for a repeat CD under spinal anaesthesia were enrolled into the study. Mechanical temporal summation (mTS) and SHA index were measured preoperatively. SHA was considered present when the index was >0. Post-operative pain scores at 12, 24 and 48 h and wound hyperalgesia (WHA) at 48 h were recorded.

RESULTS

SHA was present in 67 women 41% with a median SHA index of 0.42 (Q (25)  = 0.25; Q (75)  = 1.1, range 0.03-4.25). Women with SHA had overall higher post-operative pain scores and SHA was correlated with preoperative mTS (r = 0.164, p < 0.05), post-operative pain severity (r = 0.25, p < 0.002) and WHA at 48 h (r = 0.608, p < 0.001). Severe pain (visual analogue pain scale-S48 ≥ 7, n = 20) was predicted with a sensitivity and specificity of 60% and 62%, respectively. Positive predictive value was 18% and negative predictive value was 92%.

CONCLUSIONS

Preoperative SHA is present in 41% of women scheduled for repeat CD and is associated with increased mTS and post-operative pain. Screening for preoperative SHA may predict women at risk for increased post-operative pain, and guide post-operative analgesia to include anti-hyperalgesic drugs.

Use of an avirulent live Salmonella Choleraesuis vaccine to reduce the prevalence of Salmonella carrier pigs at slaughter

This study evaluated the use of an avirulent live Salmonella Choleraesuis vaccine to reduce the seroprevalence and number of Salmonella carrier pigs at slaughter. Seven batches of 500 pigs were included in each of the two study groups: the vaccinated group (VG) that was orally vaccinated and the control group (CG) that received a placebo on the first day of life. The groups were managed in a three-site system and followed up from birth to slaughter. Blood samples (n=378) were collected from each VG and CG to monitor the on-farm seroprevalence in both groups. Mesenteric lymph nodes and blood from animals (n=390) belonging to each group were collected at slaughter. At the first day of life, the seroprevalence in control batches ranged from 77.9 to 96.3 per cent, while in vaccinated batches, it ranged from 66.6 to 92.6 per cent. At weaning (21 days of age), the number of seropositives decreased in both groups (mean of 12 and 3.7 per cent for CG and VG, respectively). At slaughter, batches of VG had a significantly (P<0.0001) lower seroprevalence (46.6±5 per cent) and isolation of Salmonella from lymph nodes (33.1±5 per cent) compared with CG batches (79.7±4 per cent and 59.5±5 per cent, respectively). The results indicate that administration of a Salmonella choleraesuis-attenuated vaccine on the first day of life decreases Salmonella isolation and seroprevalence in pigs at slaughter.

Cell segmentation in time-lapse fluorescence microscopy with temporally varying sub-cellular fusion protein patterns

Fluorescently tagged proteins such as GFP-PCNA produce rich dynamically varying textural patterns of foci distributed in the nucleus. This enables the behavioral study of sub-cellular structures during different phases of the cell cycle. The varying punctuate patterns of fluorescence, drastic changes in SNR, shape and position during mitosis and abundance of touching cells, however, require more sophisticated algorithms for reliable automatic cell segmentation and lineage analysis. Since the cell nuclei are non-uniform in appearance, a distribution-based modeling of foreground classes is essential. The recently proposed graph partitioning active contours (GPAC) algorithm supports region descriptors and flexible distance metrics. We extend GPAC for fluorescence-based cell segmentation using regional density functions and dramatically improve its efficiency for segmentation from O(N(4)) to O(N(2)), for an image with N(2) pixels, making it practical and scalable for high throughput microscopy imaging studies.

Evaluation of the microbiological quality of drinking water in the district of Braganca (Northwest Portugal) throughout a ten-year period (1996-2005), during the implementation of the 1998/83 EC directive

The microbiological quality of drinking waters was evaluated in northwestern Portugal between 1996 and 2005, according to the guidelines of European Directives of 1980 and 1998. Out of the 21,630 microbiological analyses done, the percentage of treated and nontreated waters analyzed were similar, but the fraction of conforming samples were higher for treated (74.2%) than for nontreated (37.8%) water. The microbiological quality of potable water improved throughout the study period, particularly in the last 2 yr, when drinkable water reached 70%. The increase during the last 2 yr is a result of at least two different causes: an increase in the use of treated waters and the change in the legislation (1998/83 EC Directive). Although the number of treated waters has increased, the nonconforming treated water is still very high (25%) even when evaluated under the 1998/83 EC Directive.

Phase structure and molecular dynamics of liquid-crystalline side-on organosiloxane tetrapodes

X-ray diffraction and proton NMR relaxation measurements were carried out on two liquid-crystalline organosiloxane tetrapodes with side-on mesogenic groups, exhibiting nematic and smectic- C phases, and on a monomeric analog. Packing models for the mesophases exhibited by these systems are proposed on the basis of x-ray diffraction data. As a consequence of microsegregation, the aromatic cores are packed in between two sublayers formed by a mixture of interdigitated aliphatic and siloxane chains. The mixed sublayers are characteristic for the tetrapodes with side-on mesogenic groups presented in this work and have not been observed in tetrapodes with terminally attached mesogens. The tilt angle in the smectic- C phase is found very large, i.e., approximately 61 degrees -62 degrees . Notably, smectic- C clusters are present also in the whole temperature range of the nematic phase. NMR relaxometry yields T(1)-1 dispersions clearly different from those of conventional calamitics. The influence of molecular tendency to form interdigitated structures is evidenced by frequency-dependent relaxation rate in the isotropic phase-indicating the presence of ordered clusters far above the phase transition-and by the diminished role of molecular self-diffusion in ordered phases. Nematiclike director fluctuations are the dominating relaxation mechanism whereas the translational displacements are strongly hindered by the interdigitation of dendrimer arms.

Salmonella enterica: isolamento e soroprevalência em suínos abatidos no Rio Grande do Sul

Estudou-se a prevalência de Salmonella spp. em suínos ao abate e compararam-se os resultados obtidos no isolamento e na sorologia de modo a determinar a fase mais importante de infecção (granja ou transporte/espera pré-abate) em relação ao número de suínos portadores encontrados ao abate. Foram avaliados 40 rebanhos de três diferentes empresas do sul do Brasil, com colheitas de sangue e linfonodos mesentéricos de 20 animais por lote. O soro foi submetido ao ELISA produzido com antígeno somático de Salmonella Typhimurium. A frequência de isolamento variou de 62,5% a 85,0%, enquanto a soroprevalência de 73,8% a 83,2% nos três sistemas amostrados. Os sorovares mais prevalentes foram Agona, Typhimurium e Panama. A infecção dos animais ocorreu nas granjas produtoras de suínos nestes sistemas de produção, pois os lotes apresentaram elevada soroprevalência ao abate. Concluiu-se que o controle da infecção por Salmonella spp. no sul do Brasil deve iniciar-se pela implementação de medidas de profilaxia nas granjas de produção de suínos.

Probing the infrared quark mass from highly excited baryons

We argue that three-quark excited states naturally group into quartets, split into two parity doublets, and that the mass splittings between these parity partners decrease higher up in the baryon spectrum. This decreasing mass difference can be used to probe the running quark mass in the midinfrared power-law regime. A measurement of masses of high-partial-wave Delta* resonances should be sufficient to unambiguously establish the approximate degeneracy. We test this concept with the first computation of excited high-j baryon masses in a chirally invariant quark model.