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Lung Volume Reduction with Endobronchial Zephyr Valve
Get PDFObjective: Evaluate one year post Zephyr Valve placement the lung function and the symptomatic scales. Methods: Valve: Valpo Summon, Google Scholar, and PubMed. Search terms within the databases included “Zephyr Valve + effects”, “COPD + Emphysema”, “Long-term management COPD”, and “Long term effects + side effects + Zephyr”. There were 46 results that appeared on Valpo Summon. Five studies selected: two retrospective analyses, two randomized control trials, and one multicenter prospective randomized control trial crossover. Results: Zephyr Valve shown improvement for lung function and symptomatic scales. Conclusion: Zephyr Valve was promising for improvement of the lung function and symptomatic scales for COPD-e.
Keywords: Zephyr Valve, COPD, Emphysema, Exacerbation, Lung functio
IV Ketamine and Treatment Resistant Depression
No full textObjective: Treatment resistant depression (TRD) affects many individuals diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD). This paper aims to compare the efficacy of ketamine in comparison to previously established treatment options such as transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Methods: Recent literature was used to conduct a systematic review and compare ketamine, ECT, and TMS, in the management of TRD. Studies within the last five years were included and made use of both randomized control trials and retrospective cohort studies. Primary endpoints were measured using depression rating scales such as HAMD, MADRS, CGI, QIDS, and BDI. Results: Ketamine demonstrated effectiveness in achieving remission in some cases and reducing overall depressive symptoms. Although more acute side effects were noted with ketamine, long-term adverse events were fewer than that of ECT and TMS. Conclusion: Ketamine demonstrates promise as a treatment option for TRD. Further research is indicated to determine optimal dosing and methods of administration to favor improved patient outcomes
Keywords: treatment resistant depression, ketamine, electroconvulsive therapy, transcranial magnetic stimulation, remission, TRD, ECT, TMS, esketamin
Effect of Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation on Post-Operative Pain Relief
Get PDFObjective: The goal of this paper is to determine the effect of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) on pain relief compared to opioid analgesics within the postoperative period.
Methods: This study compiled data from four different databases and includes two randomized controlled trials, two systematic reviews and meta-analysis, one retrospective case control study, and one prospective comparative study. Primary endpoints included level of pain within the postoperative period and analgesic use. Secondary endpoint evaluated was recovery time.
Results: Results found that TENS as an adjunct to standard post operative pain control measures, decreased Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) rating of pain in cardiothoracic surgeries, cholecystectomies, laparoscopic gynecologic and orthopedic surgeries. Additionally, TENS use decreased time spent in post-anesthesia care unit (PACU), increased patient mobility postoperatively, and was found to be more effective than other non-pharmacological methods of pain control.
Conclusion: Adjunct TENS use can decrease post operative pain and opioid consumption. Additionally, adjunct TENS can be just as effective as opioid analgesics in the postoperative period, however more research is needed to determine if TENS alone can be used for post operative pain control.
Keywords: post operative pain relief, TENs, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, visual acuity scale, opioid, analgesia
Antipsychotic Drug Use in Elderly Patients with Dementia
No full textObjective: The objective of this paper is to determine if antipsychotic (AP) drug usage in the elderly population, specifically with elderly who have dementia, has a significant effect on the morbidity and mortality of this select population.
Methods: In this paper the articles included: 2 meta-analysis, 1 prospective cohort, 1 matched cohort study, 1 randomized control trial, and a systematic review that included studies about patients using AP drugs, and studies with patients with dementia.
Results: AP drug use in the elderly population, specifically in those with dementia, has an overall increased mortality rate and an increased possibility of adverse events. Risperidone has the highest risk out of all AP drugs, and quetiapine has the lowest risk.
Conclusion: Administration of AP drugs in patients with dementia have an increased effect on their morbidity and mortality, it would be wise for providers to explore non-pharmacological treatments for BPSD management.
Keywords: Dementia, antipsychotic drugs, mortality, morbidity, behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia
Immunotherapy Versus Chemotherapy Efficacy in Promoting Survival of NSCLC
No full textObjectives: To determine the first line therapy for treating non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), based on the efficacy of immunotherapy plus chemotherapy in comparison to chemotherapy alone using overall survival and progression-free survival data. Methods: A literature review was performed by searching on Valpo Summon. The randomized controlled trials (RCTs) compared immunotherapy plus chemotherapy to chemotherapy alone in NSCLC with available primary endpoints of progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). In addition, randomized controlled trials that compared immunotherapy as a monotherapy to chemotherapy monotherapy in NSCLC with progression-free survival and overall survival as secondary endpoints. Results: Progression-free survival and overall survival were markedly increased in both immunotherapy plus chemotherapy and immunotherapy monotherapy in comparison to chemotherapy alone. Conclusion: Immunotherapy alone and Immunotherapy plus Chemotherapy increased overall survival and progression free survival in comparison to chemotherapy alone in NSCLC.
Keywords: non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), chemotherapy, immunotherapy, overall survival, progression free survival
Secondary Ecology, Tertiary World: Middle-earth’s Ecology as Played by Aotearoa
Get PDFTolkien\u27s self-declared love of nature (Letters: 165) is well-known and forms a thread that runs through all his work, to the point that Brian Rosebury (2003) posits that \u27Middle-earth, rather than any of the characters, is the hero of The Lord of the Rings\u27. John Garth (2020) points out various links between the nature of The Shire and other Middle-earth locations and England, taken, as Tolkien wrote, from \u27such life as I know\u27 (Letters: 181). However, visual adaptations of Tolkien\u27s work by Peter Jackson and Amazon have used locations in Aotearoa (New Zealand), to play the \u27character\u27 of Middle-earth on screen. These locations have their own plant species and ecologies that are often visually distinct from those found in Europe, particularly England. This paper explores the significance and possibilities of transposing Middle-earth into the ecology and landscapes of Aotearoa, the conjuration of a “new” Middle-earth, and how (if) it changes our own imaginations of Tolkien’s world
A Five-Year Study of the Ground-Dwelling Beetles (Coleoptera) from a Grassland and an Adjacent Woods in Southern Québec (Canada)
Get PDFWe present results of the first long-term study on spatiotemporal variations in the composition and structure of ground-dwelling beetle assemblages from a grassland and adjacent woods in eastern Canada. It is the third part of an investigation on the beetle biodiversity using diverse methods between 2006 and 2012. During the entire snow-free season (April/May to October) in 2006–2010, we collected by pitfall trapping 67694 individuals representing 386 Coleoptera species and morphospecies belonging to 35 families in southern Québec. Adventive species represented at least 51.9% of individuals. Carabidae and Staphylinidae were the most abundant families and had the highest species richness in all seven pitfall trap lines (two lines in a grassland, one line at the edge of the woods, two lines in the woods, and two lines near a ditch parallel to the woods). We did not detect a trend in annual variations of total catches and species richness in each pitfall trap line. A large part of the species (42.2%) occurred as singletons or doubletons over all sampling months. We collected at least 100 individuals for 50 species, including four eudominant species: Tachinus limbatus Melsheimer (14.0% of the total catches), Pterostichus melanarius (Illiger) (10.5%), Drusilla canaliculata (Fabricius) (9.6%) and Anotylus rugosus (Fabricius) (5.3%). Over all sampling years, between 49 and 63% of species from one pitfall trap line were sporadically collected (i.e., during one to three months only over five years), whereas only a few species were active during at least 26 months over all the 33 sampling months in each pitfall trap line. Fourteen species were dominant in at least one pitfall trap line; we observed strong year-to-year fluctuations in the relative abundance of dominant and subdominant species in each line, and spatiotemporal variations of each of these species. We determined the sex-ratio for 42 abundant species, including 17 species with a female biased sex-ratio, and 13 species with a predominance of males. Adults of the most abundant species were mostly macropterous (73% of catches), and we discuss on their dispersal power by flight
Translating and Illustrating Tolkien (2023) ed. by Will Sherwood
Get PDFBook review, by Arden R. Smith, of Translating and Illustrating Tolkien (2023), ed. by Will Sherwoo
Theology and Tolkien: Practical Theology (2023), edited by Douglas Estes
Get PDFBook review, by Lisa Coutras, of Theology and Tolkien: Practical Theology (2023), edited by Douglas Este
An Iron Oxide Mediated Solar Decoupled Electrolysis Cycle
No full textWe present a proof of concept demonstration of solar thermochemical energy storage. The James Markiewicz Solar Energy Research Facility (SERF) at Valparaiso University uses concentrated sunlight to reduce hematite at 1500 ℃, evolving oxygen and producing magnetite. Magnetite can then be dissolved in water at pH 5 using hydroxyethylidene diphosphonic acid (HEDP). Aqueous Fe2+ serves as the anode for the reduction of water to hydrogen, as demonstrated by a visual H2 detection assay. Finally, alkaline solutions of Fe3+ + HEDP upon concentration produce a precipitate characterized as goethite α-FeOOH by Raman spectroscopy, completing the cycle