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Meditation is becoming an increasingly popular topic for scientific research and various effects of extensive meditation practice (ranging from weeks to several years) on cognitive processes have been demonstrated. Here we show that extensive practice may not be necessary to achieve those effects. Healthy adult non-meditators underwent a brief single session of either focused attention meditation (FAM), which is assumed to increase top-down control, or open monitoring meditation (OMM), which is assumed to weaken top-down control, before performing an Attentional Blink (AB) task - which assesses the efficiency of allocating attention over time. The size of the AB was considerably smaller after OMM than after FAM, which suggests that engaging in meditation immediately creates a cognitive-control state that has a specific impact on how people allocate their attention over time., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Here we consider the possibility that meditation has an immediate impact on information processing. Moreover, we were interested to see whether this impact affects attentional input control, as previous observations suggest, or the handling of response conflict. Healthy adults underwent a brief single session of either focused attention meditation (FAM), which is assumed to increase top-down control, or open monitoring meditation (OMM), which is assumed to weaken top-down control, before performing a Simon task-which assesses conflict-resolution efficiency. While the size of the Simon effect (reflecting the efficiency of handling response conflict) was unaffected by type of meditation, the amount of dynamic behavioral adjustments (i.e., trial-to-trial variability of the Simon effect: the Gratton effect) was considerably smaller after OMM than after FAM. Our findings suggest that engaging in meditation instantly creates a cognitive-control state that has a specific impact on conflict-driven control adaptations., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To determine the feasibility and safety of laparoscopically assisted vaginal hysterectomy in the treatment of presumed stage I endometrial cancer., Study Design: This was a prospective cohort study without randomization of 182 consecutive patients who underwent surgery for early endometrial cancer or atypical hyperplasia at the West Kent Gynaecological Oncology Centre, UK. Seventy-four had laparoscopically assisted vaginal hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (BSO), and 108 had a total abdominal hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy. Lymphadenectomy was performed in 153 patients, and lymph node sampling was performed in 2 patients. Twenty-seven patients with serous papillary endometrial cancer in addition had an omentectomy. The groups were compared for epidemiological and clinical characteristics, surgical outcomes, hospital stay, lymph node harvest, and intraoperative and postoperative complications., Results: The patients in the laparoscopy group had less blood loss, similar number of lymph nodes removed, less need for analgesia, and shorter hospital stay but longer operative time than those treated by laparotomy. In our study, we had 4 conversions (5.4%) from laparoscopy to laparotomy. Twenty-eight (41%) patients who had laparoscopic surgery were obese (body mass index [BMI] >30 kg/m2). Postoperative complications were more common in the laparotomy group (34%) than in the laparoscopy group (6%). No major complications occurred in the laparoscopy group. Wound infection was the most common complication in laparotomy patients, and this invariably happened to obese patients (BMI >30 kg/m2). There were 6 readmissions, all from the laparotomy group., Conclusions: Laparoscopic surgery is a safe and reliable alternative to open surgery in the management of early endometrial cancer patients, with significantly reduced hospital stay and complications, especially in those patients with an elevated BMI.

Objective: This study investigates whether racial/ethnic disparities in childhood asthma prevalence can be explained by differences in family and neighborhood socioeconomic position (SEP)., Methods: Data were from the 2001 Rhode Island Health Interview Survey (RI HIS), a statewide representative sample of 2,600 Rhode Island households, and the 2000 U.S. Census. A series of weighted multivariate models were fitted using generalized estimating equations (GEE) for the logistic case to analyze the independent and joint effects of race/ethnicity and SEP on doctor-diagnosed asthma among 1,769 white, black and Hispanic children <18 years old., Results: Compared with white children, black children were at increased odds for asthma and this effect persisted when measures of family and neighborhood SEP were included in multivariate models (AOR: 2.49; 95% Cl: 1.30-4.77). Black children living in poverty neighborhoods had substantially higher odds of asthma than Hispanic and white children in poverty areas and children in moderate- and high-income neighborhoods (AOR: 3.20: 95% Cl: 1.62-6.29)., Conclusion: The high prevalence of asthma among black children in poor neighborhoods is consistent with previous research on higher-than-average prevalence of childhood asthma in poor urban minority communities. Changing neighborhood social structures that contribute to racial disparities in asthma prevalence remains a challenge.

Background: Over the past decade, it has been well established that elevated total serum homocysteine (tHcy) in adults is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular and thromboembolic diseases. Since risk factors for such diseases are established at a young age, the aim of the present study was to measure serum tHcy levels in 134 (71 boys, 63 girls) randomly selected healthy preschool children aged 4-6 years (mean 5.1), and to investigate possible correlation with paraoxonase 1 (PON1) activity, an antioxidant enzyme that contributes to the antiatherogenic properties of high-density lipoprotein (HDL)., Methods: tHcy was determined using an IMX tHcy assay (FPIA). PON1 was measured by a spectrophotometric method at 412 nm., Results: Mean serum tHcy was 7.71+/-2.35 mumol/L. A relatively significant percentage (15.6%) of boys and girls had elevated serum tHcy levels (>10 mumol/L). tHcy levels were slightly higher in girls compared to boys (8.20+/-2.80 vs. 7.29+/-1.79 mumol/L, respectively; p<0.11). There was no significant interaction between age and tHcy levels. Mean PON1 activity was 124.86+/-66.62 U/L. No statistical difference in enzyme activity was observed between boys and girls (126.81+/-69.99 vs. 121.74+/-64.78 U/L) was observed. On the contrary, a weak negative relationship between tHcy concentration and PON1 activity was detected, with Pearson's correlation coefficient of r=-0.27., Conclusions: The significant percentage of elevated tHcy levels observed in healthy preschool cases and the negative tHcy correlation with PON1 activity are reported for the first time. Since children with a family history of cardiovascular disease have higher levels of serum Hcy, tHcy screening in children, even of this age, in relation to other parameters, such the protective PON1, might prove a useful prevention procedure for the genetic risk of premature atherosclerosis.

Background and Aims: Peripheral vein catheter patency and infusion thrombophlebitis remains a significant problem in everyday clinical practice. The aim of the study was to investigate the epidemiology of peripheral vein complications and to evaluate three different methods for the maintenance of peripheral vein catheter patency and the prevention of vein thrombophlebitis., Methods: A total of 300 post-operative patients undergoing elective orthopaedic surgery were prospectively studied. Patients were divided into three groups: controls--catheters not flushed following drug administration; saline group--the catheters flushed with 3 mL of normal saline 0.9% after each catheter use; heparin group--the catheters flushed with 3 mL of 100-U/mL heparin in normal saline 0.9% after each catheter use., Results: Complications occurred in 36% of the patients and the incidence of thrombophlebitis was 8% and only 4% in the control group. In the normal saline group there was a significant increase in total complications and obstruction together with thrombophlebitis as compared with the control group. Kaplan-Meier curves demonstrate that the control group had a significantly higher proportion of catheters without complications., Conclusions: The use of normal saline solutions in post-operative patients thus should be avoided for catheter maintenance. In patients receiving low molecular weight heparin, no intravenous flushing should be used for preventing catheter obstruction or thrombophlebitis in order to reduce costs and nursing workload.

Nosocomial pneumonia (NP) is defined as pneumonia that develops within 48 hours or more of hospital admission and which was not developing at the time of admission. Nosocomial pneumonia, also known as hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP), is the second most common hospital infection, while ventilator-associated pneumonia represents the most common intensive care unit (ICU) infection. Nosocomial pneumonia significantly contributes to morbidity, mortality, and escalating healthcare costs because of increases in antibiotic prescription and administration, length of ICU stay, and length of hospital stay. Aspiration and colonization of the upper respiratory tract seem to be the major pathogenetic mechanisms for the development of NP, either in intubated or spontaneously breathing patients. The microbiology of NP depends on the timing of onset. In early-onset NP, the responsible pathogens are generally endogenous community-acquired pathogens. In late-onset NP, the responsible microbes include potentially multi-drug-resistant nosocomial organisms residing in oropharyngeal or gastric contents. Important risk factors for development of NP include coma, intubation, prolonged mechanical ventilation, repeated intubations, supine positioning, and long-term antibiotic use. The most significant preventive measures include routine hand washing and avoidance of (1) the supine position, (2) inappropriate antibiotics, and (3) overuse of H2-antagonists for stress ulcer prophylaxis. Accurate diagnosis of NP is difficult and controversial, warranting consideration for the application of invasive quantitative culture techniques over tracheal aspirates. Empiric antibiotic treatment should be prompt, starting on clinical suspicion, and based on local ICU pathogen epidemiology and antibiotic resistance patterns and on a deescalating antibiotic strategy. Innovative antibiotic strategies, such as antibiotic rotation, to help prevent the emergence of multi-drug-resistant pathogens and improve survival should be considered.

We investigated the intraocular penetration of cloxacillin in 14 patients undergoing surgery for senile cataract after intramuscular and subconjunctival injections of the drug. No antibiotic level was detected in the aqueous humor when cloxacillin was administered intramuscularly in a dose that ranged between 1 and 4 g. With subconjunctival injection, therapeutically effective cloxacillin activity was detected in the aqueous humor only after a dose of 250 mg.