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To determine the association between chronic tobacco cigarette smoking and P300 amplitude. Systematic review with meta-analysis and meta-regression. Medline, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, PsychInfo, and Web of Science. Eligible studies contained P300 amplitudes obtained from either visual or auditory stimuli and standard deviations or errors in female and male subjects older than 18 years in a group of nonabstaining chronic cigarette smokers and a nonsmoking control group. The 9 eligible studies comprised 13 relevant datasets containing 1,956 current cigarette smokers and 2,194 nonsmoking controls (N = 4,150). The P300 amplitude was smaller in cigarette smokers than in nonsmoking controls (Hedges' g effect size = .365; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.196-0.534, p < .001). Meta-regression showed significant positive associations between the number of cigarettes smoked per day at the time of the study (slope estimate = .036, 95% CI = 0.016-0.056, p ≤ .001, length of smoking in years (slope estimate = .056, 95% CI = 0.005-0.102, p = .018), pack years (slope estimate = .018, 95% CI = 0.009-0.031 p = .009), and age (slope estimate = .068, 95% CI = 0.025-0.113, p = .002). P300 amplitude was smaller in cigarette smokers than in nonsmoking controls, and a possible dose-response relationship was apparent. Findings indicate a possible association between cigarette smoking and decreased P300 amplitude.

Objectives: Evaluate the association between pediatric sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) and executive functioning. Methods: We searched multiple electronic databases for peer-reviewed journal articles related to pediatric SDB and executive functioning. We included studies that assessed SDB via polysomnography, included objective or questionnaire measures of executive function, and had an age-matched control group. Fourteen articles met inclusion criteria with a total sample of 1697 children ages 5 to 17 years (M=9.81 years; SD=0.34). We calculated an overall effect size for each of the five executive domains (vigilance, inhibition, working memory, shifting, and generativity) as well as effect sizes according to SDB severity: mild, moderate, severe. We also calculated effect sizes separately for objective and subjective questionnaires of executive functioning. Results: We found a medium effect size (−0.427) for just one of five executive function domains on objective neuropsychological measures (generativity). In contrast, effect sizes on all three executive domains measured via questionnaire data were significant, with effect sizes ranging from medium (−0.64) to large (−1.06). We found no difference between executive domains by severity of SDB. Conclusions: This meta-analysis of executive function separated into five domains in pediatric SDB suggested lower performance in generativity on objective neuropsychological measures. There were no differences associated with SDB severity. Questionnaire data suggested dysfunction across the three executive domains measured (inhibition, working memory, shifting). Overall, limited evidence suggested poorer performance in executive function in children with SDB according to objective testing, and subjective ratings of executive function suggested additional worsened performance. (JINS, 2016, 22, 839–850)

This study aims to evaluate if the addition of deep parasternal plane blocks to a pre-existing enhanced recovery pathway for pediatric cardiac surgery improves outcomes. A retrospective review through an EMR query from June 2019 to June 2021 was performed for patients less than 18 years of age who underwent cardiac surgery via median sternotomy and were extubated immediately following surgery in a single academic tertiary care hospital. Patients receiving deep parasternal blocks as part of an enhanced recovery protocol were compared to similar patients from the year prior to block implementation. The primary outcome was intraoperative and postoperative opioid consumption. Secondary outcomes were pain scores, intensive care unit (ICU) length of stay and time to first oral intake. There was a statistically significant reduction in intraoperative opioid administration and pain scores in the first 24 hours post-operatively. There was also a statistically significant reduction in ICU length of stay. There was no statistically significant difference in post-operative opioid consumption and time to first oral intake. Bilateral deep parasternal blocks may reduce opioid consumption, provide effective postoperative pain control, and result in decreased length of intensive care unit stay across both simple and complex pediatric cardiac procedures when added to a pre-existing enhanced recovery protocol.

We present the first statistical analysis of the exoplanet frequency using planets found by a microlensing survey rather than follow-up observations. We present an analysis of 2007-2012 MOA (Microlensing Observations in Astrophysics) survey data to derive the planet frequency as a function of the planet/star mass ratio, q and separation, s, relative to the Einstein radius. Our sample includes 1472 microlensing events, including 22 planetary events and 1 ambiguous event with possible planetary and stellar binary solutions. The detection efficiency is calculated for each event and we employ a Bayesian analysis to deal with the ambiguous event. A broken power law model is used to fit the mass ratio function and we find a break and likely peak at q ~1.0−4.

A network of cosmic strings generated in the early universe may still exist today. As the strings move across the sky, they produce, by gravitational lensing, a characteristic pattern of anisotropies in the temperature of the cosmic microwave background. The observed absence of such anisotropies places constraints on theories in which galaxy formation is seeded by strings, but it is anticipated that the next generation of experiments will detect them.

The discovery of extrasolar planets is arguably the most exciting development in astrophysics during the past 15 years, rivalled only by the detection of dark energy. Two projects are now at the intersection of the two communities of exoplanet scientists and cosmologists: EUCLID, proposed as an ESA M-class mission; and WFIRST, the top-ranked large space mission for the next decade by the Astro 2010 Decadal Survey report. The missions are to have several important science programs: a dark energy survey using weak lensing, baryon acoustic oscillations, Type Ia supernova, a survey of exoplanetary architectures using microlensing, and different surveys. The WFIRST and EUCLID microlensing planet search programs will provide a statistical census of exoplanets with masses greater than the mass of Mars and orbital separations ranging from 0.5 AU outwards, including free-floating planets. This will include analogs of all Solar System planets except for Mercury, as well as most types of planets predicted by planet formation theories. In combination with Kepler's census of planets in shorter period orbits, EUCLID and WFIRST's planet search programs will provide a complete statistical census of the planets that populate our Galaxy. As of today, EUCLID is proposed to ESA as a M class mission (the result of the selection will be known in october 2011). We are presenting here preliminary results about the expected planet yields. WFIRST has just appointed a Science Definition Team.

K2's Campaign 9 (K2 C9) will conduct a ~3.7 deg super(2) survey toward the Galactic bulge from 2016 April 22 through July 2 that will leverage the spatial separation between K2 and the Earth to facilitate measurement of the microlens [pi] sub(E) for [> ~] microlensing events. These will include several that are planetary in nature as well as many short-timescale microlensing events, which are potentially indicative of free-floating planets (FFPs). These satellite parallax measurements will in turn allow for the direct measurement of the masses of and distances to the lensing systems. In this article we provide an overview of the K2 C9 space- and ground-based microlensing survey. Specifically, we detail the demographic questions that can be addressed by this program, including the frequency of FFPs and the Galactic distribution of exoplanets, the observational parameters of K2 C9, and the array of resources dedicated to concurrent observations. Finally, we outline the avenues through which the larger community can become involved, and generally encourage participation in K2 C9, which constitutes an important pathfinding mission and community exercise in anticipation of WFIRST.

We developed a parametric Galactic model toward the Galactic bulge by fitting to spatial distributions of the Gaia DR2 disk velocity, VVV proper motion, BRAVA radial velocity, OGLE-III red clump star count, and OGLE-IV star count and microlens rate, optimized for use in microlensing studies. We include the asymmetric drift of Galactic disk stars and the dependence of velocity dispersion on Galactic location in the kinematic model, which has been ignored in most previous models used for microlensing studies. We show that our model predicts a microlensing parameter distribution significantly different from those typically used in previous studies. We estimate various fundamental model parameters for our Galaxy through our modeling, including the initial mass function (IMF) in the inner Galaxy. Combined constraints from star counts and the microlensing event timescale distribution from the OGLE-IV survey, in addition to a prior on the bulge stellar mass, enable us to successfully measure IMF slopes using a broken power-law form over a broad mass range, \\(\\alpha_{\\rm bd}=0.22^{+0.20}_{-0.55}\\) for \\(M<0.08\\,M_{\\odot}\\), \\(\\alpha_{\\rm ms} = 1.16^{+0.08}_{-0.15}\\) for \\(0.08\\,M_{\\odot}\\leq\\,M

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