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Background: The prevalence of asthma and wheezing has risen during the past four decades. Recent reports suggest that the “asthma epidemic” has reached a plateau. Objective: To examine further trends in the prevalence of childhood diagnosed asthma and wheezing in an urban environment in Greece. Methods: A population-based cross-sectional parental questionnaire survey was repeated among third-grade and fourth-grade school children (8–10 years) of public primary schools in 2003 in the city of Patras, Greece, by using methods identical to that of surveys conducted in 1978 (completed questionnaires, n = 3003), 1991 (n = 2417) and 1998 (n = 3076). Results: 2725 questionnaires were completed in the 2003 survey. The prevalence rates of current asthma and/or wheezing in 1978, 1991, 1998 and 2003 were 1.5%, 4.6%, 6% and 6.9%, respectively (p for trend <0.001). The lifetime prevalence of asthma and/or wheezing in the three more recent surveys was 8%, 9.6% and 12.4%, respectively (p for trend <0.001). The male:female ratios of current asthma and/or wheezing in the four surveys were 1.14:1, 1.15:1, 1.16:1 and 1.22:1, respectively. The proportion of those with wheezing diagnosed with asthma has increased during the study period, more so among non-current children with asthma. Conclusions: Our findings show a continuous increase in the prevalence of asthma and wheezing among preadolescent children in Patras, Greece, over 25 years, albeit at a decelerating rate. There seems to be a true increase in wheezing, despite some diagnostic transfer, particularly among younger children. The male predominance of the disease has persisted in the population of this study.

Background and AimsInternal Jugular Vein Catheterization (IJVC) in oncology patients can be challenging, as most of these patients have undergone multiple painful procedures and fear of pain. This study aims to determine whether intermediate cervical plexus block (ICPB) is superior to conventional local anesthesia in terms of satisfaction of the patient for IJVC.Methods30 oncology patients, ASA III, were randomly divided into two groups. In Group A (n=18), ICPB with lidocaine 2% (5 ml) was administered to the patients, 5 minutes before the placement of the central venous catheter (CVC). In Group B (n=12), conventional local anesthesia with lidocaine 2% (5 ml) was administered at the site of the catheterization, 5 minutes before the placement of CVC. The procedure in both groups was ultrasound-guided. The duration, complications and VAS score of the procedure along with patient’s satisfaction of the procedure were recorded. Patient’s vital signs were recorded throughout the procedure.ResultsNo complications were reported in both Groups. The mean duration of the procedure was not statistically significant between the two groups. VAS scores and Satisfaction Scores were found to be statistically significant between the two groups.ConclusionsIn this study, the performance of ICPB in oncology patients undergoing IJVC was found to provide superior analgesia and comfort to the patients when compared to conventional local anesthesia. To the authors’ concern there are no studies exploring the superiority of ICPB as a means of analgesia to patients undergoing IJVC. Certainly, more studies should be performed for further confirmation of these findings.

BACKGROUND The aim of the present study was to compare the prevalence of asthma among schoolchildren in 1978, 1991, and 1998 in Patras, Greece. METHODS The study populations of the three comparable cross sectional surveys comprised third and fourth grade public school children in Patras, Greece. Sample sizes in 1978, 1991, and 1998 were 3735, 2952 and 3397 children and response rates were 80.4%, 81.9%, and 90.6%, respectively. Prevalence of current, non-current, and lifetime asthma or recurrent wheezing was determined by parental questionnaire. Personal communication with the parents of asthmatic children in 1991 and 1998 provided data on lost schooldays. RESULTS Prevalence rates of current asthma or wheezing in 1978, 1991, and 1998 were 1.5%, 4.6%, and 6.0%, respectively (1978–91: p=0.01, 1991–98: p=0.02, 1978–98: p=0.03). Lifetime prevalences of asthma or wheezing in 1991 and 1998 were 8.0% and 9.6%, respectively (p=0.03). Current diagnosed asthma increased proportionally to diagnosed wheezing during 1991–98. The number of schooldays lost in the previous 2 years because of asthma did not change (p>0.1) between 1991 (0.31 per child) and 1998 (0.34 per child). CONCLUSIONS Our results support a true increase in the prevalence of current and lifetime asthma in the last 20 years among pre-adolescent children in Patras, Greece.

REACLIB is one of the most comprehensive and popular astrophysical reaction rate libraries. However, its experimentally obtained rates for light isotopes still rely mainly on the Caughlan & Fowler (1988) compilation and have never been updated despite the progress in many relevant nuclear astrophysics experiments. Moreover, due to fitting errors REACLIB is not reliable at temperatures lower than 10^{7}K. In this work we establish the formalism for updating the obsolete Caughlan-Fowler experimental rates of REACLIB. Then we use the NACRE compilation and results from the LUNA experiments to update some important charged-particle induced rates of REACLIB focusing on the proton-proton chain. The updated rates (available also in digital form) can now be used in the low temperature regime (below 10^{7}K) which was forbidden to the old version of REACLIB.

This paper presents a detailed study of the electron degeneracy and nonlinear screening effects which play a crucial role in the validity of Salpeter's weak-screening model. The limitations of that model are investigated and an improved one is proposed which can take into account nonlinear screening effects. Its application to the solar pp reaction derives an accurate screening enhancement factor and provides a very reliable estimation of the associated neutrino flux uncertanties.

This paper shows that ultrastrong magnetic fields (such as those of magnetars) and dense astrophysical plasmas can reduce the half life of alpha decaying nuclei by many orders of magnitude. In such environments the conventional Geiger-Nuttall law is modifed so that all half lives are shifted to dramatically lower values. Those effects, which have never been investigated before, may have significant implications on the universal abundances of heavy radioactive elements and the cosmochronological methods that rely on them.

Effective astrophysical factors for non-resonant astrophysical nuclear reaction are invariably calculated with respect to a zero energy limit. In the present work that limit is shown to be very disadvantageous compared to the more natural effective energy limit. The latter is used in order to modify the thermonuclear reaction rate formula so that it takes into account both plasma and laboratory screening effects.

Multi-electron screening effects encountered in laboratory astrophysical reactions are investigated by considering the reactants Thomas-Fermi atoms. By means of that model, previous studies are extended to derive the corresponding screening enhancement factor (SEF), so that it takes into account ionization, thermal, exchange and relativistic effects. The present study, by imposing a very satisfactory constraint on the possible values of the screening energies and the respective SEFs, corrects the current (and the future) experimental values of the astrophysical factors associated with nuclear reactions involved in advanced stages of stellar evolution.

Two models are presented for the description of the electron screening effects that appear in laboratory nuclear reactions at astrophysical energies. The two-electron screening energy of the first model agrees very well with the recent LUNA experimental result for the break-up reaction \\(% He3(He3,2p)He^{4}\\), which so far defies all available theoretical models. Moreover, multi-electron effects that enhance laboratory reactions of the CNO cycle and other advanced nuclear burning stages, are also studied by means of the Thomas-Fermi model, deriving analytical formulae that establish a lower and upper limit for the associated screening energy. The results of the second model, which show a very satisfactory compatibility with the adiabatic approximation ones, are expected to be particularly useful in future experiments for a more accurate determination of the CNO astrophysical factors.