Friendship in Later Life: Thirty Years of Progress and Inequalities.

Studies examining the impact of social change on individual development and aging postulate the growing importance of flexible relationships, such as friendship. Although friendship is well known as a factor of well-being in later life, the prevalence of friendship in older adult networks and its unequal distribution has been examined only in few studies. Through secondary data analysis of two cross-sectional surveys carried out in Switzerland in 1979 and 2011, respectively, the increasing presence of close friends was confirmed.

Rapid Sequence Induction With a Standard Intubation Dose of Rocuronium After Magnesium Pretreatment Compared With Succinylcholine: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Background: Succinylcholine remains the muscle relaxant of choice for rapid sequence induction (RSI) but has many adverse effects. High-dose rocuronium bromide may be an alternative to succinylcholine for RSI but recovery times are nearly doubled compared with a standard intubating dose of rocuronium. Magnesium sulfate significantly shortens the onset time of a standard intubating dose of rocuronium.

Interactional Effects Between Relational and Cognitive Reserves on Decline in Executive Functioning.

Objectives: The present study set out to investigate associations of cognitive reserve (as indicated by education) and relational reserve (as indicated by the family network size and indices of emotional support) to decline in executive functioning over 6 years as measured by changes in Trail Making Test (TMT) completion time in older adults and whether education and network size interacted with age and sex as covariates with respect to this longitudinal association.

Method: We analyzed data from 897 participants tested on TMT parts A and B in two waves 6 years apart. The mean age in the first wave was 74.

The longitudinal relation between social reserve and smaller subsequent decline in executive functioning in old age is mediated via cognitive reserve.

Objectives: Social reserve such as having close friends helps promoting activity engagement in old age. Activity engagement in turn contributes to the accumulation of cognitive reserve and is a key predictor for maintaining executive functioning in aging. We investigated the mediating role of leisure activity engagement in the longitudinal relation between close friends and subsequent change in executive functioning as measured through performance changes in the Trail Making Test (TMT).

Outcome after extracorporeal membrane oxygenation-bridged lung retransplants: a single-centre experience.

Objectives: A lung retransplant has been shown to be a valid option in selected patients with chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD). However, a subgroup of patients may require, in addition to invasive mechanical ventilation, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) as a bridge to a retransplant. Overall and CLAD-free survival after ECMO-bridged retransplants are compared to first transplants with and without bridging ECMO and to retransplants without bridging ECMO.

Distinct effects of cognitive versus somatic anxiety on cognitive performance in old age: the role of working memory capacity.

The adverse effects of anxiety on cognition are widely recognized. According to Attentional Control Theory, worry (i.e.

The role of cognitive reserve accumulated in midlife for the relation between chronic diseases and cognitive decline in old age: A longitudinal follow-up across six years.

Objectives: The present study set out to investigate relations of the number of chronic diseases (as a global indicator of individuals' multimorbidity) to cognitive status and cognitive decline over six years as measured by changes in Trail Making Test (TMT) completion time in old adults and whether those relations differed by key life course markers of cognitive reserve (education, occupation, and cognitively stimulating leisure activities).

Method: We analyzed data from 897 participants tested on TMT parts A and B in two waves six years apart. Mean age in the first wave was 74.

The analgesic efficacy of transverse abdominis plane block versus epidural analgesia: A systematic review with meta-analysis.

Background: The aim of the study was to compare the analgesic efficacy of epidural analgesia and transverse abdominis plane (TAP) block. TAP block has gained popularity to provide postoperative analgesia after abdominal surgery but its advantage over epidural analgesia is disputed.

Methods: We followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement guidelines.

Comparison of peripheral nerve blockade characteristics between non-diabetic patients and patients suffering from diabetic neuropathy: a prospective cohort study.

Animal data have demonstrated increased block duration after local anaesthetic injections in diabetic rat models. Whether the same is true in humans is currently undefined. We, therefore, undertook this prospective cohort study to test the hypothesis that type-2 diabetic patients suffering from diabetic peripheral neuropathy would have increased block duration after ultrasound-guided popliteal sciatic nerve block when compared with patients without neuropathy.

The relation of close friends to cognitive performance in old age: the mediating role of leisure activities.

Unlabelled: ABSTRACTBackground:From a conceptual point of view, close friends are an important resource for promoting activity engagement in old age. Leisure activity engagement in turn is a key predictor of cognitive performance. Empirically, it remains unclear so far whether leisure activity engagement mediates between having close friends on the one hand and cognitive performance on the other, which we investigated in a large sample of older adults.

Complex Tracheocarinal Reconstructions Using Extrathoracic Muscle Flaps as Airway Substitutes.

Background: Extrathoracic muscle flaps can be used as airway substitutes for the closure of complex bronchopleural or tracheoesophageal fistulas or in the context of tracheocarinal reconstructions after resection for centrally localized tumors in order to alleviate excess anastomotic tension.

Methods: Evaluation of all patients undergoing tracheocarinal reconstructions with extrathoracic muscle flap patches as airway substitutes in our institution from 1996 to 2016.

Results: A total of 73 patients underwent tracheocarinal reconstructions using extrathoracic muscle flap patches as airway substitutes for the closure of bronchopleural fistulas (n = 17) and complex tracheoesophageal fistulas (n = 7), or in the context of airway reconstructions after carinal resections in combination with pneumonectomy/sleeve lobectomy for centrally localized lung tumors (n = 36) and noncircumferential tracheal resections for tracheal disease processes (n = 14).

Efficacy of perineural vs systemic dexamethasone to prolong analgesia after peripheral nerve block: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Perineural dexamethasone has gained popularity in regional anaesthesia to prolong the duration of analgesia, but its advantage over systemic administration is disputed. The objective of this meta-analysis was to compare the analgesic efficacy of both routes of administration during peripheral nerve block. The methodology followed the PRISMA statement guidelines.

Repair of challenging non-malignant tracheo- or broncho-oesophageal fistulas by extrathoracic muscle flaps.

Objectives: Evaluation of complex, acquired, non-malignant tracheo/broncho-oesophageal fistulas (TEF) repaired by extrathoracic pedicled muscle flaps that were, in addition to their interposition between the airways and the gastro-intestinal tract, patched into gastro-intestinal or airway defects if primary closure seemed risky.

Methods: A single institution experience of patients treated between 2003 and 2015. Twenty-two patients required TEF repair following oesophageal surgery (18), Boerhaave syndrome (1), chemotherapy for mediastinal lymphoma (1), carinal resection and irradiation (1) and laryngectomy (1); 64% of them underwent prior radio- or chemotherapy and 50% prior airway or oesophageal stenting.

The analgesic efficacy of sciatic nerve block in addition to femoral nerve block in patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

The aim of this meta-analysis was to assess the postoperative analgesic efficacy of sciatic nerve block when combined with femoral nerve block after total knee arthroplasty. Outcomes included resting pain scores (analogue scale, 0-100), intravenous morphine consumption at 12 h, 24 h and 48 h postoperatively, and functional outcomes comprising knee flexion, distance walked, and length of stay. Twelve randomised controlled trials were included, with a total of 600 patients.

The Analgesic Efficacy of Ultrasound-Guided Transversus Abdominis Plane Block in Adult Patients: A Meta-Analysis.

Background: Previous meta-analyses of the transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block have examined a maximum of 12 articles, including fewer than 650 participants, and have not examined the effect of ultrasound-guided techniques specifically. Recently, many trials that use ultrasound approaches to TAP block have been published, which report conflicting analgesic results. This meta-analysis aims to evaluate the analgesic efficacy of ultrasound-guided TAP blocks exclusively for all types of abdominal surgeries in adult patients.

The Association of Leisure Activities in Middle Adulthood with Cognitive Performance in Old Age: The Moderating Role of Educational Level.

Background: One of the fundamental challenges for gerontological research is how to maintain and promote intact cognitive functioning in old age. Previous research revealed that high educational level, good health status, and an active lifestyle during adulthood seem to be protective against cognitive impairment in old age. However, up to now, a detailed examination of the interaction of these relations based on a broader variety of activities and considering past and current activities is missing.

[Effect of contact lenses and visual acuity on the registration of saccadic eye movements using an infrared reflection method].

In order to examine the influence of contact lenses and visual acuity on recordings of saccadic eye movements with the infrared reflection method, horizontal 20 and 30 degrees saccades were recorded with and without contact lenses in 16 subjects (32 eyes) usually wearing contact lenses. As far as the main parameters of the saccades (accuracy, peak velocity and duration) were concerned, the reliability of the measurements (recognizable through the mean values) was not essentially influenced by the contact lenses. The precision of the measurements (recognizable through the standard deviation) was with the contact lenses significantly but, for clinical use, not essentially worse.