Cardiac Surgery Outcomes: A Case for Increased Screening and Treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnea.

Background: Because of the limited published information on complications that obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patients experience during and after cardiac surgery, we investigated OSA as a risk factor for postoperative outcomes.

Methods: This project used the Northern New England Cardiovascular Disease Study Group's data collected between 2011 and 2017 based on The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Adult Cardiac Surgery Database Data Collections form. A retrospective analysis of 1555 patients with OSA and 10,450 patients without OSA across 5 medical centers undergoing isolated coronary artery bypass grafting, isolated valve surgery, and combined coronary artery bypass grafting valve surgery was conducted.

Children's Environmental Health in the Digital Era: Understanding Early Screen Exposure as a Preventable Risk Factor for Obesity and Sleep Disorders.

The quantity, accessibility and focus on child-targeted programming has exponentially increased since it entered American households in the early 1900s. It may have started with the television (TV), but technology has evolved and now fits in our pockets; as of 2017, 95% of American families own a smartphone. Availability and child-tailored content has subsequently led to a decrease in the age at initial screen exposure.

Aphid secondary symbionts do not affect prey attractiveness to two species of predatory lady beetles.

Heritable symbionts have been found to mediate interactions between host species and their natural enemies in a variety of organisms. Aphids, their facultative symbionts, and their potential fitness effects have been particularly well-studied. For example, the aphid facultative symbiont Regiella can protect its host from infection from a fungal pathogen, and aphids with Hamiltonella are less likely to be parasitized by parasitic wasps.

Evidence of indirect symbiont conferred protection against the predatory lady beetle Harmonia axyridis in the pea aphid.

Background: Defensive symbionts can provide significant fitness advantages to their hosts. Facultative symbionts can protect several species of aphid from fungal pathogens, heat shock, and parasitism by parasitoid wasps. Previous work found that two of these facultative symbionts can also indirectly protect pea aphids from predation by the lady beetle Hippocampus convergens.