Trajectories of sleep disturbance and daytime sleepiness in women before and after surgery for breast cancer.

Context: Sleep disturbance is a problem for oncology patients.

Objectives: To evaluate how sleep disturbance and daytime sleepiness (DS) changed from before to six months following surgery and whether certain characteristics predicted initial levels and/or the trajectories of these parameters.

Methods: Patients (n=396) were enrolled prior to surgery and completed monthly assessments for six months following surgery.

Determination of cutpoints for low and high number of symptoms in patients with advanced cancer.

While patients with advanced cancer experience a wide range of symptoms, no work has been done to determine an optimal cutpoint for a low versus a high number of symptoms. Analytic approaches that established clinically meaningful cutpoints for the severity of cancer pain and fatigue provided the foundation for this study. The purpose of this study was to determine the optimal cutpoint for low and high numbers of symptoms using a range of potential cutpoints and to determine if those cutpoints distinguished between the two symptom groups on demographic and clinical characteristics and depression, anxiety, and quality of life (QOL).

Evidence of associations between cytokine genes and subjective reports of sleep disturbance in oncology patients and their family caregivers.

The purposes of this study were to identify distinct latent classes of individuals based on subjective reports of sleep disturbance; to examine differences in demographic, clinical, and symptom characteristics between the latent classes; and to evaluate for variations in pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokine genes between the latent classes. Among 167 oncology outpatients with breast, prostate, lung, or brain cancer and 85 of their FCs, growth mixture modeling (GMM) was used to identify latent classes of individuals based on General Sleep Disturbance Scale (GSDS) obtained prior to, during, and for four months following completion of radiation therapy. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and haplotypes in candidate cytokine genes were interrogated for differences between the two latent classes.

Gaze cues influence memory…but not for long.

Many factors influence the manner in which material is encoded into memory, with one of the most important determinants of subsequent memorability being the degree to which an item is attended at study. Attentional gaze manipulations - which occur when a task-irrelevant face at fixation looks towards or away from a target - have been shown to enhance attention such that stimuli that are gazed at elicit quicker responses. In the present study, four experiments were conducted to determine whether attentional gaze cues can also influence the recall of items appearing at gazed-at or gazed-away from locations.

In vivo alterations in cardiac metabolism and function in the spontaneously hypertensive rat heart.

Aims: The aim of this work was to use hyperpolarized carbon-13 ((13)C) magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopy and cine MR imaging (MRI) to assess in vivo cardiac metabolism and function in the 15-week-old spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) heart. At this time point, the SHR displays hypertension and concentric hypertrophy. One of the cellular adaptations to hypertrophy is a reduction in β-oxidation, and it has previously been shown that in response to hypertrophy the SHR heart switches to a glycolytic/glucose-oxidative phenotype.

Potential impacts of disinfection processes on elimination and deactivation of antibiotic resistance genes during water and wastewater treatment.

Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), in association with antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB), have been identified as widespread contaminants of treated drinking waters and wastewaters. As a consequence, concerns have been raised that ARB or ARG transport between aquatic compartments may enhance the spread of antibiotic resistance amongst non-resistant bacterial communities by means of horizontal gene transfer processes. Most often, discussion of horizontal gene transfer focuses on the probable role of conjugative plasmid or transposon exchange, which requires live ARB donor cells.

Cardiorespiratory Fitness in Women with and without Lymphedema following Breast Cancer Treatment.

Following breast cancer (BC) treatment, many women develop impairments that may impact cardiorespiratory (CR) fitness. The aims of this study were to 1) evaluate CR fitness in women following BC treatment, 2) evaluate differences in CR fitness in those with and without breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL) and compare these to age-matched norms, and 3) evaluate the contribution of predictor variables to CR fitness. 136 women post-BC treatment completed testing: 67 with BCRL, and 69 without.

Metabolic adaptation to chronic hypoxia in cardiac mitochondria.

Chronic hypoxia decreases cardiomyocyte respiration, yet the mitochondrial mechanisms remain largely unknown. We investigated the mitochondrial metabolic pathways and enzymes that were decreased following in vivo hypoxia, and questioned whether hypoxic adaptation was protective for the mitochondria. Wistar rats were housed in hypoxia (7 days acclimatisation and 14 days at 11% oxygen), while control rats were housed in normoxia.

Associations between pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokine genes and breast pain in women prior to breast cancer surgery.

Unlabelled: The purposes of this study were to determine the occurrence rate for preoperative breast pain; describe the characteristics of this pain; evaluate for differences in demographic and clinical characteristics; and evaluate for variations in pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokine genes between women who did and did not report pain. Patients (n = 398) were recruited prior to surgery and completed self-report questionnaires on a number of pain characteristics. Genotyping was done using a custom genotyping array.

Exercise behaviors in breast cancer survivors in Taiwan.

Background: Although exercise is a recommended rehabilitation intervention for many breast cancer survivors, exercise activity after cancer treatment is rarely reported in this patient group in Taiwan.

Objective: The objectives of this study were to analyze trends in exercise activity in breast cancer survivors in Taiwan.

Interventions/methods: This prospective, longitudinal study with repeated-measures design used standardized instruments to measure trends in exercise activity but performed no treatments or interventions.

Prevalence and contributors to fatigue in individuals hospitalized with advanced cancer: a prospective, observational study.

Background: Although fatigue affects over 75% of patients with advanced cancer, changes over time in symptoms and antecedents have not been described in the acute care setting.

Objectives: To determine the prevalence, in patients with advanced cancer, of fatigue and anaemia on admission, describe strategies used to treat anaemia, observe changes in fatigue over ten days, and determine factors associated with fatigue.

Design: Prospective, observational study.

Association between pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokine genes and a symptom cluster of pain, fatigue, sleep disturbance, and depression.

Because multiple symptoms associated with "sickness behavior" have a negative impact on functional status and quality of life, increased information on the mechanisms that underlie inter-individual variability in this symptom experience is needed. The purposes of this study were to determine: if distinct classes of individuals could be identified based on their experience with pain, fatigue, sleep disturbance, and depression; if these classes differed on demographic and clinical characteristics; and if variations in pro- and anti- inflammatory cytokine genes were associated with latent class membership. Self-report measures of pain, fatigue, sleep disturbance, and depression were completed by 168 oncology outpatients and 85 family caregivers (FCs).

Comparisons of exercise dose and symptom severity between exercisers and nonexercisers in women during and after cancer treatment.

Context: Although numerous studies of the efficacy of exercise are reported, few studies have evaluated changes in characteristics of exercise dose in women with cancer both during and after cancer treatment.

Objectives: To describe the characteristics of exercise dose (i.e.

Fumarate is cardioprotective via activation of the Nrf2 antioxidant pathway.

The citric acid cycle (CAC) metabolite fumarate has been proposed to be cardioprotective; however, its mechanisms of action remain to be determined. To augment cardiac fumarate levels and to assess fumarate's cardioprotective properties, we generated fumarate hydratase (Fh1) cardiac knockout (KO) mice. These fumarate-replete hearts were robustly protected from ischemia-reperfusion injury (I/R).

Identification of distinct subgroups of breast cancer patients based on self-reported changes in sleep disturbance.

Purpose: The purposes of this study were to identify distinct subgroups of patients based on self-reported sleep disturbance prior to through 6 months after breast cancer surgery and evaluate for differences in demographic, clinical, and symptom characteristics among these latent classes.

Methods: Women (n = 398) who underwent unilateral breast cancer surgery were enrolled prior to surgery. Patients completed measures of functional status, sleep disturbance (i.

The political left rolls with the good and the political right confronts the bad: connecting physiology and cognition to preferences.

We report evidence that individual-level variation in people's physiological and attentional responses to aversive and appetitive stimuli are correlated with broad political orientations. Specifically, we find that greater orientation to aversive stimuli tends to be associated with right-of-centre and greater orientation to appetitive (pleasing) stimuli with left-of-centre political inclinations. These findings are consistent with recent evidence that political views are connected to physiological predispositions but are unique in incorporating findings on variation in directed attention that make it possible to understand additional aspects of the link between the physiological and the political.

Agreement between self-report and prescription data in medical records for pregnant women.

BACKGROUND Clinical teratology studies often rely on patient reports of medication use in pregnancy with or without other sources of information. Electronic medical records (EMRs), administrative databases, pharmacy dispensing records, drug registries, and patients' self-reports are all widely used sources of information to assess potential teratogenic effect of medications. The objective of this study was to assess comparability of self-reported and prescription medication data in EMRs for the most common therapeutic classes.

The cycling of acetyl-coenzyme A through acetylcarnitine buffers cardiac substrate supply: a hyperpolarized 13C magnetic resonance study.

Background: Carnitine acetyltransferase catalyzes the reversible conversion of acetyl-coenzyme A (CoA) into acetylcarnitine. The aim of this study was to use the metabolic tracer hyperpolarized [2-(13)C]pyruvate with magnetic resonance spectroscopy to determine whether carnitine acetyltransferase facilitates carbohydrate oxidation in the heart.

Methods And Results: Ex vivo, following hyperpolarized [2-(13)C]pyruvate infusion, the [1-(13)C]acetylcarnitine resonance was saturated with a radiofrequency pulse, and the effect of this saturation on [1-(13)C]citrate and [5-(13)C]glutamate was observed.

An automated module for the separation and purification of cyclotron-produced 99mTcO4-.

Introduction: The shortage of reactor-produced molybdenum-99 ((99)Mo, t(½)=66 h) has renewed interest in alternative production methods of its daughter isotope, technetium-99m ((99m)Tc, t(½)=6.02 h). While adsorption chromatography serves as a mechanism for selective elution of sodium pertechnetate from technetium generators, this method of purification is not sufficient for many alternative production methods.

Timing and sustainability of an exercise intervention in women with breast cancer during and after cancer treatment.

Purpose/objectives: To compare changes in frequency, duration, and intensity of exercise behaviors over time in women with breast cancer between those who started their exercise intervention at the beginning of chemotherapy (EE) and those who started at the completion of chemotherapy (CE).

Design: A secondary data analysis of a randomized, controlled trial for exercise intervention.

Setting: Five cancer centers in the San Francisco Bay Area in California.

Reliability and validity of a single item measure of quality of life scale for adult patients with cystic fibrosis.

Background: It is important to monitor health related quality of life in order to determine the efficacy of interventions and physical functioning of patients with cystic fibrosis in their daily activities. There is no a single-item global quality of life scale for routine clinical practice for adult patients with cystic fibrosis. We assessed the reliability and validity of a single-item global quality of life scale and compared with the Cystic Fibrosis Quality of Life Questionnaire (CF-QOL) for adult patients with cystic fibrosis.

Prevalence of symptoms, with a focus on fatigue, and changes of symptoms over three months in outpatients receiving cancer chemotherapy.

Questions Under Study: Prevalence of symptoms, with a focus on fatigue, and changes of symptoms were explored over three months in outpatients with lymphoma, lung, breast or colorectal cancer, receiving chemotherapy in the oncology outpatient clinic of a Swiss tertiary care hospital.

Methods: Prospective, descriptive design; symptom prevalence was measured at start of chemotherapy (T1), and one week prior to the third and fourth cycle (T2, T3). Included were patients starting chemotherapy, with expected survival of >3 months, irrespective of stage of disease.

Examining the influence of task set on eye movements and fixations.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the influence of task set on the spatial and temporal characteristics of eye movements during scene perception. In previous work, when strong control was exerted over the viewing task via specification of a target object (as in visual search), task set biased spatial, rather than temporal, parameters of eye movements. Here, we find that more participant-directed tasks (in which the task establishes general goals of viewing rather than specific objects to fixate) affect not only spatial (e.

Sleep-wake circadian activity rhythms and fatigue in family caregivers of oncology patients.

Background: Little is known about the relationships between sleep/wake circadian activity rhythms and fatigue in family caregivers (FCs) of oncology patients.

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to describe values for nocturnal sleep/rest, daytime wake/activity, and circadian activity rhythm parameters measured using actigraphy and to evaluate the relationships between these subjective and objective measures of sleep disturbance and self-reported fatigue severity, in a sample of FCs of oncology patients.

Methods: Family caregivers (n = 103) completed self-report measures for sleep disturbance (ie, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, General Sleep Disturbance Scale) and fatigue (Lee Fatigue Scale) and wore wrist actigraphs for 48 hours prior to beginning radiation therapy.

Predictors of exercise frequency in breast cancer survivors in Taiwan.

Aim: To apply social cognitive theory to elucidate factors that motivate change in exercise frequency in breast cancer survivors during the six months after completing cancer treatment.

Background: Exercise is now a well-recognised quality-of-life intervention in breast cancer survivors. However, only regular exercise yields long-term benefits.