Cultivar Effect on Moringa oleifera Glucosinolate Content and Taste: A Pilot Study

Leaves of the tropical tree Moringa oleifera are widely promoted in areas of chronic malnutrition as nutritional supplements for weaning infants and nursing mothers. Adoption, in these circumstances may hinge upon taste, which can vary greatly amongst cultivars. It is widely assumed that this taste variation is primarily germplasm-dependent, and results from the breakdown of glucosinolates to isothiocyanates. Leaves of 30 accessions, grown at a single field plot, were sampled 3 times over the course of a year. Taste, assessed in a masked protocol, was not related to glucosinolate content of the leaves.     

When beef primes reef more than leaf: Orthographic information affects phonological priming in spoken word recognition

This study was designed to investigate orthographic effects on spoken word recognition by combining the priming paradigm with a measure of event-related brain potentials (ERPs). Primes and targets either shared both orthography and phonology of the rhyme ( beef-reef ) or they shared rhyme phonology only ( leaf-reef ). The two "related" conditions were compared against an "unrelated" condition ( sick-reef ). The results revealed a significant orthographic priming effect that was present on the early part of the N400 and that occurred as early as the phonological priming effect itself. Importantly, phonological and orthographic priming effects had different topographic distributions: The phonological priming effect was localized over centro-posterior regions, whereas the orthographic priming effect was more anterior. These results support a theory according to which orthographic information is coactivated online in spoken word recognition.     

Pain,Psychosocial, Sexual,and Psychophysical Characteristics of Women with Primary vs. Secondary Provoked Vestibulodynia

IntroductionWomen with provoked vestibulodynia (PVD), a common cause of dyspareunia, are typically considered a homogeneous group. However, research suggests that differences on some factors (e.g., medical history, pain characteristics, psychological functioning, treatment response) exist based upon whether the pain was present at first intercourse (primary PVD: PVD1) or developed at some later point (secondary PVD: PVD2).AimsThe purpose of this study was to examine differences in demographic variables, pain characteristics, psychosocial and psychosexual adjustment, and pain sensitivity between women with PVD1 and PVD2.MethodsTwenty-six women suffering from PVD (13 with PVD1 and 13 with PVD2) completed a screening assessment, a standardized gynecological examination, an interview, questionnaires, and a quantitative sensory testing session.Main Outcome MeasuresThese included pain ratings during the gynecological examination and interview, scores on measures of psychosocial/sexual functioning (e.g., Short Form-36 [SF-36] Health Survey, Female Sexual Function Index), and thresholds and pain ratings during thermal sensory testing over the dominant forearm and vulvar vestibule.ResultsThe women with PVD1 were more likely to be nulliparous, but they were not significantly different from the women with PVD2 on other demographic variables or in their pain ratings during the gynecological examination. The women with PVD1 reported lower levels of social and emotional functioning and heightened anxiety surrounding body exposure during sexual activity, and they also displayed lower heat pain tolerance over the forearm and lower heat detection and pain thresholds at the vulvar vestibule than the women with PVD2.ConclusionsThe findings from this study support previous research indicating that women with PVD1 and PVD2 differ in a number of domains. Further research is needed to confirm and elaborate on these findings. Sutton KS, Pukall C, and Chamberlain S. Pain, psychosocial, sexual, and psychophysical characteristics of women with primary vs. secondary provoked vestibulodynia.     

Prevalence of difficult intubation and failed intubation in a diverse obstetric community-based population

Objective: To describe the incidence of difficult and failed intubations in obstetric patients during a 6 year period monitored by a quality assurance program together with American Society of Anesthesiologists Physical Status (ASA PS) scores, and obesity (body mass index >30?kg/m²).

Methods: Following Institutional Review Board approval, data about obstetric patients who experienced unanticipated difficult or failed intubations from 2010 to 2015 was obtained from the quality assurance database of a large, community-based anesthesiology group practice. The database employs standardized definitions for difficult intubation (>3 laryngoscopic attempts by experienced providers) and failed intubation (inability to intubate leading to surgical airway or waking up the patient). ASA PS scores and comorbidities were also identified for obstetric general anesthetics using an internally developed quality assurance program, Quantum Clinical Navigation System.

Results: There were 2802 obstetric general anesthetics in the database of which 1085 (38.7%) were deemed as emergencies. There were no cases of failed intubation and seven cases of unanticipated difficult intubations (1:400 cases, 0.25% of all obstetric general anesthetics, 95% confidence interval 0.1–0.5%), six of which occurred during emergency surgery. There was an increase in obesity (p?=?.003) and ASA PS (p?=?.02) over the period of the study. The incidence of difficult intubation was not found to be significantly changed (p?=?.68).

Conclusions: Despite an increase in ASA PS score and obesity, there was no increase in the incidence of difficult intubation in obstetric patients. Limitations of the study include its retrospective design, and the small number of difficult intubation cases identified.