Analysis of medieval mtDNA from Napole cemetery provides new insights into the early history of Polish state

Contemporary historical anthropology and classical archaeology are concerned not only with such fundamental issues as the origins of ancient human populations and migration routes, but also with the formation and development of inter-population relations and the mixing of gene pools as a result of inter-breeding between individuals representing different cultural units. The contribution of immigrants to the analysed autochthonous population and their effect on the gene pool of that population has proven difficult to evaluate with classical morphological methods. The burial of one individual in the studied Napole cemetery located in central Poland had the form of a chamber grave, which is typical of Scandinavian culture from that period. However, this fact cannot be interpreted as absolute proof that the individual (in the biological sense) was allochtonous. This gives rise to the question as to who was actually buried in that cemetery. The ancient DNA results indicate that one of the individuals had an mtDNA haplotype typical of Iron Age northern Europe, which suggests that he could have arrived from that area at a later period. This seems to indirectly confirm the claims of many anthropologists that the development of the early medieval Polish state was significantly and directly influenced by the Scandinavians.     

The history of parkinsonism: Descriptions in ancient Indian medical literature

The clinical syndrome of parkinsonism was identified in ancient India even before the period of Christ and was treated methodically. The earliest reference to bradykinesia dates to 600 bc . Evidences prove that as early as 300 bc , Charaka proposed a coherent picture of parkinsonism by describing tremor, rigidity, bradykinesia, and gait disturbances as its components. The scenario was further developed by Madhava, Vagbhata, and Dalhana all through history. The 15th‐century classic “Bhasava rajyam” introduced the term kampavata, which may be regarded as an ayurvedic analogue of parkinsonism. The pathogenesis of kampavata centered on the concept of imbalance in the vata factor, which controls psychomotor activities. The essential element in therapy was the administration of powdered seed of Mucuna pruriens, or atmagupta, which as per reports, contains 4%?6% of levodopa. In addition to proving the existence and identification of parkinsonism in ancient India, the study points to the significance of ancient Indian Sanskrit works in medical history. © 2013 Movement Disorder Society     

Point-of-care and standard laboratory coagulation testing during cardiovascular surgery: balancing reliability and timeliness

Objective. The use of point-of-care technology has increased faster than efforts to validate its effectiveness compared to standard laboratory testing modalities. To address this issue with a current point-of-care coagulation system (HEMOCHRON® Jr, International Technidyne Corporation (ITC), Edison, NJ), we designed a study to test the hypothesis that data obtained from point-of-care coagulation equipment correlates with data obtained from standard laboratory coagulation equipment. One of the potential advantages gained using point-of-care testing is the ability to obtain more rapid results. To address this issue, turnaround time, defined as the elapsed time (in minutes) from when the sample was acquired from the patient until the investigators knew the results, was also determined. Methods. Following Human Investigation Committee approval and informed consent, a prospective study was conducted to compare results obtained from point-of-care coagulation equipment with those results obtained from standard laboratory coagulation equipment. The study was performed in three groups of patients undergoing cardiovascular surgery, each requiring different levels of anticoagulation. Results. Of the 83 patients who met the inclusion criteria, the correlation (combining data from groups 1–3) between results obtained from point-of-care and standard laboratory prothrombin time was r = 0.867, p < 0.001. The correlation (group 3) between point-of-care and standard laboratory international normalized ratio was r = 0.943, p < 0.001. The correlation (combining data from groups 1 & 2) between point-of-care and standard laboratory activated partial thromboplastin time was r = 0.825, p < 0.001. Median turnaround time for the standard laboratory was 90 minutes, with a mean turnaround time of 74 to 78 minutes, depending upon the group. In contrast, the median turnaround time for point-of-care testing was two minutes and 14 seconds. Conclusions.The results from this study population reveal that data obtained from point-of-care prothrombin time, international normalized ratio and activated partial thromboplastin time results correlate with results obtained from standard laboratory coagulation testing. The value of obtaining reliable results in a timely fashion offers a potential advantage for point-of-care testing in clinical situations, such as in the operating room, where saving time may translate into financial savings.     

Treating the right patient at the right time: Access to cardiac catheterization, percutaneous coronary intervention and cardiac surgery

The Canadian Cardiovascular Society Access to Care Working Group was formed with a mandate to use the best science and information available to establish reasonable triage categories and safe wait times for common cardiovascular services and procedures through a series of commentaries. The present commentary discusses the rationale for access benchmarks for cardiac catheterization and revascularization procedures for patients with stable angina, and access benchmarks for cardiac catheterization and surgery for patients with valvular heart disease. Literature on standards of care, wait times and wait list management was reviewed. A survey of cardiac centres in Canada was performed to develop an inventory of current practices in identifying and triaging patients. The Working Group recommends the following medically acceptable wait times for access to cardiac catheterization: 14 days for symptomatic aortic stenosis and six weeks for patients with stable angina and other valvular disease. For percutaneous coronary intervention in stable patients with high-risk anatomy, immediate revascularization or a wait time of 14 days is recommended; six weeks is recommended for all other patients. The target for bypass surgery in those with high-risk anatomy or valve surgery in patients with symptomatic aortic stenosis is 14 days; for all others, the target is six weeks. All stakeholders must affirm the appropriateness of these standards and work continuously to achieve them. There is an ongoing need to continually reassess current risk stratification methods to limit adverse events in patients on waiting lists and assist clinicians in triaging patients for invasive therapies.     

一种供医护人员使用的送药提醒装置的设计

目的：针对临床上不同患者治疗执行时间的多样性,设计一种自动提醒装置,按时提醒医护人员完成各项医疗护理操作。方法：通过键盘录入患者床号及执行医嘱时间,设计具有定时装置的监视电路,用于监视键盘录入信息及控制语音电路播报提醒。结果：该装置可以根据不同的患者和需求按时对医护人员进行提醒。结论：该装置可避免临床医疗和护理工作中的差错和遗漏发生。     

Simple reaction times and performance in the detection of visual stimuli of patients with diabetes

Simple reaction times (SRT) to visual stimuli were investigated through reactions to computer simulations of changes of traffic lights. The performance in the detection of visual stimuli, implying decision processes, was also assessed using the two alternative forced choice (2AFC) method. Subjects were patients affected by diabetes type 2, and observers without diabetes. Results indicated that mean SRT was longer in the group of diabetic patients but was not correlated with age, diabetes duration or fasting glucose. The performance index (d′) was correlated with age and with diabetes duration. Unexpectedly, the correlation between fasting glucose and d′ was not negative.     

Simultaneous multislice cardiac magnetic resonance fingerprinting using low rank reconstruction

This study introduces a technique for simultaneous multislice (SMS) cardiac magnetic resonance fingerprinting (cMRF), which improves the slice coverage when quantifying myocardial T_1, T₂, and M₀. The single‐slice cMRF pulse sequence was modified to use multiband (MB) RF pulses for SMS imaging. Different RF phase schedules were used to excite each slice, similar to POMP or CAIPIRINHA, which imparts tissues with a distinguishable and slice‐specific magnetization evolution over time. Because of the high net acceleration factor (R = 48 in plane combined with the slice acceleration), images were first reconstructed with a low rank technique before matching data to a dictionary of signal timecourses generated by a Bloch equation simulation. The proposed method was tested in simulations with a numerical relaxation phantom. Phantom and in vivo cardiac scans of 10 healthy volunteers were also performed at 3 T. With single‐slice acquisitions, the mean relaxation times obtained using the low rank cMRF reconstruction agree with reference values. The low rank method improves the precision in T₁ and T₂ for both single‐slice and SMS cMRF, and it enables the acquisition of maps with fewer artifacts when using SMS cMRF at higher MB factors. With this technique, in vivo cardiac maps were acquired from three slices simultaneously during a breathhold lasting 16 heartbeats. SMS cMRF improves the efficiency and slice coverage of myocardial T₁ and T₂ mapping compared with both single‐slice cMRF and conventional cardiac mapping sequences. Thus, this technique is a first step toward whole‐heart simultaneous T₁ and T₂ quantification with cMRF.