We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
To save content items to your account,
please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies.
If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account.
Find out more about saving content to .
To save content items to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org
is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings
on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part
of your Kindle email address below.
Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations.
‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi.
‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Psychological and existential distress is prevalent among patients with life-threatening cancer, significantly impacting their quality of life. Psilocybin-assisted therapy has shown promise in alleviating these symptoms. This systematic review aims to synthesize the evidence on the efficacy and safety of psilocybin in reducing cancer-related distress.
Methods
We searched MEDLINE, APA PsycINFO, Cochrane database, Embase, and Scopus from inception to February 8, 2024, for randomized controlled trials (RCTs), open-label trials, qualitative studies, and single case reports that evaluated psilocybin for cancer-related distress. Data were extracted on study characteristics, participant demographics, psilocybin and psychotherapy intervention, outcome measures, and results. Two authors independently screened, selected, and extracted data from the studies. Cochrane Risk of Bias for RCTs and Methodological Index for Non-Randomized Studies criteria were used to evaluate study quality. This study was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42024511692).
Results
Fourteen studies met the inclusion criteria, comprising three RCTs, five open-label trials, five qualitative studies, and one single case report. Psilocybin therapy consistently showed significant reductions in depression, anxiety, and existential distress, with improvements sustained over several months. Adverse effects were generally mild and transient.
Significance of results
This systematic review highlights the potential of psilocybin-assisted therapy as an effective treatment for reducing psychological and existential distress in cancer patients. Despite promising findings, further large-scale, well-designed RCTs are needed to confirm these results and address existing research gaps.
Giant coronary artery aneurysms and myocardial fibrosis after Kawasaki disease may lead to devastating cardiovascular outcomes. We characterised the vascular and myocardial outcomes in five selected Kawasaki disease patients with a history of giant coronary artery aneurysms that completely regressed.
Methods:
Five patients were selected who had giant coronary artery aneurysm in early childhood that regressed when studied 12–33 years after Kawasaki disease onset. Coronary arteries were imaged by coronary CT angiography, and coronary artery calcium volume scores were determined. We used endocardial strain measurements from CT imaging to assess myocardial regional wall function. Calprotectin and galectin-3 (gal-3) as biomarkers of inflammation and myocardial fibrosis were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
Results:
The five selected patients with regressed giant coronary artery aneurysms had calcium scores of zero, normal levels of calprotectin and gal-3, and normal appearance of the coronary arteries by coronary computed tomography angiography. CT strain demonstrated normal peak systolic and diastolic strain patterns in four of five patients. In one patient with a myocardial infarction at the time of Kawasaki disease diagnosis at the age of 10 months, CT strain showed altered global longitudinal strain, reduced segmental peak strain, and reduced diastolic relaxation patterns in multiple left ventricle segments.
Conclusions:
These patients illustrate that regression of giant aneurysms after Kawasaki disease is possible with no detectable calcium, normal biomarkers of inflammation and fibrosis, and normal myocardial function. Individuals with regressed giant coronary artery aneurysm still require longitudinal surveillance to assess the durability of this favourable outcome.
We aim to analyze the efficacy and safety of TMS on cognition in mild cognitive impairment (MCI), Alzheimer’s disease (AD), AD-related dementias, and nondementia conditions with comorbid cognitive impairment.
Design:
Systematic review, Meta-Analysis
Setting:
We searched MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane database, APA PsycINFO, Web of Science, and Scopus from January 1, 2000, to February 9, 2023.
Participants and interventions:
RCTs, open-label, and case series studies reporting cognitive outcomes following TMS intervention were included.
Measurement:
Cognitive and safety outcomes were measured. Cochrane Risk of Bias for RCTs and MINORS (Methodological Index for Non-Randomized Studies) criteria were used to evaluate study quality. This study was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42022326423).
Results:
The systematic review included 143 studies (n = 5,800 participants) worldwide, encompassing 94 RCTs, 43 open-label prospective, 3 open-label retrospective, and 3 case series. The meta-analysis included 25 RCTs in MCI and AD. Collectively, these studies provide evidence of improved global and specific cognitive measures with TMS across diagnostic groups. Only 2 studies (among 143) reported 4 adverse events of seizures: 3 were deemed TMS unrelated and another resolved with coil repositioning. Meta-analysis showed large effect sizes on global cognition (Mini-Mental State Examination (SMD = 0.80 [0.26, 1.33], p = 0.003), Montreal Cognitive Assessment (SMD = 0.85 [0.26, 1.44], p = 0.005), Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Scale–Cognitive Subscale (SMD = −0.96 [−1.32, −0.60], p < 0.001)) in MCI and AD, although with significant heterogeneity.
Conclusion:
The reviewed studies provide favorable evidence of improved cognition with TMS across all groups with cognitive impairment. TMS was safe and well tolerated with infrequent serious adverse events.
The present study, conducted in collaboration between the Departments of Psychiatry in Swiss Universities and the World Health Organization, had two main goals: to develop assessment methods which could subsequently be used in the Swiss centres in a standard manner; and to make arrangements for continuing collaboration between the centres in Switzerland and the acquisition of new knowledge about the distinctions between depression and cognitive impairment. For this aim, three different groups of elderly patients of either sex were selected during the period of November 1989 to July 1991 for inclusion in the study. The first two groups included the first ten patients of either sex over 60 years of age consecutively contacting the participating institutions and showing depression with or without clinically significant symptoms of cognitive impairment; the control group included patients showing no depression or clinically significant symptoms of cognitive impairment. A total of 125 patients were included in the initial evaluation, 69 of which were reassessed at a seven-month follow up (on average). Each patient was administered a number of clinician-rated or self-report instruments for the assessment of depression, cognitive impairment, disabilities, physical status and onset of disorders. The study has shown that a variety of instruments can be used for the reliable assessment of depression or cognitive impairment in the elderly; but the instruments for the assessment of depression differentiate only poorly between patients with or without cognitive impairment. Because of the importance of identifying both depressed and cognitively impaired patients among the elderly, different assessment instruments targeted at the different symptom clusters need to be administered simultaneously.
Scholars have often characterized wisdom as a trait – a stable and invariable individual disposition. However, recent advances in behavioral sciences suggest that many features of wisdom can be viewed as situation-specific states – concrete instances of wise and not so wise behavior. We critically examine the evidence concerning the trait vs. state aspects of wisdom. First, we review the common individual qualities attributed to wisdom. The extent to which these qualities are seen as stable traits vs. variable states varies among both laypeople and scientists, and new evidence shows that pertinent folk theories about wisdom vary substantially across cultures as well. Next, we present empirical research on wisdom in everyday situations which demonstrates the systematic variability of wisdom-related characteristics as a function of situational demands and induced mindsets. To resolve the trait vs. state debate in wisdom, we argue for a whole trait theoretical framework, conceptualizing traits as a density distribution of states. Based on theoretical and empirical insights, we conclude by providing recommendations for best practices when measuring trait- and state-components of wisdom.
A nationwide population-based cohort was used to examine the severity of liver cirrhosis and risk of mortality from oral cancer.
Methods:
The cohort consisted of 3583 patients with oral cancer treated by surgery between 2008 and 2011 in Taiwan. They were grouped on the basis of normal liver function (n = 3471), cirrhosis without decompensation (n = 72) and cirrhosis with decompensation (n = 40). The primary endpoint was mortality. Hazard ratios of death were also determined.
Results:
The mortality rates in the respective groups were 14.8 per cent, 20.8 per cent and 37.5 per cent at one year (p < 0.001). The adjusted hazard ratios of death at one year for each group compared to the normal group were 2.01 (p = 0.021) for cirrhotic patients without decompensation, 4.84 (p < 0.001) for those with decompensation and 2.65 (p < 0.001) for those receiving chemotherapy.
Conclusion:
Liver cirrhosis can be used to predict one-year mortality in oral cancer patients. Chemotherapy should be used with caution and underlying co-morbidities should be managed in cirrhotic patients to reduce mortality risk.
In this study, we present a case of prenatally diagnosed tetralogy of Fallot with a double aortic arch, correlating images from fetal echocardiography, transthoracic echocardiography, and cardiac MRI.
This paper studies the behavior of second grade viscoelastic fluid past a cavity in a horizontal channel. The effects of Reynolds number, fluid elasticity and the aspect ratio of the cavity on the flow field are simulated numerically. The equations are converted into the vorticity and stream function equations. The solution is obtained by the finite difference method.
The behavior of viscoelastic fluids is quite different from the Newtonian fluid, due to the effects of fluid elasticity. Only one flow pattern appears when the Newtonian fluid past the cavity. However, three kinds of flow patterns appear while the viscoelastic fluids past the cavity by increasing Reynolds number from 20 to 300. The flow field is affected by the fluid elasticity as well as the aspect ratio of the cavity. The transitional flow pattern appears at lower Reynolds number as the higher elasticity fluid past the cavity with larger aspect ratio.
Insects perform their multitude of flight skills at frequencies of tens to hundreds of Hertz, and the aerodynamics of these skills are fundamentally unsteady. Intuitively, unsteadiness may come from unsteady wing motion, unsteady surface vorticity or vorticity being shed into the rear and front wakes. In this study, we propose to investigate the aerodynamics of dragonfly using a simplified wing–wing model from the perspective of many-body force decomposition and the associated force elements. Insect flight usually operates at Reynolds numbers of the order of several hundreds, at which the surface vorticity is shown to play a substantial role. There are important cases where the added mass effect is non-negligible. Nevertheless, the major contribution to the forces comes from the vorticity within the flow. This study focused on the effects of mutual interactions due to phase differences between the fore- and hindwings in the translational as well as rotational motions. It is well known that the dynamic stall vortex is an important mechanism for an unsteady wing to gain lift. In analysing the life cycles of lift and thrust elements, we also associate some high lift and thrust with the mechanisms identified as ‘riding on’ lift elements, ‘driven by’ thrust elements and ‘sucked by’ thrust elements, by which a wing makes use of a shed or fused vortex below, in front of, and behind it, respectively. In addition, a shear layer attaching to each wing may also provide significant thrust elements.
This study attempts to examine convection caused by the combined effects of temperature and concentration gradients in an annular enclosure with steps. An experimental study of thermosolutal convection of a CuSO4+ H2SO4+ H2O solution in a horizontal annular enclosure with steps is conducted using an electrochemical system that enables either opposing or cooperating in temperature and concentration gradients to be imposed. The shadowgraph recording technique is utilized to visualize and analyze the flow field phenomenon. The large difference between the thermal and solutal diffusion rates causes the flow to exhibit double-diffusive characteristics. In both cooperating and opposing cases, some finger-type flow can be visualized in the layered flow structure. Furthermore, Sh (mass transfer rate) increased with increasing Grt for fixed Grm and S*. Sh is larger in the cooperating case than in the opposing case for given Grt and Grm values.
Six new species of Spirurids are described from terrestrial vertebrates from various countries. They are Camallanus macabukae n.sp. and Procamallanus brevis n.sp. from bull-frogs in S. Africa, C. multilineatus n.sp. from Rana catesbiana in N. America, Tanqua gigantica n.sp. from Python reticulatus and Naja. hannah in E. Indies and S.E. Asia, respectively, Ancyracanthopsis madagascariensis n.sp. from Dryolimnas cuvieri in Madagascar, and Physaloptera singhi n.sp. from the monkey (?) in S. America. Three species inquirendae, Camallanus sp., Streptocara sp. and Physaloptera sp. are also described. Some new morphological features in Habronema mansioni and Physaloptera paradoxa are discussed and the female of Hartertia zuluensis is described for the first time.
The present paper consists of descriptions of an encysted developing stage of Asymmetricostrongylus dissimilis, and of four newz species, Globocephaloides trifidospicularis, Pharyngostrongylus longibursaris, Zoniolaimus cobbi and Labiostrongylus australis. With the exception of L. australis, which is doubtfully recorded from Python spilotus, all the species came from the alimentary canal of the Australian wallaby, Macropus rufogrisea fruticus.
A large collection of avian Ascaridia from a wide diversity of hosts and localities is reported upon. It comprised six species, A. galli, A. columbae, A. compar, A. cristata, A. hermaphrodita and A. numidae. Their morphology is examined critically with reference to previous descriptions, especially in the case of A. columbae, A. cristata, A. hermaphrodita and A. compar, and a new variety of A. columbae is described.
The taxonomic significance of spicule morphology and the tubercles on the ventral surface of the male tail in Ascaridia is discussed.
Laboratory ferrets (Mustela putorius furo) were each inoculated with 500 larvae of a strain of Trichinella spiralis that had been passaged in mice for many generations. The recovery of adult worms from ferrets on Days 4 and 7 of infection represented a mean of 32% of the inoculum, with most of the worms being in the anterior three quarters of the small intestine. Larvae subsequently became encysted in the ferret musculature, with the diaphragm alone yielding as many as 5,750 larvae upon digestion.
For comparative purposes, mice were each inoculated with 200 T. spiralis from the same batch of larvae. The recovery of adult worms from mice represented a mean of 54% of the inoculum. An abrupt decline in worm population, typical of infections in the mouse, was observed in both mouse and ferret hosts; in neither species had the decline begun on Day 7 of infection, but it had clearly begun by Day 11 and was essentially ended by Day 14.
We describe the operation of a repetitive semiconductor opening switch in conjunction with inductive energy storage systems. Different materials and switch configurations are examined. A new method of generating square pulses of nanosecond duration is implemented. It utilizes the opening switch and a current charged transmission line.
The purpose of the present study is to investigate laminar fully developed flow in a horizontal rectangular channel with a cylinder solutal source adjacent to planar boundary. The boundaries in this experiment include four cases:
(A) Cylinder is cathode and top plate is anode;
(B) Cylinder is anode and top plate is cathode;
(C) Cylinder is cathode and bottom plate is anode;
(D) Cylinder is anode and bottom plate is cathode.
The influences of the mass transfer rate and the boundary types between the sources have also been investigated. An experimental investigation of mixed convection mass transfer between a cylinder and a plate mass source with an electrochemical system is carried in a horizontal rectangular channel. The working fluid here is CuSO4 + H2SO4 + H2O. The shadowgraph technique is used to visualize the flow and to determine the nature and effect of solutal driven secondary flows in a horizontal channel. The ranges of the parameters in the work are Pr = 7, Ar = 1, Sc = 1700 ∼ 2400, Re = 50 ∼ 200 (Red= 12.5 ∼50), Grm = 9.45 × 105, d/H = 0.25, h/d=0, 3.
Three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3DCRT) has been introduced to treat nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) in Hong Kong. Three more commonly used techniques, which are labelled as 3-field, 4-field and 6-field techniques, are currently employed as a booster treatment and no standard 3DCRT technique has yet been established. This study is aimed to evaluate and compare the dose distributions for the three common 3DCRT techniques so as to provide basis for the development of a routine protocol in future.
For each 3DCRT technique, eight patients with T3 tumours treated between 1997 to 1998 were recruited. Treatment planning was performed with the patients' CT images loaded into the 3-D treatment planning systems. The planning target volume (PTV) and eight organs at risk were delineated for dose assessment. Treatment plans were produced based on the criteria of the corresponding 3DCRT techniques. Dose volume histograms, 2-D and 3-D dose displays were used for dose evaluation.
All three techniques produced reasonable homogenous dose to the PTV. There was no significant difference in the mean doses of the PTV, spinal cord, lens, eyeball, temporal lobe and pituitary. The 3-field technique was superior in sparing the thyroid and optic nerve. The 6-field technique offered lower brain stem dose, and the 4-field technique was in between the two. The use of a vertex field slightly improved dose homogeneity of PTV and reduced the brain stem dose, but the doses to the optic nerve, thyroid, pituitary and temporal lobe were increased.
This article summarizes a unique approach in which all-ceramic interconnects are used in place of metal interconnects in solid-oxide fuel cell (SOFC) stacks. The approach combines advanced SOFC materials with the manufacturing technology and infrastructure established for multilayer ceramic (MLC) packaging for the microelectronics industry. The MLC interconnect is fabricated using multiple layers of yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) tape, with each layer containing conductive vias to provide for electrical current flow through the interconnect. The all-ceramic interconnect design facilitates uniform distribution of air and fuel gas to the respective electrodes of adjacent cells. The multilayer interconnects are fabricated using traditional MLC manufacturing processes. A detailed description of the processes for fabricating the all-ceramic interconnect is presented.To aid in moving from prototype fabrication to commercialization of these fuel cell systems, a detailed cost model has been used as a roadmap for commercial stack development. Cost model projections are presented for three different interconnect footprint sizes. These projections show an SOFC stack cost of less than $150 per kilowatt for the optimized SOFC stack design produced at high volume.
In 1971, New York Times journalist James Reston watched as brain surgery was preformed in the former Red Cross Hospital in Shanghai with acupuncture as the only anesthesia. “[Patients] were anesthetized merely by the insertion of very thin three-inch stainless steel needles into the body … and they were not only perfectly conscious while their skulls were laid open before us but remarkably alert within half an hour after the operation.” One patient, a fifty-four-year-old man named Chuan Leao, had been suffering from epilepsy as a result of a large tumor in the frontal lobe of his brain. “He seemed sensibly puzzled by being introduced to a couple of American strangers during his ordeal but was courteous and patient, and we listened to his comments while the tumor was removed and even watched him eat oranges slices and ask for more while the operation was going on.”