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Objectives Pediatric sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) is a common debilitating disorder that can adversely affect the attention and academic performance of school-age children. Unfortunately, only a few studies have examined the effect of SDB treatment on attention in pediatric populations. Therefore, the aim of this study was to prospectively investigate the effect of SDB treatment on attention in children. Methods This study consecutively enrolled SDB children with adenotonsillar hypertrophy. All subjects underwent standard-of-care treatment (adenotonsillectomy or close observation) and were evaluated using a computerized comprehensive attention test at the initial visit. Comprehensive attention tests consisted of both sustained and divided attention tasks. Each completed task was assigned an attention score, which was based on the number of omission or commission errors. The comprehension attention test was repeated 1 year later. Results A total of 171 children who underwent adenotonsillectomy and 32 children who did not undergo adenotonsillectomy were included in this study. At baseline, there was no significant difference according to the score of all type comprehension attention tests between children in the adenotonsillectomy group and in the observation group. One year after treatment, children in the adenotonsillectomy group had significantly improved scores in all attention tasks. Children in the observation group had only significant improvement in omission errors on sustained attention tasks. Meanwhile, the attention score based on commission errors of divided attention tasks was significantly worse than at baseline for those. Conclusion Our study showed that adenotonsillectomy may be helpful in improving attention in children with SDB.

A general construction method of diphenyl-substituted carotenoids has been developed through the stereoselective synthesis of dienyl sulfones with a phenyl substituent. Systematic synthetic pathways to the dienyl sulfones were delineated starting from readily available acetophenone with para substituent X of various electronic natures, which would eventually provide diverse physiochemical characteristics to the carotenoids. The sulfone olefination method together with Ramberg-Backlund reaction produced 9,9′-cis-10,10′-diphenyl-carotene and all-trans-9,9′-diphenyl-carotene. Conductance measurement of all-trans-carotenoids by STM break junction method revealed a positional effect of the phenyl groups as well as a polar effect of the phenyl substituent X according to the electronic nature.

Objectives/Hypothesis Silk fibroin patching has been used to repair acute tympanic membrane perforations. Here, we describe the advantages and outcomes of this technique for chronic tympanic membrane perforations. Study Design Individual cohort study. Methods Forty patients were enrolled; half underwent perichondrium myringoplasty, and the silk fibroin patch technique was applied in the remaining patients. We compared the closure, otorrhea, and complication rates; closure time; postoperative hearing gain; and patient satisfaction between the two groups. Results Demographic data (gender, site, age, duration, preoperative air-bone gap, and perforation size and location) were not significantly different between the two groups. The closure rates and times, complication rates, and postoperative hearing gains were also similar in both groups. The mean operative time, otorrhea rate, and complication rate were also significantly better in the silk fibroin patch group. The intraoperative dizziness scores were higher in the conventional perichondrium myringoplasty group. Conclusions Success rates were similar for the silk fibroin patch technique and conventional perichondrium myringoplasty; however, patching was an easier, faster procedure. Our results suggest that the silk fibroin patch technique is a suitable treatment for chronic tympanic membrane perforation. Level of Evidence 2b Laryngoscope, 2016

Teenage mothers are at high risk for maternal and neonatal complications. This study aimed to evaluate the socioeconomic circumstances of teenage pregnancy, and determine whether these increased risks remained after adjustment for socioeconomic circumstances in Korea. Using the National Health Insurance Corporation database, we selected women who terminated pregnancy, by delivery or abortion, from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2010. Abortion, delivery type, and maternal complications were defined based on the International Classification of Diseases-10th Revision. We compared teenagers (13–19 years at the time of pregnancy termination) with other age groups and investigated differences based on socioeconomic status, reflected by Medical Aid (MA) and National Health Insurance (NHI) beneficiaries. We used multivariate analysis to define the factors associated with preterm delivery. Among 463,847 pregnancies, 2267 (0.49%) involved teenagers. Teenage mothers were more likely to have an abortion (33.4%) than deliver a baby when compared with other age groups (20.8%; P

Expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (e-PTFE) is a popular graft material for augmentation rhinoplasty. Gore-Tex and Surgiform are two types of e-PTFE; Surgiform has thicker fibrils and is more compact than Gore-Tex. We conducted an ex vivo study to evaluate the ability of povidone-iodine (PVP-I) vacuum pretreatment to prevent infection with these two types of e-PTFE. Gore-Tex and Surgiform specimens were cut into 2-mm(3) pieces, which were separated into two groups. One group for each e-PTFE was disinfected with vacuum PVP-I impregnation and the other group was not disinfected. Using the pieces of implant material, swabs were obtained from the nasal cavities of 20 healthy adults, and the specimens were incubated on agar plates and viewed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). We found that PVP-I treatment significantly reduced the bacterial colony counts in both the Gore-Tex and Surgiform groups. In the SEM images, bacterial colonies were observed both inside and outside the untreated Gore-Tex; on the untreated Surgiform, they were found primarily on the surface. Few bacteria were detected in the PVP-I-treated Gore-Tex and Surgiform groups. Our findings suggest that PVP-I pretreatment can reduce the risk of infection associated with e-PTFE.

A convergent synthetic method for new types of carotenoid compounds containing phenyl substituents at C(13) and C(13') has been developed by the coupling of allylic sulfone and 2,7-diphenyloct-4-enedials, followed by the double elimination strategy. These carotenoid compounds are fairly stable and legitimate candidates for nanosized molecular wires, which show diverse conductance values according to the electronic nature of the substituent group in the phenyl ring.

A ring-expansion protocol that consisted of the 1,2-addition of various enolate nucleophiles to 6-trimethylsiloxy-2-cyclohexene-1-one (1) and the NaIO(4)-promoted oxidative ring opening of the resulting diols 2, followed by an intramolecular Knoevenagel condensation, furnished versatile dihydrotropones 6. Maintaining Z-configuration in the oxidative ring-opening products 3 is crucial for the success of the ring-expansion strategy. Dihydrotropones 6 are ripe for further elaborations such as oxidation to tropones 8 and Diels-Alder reaction with the Danishefsky's diene 10 to afford polycyclic compounds 12.

The stability constants of the complexes of trivalent lanthanide cations with various dimethoxybenzoates have been determined by the potentiometric titration method. The dimethoxybenzoates studied were 2,3-dimethoxybenzoate, 2,4-dimethoxybenzoate, and 2,5-dimethoxybenzoate. The thermodynamic parameters for the complexation of some lanthanide cations with 2,5-dimethoxybenzoate were measured by enthalpy titration using a titration calorimeter. All complexation measurements were made at 25°C in an aqueous medium of ionic strength 0.5 M NaClO4. The thermodynamic parameters for the complexation are discussed in relation to the electronic effect of the substituent groups within the ligand. It is proposed that the enhanced stability of the dimethoxybenzoate complexes of lanthanide cations is mainly due to the polarization of the electronic charge density from the methoxy groups through the π-system of the phenyl ring to the caboxylate group. 13C NMR evidence for charge polarization by the lanthanide cation in the complexation is presented. Theoretical calculations of the charge distributions on the carbon atoms of the 2,4-dimethoxybenzoates were also performed.

A ring-expansion protocol that consisted of the 1,2-addition of various enolate nucleophiles to 6-trimethylsiloxy-2-cyclohexene-1-one (1) and the NaIO4-promoted oxidative ring opening of the result...

The thermodynamic parameters (Δ G 101 , Δ H 101 and Δ S 101 ) of formation of 1:1 complexes between lanthanide cations and quinolinate have been measured using potentiometric and calorimetric techniques in aqueous solution of 0.50 M (NaClO 4 ) ionic strength at 25 °C. The thermodynamic data are discussed and are found to indicate a structure in which the quinolinate ligand is coordinated to the lanthanide cation by forming a chelate through the ring nitrogen atom at position 1 and the carboxylate group at position 2 of the pyridine ring.