Non-thermal emission in gap-mode plasmon photoluminescence.

Photoluminescence from spatially inhomogeneous plasmonic nanostructures exhibits fascinating wavelength-dependent nonlinear behaviors due to the intraband recombination of hot electrons excited into the conduction band of the metal. The properties of the excited carrier distribution and the role of localized plasmonic modes are subjects of debate. In this work, we use plasmonic gap-mode resonators with precise nanometer-scale confinement to show that the nonlinear photoluminescence behavior can become dominated by non-thermal contributions produced by the excited carrier population that strongly deviates from the Fermi-Dirac distribution due to the confinement-induced large-momentum free carrier absorption beyond the dipole approximation. These findings open new pathways for controllable light conversion using nonequilibrium electron states at the nanoscale.

Post-operative survival in head and neck cancer patients with elevated troponins.

OBJECTIVES: The strenuous demands of head and neck cancer surgery (HNS) place patients at increased risk of myocardial injury. Troponin positivity (TP) post-operatively is a predictor of increased complications and mortality. The present study is the first to investigate the effects of TP on potential delays in adjuvant treatment and disease-specific survival. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS AND MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: All patients undergoing HNS from 2014 to 2016 had troponins measured at a single academic centre. Relevant patient data was extracted on retrospective chart review. The main outcome measures were the impact of TP on timing of adjuvant treatment and disease-specific survival. RESULTS: Of 166 patients, 26 (15.6%) developed TP post-operatively. There was no significant difference between cohorts for baseline characteristics except for age. Overall and disease-specific survival for TP patients were respectively 45.9% and 57.4% at 3 years. There was no significant difference between cohorts for overall and disease-specific survival, and time to adjuvant therapy. CONCLUSION: No significant association was found between TP and overall and disease-specific survival, and time to adjuvant therapy.

Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss and Metabolic Syndrome: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to examine the association between sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) and risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS), and the association between MetS and prognosis of SSNHL. DATABASES REVIEWED: We systematically searched MEDLINE, Embase, and Cochrane Central Register electronic databases from their dates of conception to February 4, 2020. METHODS: We included observational studies analyzing 1) the prevalence of MetS among SSNHL patients, or 2) the prognosis of SSNHL patients in MetS patients. A standardized form was completed in duplicate extracting data on study characteristics, participant demographics, and SSNHL outcome or recovery measures. Random-effects meta-analyses were performed pooling odds ratios using the generic inverse method. Risk of bias was assessed using the Newcastle Ottawa Scale. RESULTS: Three studies examining the prevalence of MetS among patients with SSNHL (11,890 total participants; 3,034 SSNHL participants) yielded a significantly increased risk of MetS among SSNHL, with a pooled odds ratio of 1.88 (95% CI, 1.01-3.50). Three studies examining the association of SSNHL prognosis in patients with MetS (608 SSNHL participants, 234 concomitant SSNHL, and MetS participants) demonstrated that SSNHL patients with MetS were significantly more likely to have poorer recovery compared to SSNHL patients without MetS (pooled odds ratio 2.77; 95% CI, 2.33-3.28). CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest an association between prevalence of MetS and SSNHL, as well as poorer prognosis of SSNHL in patients with concomitant MetS.

Rate of Second Primary Head and Neck Cancer With Cannabis Use.

Objective To determine whether there is an association between cannabis use and developing a second primary cancer in head and neck cancer patients, as well as determining the prevalence of cannabis use amongst head and neck cancer patients. Study design This retrospective cohort study investigated patients from the Hamilton Region Head and Neck Cancer Database who were enrolled prospectively between 2011 and 2015, with follow-up data up to November 2018. Patients were contacted to confirm current cannabis and tobacco smoking status. Setting All patients were enrolled from a single tertiary cancer center in Hamilton, Ontario. Subjects and methods Consecutive patients with a newly diagnosed head and neck cancer were prospectively enrolled between 2011 to 2015. Cannabis users and controls were compared using standard modes of comparison. The odds ratio from a multivariable logistic regression model was then determined. Results A total of 513 patients were included in this study: 59 in the cannabis group and 454 in the control group. In terms of baseline characteristics, there was no significant difference between cannabis users and controls except that cannabis users were more likely to develop primary oropharyngeal cancer (p=0.0046). Two of 59 (3.4%) cannabis users developed a second primary cancer, in comparison to 23 of 454 (5.1%) non-cannabis users. The odds ratio for cannabis use on the second primary cancer was 0.19 (95% CI [0.01-3.20], p=0.25). Conclusion This study suggests that cannabis use behaves differently than tobacco smoking, as the former may not be associated with field cancerization.

Age-related sex differences in language lateralization: A magnetoencephalography study in children.

It is well supported by behavioral and neuroimaging studies that typical language function is lateralized to the left hemisphere in the adult brain and this laterality is less well defined in children. The behavioral literature suggests there maybe be sex differences in language development, but this has not been examined systematically with neuroimaging. In this study, magnetoencephalography was used to investigate the spatiotemporal patterns of language lateralization as a function of age and sex. Eighty typically developing children (46 female, 34 male; 4-18 years) participated in an overt visual verb generation task. An analysis method called differential beamforming was used to analyze language-related changes in oscillatory activity referred to as low-gamma event-related desynchrony (ERD). The proportion of ERD over language areas relative to total ERD was calculated. We found different patterns of laterality between boys and girls. Boys showed left-hemisphere lateralization in the frontal and temporal language-related areas across age groups, whereas girls showed a more bilateral pattern, particularly in frontal language-related areas. Differences in patterns of ERD were most striking between boys and girls in the younger age groups, and these patterns became more similar with increasing age, specifically in the preteen years. Our findings show sex differences in language lateralization during childhood; however, these differences do not seem to persist into adulthood. We present possible explanations for these differences. We also discuss the implications of these findings for presurgical language mapping in children and highlight the importance of examining the question of sex-related language differences across development.