Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Selenium poisoning from a nutritional supplement.

To the Editor. —Selenium poisoning is rare in the United States. We describe a case of a man poisoned by selenium-containing vitamin tablets. A 36-year-old man was referred to us for evaluation of generalized alopecia, nail changes, and paresthesias after initiating vitamins as part of holistic therapy for fatigue. He was instructed to take two tablets every hour until he developed loose stools, and thereafter 10 tablets a day. During the first week of therapy, he developed diarrhea, worsening fatigue, and hair loss. He also noted a tingling sensation in his extremities and scalp. He maintained the regimen for another week, during which he became completely bald. At that time, he discontinued the vitamins. Color changes were noted in his fingernails and toenails several days later. At our examination 2 weeks after discontinuation of therapy, he appeared healthy with normal vital signs. His physical examination was remarkable for early regrowth
Requirement of glycolytic and mitochondrial energy supply for loading of Ca2+ stores and InsP3‐mediated Ca2+ signaling in rat hippocampus astrocytes

A major consequence of brain hypoxia and hypoglycemia, which induces the detrimental effects of stroke, is impaired ATP supply. However, it is not yet clear to which degree reduced cellular ATP production affects Ca2+ homeostasis and Ca2+ signaling of glia cells. Here we studied in cultured hippocampal astrocytes the influence of inhibition of cellular energy supply on Ca2+ load of intracellular stores. Inhibition of glycolysis in the presence of substrates for mitochondrial respiration resulted in an average drop of intracellular ATP levels by 35%. Inhibition of oxidative phosphorylation reduced intracellular ATP on average by 16%. With inhibition of both glycolysis and mitochondrial ATP production, intracellular ATP level was drastically reduced (84%). In astrocytes in Ca2+‐free buffer, cytosolic [Ca2+]i was dramatically increased due to inhibition of glycolysis, even in the presence of mitochondrial substrates. However, only a minor increase of [Ca2+]i was observed with inhibitors of mitochondrial ATP synthesis. Remarkably, the moderate reduction of ATP levels found with inhibitors of glycolysis caused a severe loss of Ca2+ from cyclopiazonic acid (CPA)‐sensitive Ca2+ stores. Consequently, inhibition of glycolysis reduced P2Y receptor‐ or thrombin receptor‐evoked Ca2+ responses on average by 95%, whereas a reduction of only 26% was found with mitochondrial inhibitors. In conclusion, glycolysis is the most important source of ATP for the maintenance of Ca2+ load in stores that are required for transmitter‐induced signaling. These results are consistent with the concept that a local ATP source in the vicinity of endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ pumps is required. J. Neurosci. Res. 61:409–420, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Palliative Care Professional Development for Critical Care Nurses: A Multicenter Program

&NA; C E 1.0 Hour This article has been designated for CE contact hour(s). See more CE information at the end of this article. This article is followed by an AJCC Patient Care Page on page 372. Background Integrating palliative care into intensive care units (ICUs) requires involvement of bedside nurses, who report inadequate education in palliative care. Objective To implement and evaluate a palliative care professional development program for ICU bedside nurses. Methods From May 2013 to January 2015, palliative care advanced practice nurses and nurse educators in 5 academic medical centers completed a 3‐day train‐the‐trainer program followed by 2 years of mentoring to implement the initiative. The program consisted of 8‐hour communication workshops for bedside nurses and structured rounds in ICUs, where nurse leaders coached bedside nurses in identifying and addressing palliative care needs. Primary outcomes were nurses' ratings of their palliative care communication skills in surveys, and nurses' identification of palliative care needs during coaching rounds. Results Each center held at least 6 workshops, training 428 bedside nurses. Nurses rated their skill level higher after the workshop for 15 tasks (eg, responding to family distress, ensuring families understand information in family meetings, all P < .01 vs preworkshop). Coaching rounds in each ICU took a mean of 3 hours per month. For 82% of 1110 patients discussed in rounds, bedside nurses identified palliative care needs and created plans to address them. Conclusions Communication skills training workshops increased nurses' ratings of their palliative care communication skills. Coaching rounds supported nurses in identifying and addressing palliative care needs. (American Journal of Critical Care. 2017;26:361‐371)
An Adapted Wayfinding System for Pedestrians with Cognitive Disabilities

This paper presents a novel wayfinding system adapted to people with cognitive disabilities. It adapts to the user in terms of route calculation, instructions delivery, and interface design. To do so, the system divides the calculated route into atomic instructions and uses street-level photographs at the decision points. To evaluate this approach, we compared it with a commercial navigation application on a field trial with a sample of users (N = 18). From the evaluation, we concluded that our system improves users’ performance in terms of the number who reached the destination and were able to identify it correctly.
Recruitment determines differences between assemblages on shaded or unshaded seawalls

ABSTRACT: The distribution of intertidal organisms can often be determined by processes operatingat the time of recruitment. Recruitment has been demonstrated to influence the composition ofassemblages of natural habitats, but there is less evidence of its importance in artificial habitats.Coastal areas are becoming increasingly urbanised, with the replacement of many natural habitatsby man-made structures. It is, therefore, important to test processes that influence the structure ofassemblages in artificial habitats in order to evaluate whether processes act in a way that is pre-dictable from knowledge of natural shores. Much of the foreshore of Sydney Harbour has beenreplaced by seawalls, many of which are built in association with wharves. It has been shown thatfeatures of wharves may cause small-scale differences between assemblages on adjacent sections ofseawalls which are under or not under wharves. The present study tested the hypothesis that thesepatterns are determined by differences in recruitment, by monitoring recruitment to experimentalclearings and settlement plates in both habitats. In general, algae and mobile invertebrates hadgreater cover or abundance on unshaded seawalls, while sessile invertebrates had greater cover onshaded seawalls. Not all taxa in these habitats recruited to experimental clearings or plates, but theabundance or cover of those that did resembled patterns observed in the surrounding establishedassemblage. This indicates that, at least for some organisms on intertidal seawalls, patterns of distri-bution are determined at the time of recruitment and are probably influenced by shading. Further-more, patterns in the present study were similar to what was predicted from work done on naturalshores, showing that studies from natural shores can be applied to these artificial habitats.KEY WORDS: Seawalls · Wharves · Recruitment · Urbanised estuary · Algae · Sessile filter-feeders ·Grazers
A polymorphism in the gene for the angiotensin II type 1 receptor is not associated with hypertension

Background A mutation in the gene for the angiotensin II type 1 (AT1) receptor (A1166C) has been reported to be associated with primary hypertension. Objective To determine whether this observation could be confirmed with a different population sample. Design We examined 414 individuals with primary hypertension and 172 normotensive controls. Methods The mutation in the gene for the AT1 receptor was detected using restriction polymerase chain reaction. Conclusions We detected no association of the AT1 receptor polymorphism with hypertension, but a trend towards a decreased prevalence of the 1166C allele among hypertensive patients with a late age at diagnosis (≥ 50 years) was observed.
Plasma Hemopexin as a Potential Regulator of Vascular Responsiveness to Angiotensin II

This brief review focuses on the functional activities of plasma hemopexin recently recognized by several authors. In particular, the protease-like activity of hemopexin in vitro is linked with downregulation of the vascular angiotensin II receptor in vivo, leading to vascular expansion. Also a potential mechanism of inhibition of hemopexin activity by extracellular adenosine triphosphate is considered.
No effect of oxygen therapy on myocardial ischaemia during gastroscopy.

BACKGROUND Myocardial ischaemia (defined as an ST-segment depression on ECG) may occur during upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, but the mechanism is still unknown. The aim of our study was to evaluate the effect of oxygen therapy and tachycardia on the occurrence of ST-segment depression during routine diagnostic esophagogastroduodenoscopy. METHODS Eighty-nine consecutive patients were randomized to receive either oxygen (21/min by nasal prongs) or nothing during endoscopy, in which arterial oxygen saturation was measured by continuous pulse oximetry, and ECG was measured continuously with a Holter tape recorder. RESULTS A total of 28 patients (12 receiving oxygen) developed ST-segment depression ( > 0.1 mV) during endoscopy. In 22 patients (12 receiving oxygen) ST depression was related to tachycardia, and in 5 of these (none receiving oxygen) simultaneous episodic hypoxaemia was present during the event. Thus, in every case of ST depression related to episodic hypoxaemia there was simultaneous tachycardia. In six patients developing ST depression during endoscopy we did not find preendoscopy levels, and 63 patients (29 receiving oxygen) developed tachycardia during the procedure (rate > 100 min-1_. CONCLUSIONS Oxygen therapy had no significant effect on the occurrence of ST-segment depression during upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. The results suggest that tachycardia is more important than hypoxaemia in the pathogenesis of ST depression during gastroscopy.
Electromagnetic resonances and Q factors of a chiral sphere

A study of electromagnetic resonances of an isotropic chiral sphere is presented. The characteristic equation of a chiral sphere, which is complex and transcendental, is obtained by forming solutions of the electromagnetic field for a chiral sphere in terms of the spherical vector wave functions. The characteristic equation is solved by using a computer. Resonant frequencies and Q factors of the first few modes for relative permittivities of two and ten are reported and discussed. These modes are hybrid modes. They are classed as either hybrid electric (HE) modes or hybrid magnetic (HM) modes. Chirality is observed to have a significant effect on the resonances of a sphere.
Helicobacter Pylori-Related Vitamin B12 Deficiency: A Potential Contributor in Neuropsychiatric Disorders

prefrontal cortical α2 adrenoceptors, striatal receptor involvement can also potentially occur. It has been hypothesized that the beneficial effect of this medication in akathisia is due to 5HT2A antagonism while the α2 blockade might be responsible for akathisia. [3,4,6] Thus, even though mirtazapine is considered as a therapeutic option in antipsychotic induced akathisia, clinicians also need to be aware that it can produce this distressing extrapyramidal adverse effect.
Psychiatric disorders and family functioning in children and adolescents with functional abdominal pain syndrome

Background and Aim: Functional abdominal pain syndrome (FAPS) is a functional gastrointestinal disorder. There is a heightened risk when conducting potentially dangerous and unnecessary medical investigations and procedures in children with FAPS. The aim of this study was to survey the rate of the psychiatric disorders and family functioning in children and adolescents with FAPS.
Preservation of fine‐needle aspiration specimens for future use in RNA‐based molecular testing

The application of ancillary molecular testing is becoming more important for the diagnosis and classification of disease. The use of fine‐needle aspiration (FNA) biopsy as the means of sampling tumors in conjunction with molecular testing could be a powerful combination. FNA is minimally invasive, cost effective, and usually demonstrates accuracy comparable to diagnoses based on excisional biopsies. Quality control (QC) and test validation requirements for development of molecular tests impose a need for access to pre‐existing clinical samples. Tissue banking of excisional biopsy specimens is frequently performed at large research institutions, but few have developed protocols for preservation of cytologic specimens. This study aimed to evaluate cryopreservation of FNA specimens as a method of maintaining cellular morphology and ribonucleic acid (RNA) integrity in banked tissues.
Variations climatiques et mortalité attribuée au paludisme dans la zone de Niakhar, Sénégal, de 1984 à 1996

De nombreux arguments permettent de penser que le climat influence l’epidemiologie du paludisme. L’alternance des saisons ou les evenements particuliers tels que les inondations ou la secheresse se traduisent par une modification de l’impact du paludisme tant en morbidite qu’en mortalite. A une moindre echelle, nous avons etudie les relations entre les variations mensuelles du climat et les variations mensuelles de la mortalite attribuee au paludisme. L’etude a ete realisee dans la zone de Niakhar, Senegal, sur les donnees accumulees au cours de 13 annees, de 1984 a 1996. La zone d’etude de Niakhar comprend 30 000 personnes et fait l’objet d’une surveillance demographique continue depuis 1984. Les pluies dans cette region sont caracterisees par une saisonnalite marquee, un maximum le plus souvent en aout, et une forte variabilite inter-annuelle. Au cours des 13 annees etudiees, 661 deces ont ete attribues au paludisme avec d’importantes variations inter-annuelles (mediane 43 ; extremes 23-100). La majeure partie (89,1 %) des deces attribues au paludisme a ete observee entre aout et decembre, avec un maximum en octobre. La correlation entre la variabilite de la pluviometrie du mois d’aout et la variabilite de la mortalite attribuee au paludisme entre aout et decembre etait positive et significative (r = 0,61, p = 0,02). De plus, il existait une correlation entre la variabilite de la pluviometrie observee au cours d’un mois et la variabilite du nombre de deces attribues au paludisme observe au cours des deux mois suivants (r = 0,43, p = 0,0004 avec un decalage de un mois ; r = 0,26, p = 0,03 avec un decalage de deux mois). Ce decalage de un a deux mois est en accord avec nos connaissances du cycle du parasite et des interactions parasite-homme-vecteur. Des resultats similaires, quoique moins nets, ont ete obtenus avec l’humidite et la temperature. Ces observations pourraient aider les decideurs a anticiper l’importance de la mortalite attribuee au paludisme dans les regions soudano-saheliennes ou la variabilite de la pluviometrie inter et intra-annuelle est marquee.
Productivity Change Under an Individual Transferable Quota Management System

This study examines productivity change in the Mid-Atlantic surfclam and ocean quahog fishery, which has been managed since 1990 using Individual Transferable Quotas (ITQ). Productivity change is estimated through a Malmquist index from 1981--2008, capturing change before and after implementation of the quota system. We then decompose the index to examine changes in technical efficiency, scale efficiency, and technical change. Our findings indicate that the ITQ system has not sustained gains in vessel productivity. These results are thought to be driven by spatial changes in biomass and the inability to access more productive fishing grounds. Copyright 2012, Oxford University Press.
Stem cell‐related therapies for vascular diseases

The therapeutic potential of ‘adult’ or at least non‐embryonic stem cells and their progeny has developed gradually over the past half century as a consequence of the wealth of knowledge derived from stem cell research. Translational research coupled with clinical trials and derived from basic research has led the way to the clinic. This commenced with the use of haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), to treat haematological malignancies, to be followed by the most recent clinical trials to treat a variety of coronary and peripheral artery diseases. Stem cells and their progeny isolated from bone marrow or blood appear to exert an ameliorating effect in certain vascular disorders. Although promising, some of these treatments remain controversial and further research and, where indicated, appropriately powered trials are required to confirm the safety and determine the efficacy of these novel therapies.
Effect of passive stretching on the range of motion of osteoarthritic joints in 10 labrador retrievers

Ten labrador retrievers and their owners undertook a programme to determine the effect of passive stretching on the dogs' osteoarthritic joints, which had a restricted range of motion. The range of motion of the joints was measured before and after the 21-day study, during which the owners performed 10 passive stretches for a hold of 10 seconds twice daily. Goniometric measurements showed that the passive stretching had significantly increased the range of motion of the joints.
Xanthurenic Acid Induces Gametogenesis in Plasmodium, the Malaria Parasite*

A small, heat stable chromophore extracted from mosquitoes has recently been implicated as the signal that induces mating of Plasmodium, the malaria parasite. We have used high resolution electrospray mass spectrometry to determine that this gamete activation factor (GAF) has a m/z = 205.0450, suggesting a molecular species composition of C10H7NO4. Xanthurenic acid (XA), a product of tryptophan catabolism, was determined to have an elemental composition, ultraviolet absorbance maxima, and mass spectrum consistent with those characteristics of GAF. XA activated gametogenesis of Plasmodium gallinaceum and P. falciparum in vitro at concentrations lower than 0.5 μm in saline buffered to pH 7.4. A structural analog of XA, kynurenic acid (C10H6NO3), also activated gametogenesis but only at higher concentrations and with less effect. We propose that XA is GAF. This is the first evidence that XA has induction activity.
Transmission of macro-liquidity shocks to liquidity-sorted stock portfolios’ returns: The role of the financial crisis

This study examines the impact of macro-liquidity shocks on the returns of UK stock portfolios sorted on the basis of a series of micro-liquidity measures. The macro-liquidity shocks are extracted on the meeting days of the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee relative to market expectations embedded in futures contracts on the 3-month LIBOR during the period June 1999- December 2009. We report definitive evidence that these shocks are transmitted to the cross-section of liquidity-sorted portfolios, with most liquid stocks playing a very active role. Our results emphatically document that the shocks-returns relationship has reversed its sign during the recent financial crisis; the standard inverse relationship between interest rate surprises and portfolios’ returns before the crisis has turned into positive during the crisis. This finding confirms the inability of interest rate cuts to boost returns in the shortrun during the crisis, because these were perceived by market participants as a signal of a deteriorating economic outlook.
Arterial spin labeling imaging reveals widespread and Aβ-independent reductions in cerebral blood flow in elderly apolipoprotein epsilon-4 carriers

Changes in cerebral blood flow are an essential feature of Alzheimer’s disease and have been linked to apolipoprotein E-genotype and cerebral amyloid-deposition. These factors could be interdependent or influence cerebral blood flow via different mechanisms. We examined apolipoprotein E-genotype, amyloid beta-deposition, and cerebral blood flow in amnestic mild cognitive impairment using pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling MRI in 27 cognitively normal elderly and 16 amnestic mild cognitive impairment participants. Subjects underwent Pittsburgh Compound B (PiB) positron emission tomography and apolipoprotein E-genotyping. Global cerebral blood flow was lower in apolipoprotein E ɛ4-allele carriers (apolipoprotein E4+) than in apolipoprotein E4− across all subjects (including cognitively normal participants) and within the group of cognitively normal elderly. Global cerebral blood flow was lower in subjects with mild cognitive impairment compared with cognitively normal. Subjects with elevated cerebral amyloid-deposition (PiB+) showed a trend for lower global cerebral blood flow. Apolipoprotein E-status exerted the strongest effect on global cerebral blood flow. Regional analysis indicated that local cerebral blood flow reductions were more widespread for the contrasts apolipoprotein E4+ versus apolipoprotein E4− compared with the contrasts PiB+ versus PiB− or mild cognitive impairment versus cognitively normal. These findings suggest that apolipoprotein E-genotype exerts its impact on cerebral blood flow at least partly independently from amyloid beta-deposition, suggesting that apolipoprotein E also contributes to cerebral blood flow changes outside the context of Alzheimer’s disease.
New Non-Oxide Photocatalysts Designed for Overall Water Splitting under Visible Light

Overall water splitting to form hydrogen and oxygen over a heterogeneous photocatalyst using solar energy is a promising process for clean and recyclable hydrogen production in large-scale. In recent years, numerous attempts have been made for the development of photocatalysts that work under visible-light irradiation to efficiently utilize solar energy. This article presents recent research progress in the development of visible-light-driven photocatalysts, focusing on the refinement of non-oxide-type photocatalysts such as (oxy)nitrides and oxysulfides.
Sliding Window Protocol for Group Communication in Ad-Hoc Networks

Existing ad hoc routing protocols are either unicast or multicast. In this paper we propose a simple extension to the Dynamic Source Routing Protocol (DSR) to cater for group communications where all node addresses are unicast and there is no single multicast address. The proposed sliding window protocol results in significant improvement in total packet delivery. We also compare the group rekeying rate using the sliding window protocol versus other kinds of Rekeying algorithms. The proposed sliding window protocol performs better. The proposed sliding window is therefore simple and improves both communications and security performance.
Hallucinations of Widowhood

Widowed residents of two nursing homes who were oriented to person, time, and place were interviewed to determine the extent to which they had hallucinatory experiences of their deceased spouse. Fifty‐two interviews were completed with 46 widows and six widowers. Results are reported for the widows. Twenty‐eight (61%) of the widows reported hallucinatory experiences of their deceased spouse. Twenty‐four (86%) of the widows described the experiences as good or helpful. Thirteen (46%) reported that the experiences continue to happen. Nineteen (54%) of the widows had never discussed the experiences with anyone before this study. These results are surprisingly similar to previously published findings by Rees in Wales and suggest that these experiences are more common in the United States than has been recognized.