Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Clozapine-Induced Hypersalivation: A Review of Treatment Strategies

Objective: Clozapine-induced hypersalivation (CIH) is a significant side effect affecting about one-third of patients treated with clozapine. CIH can be stigmatizing, can affect quality of life, and can result in discontinuation of clozapine treatment. The purpose of this review is to provide an understanding of CIH, specifically, its pathophysiology, measurement, and the evidence for CIH treatment alternatives. Methods: We searched MEDLINE from 1980 to June 2006 for all reported pharmacologic treatment studies related to CIH. We identified additional references by a manual search of the bibliographies of retrieved articles. Results: Several studies reported improvement of CIH with both selective and nonselective anticholinergic medications. However, with the exception of local anticholinergic agents such as ipratropium bromide and atropine eye drops, potential systemic adverse effects limit the effectiveness of this class of medications. Open-label studies of clonidine, an alpha2 antagonist, suggest that it may be beneficial in managing CIH. Other pharmacologic treatments, such as amisulpride and botulinum toxin, may be useful in refractory CIH cases. Conclusion: Although few randomized controlled trials were found in the literature, this review highlights potential treatment alternatives for this common and disabling cause of hypersalivation. Prompt and effective treatment of CIH may assist with treatment tolerability, adherence, and outcomes in patients with treatment-refractory schizophrenia.
A Profile of Mechanised Fishing Activities based at Cochin Fisheries Harbour, Kerala, India

Cochin Fisheries Harbour situated at Thoppumpady (Kerala, India), was commissioned in September 1978 and function under the administrative control of Cochin Port Trust. A profile of mechanised fishing activities, based at Cochin Fisheries Harbour is presented in this paper, based on investigations conducted during 1997-98. During the period of investigations, 1543 mechanised fishing vessels were registered with the Port, of which 931 (60.3%) were in active operation. Three types of vessels were operating from this harbour. These included 72.4% trawlers, 22.6% gillnetter-cum-liners and 5.0% purse seiners. Trawlers operating from the harbour ranged from 9.1 to 16.0 m LOA (89-122 hp), gillnetter-cum-liners 7.1-14.0 m LOA (<60-99 hp) and purse sieners (12.1-19.0 m LOA (106-235 hp). Mean catch per year of the trawlers and gillnetter-cum-liners were 52.8 t and 32.83 t, respectively. Mean catch per year varied from 277.6 to 340.5 t, in the case purse seiners, depending on the type and installed engine horse power of the seiners. Salient features of the fishing craft, fishing gear, and fish production of these three categories of fishing vessels are discussed.
Disentangling the impacts of heat wave magnitude, duration and timing on the structure and diversity of sessile marine assemblages

Extreme climatic events, including heat waves (HWs) and severe storms, influence the structure of marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Despite growing consensus that anthropogenic climate change will increase the frequency, duration and magnitude of extreme events, current understanding of their impact on communities and ecosystems is limited. Here, we used sessile invertebrates on settlement panels as model assemblages to examine the influence of HW magnitude, duration and timing on marine biodiversity patterns. Settlement panels were deployed in a marina in southwest UK for ≥5 weeks, to allow sufficient time for colonisation and development of sessile fauna, before being subjected to simulated HWs in a mesocosm facility. Replicate panel assemblages were held at ambient sea temperature (∼17 °C), or +3 °C or +5 °C for a period of 1 or 2 weeks, before being returned to the marina for a recovery phase of 2–3 weeks. The 10-week experiment was repeated 3 times, staggered throughout summer, to examine the influence of HW timing on community impacts. Contrary to our expectations, the warming events had no clear, consistent impacts on the abundance of species or the structure of sessile assemblages. With the exception of 1 high-magnitude long-duration HW event, warming did not alter not assemblage structure, favour non-native species, nor lead to changes in richness, abundance or biomass of sessile faunal assemblages. The observed lack of effect may have been caused by a combination of (1) the use of relatively low magnitude, realistic heat wave treatments compared to previous studies (2), the greater resilience of mature adult sessile fauna compared to recruits and juveniles, and (3) the high thermal tolerance of the model organisms (i.e., temperate fouling species, principally bryozoans and ascidians). Our study demonstrates the importance of using realistic treatments when manipulating climate change variables, and also suggests that biogeographical context may influence community-level responses to short-term warming events, which are predicted to increase in severity in the future.
Contribution of Mutation at Amino Acid 45 of AcrR to acrB Expression and Ciprofloxacin Resistance in Clinical and Veterinary Escherichia coli Isolates

ABSTRACT Fluoroquinolone-resistant Escherichia coli isolates which overexpressed acrB and had a substitution at amino acid 45 of AcrR were complemented with wild-type acrR. Complementation led to increased sensitivity to ciprofloxacin and to ethidium bromide, suggesting that mutation at amino acid 45 of AcrR contributes to ciprofloxacin resistance.
Practitioner Review: Involving young people with callous unemotional traits in treatment--does it work? A systematic review.

BACKGROUND Children and adolescents with callous unemotional (CU) traits are at risk of severe and persistent antisocial behavior. It is commonly assumed that these children are difficult to treat but it has been proposed that they may benefit from being involved in interventions that go beyond typical parent training programs. This systematic review sought to answer two previously unanswered questions: do interventions involving young people reduce levels of CU traits? Do CU traits predict the effectiveness of interventions for antisocial behavior involving young people? METHOD Studies were included that adopted an randomized controlled trial, controlled or open trial design and that had examined whether treatment was related to reductions in CU traits or whether CU traits predicted or moderated treatment effectiveness. RESULTS Treatments used a range of approaches, including behavioral therapy, emotion recognition training, and multimodal interventions. 4/7 studies reported reductions in CU traits following treatment. There was a mixed pattern of findings in 15 studies that examined whether CU traits predicted treatment outcomes following interventions for antisocial behavior. In 7/15 studies, CU traits were associated with worse outcomes, although three of these studies did not provide data on baseline antisocial behavior, making it difficult to evaluate whether children with high CU traits had shown improvements relative to their own behavioral baseline, despite having the worst behavioral outcomes overall. CU traits did not predict outcomes in 7/15 studies. Finally, a single study reported that CU traits predicted an overall increased response to treatment. CONCLUSIONS Overall, the evidence supports the idea that children with CU traits do show reductions in both their CU traits and their antisocial behavior, but typically begin treatment with poorer premorbid functioning and can still end with higher levels of antisocial behavior. However, there is considerable scope to build on the current evidence base.
The effect of aided language modeling on symbol comprehension and production in 2 preschoolers with autism.

PURPOSE The purpose of the present study was to examine the effectiveness of an instructional procedure called aided language modeling (ALM) on symbol comprehension and expression in 2 preschool children with autism who used few words functionally. ALM consists of engaging the child in interactive play activities and providing models of use of augmentative and alternative communication symbols during play. METHOD A multiple-baseline design across sets of symbol vocabulary was used with 2 children who had autism. Four vocabulary items were taught in each of 3 legs of the design, for each child. RESULTS Both participants demonstrated increased symbol comprehension and elicited symbol production. In addition, both participants demonstrated that symbol comprehension and symbol production could be maintained. For both children, performance on symbol production lagged behind rate of responses on symbol comprehension. CONCLUSIONS The current research presents preliminary evidence that a modeling intervention may be effective in increasing symbol comprehension and production, and may be an appropriate intervention strategy for some preschoolers with autism. Future research should continue to investigate this strategy and its effects on functional communication.
A ±5A battery current sensor with ±0.04% gain error from −55°C to +125°C

This paper describes a battery current sensor (CS) that consists of a calibrated 10mΩ shunt resistor, and a chip comprising a switched-capacitor (SC) ΔΣ ADC and a bandgap reference (BGR). The chip was realized in a standard 0. 13μm CMOS process, occupies 1.15mm<sup>2</sup> and draws 55μA from a 1.5V supply. With an off-chip shunt it can digitize bi-directional currents ranging from -5A to +5A with 150μA offset and ±0.04% gain error over the military temperature range (-55°C to +125°C). This performance is achieved by using room temperature trimming, dynamic error correction techniques, a dynamic BGR and a low-leakage sensor front-end.
Organizational attributes valued by hospital, home care, and district nurses in the United States and New Zealand.

PURPOSE To determine whether hospital-based, home care, and district nurses identify a core set of organizational attributes in the nursing work environment that they value as important to the support of professional practice. DESIGN Survey data, collected in 2002-2003 from 403 home care nurses in the United States (US) and 320 district nurses in New Zealand (NZ), were pooled with an existing data set of 669 hospital-based nurses to conduct this descriptive, nonexperimental study. METHODS The importance of organizational attributes in the nursing work environment was measured using the Nursing Work Index-Revised (NWI-R). Frequency distributions and analysis of variance were used to analyze the data. FINDINGS At least 80% of hospital-based, home care, and district nurses either agreed or strongly agreed that 47 of the 49 items comprising the NWI-R represented organizational attributes they considered important to the support of their professional nursing practice. Mean importance scores among home care nurses, however, were significantly lower than were those of the other two groups. CONCLUSIONS Overall, hospital-based, home care, and district nurses had a high level of agreement regarding the importance of organizational traits to the support of their professional practice. The intensity of the attributes' importance was less among home care nurses. Further research is needed to determine whether this set of organizational traits, measured using the NWI-R, is associated with positive nurse and patient outcomes in home care and district nursing practice, as has been shown in acute care settings.
The effect of strategic technology alliances on company performance.

This invention relates to apparatus for changing the temperature of containers and their contents, and in one embodiment useful as a wine chiller, includes a tank to hold the chilling medium and the containers, a refrigeration unit to cool the chilling medium, a pump to circulate the chilling medium, and a receptacle to receive chilling medium as it overflows from the tank; the overflow capability of the apparatus being greater than the capacity of the apparatus to return chilling medium from the receptacle to the tank.
Involvement of caspase‐3‐like protein in rapid cell death of Xanthomonas

Xanthomonas campestris pv. glycines strain AM2 (XcgAM2), the aetiological agent of bacterial pustule disease of soybean, as well as some other strains of Xanthomonas including X. campestris pv. malvacearum NCIM 2310 and X. campestris NCIM 2961, exhibited post‐exponential rapid cell death (RCD) in Luria–Bertani (LB) medium. RCD was not displayed by Xanthomonas strains while growing in starch medium. Addition of starch to LB culture of XcgAM2 at any point of incubation during the exponential growth was found to arrest the onset of RCD. RCD in this organism was found to be associated with the synthesis of an endogenous enzyme similar to human caspase‐3, a known marker of apoptosis in eukaryotes. On sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel elecrophoresis (SDS‐PAGE) the XcgAM2 caspase appeared to run along a 55 kDa protein molecular weight marker. The caspase‐3‐like protein was detected in all Xanthomonas strains tested. RCD was not detected in Escherichia coli cultures in LB medium. The caspase‐3‐like enzyme activity or pro‐tein was also found to be absent in this bacterium. Caspase‐3‐like protein or Xanthomonas caspase was detected only in the cells of XcgAM2 growing in LB medium and not in those growing in starch medium. The Xanthomonas caspase protein appeared in cells at around 4 h of incubation, and peaked at around 24 h, before finally disappearing at around 54 h of incubation. However, caspase enzyme activity was detected only 12–13 h after incubation and peaked around 18–20 h. Addition of starch at the beginning or during the period of exponential growth in LB cultures of XcgAM2 terminated the synthesis of this protein. It is presumed that starch acted as the repressor of biosynthesis of the Xanthomonas caspase, thereby preventing the organism from undergoing RCD. The cells undergoing RCD also displayed the other markers of eukaryotic apoptosis. These included binding of annexin V to plasma membrane of cells undergoing RCD and the presence of nicked DNA in culture supernatant as evidenced by the TUNEL (terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick‐end labelling) assay. Caspase‐negative mutants of XcgAM2 did not display post‐exponential RCD. The importance of RCD in Xanthomonas life cycle is not yet clear, however the phenomenon appears to have similarities with eukaryotic apoptosis.
Male and female cooperatively breeding fish provide support for the "Challenge Hypothesis"

The idea that territorial aggression is regulated by androgens and that aggression itself can modulate androgen levels is well established in males. In many species, females also display aggressive behavior, yet little work has been conducted on the effects of female aggression on hormone levels. In this study, we compared the effects of a simulated territory intrusion (a method for testing the Challenge Hypothesis) on males and females of the fish, Neolamprologus pulcher. This cichlid fish from Lake Tanganyika is a particularly useful species to examine sex differences in the behavioral mediation of hormones as breeding pairs remain in a territory year round and both sexes defend this territory against conspecific and heterospecific intruders. In our study, both sexes indeed aggressively defended their territory against a simulated territory intruder. In response to intruders, both males and females displayed elevated levels of circulating 11-ketotestosterone, but only females exhibited increases in testosterone. Neither aggressing male nor female fish showed changes in estradiol levels compared to control (nonaggressing) fish. Residents were more aggressive than the intruders and won most of the interactions. However, residents (or winners) did not show higher hormone levels than intruders (or losers). We suggest that aggression commonly modulates androgen levels in both male and female teleost fish. Copyright 2006.
The structure and ultrastructure of the egg capsules of stoneflies of the genus Isoperla (Insecta, Plecoptera, Perlodidae)

The egg capsules of five systellognathan stoneflies species representing the genus Isoperla (Plecoptera, Perlodidae) have been investigated using light and electron microscopes (SEM and TEM). We consider the structural modifications of egg coverings (egg capsules, eggshells) like: a shape of a capsule, presence of structures fixing an egg to the substratum under water, intrachorionic aeropylar system facilitating gas exchange as a factor adapting an egg/embryo to the environment. The structures protecting eggs against desiccation during a female flight before oviposition into water as well as against the dangers of external mechanical injury caused by turbulences in rapid water currents of mountain streams are described and discussed. The ground plan of the egg capsule in arctoperlarian stoneflies is also discussed.
Reconstruction of the Ossicular Chain in the Middle Ear With Glass Ionomer Cement

Objectives: The aim of this study is to describe a method to repair small defects (1 to 2 mm) of the ossicular chain by means of glass ionomer cement (GIC) alone. Larger defects can be repaired with a combination of GIC and a platinum wire prosthesis. GIC is a two‐component hybrid material consisting of inorganic glass particles surrounded by an insoluble hydrogel matrix. GIC has been used by dentists for many years, but only a few reports describe the use of GIC in human middle ear surgery. Many investigators have proved that most GICs are biocompatible, biostable, and well tolerated by bone and soft tissue.
The Hong Kong Advantage

Hong Kong's vibrant economic environment attracts business from all over the world. This new study examines topics that interest and touch every key economic sector from the business community to government. What are Hong Kong's strong suits as an economic centre and what are its weak areas? How do certain sectors measure up against other within Hong Kong and their counterparts in other places in the world? Why should a multinational business locate here rather than in Singapore or Tokyo? Is Hong Kong making full use of the resources which constitute its competitive advantage? The Hong Kong Advantage applies the Harvard Business School method for measuring economic competitiveness through an examination of selected industries and key issues, and is the first major economic review of this kind for Hong Kong. The book is timely and crucial reading for business people, journalists, analysts, and policy-makers.
Delivery of RNAi Therapeutics to the Airways—From Bench to Bedside

RNA interference (RNAi) is a potent and specific post-transcriptional gene silencing process. Since its discovery, tremendous efforts have been made to translate RNAi technology into therapeutic applications for the treatment of different human diseases including respiratory diseases, by manipulating the expression of disease-associated gene(s). Similar to other nucleic acid-based therapeutics, the major hurdle of RNAi therapy is delivery. Pulmonary delivery is a promising approach of delivering RNAi therapeutics directly to the airways for treating local conditions and minimizing systemic side effects. It is a non-invasive route of administration that is generally well accepted by patients. However, pulmonary drug delivery is a challenge as the lungs pose a series of anatomical, physiological and immunological barriers to drug delivery. Understanding these barriers is essential for the development an effective RNA delivery system. In this review, the different barriers to pulmonary drug delivery are introduced. The potential of RNAi molecules as new class of therapeutics, and the latest preclinical and clinical studies of using RNAi therapeutics in different respiratory conditions are discussed in details. We hope this review can provide some useful insights for moving inhaled RNAi therapeutics from bench to bedside.
Time to pregnancy and infertility among women with a high intake of fish contaminated with persistent organochlorine compounds.

OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of persistent organochlorine compounds through the dietary intake of fatty fish from the Baltic Sea on human fertility. METHODS Information on time to pregnancy, subfertility, and infertility was collected retrospectively by self-administered questionnaires in 2 cohorts of fishermen's wives from the Swedish east (by the Baltic Sea) and west coasts. In addition to cohort affiliation, current fish consumption and growing up in a fishing village were used as proxies for exposure within the eastcoast cohort. RESULTS A decreased success (ie, pregnancy) rate and a tendency towards increased subfertility was found for heavy smokers (> or =10 cigarettes/day) in the eastcoast cohort as compared with the westcoast cohort [success rate ratio 0.66, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.49-. 89; subfertility odds ratio 1.64, 95% CI 0.91-2.91). However, internal analyses within the eastcoast cohort did not show that growing up in a fishing village or high current fish consumption decreased the success rate. Eastcoast cohort affiliation showed an increased risk for infertility (odds ratio 2.49, 95% CI 1.05-5.92). CONCLUSIONS The present data give some support for a negative association between exposure to persistent organochlorine compounds and fertility among heavy smokers. However, when the proxy exposure measures are also considered, the findings are not consistent. Better individual exposure assessments should be used before more firm conclusions are drawn.
Effect of dose and frequency of administration of a potent analog of human growth hormone-releasing factor on hormone secretion and growth in pigs.

Ninety-six pigs (49.5 +/- .5 kg BW) were allotted to six treatments and were injected once (SID) or three times daily (TID) s.c. with a [desamino-Tyr1, D-Ala2, Ala15] human growth hormone-releasing factor (1-29) NH2 analog (GRF-AN). Treatments were T1, noninjected control; T2, saline-injected control (TID); T3, GRF-AN (1.66 micrograms/kg BW, TID); T4, GRF-AN (3.33 micrograms/kg BW, TID); T5, GRF-AN (6.66 micrograms/kg BW, TID) and T6, GRF-AN (10 micrograms/kg BW, SID). Feed protein levels were 14% for T1 and 18.8% for T2 through T6. The GRF-AN increased serum growth hormone (GH) concentration for the entire growing period (about 56 d) in a dose-related manner and did not induce desensitization of the somatotroph cells; in fact, an increase (P less than .05) in the GH response to GRF-AN was observed in T4 and T5 after 1 mo of treatment. This GRF-AN produced (P less than .05) a dose-dependent effect on several variables in animals grown to 110 kg BW: in comparison to T2, T5 increased meat in carcass (6%), carcass length (3%), loin eye area (13%), liver weight (19%), kidney weight (30%), improved feed efficiency (20%) and decreased total feed intake by 50 kg (26%). Compared to T2, average daily gain was increased (P less than .05) by 13% by the 3.33 micrograms/kg TID dose. Blood parameters were measured on d 1, 29 and 57. Increased serum glucose and insulin levels were observed. Triiodothyronine and thyroxine concentrations were increased and decreased, respectively after 28 d of treatment but were unchanged on d 57. This potent GRF analog maintained high GH concentration for at least 56 d and affected several growth parameters and carcass characteristics in a dose-related manner similar in magnitude to that reported in studies using porcine GH.