Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nitrous oxide and evidence-based medicine: here we go again.

To the Editor:—We read with interest the two case reports by Dr. Heavner et al. in which the introduction of an epiduroscope for placement of hyaluronidase, local anesthetic, and steroids in the lower lumbar epidural space led to the apparent disruption of venous wall integrity. Unintended vascular uptake of dye was documented on fluoroscopy. The case reports raise several concerns about the value of using an epiduroscope to place medication in this manner. The evidence in the literature does not support the practice of using an epiduroscope to perform a caudal injection as a means to improve outcome, when compared with a fluoroscopically guided injection via a catheter or needle. As these case reports portray, use of an epiduroscope clearly offers no protection against vascular trauma. Indeed, the view through the scope gave no indication in either case that vascular wall integrity had been broached. It was fluoroscopic imaging in conjunction with dye administration that diagnosed the inadvertent injection. Rather than protecting against trauma, it is reasonable to assume that the larger instrument (the epiduroscope is blunt, rigid, and 2.8 mm in diameter; a 20-gauge epidural catheter is softer and less than 0.9 mm in diameter) would be more likely to cause trauma. Indeed, Heavner et al. suggest that it is the lack of a low-pressure alternative route for the injectate to escape around the vessel that drives injectate into the vein. An epidural catheter, taking up less space, would allow more avenues of egress for the injectate and would be less likely to traumatize the vessel (smaller and softer) or lead to a high-pressure environment that would distend the vessel breach and induce this unwanted vascular ingress of medication. The cost and charge to the patient of the fluoroscopically guided epiduroscope-based epidural injection is higher than a fluoroscopically guided needle or catheter injection. Because a catheter is as effective, is less expensive, is less traumatic, and uses the only imaging technique (fluoroscopy) that provides safety in this injection, we must ask: Where is the value in using an epiduroscope to inject medication into the lumbar epidural canal? The concept of introducing a flexible fiberoptic scope into the epidural space to directly visualize structures is appealing. Ideally, we could accomplish this safely, be able to clearly define normal and abnormal anatomy, and use the anatomical information to improve treatment by providing directed therapy. These goals have been elusive, despite the availability of this technique for more than 20 yr. The current case reports are a clear reminder that the risks and benefits of this technique have yet to be clearly established. We believe that safety and cost dictate that the routine use of epiduroscopy to “guide” caudal injection not be used until evidence generated by randomized controlled trials proves that it provides benefit sufficient to warrant the additional trauma, risk, and cost it obviously incurs.
Dispersion and mirror transmission characteristics of bulk acoustic wave resonators

A heterodyne laser interferometer is used for a detailed study of the acoustic wave fields excited in a 932-MHz solidly mounted ZnO thin-film BAW resonator. The sample is manufactured on a glass substrate, which also allows direct measurement of the vibration fields from the bottom of the acoustic mirror. Vibration fields are measured both on top of the resonator and at the mirror-substrate interface in a frequency range of 350 to 1200 MHz. Plate wave dispersion diagrams are calculated from the experimental data in both cases and the transmission characteristics of the acoustic mirror are determined as a function of both frequency and lateral wave number. The experimental data are compared with 1-D and 2-D simulations to evaluate the validity of the modeling tools commonly used in mirror design. All the major features observed in the 1-D model are identified in the measured dispersion diagrams, and the mirror transmission characteristics predicted for the longitudinal waves, by both the 1-D and the 2-D models, match the measured values well.
Comparative phytotoxicity of Rac-metolachlor and S-metolachlor on rice seedlings

The toxicity of Rac-metolachlor and S-metolachlor on rice (IIYou92, Oryza sativa L.) seedlings was determined and compared in a hydroponics experiment. The elongation of shoot, main root, and the number of lateral roots were inhibited in both Rac- and S-metolachlor treatments. The 96h- IC50 of Rac- and S-metolachlor were 12.32 and 9.44 μM for shoot, and 4.69 and 1.75 μM for root, respectively. The content of chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b and total chlorophyll of leaf treated by Rac-metolachlor was higher than that treated by S-metolachlor. The activities of superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, cytochrome P450 2E1, glutathione S-transferase, and the content of glutathione increased after herbicide exposure, and the activities or the content was higher in the S-metolachlor treatment than in the exposure to Rac-metolachlor. Ultrastructural studies revealed that Rac- and S-metolachlor had adverse effects on leaf cells, and S-metolachlor treatment caused higher damage.
Natural or Artificial? Multi-Analytical Study of a Scagliola from Estoi Palace Simulating Imperial Red Porphyry

Abstract In this paper the characterization of a gypsum plaster sample from the end of the 19th century simulating imperial red porphyry using a multi-analytical approach is presented and discussed. The results of X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis (TGA-DTA), physical and mechanical properties are summarized. In order to have further insight into the microstructure, polarized light microscopy (PLM), scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (SEM-EDS), and micro Raman spectroscopy analyzes were also made. They helped to clarify the main issues raised by the other complementary analytical techniques and allowed the establishment of interrelations between the different properties, providing important information about the materials, the skills, and the technological development involved in the art of imitating noble stones with gypsum pastes. This study also contributes to our knowledge concerning the preservation of these types of elements that are important in the context of European decorative arts and rarely reported in the literature.
Advertising Pricing Models in Media Markets: Lump-Sum versus Per-Consumer Charges

Based on a model of asymmetric competition between a pay and a free media platform, this paper investigates advertising pricing models. The pay media platform generates revenues from media consumers through subscription fees, while the free media platform generates revenues from charging advertisers either on a lump-sum basis (regime A) or on a per-consumer basis (regime B). We show that the free platform produces a higher advertising level and attracts more consumers in regime A than B although advertisers must pay more for ads and consumers dislike ads. Moreover, the pay media platform faces higher subscription fees and lower consumer demand in regime A than B. Compared to regime B, the profit of the free (pay) media platform is higher (lower) in regime A, while aggregate profits are higher only if the consumers’ disutility from ads is sufficiently low. In addition, advertisers are better off in regime A than B, while the opposite is true for the media consumers. Finally, in small media markets, social welfare is lower in regime A than B, while this is true in large media markets only if the media consumers’ disutility from advertising is sufficiently high.
Detection and quantification of Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax infections in Thai-Kampuchean Anopheles (Diptera: Culicidae) by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA's) were used to identify Plasmodium falciparum (Welch) and Plasmodium vivax (Grassi & Feletti) infections in 13 Anopheles species collected in the Thailand–Kampuchea border area. ELISA tests on 1,680 mosquitoes detected P. falciparum infections in nine species and P. vivax infections in four species. ELISA tests on 325 mosquitoes divided at the thorax indicated that 10 of 21 infected mosquitoes contained midgut infections in the absence of salivary gland infections. Based on relative abundances of species collected and infection rates detected, Anopheles aconitus Donitz, Anopheles annularis Van der Wulp, Anopheles barbirostris Van der Wulp group, Anopheles peditaeniatus (Leicester), and Anopheles vagus Donitz should be considered as potential important vectors of malaria in the situations described, but vector status of these species requires confirmation. A sporozoite quantification method was developed and used to estimate infection levels in individual mosquitoes. Circumsporozoite (CS) protein levels equivalent to >2,000 sporozoites per mosquito were detected in one out of two infected Anopheles dirus Peyton & Harrison and most infected A. annularis, but CS protein levels equivalent to <275 sporozoites per mosquito were detected in 50% of infections in all species. In general, mosquitoes with P. falciparum infections contained more CS protein than those infected with P. vivax.
Treatments and Health Outcomes of Medicare Patients With Back Pain

Back pain treatments are costly and frequently involve use of procedures that may have minimal benefit on improving patients’ functional status. Two recent studies evaluated adverse outcomes (mortality and major medical complications) following receipt of spinal surgery but neither examined whether such treatments affected functional ability. Using a sample composed of Medicare patients with persistent back pain, we examined whether functional ability improved after treatment, comparing patients treated with back surgery or spinal injections to nonrecipients. We analyzed four binary variables that measure whether the ability to perform routine tasks improved. We used instrumental variables analysis to address the nonrandom selection of treatment received due to unobservable confounding. Contrary to the observational results, the instrumental variable estimates suggest that receipt of either back surgery or spinal injections does not improve back patients’ functional ability. Failure to account for selection into treatment can lead to overestimating the benefits of specific treatments.
Effect of Filler Materials on Dry Sliding Wear Behavior of Polymer Matrix Composites - A Taguchi Approach

The tribological behaviour of glass epoxy polymer composites with SiC and Graphite particles as secondary fillers was studied using a pin-on-disc wear rig under dry sliding conditions. The influence of wear parameters like, applied load, sliding speed, sliding distance and percentage of secondary fillers, on the wear rate were investigated. A plan of experiments, based on the techniques of Taguchi, was performed to acquire data in a controlled way. An orthogonal array and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were employed to investigate the influence of process parameters on the wear of these composites. The results showed that the inclusion of SiC and Graphite as filler materials in glass epoxy composites will increase the wear resistance of the composite greatly.
A Genomic Analysis of Tumor Development and Source-Sink Relationships in Agrobacterium-Induced Crown Gall Disease in Arabidopsis

Agrobacterium tumefaciens is a Gram-negative rod-shaped bacterium that is commonly found in the rhizosphere of many plants, where it survives on root exudates. It will infect a plant only through a wound site (which often occurs in nursery stock through transplanting and grafting and in vineyards
An Improved PCR-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP) Method for the Identification of cry1-Type Genes

ABSTRACT The cry1-type genes of Bacillus thuringiensis represent the largest cry gene family, which contains 50 distinct holotypes. It is becoming more and more difficult to identify cry1-type genes using current methods because of the increasing number of cry1-type genes. In the present study, an improved PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method which can distinguish 41 holotypes of cry1-type genes was developed. This improved method was used to identify cry1-type genes in 20 B. thuringiensis strains that are toxic to lepidoptera. The results showed that the improved method can efficiently identify single and clustered cry1-type genes and can be used to evaluate cry1-type genes in novel strain collections of B. thuringiensis. Among the detected cry1-type genes, we identified four novel genes, cry1Ai, cry1Bb, cry1Ja, and cry1La. The bioassay results from the expressed products of the four novel cry genes showed that Cry1Ai2, Cry1Bb2, and Cry1Ja2 were highly toxic against Plutella xylostella, whereas Cry1La2 exhibited no activity. Moreover, Cry1Ai2 had good lethal activity against Ostrinia furnacalis, Hyphantria cunea, Chilo suppressalis, and Bombyx mori larvae and considerable weight loss activity against Helicoverpa armigera.
Role of prostaglandin E in the biphasic fever response to endotoxin

Biphasic fevers were induced in sheep with intravascular infusions or injections of 4-10 μg (80-200 ng/kg) of endotoxin, whereas monophasic fevers were obtained with doses of 1-2/μg (20-40 ng/kg). A marked increase in arterial blood pressure invariably accompanied the onset of fever; the latency of responses to the higher and lower doses of endotoxins averaged 26 min and 42 min, respectively. Prostaglandin (PG) assays of plasma from the carotid artery and jugular vein during fever episodes revealed a surge of PGE and PGF coincident with the pressor response and the first phase of fever, but PG were not detected in plasma samples taken throughout the second phase of fever. PG measurements of arterial and venous plasma collected at a distal site (hind limb) showed a similar surge of PGE and PGF in association with the early fever response, indicating that intravascular PG synthesis and release represents a generalized systemic response to circulating endotoxin. Carotid arterial infusions of PGE(2) produced immediate monophasic fevers and pressor responses, whereas PGD(2) infusions produced an immediate pressor effect but no fever. Infusions of PGF(2α) or prostacyclin, however, evoked neither fever nor pressor effects. Intracarotid infusions of leukocyte pyrogen (LP) caused monophasic fevers with latent periods of 15-20 min but pressor responses were not seen and neither PGE nor PGF were detected in plasma samples from the carotid artery or jugular vein before or during fever. Indomethacin, a potent inhibitor of arachidonic acid metabolism, blocked fever responses to endotoxin and to LP. These findings implicate PGE as the mediator of the early phase of endotoxin fever and imply a role for another pyrogenic metabolite ofarachidonic acid in the mediation of the second phase of fever, i.e., the phase associated with circulating LP. It is possible that both pyrogenic metabolites are generated within the vascular compartment, reaching thermoregulatory centers of the brain by transfer across the blood-brain interface.
Cytotoxicity of human lymphocytes induced by rabbit antibodies to chicken erythrocytes. Inhibition by normal IgG and by human myeloma proteins of different IgG subclasses.

Normal IgG preparations of human, rabbit or guinea-pig origin (IgG2) were tested for their capacity to inhibit the cytotoxicity of purified human lymphocytes, as induced by rabbit IgG antibodies to chicken erythrocytes. All IgGs were found to be about equally efficient inhibitors. Human F(ab′)2 used for control, gave no inhibition. Human myeloma proteins of subclasses IgG1, IgG2 and IgG3, were about equally efficient inhibitors. In contrast, the inhibitory action of myeloma proteins belonging to subclass IgG4 was weak and more irregular. In this assay system, a large excess (∼ 106 ×) of normal IgG over antibodies had to be added in order to achieve ≥50 per cent inhibition. Heating of the inhibitors to 63° for 30 minutes did not significantly enhance their inhibitory capacity. For comparison, the same human IgG preparations and myeloma proteins were also tested for their capacity to inhibit phagocytosis by human blood monocytes of chicken erythrocytes sensitized with rabbit IgG antibody. As was to be expected in this system, only HGG, IgG1 and IgG3 caused inhibition whereas F(ab′)2, IgG2 and IgG4 were completely negative.
HIV/AIDS and Intimate Partner Violence

This article reviews 35 U.S. studies on the intersection of HIV and adult intimate partner violence (IPV). Most studies describe rates of IPV among women at risk or living with HIV/AIDS and identify correlates, using multiple types of convenience samples (e.g., women in methadone treatment, women in shelters or clinics), cross-sectional designs, and self-reported risk behaviors. HIV-positive women appear to experience any IPV at rates comparable to HIV-negative women from the same underlying populations; however, their abuse seems to be more frequent and more severe. The authors found only four relevant interventions and none addressed sexually transmitted HIV and partner violence risk reduction simultaneously. There is a critical need for research on (a) causal pathways and cumulative effects of the syndemic issues of violence, HIV, and substance abuse and (b) interventions that target IPV victims at risk for HIV, as well as HIV-positive women who may be experiencing IPV.
In vivo administration of an oligodeoxynucleotide antisense to the D2 dopamine receptor messenger RNA inhibits D2 dopamine receptor-mediated behavior and the expression of D2 dopamine receptors in mouse striatum.

A 20-mer phosphorothioate oligodeoxynucleotide (D2 antisense) to the D2 antisense dopamine receptor messenger RNA (mRNA) was administered i.c. v. to mice with unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine lesions of the corpus striatum. The mice were then challenged with acute injections of various agents that cause contralateral rotational behavior, and the levels of D1 and D2 dopamine receptors and their respective mRNAs were determined in the corpus striatum. Administering the D2 antisense inhibited rotations induced by the D2 dopamine receptor agonists quinpirole and N-propyl-N-2-thienylethylamine-5-hydroxytetralin but did not block rotations induced by the D1 dopamine receptor agonist 1-phenyl-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-1H-3 benzazepine-7,8-diol HCl or by the muscarinic cholinergic receptor agonist oxotremorine. The reduction in quinpirole-induced rotational behavior was related to the amount and length of time the D2 antisense was given. Significant reductions in behavior were seen within 1 day of repeated injections of D2 antisense, and almost complete inhibition was seen after 6 days of treatment. Recovery from inhibition occurred by 2 days after cessation of antisense treatment. Repeated treatment with D2 antisense significantly reduced the levels of D2 dopamine receptors and D2 dopamine receptor mRNA, but not the levels of D1 receptors or D1 mRNA, in the dorsolateral area of the lesioned striatum. Treatment with an oligodeoxynucleotide with randomly placed nucleotides did not inhibit quinpirole-induced rotations or alter D2 dopamine receptors or D2 dopamine receptor mRNA in either area of striatum. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Suppression of a field population of Aedes aegypti by malathion thermal fogs and Abate larvicide.

Georghiou, G. P. (1963) Effects of carbamate insecticide selection pressure on Anopheles albimanus Wied. In: Proceedings and papers of the thirty-first annual conference of the California Mosquito Control Association, Visalia, Calif. , p. 80 Georghiou, G. P. (1969) Wld Rev. Pest Control, 8, 86 Georghiou, G. P. (1971) Proceedings of the second International Congress of Pesticide Chemistry, Tel Aviv, London, Gordon & Breach, Vol. 2, p. 77 Georghiou, G. P. & Calman, J. R. (1969) Bull. Wld Hlth Org. , 40, 97 Georghiou, G. P. & Hawley, M. K. (1971) Bull. Wld Hlth Org. , 45, 43 Georghiu, G. P. & Metcalf, R. L. (1963) Science, 140, 301
The Caenorhabditis elegans ing-3 Gene Regulates Ionizing Radiation-Induced Germ-Cell Apoptosis in a p53-Associated Pathway

The inhibitor of growth (ING) family of type II tumor suppressors are encoded by five genes in mammals and by three genes in Caenorhabditis elegans. All ING proteins contain a highly conserved plant homeodomain (PHD) zinc finger. ING proteins are activated by stresses, including ionizing radiation, leading to the activation of p53. ING proteins in mammals and yeast have recently been shown to read the histone code in a methylation-sensitive manner to regulate gene expression. Here we identify and characterize ing-3, the C. elegans gene with the highest sequence identity to the human ING3 gene. ING-3 colocalizes with chromatin in embryos, the germline, and somatic cells. The ing-3 gene is part of an operon but is also transcribed from its own promoter. Both ing-3(RNAi) and ing-3 mutant strains demonstrate that the gene likely functions in concert with the C. elegans p53 homolog, cep-1, to induce germ-cell apoptosis in response to ionizing radiation. Somatically, the ing-3 mutant has a weak kinker uncoordinated (kinker Unc) phenotype, indicating a possible neuronal function.
An Open Sensing and Acting Platform for Context-Aware Affective Support in Ambient Intelligent Educational Settings

Supporting learners affectively while carrying out stressful educational activities is an open research issue. It requires the appropriate infrastructure for recognizing emotional states and reacting accordingly in runtime. In this paper, we describe the open platform that we have implemented (named AICARP v2) to detect changes in physiological signals that can be associated with stressful situations, and when this happens, it recommends the learner to relax by delivering modulated sensorial support in terms of light, sound, or vibration at a relaxation breath rate. In this way, by taking advantage of ambient intelligence, the learner can perceive the recommended action without interrupting the learning activity (in this case, practicing the oral exam of a second language). The signal acquisition of the system (which combines sensors from Libellium e-Health platform with others integrated ad hoc) has been compared with a commercial system (J&J Engineering I-330-C2), obtaining similar outcomes as to identifying significant changes in the physiological signals when the learner experiments an emotional reaction. However, the cost of AICARP v2 is much lower, and at the same time, it is open hardware and flexible and, thus, has the advantage of providing runtime data processing. User studies have served to evaluate participants' perception of the sensorial support, as well as to calibrate the delivery rule and to evaluate the effectiveness of the support provided to them.