Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of Cases with Acute Organophosphate Pesticide Poisoning Presenting at a Tertiary Training Hospital Emergency Department: Intoxication or Suicide?

The aim of this study was to evaluate cases of acute poisoning by organophosphate pesticides, mainly used for suicidal purposes. Materials and Methods: In this retrospective, cross-sectional study, twenty three cases who presented with acute organophosphate pesticide poisoning between January 2005 and December 2006 were evaluated. The diagnosis "acute poisoning" included only acute intoxications and excluded symptom- atic poisoning due to chronic intoxication. Results: Of the 23 cases, 13 were women and mean age was 31.3±11.9 years. Poisoning was common in Summer. Nineteen cases (82.6%) were admitted to the emergency between room 17.00 PM and 08.00 AM. Of the 23 cases, 15 (65.2%) were farmers, 5 (21.7%) were unemployed, 2 (8.7%) were students and 1 (4.3%) was a worker. Fourteen cases (59.8%) had no social security. Eigh- teen cases (78.3%) were residing in the rural area or outside Izmir. Three cases took the toxic substance accidentally and 20 (87.0%) for suicidal purposes. The most common symptom on admission was bronchial hypersecretion (91.3%). Eight patients (34.8%) with respiratory failure required mechanical ventilation. Median duration of hospital stay was 5 days. Overall mortality was 13.0%. Atropine was used in all the cases. Pralidoxime was used in 20 cases with a total amount ranging between 2 and 42g at a median of 6 days. Conclusion: Poisoning with organophosphate pesticides is more common among farmers and the major cause is the suicide.
Sociodemographic and Diagnostic Characteristics of Homicidal and Nonhomicidal Sexual Offenders *

Abstract: The aims of this study were to compare the prevalence of psychiatric disorders and “psychopathy” in homicidal and nonhomicidal sexual offenders and to investigate the specificity of previous studies on psychiatric morbidity of a sample of sexual murderers. Information from court reports of 166 homicidal and 56 nonhomicidal sex offenders was evaluated using standardized instruments (SCID‐II, PCL‐R) and classification systems (DSM‐IV). Sexual murderers were diagnosed more often with a personality disorder (80.1% vs. 50%; p < 0.001), especially schizoid personality disorder (16.3% vs. 5.4%; p < 0.05), as well as with sexual sadism (36.7% vs. 8.9%; p < 0.001) and sexual dysfunctions (21.7% vs. 7.1%; p < 0.05). Additionally, they had more often used alcohol during the offense (63.2% vs. 41%; p < 0.05). The results indicate that sexual murderers have more and a greater variety of psychiatric disorders when compared to nonhomicidal sex offenders.
Surface Area and Capacity of Ellipsoids in n Dimensions. (CITR)

The surface area of a general n-dimensional ellipsoid is represented as an Abelian integral, which can readily be evaluated numerically. If there are only 2 values for the semi-axes then the area is expressed as an elliptic integral, which reduces in most cases to elementary functions. The capacity of a general n-dimensional ellipsoid is represented as a hyperelliptic integral, which can readily be evaluated numerically. If no more than 2 lengths of semi-axes occur with odd multiplicity, then the capacity is expressed in terms of elementary functions. If only 3 or 4 lengths of semi-axes occur with odd multiplicity, then the capacity is expressed as an elliptic integral.
The development of reasoning about the teaching of values in school and family contexts.

This study investigated children's, adolescents', and young adults' reasoning about the teaching of a variety of values in the school and family contexts. One-hundred and sixty participants in four age groups (8-, 10-, and 13-year-olds, and college students) evaluated acts involving the teaching of values and laws that regulate the teaching of these values. Both the valence (positive or negative) of values and the context in which they were presented (school, family) were systematically varied. Results showed that a variety of factors were considered in evaluating the teaching of values, including context, the valence of the value, and the type of value being taught. Participants' reasoning about values education was found to be multifaceted and included distinctions between moral values that reflect justice and rights, and values that reflect other forms of personality traits and social values. The findings suggest that conceptions of values education may be better understood within models of social reasoning that draw distinctions between types of values (e.g., moral and other values) and account for the increasing capacity to differentiate social contexts and spheres of legitimate governmental regulation with development.
A Unitary and renormalizable theory of the standard model in ghost free light cone gauge

Light-front (LF) quantization in light-cone (LC) gauge is used to construct a unitary and simultaneously renormalizable theory of the Standard Model. The framework derived earlier for QCD is extended to the Glashow, Weinberg, and Salam (GWS) model of electroweak interaction theory. The Lorentz condition is automatically satisfied in LF-quantized QCD in the LC gauge for the free massless gauge field. In the GWS model, with the spontaneous symmetry breaking present, we find that the 't Hooft condition accompanies the LC gauge condition corresponding to the massive vector boson. The two transverse polarization vectors for the massive vector boson may be chosen to be the same as found in QCD. The non-transverse and linearly independent third polarization vector is found to be parallel to the gauge direction. The corresponding sum over polarizations in the Standard model, indicated by K{sub {mu}{nu}}(k); has several simplifying properties similar to the polarization sum D{sub {mu}{nu}}(k) in QCD. The framework is ghost-free, and the interaction Hamiltonian of electroweak theory can be expressed in a form resembling that of covariant theory, except for few additional instantaneous interactions which can be treated systematically. The LF formulation also provides a transparent discussion of the Goldstone Boson (or Electroweak) Equivalencemore » Theorem, as the illustrations show. « less
PREDICTING THE RESPONSE TO SIMULTANEOUS SELECTION: GENETIC ARCHITECTURE AND PHYSIOLOGICAL CONSTRAINTS

A great deal is known about the evolutionary significance of body size and development time. They are determined by the nonlinear interaction of three physiological traits: two hormonal events and growth rate (GR). In this study we investigate how the genetic architecture of the underlying three physiological traits affects the simultaneous response to selection on the two life‐history traits in the hawkmoth Manduca sexta. The genetic architecture suggests that when the two life‐history traits are both selected in the same direction (to increase or decrease) the response to selection is primarily determined by the hormonal mechanism. When the life‐history traits are selected in opposite directions (one to increase and one to decrease) the response to selection is primarily determined by factors that affect the GR. To determine how the physiological traits affect the response to selection of the life‐history traits, we simulated the predicted response to 10 generations of selection. A total of 83% of our predictions were supported by the simulation. The main components of this physiological framework also exist in unicellular organisms, vertebrates, and plants and can thus provide a robust framework for understanding how underlying physiology can determine the simultaneous evolution of life‐history traits.
New anesthetic technique in periodontal procedures

Periodontal procedures require injection of local anesthetic solution to avoid patient discomfort. Multiple injections are required to anesthetize the anterior maxilla in the region of the premolars to incisors. Anterior middle superior alveolar nerve block is a single palatal injection technique, which anesthetizes the facial and palatal gingiva as well as pulp in the region of the maxillary central incisors to the premolars without any collateral facial anesthesia. This case series presents the application of the anterior middle superior alveolar nerve block in periodontal therapy.
[Evaluation of long-term occupational exposure to dust and its effect on health during production of ceramic tiles].

A medical examination has been carried out of 500 workers (290 men and 210 women) of a ceramic plates plant. Also, the measurements of dust concentrations were made at some standard work places . In the materials used for manufacturing the plates crystalline phases and the content of free crystalline silica were determined using the X-ray diffraction method. In the animal experiments the fibrogenic activity of all materials used in the plant was examined and compared to the fibrogenic activity of standard quartz. As a result of the medical examination 64 cases of pneumoconiosis were diagnosed (13% of the subjects). The incidence rate of pneumoconiosis was similar for men and women. The radiological changes characteristic of pneumoconiosis took approximately 24 years of the workers tenure to develop. Type q changes were most frequent (69%), types p and r were observed in 14% of workers (mostly women). In 31% of workers tuberous changes of size B were observed. In 43.8% of the subjects restrictive disorders of ventilation were found. In 30% of workers chronic bronchitis was diagnosed. Dust concentrations at 11 work places were measured using the individual dosimetry method. Total dust concentrations ranged from 0.6 mg/m3 at the electricians posts to 60.1 mg/m3 at the workposts where the furnace truck restorers worked. Dust concentrations exceeded the MACs at 7 workposts. The respirable fraction concentrations ranged from 0.1 mg/m3 to 8.4 mg/m3. During the replacement of asbestos ropes and asbestos board used for insulating the furnace trucks mineral fibres (0.1-0.5 fibre/cm3) were found in the air. The following crystalline phases were determined in the materials: kaolinite, illite, quartz, orthoclase and microline. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Social Technologies, Informal Knowledge Practices, and the Enterprise

This article focuses on the ways in which social technologies facilitate informal knowledge sharing in the workplace. Social technologies include both common technologies such as email, phone, and instant messenger and emerging social networking technologies, often known as social media or Web 2.0, such as blogs, wikis, public social networking sites (i.e., Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn), enterprise social networking technologies, etc. We know social technologies support informal interactions over digital systems and influence informal social connections among people within and across organizational boundaries. To understand the role of social technologies in informal knowledge practices, we pursue a field study of knowledge workers in consulting firms to investigate the role of social technologies in their informal knowledge sharing practices. Our theorizing from the data is guided by the conceptual premises of sociomateriality to better understand the ways social technologies are integrated with common knowledge practices. Findings highlight five knowledge practices supported by the use of social technologies. Building from these findings we offer conceptual insights regarding the material performance of different social technologies as an assemblage.
Adaptive influence of extrinsic and intrinsic factors on variation of incubation periods among tropical and temperate passerines

ABSTRACT Understanding intrinsic (physiological) and extrinsic (e.g., temperature) causes of variation in embryonic development time (incubation period) is important because they can have different impacts on individual quality. Robert Ricklefs and colleagues have argued that longer incubation periods result primarily from intrinsic physiological programs that increase individual quality and adult survival. They claim that incubation periods are largely invariant and that extrinsic factors like temperature have little impact. We have argued that adult survival may be a cause rather than a consequence of much of the variation in embryonic development time. A reduction in extrinsic sources of annual adult mortality (e.g., migration, predation, nonbreeding-season mortality) favors reduced parental effort during incubation to minimize costs to future reproduction and survival. Reduced parental effort, in turn, manifests as cooler average egg temperatures that yield longer incubation periods. Ricklefs and colleagues mischaracterized our hypothesis and deconstructed their own incorrect version, while also making some incorrect statements. We show that reevaluation of previous evidence provided by this group actually supports a role of egg temperature for the variation in incubation periods. We also summarize other observational and experimental evidence that incubation periods are not invariant and that egg temperature has a strong causal influence on variation within and among species. In fact, egg temperature explains ∼60% of the difference in incubation periods among species. The remaining ∼40% reflects intrinsic physiological programs and other factors, potentially providing intrinsic benefits. Ultimately, annual adult mortality explains substantial variation in parental effort and egg temperature, and the latter strongly explains variation in incubation periods. Both intrinsic programs and extrinsic temperature effects need to be considered in attempts to understand incubation strategies.
An Arabidopsis Prenylated Rab Acceptor 1 Isoform, AtPRA1.B6, Displays Differential Inhibitory Effects on Anterograde Trafficking of Proteins at the Endoplasmic Reticulum1[W][OA]

Prenylated Rab acceptors (PRAs), members of the Ypt-interacting protein family of small membrane proteins, are thought to aid the targeting of prenylated Rabs to their respective endomembrane compartments. In plants, the Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) PRA1 family contains 19 members that display varying degrees of sequence homology to animal PRA1 and localize to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and/or endosomes. However, the exact role of these proteins remains to be fully characterized. In this study, the effect of AtPRA1.B6, a member of the AtPRA1 family, on the anterograde trafficking of proteins targeted to various endomembrane compartments was investigated. High levels of AtPRA1.B6 resulted in differential inhibition of coat protein complex II vesicle-mediated anterograde trafficking. The trafficking of the vacuolar proteins sporamin:GFP (for green fluorescent protein) and AALP:GFP, the secretory protein invertase:GFP, and the plasma membrane proteins PMP:GFP and H+-ATPase:GFP was inhibited in a dose-dependent manner, while the trafficking of the Golgi-localized proteins ST:GFP and KAM1(ΔC):mRFP was not affected. Conversely, in RNA interference plants displaying lower levels of AtPRA1.B6 transcripts, the trafficking efficiency of sporamin:GFP and AALP:GFP to the vacuole was increased. Localization and N-glycan pattern analyses of cargo proteins revealed that AtPRA1.B6-mediated inhibition of anterograde trafficking occurs at the ER. In addition, AtPRA1.B6 levels were controlled by cellular processes, including 26S proteasome-mediated proteolysis. Based on these results, we propose that AtPRA1.B6 is a negative regulator of coat protein complex II vesicle-mediated anterograde trafficking for a subset of proteins at the ER.
Metacognition in Schizophrenia: Associations With Multiple Assessments of Executive Function

Deficits in metacognitive capacity, or the abilities to think about thinking, are thought to be a key barrier to functioning in schizophrenia. Although metacognitive function may be linked to executive function, it is unclear how the different domains of each phenomenon are related to one another. Accordingly, we assessed 4 domains of metacognition on the basis of a self-generated narrative using the Metacognition Assessment Scale. These were correlated with subtests of the Delis Kaplan Executive Function System which assessed 2 domains of executive function: mental flexibility and inhibition. Participants were 49 men with schizophrenia spectrum disorders in a postacute phase of illness. Spearman Rho correlations revealed awareness of one's thoughts and feelings were more closely linked to performance on tests which required mental flexibility while recognizing others’ needs, and independent relationships were more closely linked to performance on tasks which required inhibitory control. Results suggest different domains of metacognition may be influenced by and influence different neurocognitive processes.
A survey on active power filters control strategies

Due to increased level of harmonic pollution in present day power system, power quality conditioning has become indispensable, and therefore, various power conditioning techniques were introduced. Among them, active power filters appear to be the most viable device used for mitigating power quality issues. Various strategies of controlling active power filter are proposed and implemented by researchers and engineers in aim of achieving near perfect compensation. This paper presents a comprehensive review of state-of-art control strategies of active filters. Various strategies are discussed and compared in terms of implementation and performance.
Agents and strategies in development for improved management of herpes simplex virus infection and disease

The quiet pandemic of herpes simplex virus (HSV) infections has plagued humanity since ancient times, causing mucocutaneous infection such as herpes labialis and herpes genitalis. Disease symptoms often interfere with every-day activities and occasionally HSV infections are the cause of life-threatening or sight-impairing disease, especially in neonates and the immuno-compromised patient population. After infection the virus persists for life in neurons of the host in a latent form, periodically reactivating and often resulting in significant psychosocial distress for the patient. Currently no cure is available. So far, vaccines, ILs, IFNs, therapeutic proteins, antibodies, immunomodulators and small-molecule drugs with specific or non-specific modes of action lacked either efficacy or the required safety profile to replace the nucleosidic drugs acyclovir, valacyclovir, penciclovir and famciclovir as the first choice of treatment. The recently discovered inhibitors of the HSV helicase–primase are the most potent development candidates today. These antiviral agents act by a novel mechanism of action and display low resistance rates in vitro and superior efficacy in animal models. This review summarises the current therapeutic options, discusses the potential of preclinical or investigational drugs and provides an up-to-date interpretation of the challenge to establish novel treatments for herpes simplex disease.
Low beta-arrestin expression correlates with the responsiveness to long-term somatostatin analog treatment in acromegaly.

OBJECTIVE The high expression of somatostatin receptor subtype 2 (SSTR2 also known as sst2) usually present in growth hormone (GH)-secreting adenomas is the rationale for therapy with somatostatin analogs (SSAs) in acromegaly. Although SSTR2 expression is a good predictor for biochemical response to SSA treatment, we still face tumors resistant to SSAs despite high SSTR2 expression. Recently, beta-arrestins (β-arrestins) have been highlighted as key players in the regulation of SSTR2 function. DESIGN To investigate whether β-arrestins might be useful predictors of responsiveness to long-term SSA treatment in acromegaly, we retrospectively evaluated 35 patients with acromegaly who underwent adenomectomy in two referral centers in The Netherlands. METHODS β-arrestin mRNA levels were evaluated in adenoma samples, together with SSTR2 (and SSTR5) mRNA and protein expression. Biochemical response to long-term SSA treatment (median 12 months) was assessed in 32 patients. RESULTS β-arrestin 1 and 2 mRNA was significantly lower in adenoma tissues from patients who achieved insulin-like growth factor 1 normalization (P = 0.024 and P = 0.047) and complete biochemical control (P = 0.047 and P = 0.039). The SSTR2 mRNA was higher in SSA responder patients compared with the resistant ones (P = 0.026). This difference was more evident when analyzing the SSTR2/β-arrestin 1 and SSTR2/β-arrestin 2 ratio (P = 0.011 and P = 0.010). β-arrestin 1 and 2 expression showed a significant trend of higher median values from full responders, partial responders to resistant patients (P = 0.045 and P = 0.021, respectively). Interestingly, SSTR2 protein expression showed a strong inverse correlation with both β-arrestin 1 and 2 mRNA (ρ = -0.69, P = 0.0011 and ρ = -0.67, P = 0.0016). CONCLUSIONS Low β-arrestin expression and high SSTR2/β-arrestin ratio correlate with the responsiveness to long-term treatment with SSAs in patients with acromegaly.
Intake of grapefruit juice alters the metabolic pattern of cyclosporin A in renal transplant recipients.

OBJECTIVE The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of grapefruit juice on the pharmacokinetics of cyclosporin A (CsA), as Sandimmun Neoral, and its main metabolites, M1, M9 and M4N, in renal transplant recipients. METHODS Ten renal transplant recipients, on CsA-based immunosuppressive therapy, were included in this open, randomized crossover study. Patients were given their individualized morning dose of CsA, administered with either 250 ml water or 250 ml grapefruit juice and 12-hour CsA pharmacokinetic investigations were performed. The 2 investigation days were separated by at least 7 days. RESULTS Administration of CsA with grapefruit juice compared with water significantly increased the area under the whole blood concentration versus time curve in the interval from 0-12 hours (AUC(0-12)) of CsA, by an average of 25 +/- 19% (p = 0.002). Intake of grapefruit juice did not have any significant influence on maximum whole blood concentration (Cmax) or time to Cmax (tmax) of CsA. AUC(0-12) and Cmax of M9 decreased significantly with intake of grapefruit juice, on average 22 +/- 11% (p = 0.0007) and 36 +/- 6% (p = 0.0001), respectively. AUC(0-12) of M1, however, was on average 13 +/- 14% (p = 0.02) higher upon co-administration of CsA with grapefruit juice as compared with water. The level of M4N was below the limit of quantification in most samples, and an effect of co-administration of CsA with grapefruit juice could not be determined for this metabolite. CONCLUSION The present study shows that co-administration of grapefruit juice with CsA compared with water affects the formation and/or elimination of the 2 metabolites M1 and M9 differently. In addition, administration of CsA with grapefruit juice compared with water induced a moderate, but significant increase in systemic exposure of CsA in renal transplant recipients.