Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Polychlorobiphenyl levels in the serum of cats from residential flats in Italy: Role of the indoor environment

ABSTRACT The domestic cat (Felis catus) was used as a sentinel of exposure to polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs) in indoor urban environments y. Sera from 120 cats were pooled to form 30 different groups selected by age (<2 years; > 2 ≤ 8 years; > 8 years), sex, municipality (Bologna and Turin) and environment (indoor vs. outdoor). Test portions of 1 mL were analyzed by means of gas chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry (GC-HRMS) for six selected indicators non-dioxin-like PCBs (∑6 PCBs: congeners #28, #52, #101, #132, #153 and #180) and the results were computed in the upper-bound mode. The internal dose of PCBs attributable to the cats' alimentary lipid intake ranged from 32.4 to 1,446 ng/g (P50 165; mean 258). The Wilcoxon test revealed significantly lower PCB burden in “outdoor” groups than in “indoor” groups. Age correlated well with the heptachlorinated and most bio-accumulative congener, PCB #180, and slightly with hexachlorinated PCBs #138 and #153. Contamination attributable to house dust collected in 15 living-rooms ranged from 10.0 to 279 ng/g dry weight (P50 97.4; mean 94.4). Exposure estimates indicated a 0.6–16 ng/kg bw range of daily ∑6 PCB intake from a default value of 200 mg/cat of dust ingestion. The intake of PCBs due to dust ingestion fell within the same order of magnitude as that computed from a 60 g daily intake of commercial dry pet foods, while inhalation accounted for 0.21–8.2 ng/kg bw/day, on setting the nominal ∑6 PCB contamination in outdoor and indoor air at 0.37 and 15 ng/m3, respectively. Italian indoor cats could be exposed to higher levels of ∑6 PCBs than the Reference Dose (RfD) of 10 ng/kg/bw/day; this supports the World Health Organization's statement that the quality of the indoor environment is a major determinant of health.
Derivation of a Melamine Oral Reference Dose (RfD) and Drinking-Water Total Allowable Concentration

Due to its high nitrogen content, melamine has been used to adulterate food to increase apparent protein content. In 2008, thousands of Chinese infants consumed reconstituted formula derived from melamine-adulterated milk. Urinary-tract stones (comprised of melamine and uric acid) accumulated in some victims and lead to acute renal failure or death. Premature infants and children (<2 yr) have an increased susceptibility to ingested melamine. Due to incomplete reporting, the human data were inadequate to identify a no-observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) for melamine-induced pediatric urolithiasis. Urolithiasis, urinary bladder cystitis, and ulcerations were observed in F344 rats after subchronic or chronic ingestion of melamine at ≥72 mg/kg-d. Bladder epithelial damage was followed by epithelial hyperplasia that progressed to bladder papillomas and carcinomas in male but not female F344 rats or male or female B6C3F1 mice. Short-term assays suggest, at best, weak genotoxic activity, and kinetic data show that melamine is not metabolized. Since reliable exposure information was lacking from the clinical reports, an oral reference dose (RfD) based on urolithiasis in male rats after 13 wk of continuous melamine ingestion was calculated as a 10% benchmark dose (38 mg/kg-d). Incorporation of 10-fold interspecies and intraspecies (for the increased susceptibility of infants) uncertainty factors and a threefold database uncertainty factor (for the lack of immunological, neurological and reproduction toxicity data) yields an oral RfD of 0.13 mg/kg-d. Assuming the 70-kg adult consumes 2 L of drinking water daily, a total allowable concentration of 0.9 mg/L (900 μg/L) was calculated for melamine in drinking water.
Jatropha Toxicity—A Review

Jatropha is a nonedible oil seed plant belonging to Euphorbiaceae family. Global awareness of sustainable and alternative energy resources has propelled research on Jatropha oil as a feedstock for biodiesel production. During the past two decades, several cultivation projects were undertaken to produce Jatropha oil. In future, the increased cultivation of toxic Jatropha plants and utilization of its agro-industrial by-products may raise the frequency of contact with humans, animals, and other organisms. An attempt was thus made to present known information on toxicity of Jatropha plants. The toxicity of Jatropha plant extracts from fruit, seed, oil, roots, latex, bark, and leaf to a number of species, from microorganisms to higher animals, is well established. Broadly, these extracts possess moluscicidal, piscicidal, insecticidal, rodenticidal, antimicrobial, and cytotoxic properties, and exert adverse effects on animals including rats, poultry, and ruminants. The toxicity attributed to these seeds due to their accidental consumption by children is also well documented. An attempt was also made to identify areas that need further study. The information provided in this review may aid in enhancing awareness in agroindustries involved in the cultivation, harvesting, and utilization of Jatropha plants and its products with respect to the potential toxicity of Jatropha, and consequently in application and enforcement of occupational safety measures. Data on the wide range of bioactivities of Jatropha and its products were collated and it is hoped will create new avenues for exploiting these chemicals by the phamaceutical industry to develop chemotherapeutic agents.
Renal Effects of Exposure to Natural and Depleted Uranium: A Review of the Epidemiologic and Experimental Data

Elevated levels of naturally occurring uranium in groundwater have been found in small geographic areas throughout the world. Relevant research was reviewed pertaining to natural and depleted uranium (DU) exposure and nephrotoxicity, including epidemiologic community-based and occupational studies, studies of Gulf War veterans exposed to DU, and experimental studies in animals. Occupational cohort studies do not provide evidence of an increased risk of kidney-related mortality among uranium-exposed workers. However, occupational and community-based studies of populations chronically exposed to elevated drinking-water concentrations of uranium provide some evidence of adverse renal effects, as assessed by biomarkers of proximal tubule damage such as urinary levels of glucose, calcium, and various low-molecular-weight proteins. Indications of proximal tubule effects, as evidenced by increased urinary β2-microglobulin and retinol binding protein levels, were also seen in the most recent follow-up surveillance study of Gulf War veterans exposed to DU. The reported β2-microglobulin levels in these studies were generally considered to be within normal limits, but the long-term implications of the observed variation in these levels are not established. The kidney was observed to be a target of uranium toxicity following oral and implantation exposure routes in several animal species. The interpretation and importance of the observed changes in biomarkers of proximal tubule function are important questions that indicate the need for additional clinical, epidemiological, and experimental research.
Facilitating practitioner research through critical companionship

The investigation of practice by practitioners themselves is growing in nursing. It is now expected of many nurses that they will carry out research as part of their everyday practice, for example, in the case of consultant nurses. Nurses are also expected today to provide evidence-based care for their patients and their carers. Researching one's own practice, providing care based on rigorously gained knowledge of many types and giving a professional account of that practice are challenging activities for which many nurses need support. Based on that premise, this paper explores 'critical companionship' (Titchen, 2000; RCN, 2003), which can be described as a helping relationship based on trust, high challenge and high support, in which an experienced practitioner accompanies a less experienced practitioner on a learning journey. It is a means of enabling nurses to acquire, experientially, the knowledge and skills required for patient care and its development. The concept of critical companionship is described within the context of a practitioner learning to investigate the nature and development of her own professional knowledge base and to transform her findings into potentially transferable ones. Findings relating to therapeutic use of self and its impact on patients are offered as an exemplar of this transformation process. In addition, a new conceptual framework for blending all types of knowledge through professional artistry is described. Collaborative testing of this framework within a critical companionship relationship is shown. It is concluded from this piece of practitioner research that professional artistry is essential for genuinely evidence-based, person-centred care, and that it can be facilitated through critical companionship. The conclusion is also made, based on our own and others' work, that critical companionship is effective in enabling practitioners to gather, analyse and critique evidence from their own practice and to articulate this evidence to peers for critical scrutiny, public review and knowledge creation. The benefits of critical companionship for patients and carers are described.
Assessing cannabis consumption frequency: Is the combined use of free and glucuronidated THCCOOH blood levels of diagnostic utility?

Heavy cannabis consumption is considered incompatible with safe driving. In Swiss traffic policy, drivers suspected of regular cannabis use are therefore required to undergo medical assessment of their long-term fitness to drive. A whole blood concentration of the cannabis metabolite 11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ9 -tetrahydrocannabinol (THCCOOH) of 40 µg/L is currently used by Swiss forensic experts as the decision limit for regular cannabis consumption. The present study aimed to investigate the suitability of THCCOOH-glucuronide blood levels as an additional and/or better marker for the frequency of cannabis use. Whole blood samples collected from 23 heavy (≥10 joints/month) and 25 occasional smokers (≥1 joint/month, but ≤ 1 joint/week) enrolled in a placebo-controlled cannabis smoking study were analyzed for THCCOOH and THCCOOH-glucuronide. Based on receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, concentration thresholds could be established for distinguishing between these two groups. Proposed thresholds for heavy use were THCCOOH-glucuronide > 52 µg/L (100% specificity; 41% sensitivity) and/or total THCCOOH > 58 µg/L (100% specificity; 43% sensitivity). Optimum thresholds for occasional use were THCCOOH-glucuronide < 5 µg/L (73% specificity; 97% sensitivity) and/or total THCCOOH < 5 µg/L (62% specificity; 98% sensitivity). Our results indicate that the THCCOOH-glucuronide whole blood concentration is a useful parameter that complements the free THCCOOH level to assess the frequency of cannabis consumption. The consideration of the blood concentrations of both free and glucuronidated THCCOOH improves the identification of heavy users whose fitness to drive has to be carefully assessed. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Sensor transition failure in the high flow sampler: Implications for methane emission inventories of natural gas infrastructure

Quantification of leaks from natural gas (NG) infrastructure is a key step in reducing emissions of the greenhouse gas methane (CH4), particularly as NG becomes a larger component of domestic energy supply. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requires measurement and reporting of emissions of CH4 from NG transmission, storage, and processing facilities, and the high-flow sampler (or high-volume sampler) is one of the tools approved for this by the EPA. The Bacharach Hi-Flow Sampler (BHFS) is the only commercially available high-flow instrument, and it is also used throughout the NG supply chain for directed inspection and maintenance, emission factor development, and greenhouse gas reduction programs. Here we document failure of the BHFS to transition from a catalytic oxidation sensor used to measure low NG (~5% or less) concentrations to a thermal conductivity sensor for higher concentrations (from ~5% to 100%), resulting in underestimation of NG emission rates. Our analysis includes both our own field testing and analysis of data from two other studies (Modrak et al., 2012; City of Fort Worth, 2011). Although this failure is not completely understood, and although we do not know if all BHFS models are similarly affected, sensor transition failure has been observed under one or more of these conditions: (1) Calibration is more than ~2 weeks old; (2) firmware is out of date; or (3) the composition of the NG source is less than ~91% CH4. The extent to which this issue has affected recent emission studies is uncertain, but the analysis presented here suggests that the problem could be widespread. Furthermore, it is critical that this problem be resolved before the onset of regulations on CH4 emissions from the oil and gas industry, as the BHFS is a popular instrument for these measurements. Implications: An instrument commonly used to measure leaks in natural gas infrastructure has a critical sensor transition failure issue that results in underestimation of leaks, with implications for greenhouse gas emissions estimates as well as safety.
Photolysis of methane revisited at 121.6 nm and at 118.2 nm: quantum yields of the primary products, measured by mass spectrometry.

Methane photolysis has been performed at the two Vacuum UltraViolet (VUV) wavelengths, 121.6 nm and 118.2 nm, via a spectrally pure laser pump-probe technique. The first photon is used to dissociate methane (either at 121.6 nm or at 118.2 nm) and the second one is used to ionise the CH(2) and CH(3) fragments. The radical products, CH(3)(X), CH(2)(X), CH(2)(a) and C((1)D), have been selectively probed by mass spectrometry. In order to quantify the fragment quantum yields from the mass spectra, the photoionisation cross sections have been carefully evaluated for the CH(2) and CH(3) radicals, in two steps: first, theoretical ab initio approaches have been used in order to determine the pure electronic photoionisation cross sections of CH(2)(X) and CH(2)(a), and have been rescaled with respect to the measured absolute photoionisation cross section of the CH(3)(X) radical. In a second step, in order to take into account the substantial vibrational energy deposited in the CH(3)(X) and CH(2)(a) radicals, the variation of their cross sections near threshold has been simulated by introducing the pertinent Franck-Condon overlaps between neutral and cation species. By adding the interpolated values of CH quantum yields measured by Rebbert and Ausloos [J. Photochem. , 1972, 1, 171-176], a complete set of fragment quantum yields has been derived for the methane photodissociation at 121.6 nm, with carefully evaluated 1σ uncertainties: Φ[CH(3)(X)] = 0.42 ± 0.05, Φ[CH(2)(a)] = 0.48 ± 0.05, Φ[CH(2)(X)] = 0.03 ± 0.08, Φ[CH(X)] = 0.07 ± 0.01. These new data have been measured independently of the H atom fragment quantum yield, subject to many controversies in the literature. From our results, we evaluate Φ(H) = 0.55 ± 0.17 at 121.6 nm. The quantum yields for the photolysis at 118.2 nm differ notably from those measured at 121.6 nm, with a substantial production of the CH(2)(X) fragment: Φ[CH(3)(X)] = 0.26 ± 0.04, Φ[CH(2)(a)] = 0.17 ± 0.05, Φ[CH(2)(X)] = 0.48 ± 0.06, Φ[CH(X)] = 0.09 ± 0.01, Φ(H) = 1.31 ± 0.13. These new data should bring reliable and essential inputs for the photochemical models of the Titan atmosphere.
Mechanical efficiency of rowing a single scull

To determine the mechanical of rowing, oxygen uptake and mechanical work rate were measured during rowing a single scull under windless conditions. Steady‐state pulmonary oxygen uptake was determined as a function of boat velocity (v (m‐s−1)) in 5 subjects. Oxygen uptake (1‐min−1) increased as 0.065 v2.99. Workrate in two subjects was determined as a function of v by measuring the force applied to the oar and its angular velocity. Work rate (w) was expressed as 3.85 v3.25. From these equations, mechanical efficiency (%) was expressed as 17 v0.262. Thus, mechanical efficiency increased from 20% at 2 m‐s−1 to 24% at a boat velocity of 4 m‐s−1.
Procedures can be learned on the Web: a randomized study of ultrasound-guided vascular access training.

OBJECTIVES Web-based learning has several potential advantages over lectures, such as anytime-anywhere access, rich multimedia, and nonlinear navigation. While known to be an effective method for learning facts, few studies have examined the effectiveness of Web-based formats for learning procedural skills. The authors sought to determine whether a Web-based tutorial is at least as effective as a didactic lecture for learning ultrasound-guided vascular access (UGVA). METHODS Participating staff emergency physicians (EPs) and junior emergency medicine (EM) residents with no UGVA experience completed a precourse test and were randomized to either a Web-based or a didactic group. The Web-based group was instructed to use an online tutorial and the didactic group attended a lecture. Participants then practiced on simulators and live models without any further instruction. Following a rest period, participants completed a four-station objective structured clinical examination (OSCE), a written examination, and a postcourse questionnaire. Examination results were compared using a noninferiority data analysis with a 10% margin of difference. RESULTS Twenty-one residents and EPs participated in the study. There were no significant differences in mean OSCE scores (absolute difference = -2.8%; 95% confidence interval [CI] = -9.3% to 3.8%) or written test scores (absolute difference = -1.4%; 95% CI = -7.8% to 5.0%) between the Web group and the didactic group. Both groups demonstrated similar improvements in written test scores (26.1% vs. 25.8%; p = 0.95). Ninety-one percent (10/11) of the Web group and 80% (8/10) of the didactic group participants found the teaching format to be effective (p = 0.59). CONCLUSIONS Our Web-based tutorial was at least as effective as a traditional didactic lecture for teaching the knowledge and skills essential for UGVA. Participants expressed high satisfaction with this teaching technology. Web-based teaching may be a useful alternative to didactic teaching for learning procedural skills.
Assessment of emergency physician workforce needs in the United States, 2005.

OBJECTIVES The objective was to estimate emergency physician (EP) workforce needs, taking into account the diversity of U.S. emergency departments (EDs) and various projections of EP supply and demand. METHODS The 2005 National ED Inventory-USA (http://www.emnet-usa.org/) provided annual visit volumes for 4,828 U.S. EDs. The authors calculated annual supply based on existing emergency medicine (EM) board-certified EPs, adding newly board-certified EPs, and subtracting board-certified EPs who died or retired. Demand was estimated at each ED by dividing the number of visits by the average EP volume (based on 2.8 patients/hour, 40 hours/week, and 34% nonclinical time). The models assumed that at least 1 EP should be present 24/7 in each ED, which would require at least 5.35 full-time equivalents (FTEs) per ED. Based on annual EP attrition estimates, results for best-case, worst-case, and intermediate scenarios were calculated. RESULTS In 2005, there were approximately 22,000 EM board-certified EPs, but 40,030 EPs would be needed to staff all 4,828 EDs (55% of demand met). A total of 2,492 (52%) EDs had a visit volume that required the minimum number (5.35) FTEs, of which 47% were rural. In the unrealistic (no attrition), best-case scenario, it would take until 2019 to staff all EDs with board-certified EPs. In the worst-case scenario (12% attrition), supply would never meet demand. Our intermediate scenario (2.5% attrition) suggested that board-certified EPs would satisfy workforce needs in 2038. CONCLUSIONS Supply of EM residency-trained, board-certified EPs is not likely to meet demand in the near future. Alternative EP staffing arrangements merit further consideration.
Occupational therapy students rating the social profile of their educational group: do they agree?

Abstract Background: During the curriculum, occupational therapy students learn to administer a range of assessment procedures. Interrater agreement between occupational therapy students’ ratings of group functioning has not yet been examined. Aims: To examine the interrater agreement within groups of students’ ratings using the Social Profile. Methods and materials: The Social Profile assesses the social interaction behaviours in activity groups, and 35 students completed the measure. Two methods of obtaining an overall Social Profile score were explored. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were calculated to assess the level of agreement within groups of raters. Results: Social interaction in the study groups occurred more frequently within the basic cooperative level. There was substantial agreement within groups of raters on this level, whereas there was low to moderate agreement on the other four levels. The weighted method of obtaining an overall Social Profile score showed higher ICC than the simpler method. Conclusion and significance: It appears to be easier to reach high interrater agreement when considering frequently occurring behaviours in a group. The weighted method of obtaining an overall Social Profile score showed the best ICC results and should preferably be used in future studies where an overall measure is sought.
Randomized prospective study to evaluate child abuse documentation in the emergency department.

OBJECTIVES The objective was to determine whether an educational intervention for health care providers would result in improved documentation of cases of possible physical child abuse in children <36 months old treated in the emergency department (ED) setting. METHODS This study had a statewide group-randomized prospective trial design. Participating EDs were randomized to one of three intervention groups: no intervention, partial intervention, or full intervention. Medical records for children <36 months of age were abstracted before, during, and after the intervention periods for specific documentation elements. The main outcome measure was the change in documentation from baseline. Generalized estimating equations (GEEs) were used to test for intervention effect. RESULTS A total of 1,575 charts from 14 hospitals EDs were abstracted. Hospital and demographic characteristics were similar across intervention groups. There were 922 (59%) injury visits and 653 (41%) noninjury visits. For each specific documentation element, a GEE model gave p-values of >0.2 in independent tests, indicating no evidence of significant change in documentation after the intervention. Even among the 26 charts in which the possibility of physical abuse was noted, documentation remained variable. CONCLUSIONS The educational interventions studied did not improve ED documentation of cases of possible physical child abuse. The need for improved health care provider education in child abuse identification and documentation remains. Future innovative educational studies to improve recognition of abuse are warranted.