Trends in Charitable Giving in North Carolina and the Research Triangle 1997-2006

Provides an overview of giving by average amount, as a percentage of adjusted gross income, and among the state's top earners, compared with national trends, with a focus on Chatham, Durham, Orange, and Wake counties. Includes county-by-county data

Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD)

Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is a drug known for its hallucinogenic properties especially at high doses and in recent years has been used as a pharmacological model to study the neurological substrate of psychosis, the effect of antipsychotics, and, in recent decades, the possibility of using it as a remedy for some diseases is being studied.The purpose of this review is to analyze reference reports published in Pubmed, Web of Science, Scopus, Google Scholar, articles on preclinical and clinical studies related to LSD, history of use, pharmacokinetic properties, mechanism of action by activating serotonergic, dopaminergic, glutamate receptor systems, TAAR₁ receptors, amine receptors and effects on the rewarding brain system, pilot preclinical and clinical studies as a therapeutic model for the treatment of depression, anxiety, stress and addictions. We have considered acute psychotic dose-dependent intoxications and chronic psychosis

Review of the pharmacological data on intravenous lipid emulsions

Introduction: Initially, the clinical application of lipid emulsions (LEs) was parenteral nutrition. Since 2006, LEs have been widely used as an antidote for various intoxications with lipophilic drugs. Despite the widespread use of LEs, there is insufficient information regarding their pharmacokinetics and mechanism of antidote action. That is why detailed knowledge of their pharmacokinetic parameters and complex mechanism of action is particularly important.Aim: The aim of the study is to make a detailed literature analysis of the pharmacokinetics and of all putative mechanisms of antidote action of LEs.Materials and Methods: Over 100 literature sources were studied in various databases, including PubMed, ScienceDirect, Research Gate, Google Scholar, and others. These include clinical cases (over 40), laboratory animal experiments (over 20), and medical guidelines and protocols (over 30).Results: Lipid emulsions have good absorption and 100% bioavailability after intravenous administration. They do not bind to plasma proteins. Lipid emulsions undergo hepatic metabolism similar to chylomicrons. Their plasma half-life is ±10 minutes. The osmolarity of LEs is 270-345 mosm/l. Lipid emulsions cross the blood-brain barrier but do not cross the placental barrier. They are mainly removed from skeletal muscles (47%), splanchnic organs (25%), myocardium (14%) and subcutaneous tissue (13%). LD50 in rats is 67.72 mL/kg and in dogs 135 mL/kg. The maximum single harmless dose for a person (70 kg) is 4000–7000 mL/24 h. The most widely advocated mechanism of non-antidote action of LEs is the lipid uptake phenomenon.Conclusion: Evidence collected from numerous clinical cases and laboratory experiments shows high efficiency and great therapeutic safety. Lipid emulsions are distinguished by their ability to dissolve and absorb lipophilic xenobiotics. In the blood, LEs prevent their binding to target receptors or, through the concentration gradient, extract them from critical organs, such as the brain and heart. Lipid emulsions have a cardioprotective effect as energy donors for the myocardium. They also exhibit vasoconstriction, which is important for overcoming toxic shock. Therefore, LEs represent an important therapeutic tool in the fight against intoxications with lipophilic drugs, such as anesthetics, psychopharmacology, and cardiovascular drugs

Changes in the heart rate of rats treated with verapamil overdose and resuscitated with lipid emulsion

Introduction: Verapamil is a drug that is used often due to its wide spectrum of action. Many authors consider it to be the most dangerous of the calcium channel blockers due to its negative chronotropic and inotropic effect on the heart, leading to severe cardiodepression. Overdose is difficult to treat and is associated with high mortality despite existing treatment options.Over the last 15 years, lipid emulsions (LEs) have been increasingly used for resuscitation after overdosing with lipophilic drugs such as verapamil. Despite the convincing results and the improved patient status, the association of the administration of LE with the recovery of patients may be questioned since LE was given in addition to standard therapy.Aim: The aim of this article is to conduct an evaluation of the self-cardioprotective effect of LE in acute verapamil overdose (15 mg/kg) in rats by measurement of the heart rate and survival at the recommended LE dose of 1.5 mL/kg and 7 times the recommended LE dose (10 mL/kg).Material and Methods: The experiment was performed on 30 male Wistar rats, provided by the Medical University of Varna. Instrumental methods included monitoring the heart rate of rats using an electrocardiographic monitor. The statistical analysis was performed using the statistical functions in Excel 2016 and Statistica 7.0.Results: A survival rate of 100% was observed in rats pretreated and treated with low and high LE dose. The high LE dose (10 mL/kg) showed a faster improvement in cardiac function as the highest mean heart rates were established.Conclusion: Pretreatment and resuscitation with low or high LE dose reduce toxicity and prevent dose-dependent asystole induced by verapamil. The administration of a high LE dose (10 mL/kg) proved to be more effective in terms of heart rate in rats.

Lipid emulsions in the treatment of acute poisoning in the Clinic of Toxicology at the Naval Hospital-Varna, Military Medical Academy-Sofia

Introduction: Acute drug intoxications are a serious problem worldwide. The damage to the cardiovascular system is severe and sometimes refractory to standard resuscitation therapy. In recent years, interest has increased in the role of lipid emulsions (LEs) as a potential antidote in patients with severe myocardial damage caused by toxic doses of lipophilic drugs.Aims: Clinical analysis of the cardioprotective effects of applied LEs at the Clinic of Toxicology at the Naval Hospital-Varna, Military Medical Academy-Sofia, as an antidote for the treatment of some acute poisoning with a cardiotoxic syndrome.Materials and Methods: The subject of the study were 26 patients with acute cardiotoxic lipophilic drug intoxications treated with LEs at the Clinic of Toxicology at the Naval Hospital-Varna in the period 2016-2018. Illnesses and medications administered to patients are derived from the medical documentation.Results: A three-year study was conducted in patients with acute exogenous intoxications treated with LEs at the Clinic of Toxicology at the Naval Hospital-Varna in regard to their demographics, concomitant diseases and prescribed treatment during their stay. Rapid recovery of patients' vital signs, short hospital stay and lack of adverse effects of LE administration were found.Conclusion: The good clinical results obtained by us will help the implementation of LE in a number of lipophilic intoxications causing toxic cardiovascular damages, including those with hemodynamic instability

Intravenous lipid infusion in toxicological practice

The use of intravenous lipid emulsions (ILEs) is a relatively new method of treatment in toxicology. Initially, it was applied to control the resistant to other therapeutic methods systemic toxicity of local anesthetics. In the last decade this therapeutic method has been approved and recommended. Thereafter, attempts have been made to clarify the effect of ILEs in cases of acute intoxications with lipophilic xenobiotics, other than the local anesthetics

Intravenous lipid emulsion infusion in acute intoxication with fenitrothion

Acute intoxications with organophosphorus pesticides (OPs) are a challenge for the clinical toxicology, because they are common, severe and with high lethality. Most OPs are lipophilic. In recent years, intravenous lipid emulsion (ILE) has been successfully used to treat acute poisoning with lipophilic xenobiotics. A clinical case of a 64-year-old male hospitalized after oral intake of 50 ml of fenitrothion is reported. He had been hospitalized with tachypnea and depressed consciousness - 8 by Glasgow coma scale (GCS). Standardized for this type of intoxication treatment was initiated. On the 3rd hour treatment with Intralipid 20% was started, with a bolus dose of 1.5 ml/kg followed by infusion at a rate of 0.25 ml/kg/min to a total dose of 1000 ml. At the 16th hour consciousness was restored to GCS-15. In severe FTO intoxications ILE can be used as an additional method of controlling cardiotoxic and neurotoxic effects

Training algorithms for artificial neural network in predicting of the content of chemical elements in the upper soil layer

Models based on Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) in recent years are increasingly being used in environmental studies. Among the many types of ANN, the network type Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) has become most widespread. Such networks are universal, simple, and suitable for most tasks. The main problem when modelling using MLP is the choice of the learning algorithm. In this paper, we compared several learning algorithms: Levenberg-Marquart (LM), LM with Bayes regularization (BR), gradient descent (GD), and GD with the speed parameter setting (GDA). The data for modelling were taken from the results of the soil screening of an urbanized area. The spatial distribution of the chemical element Chromium (Cr) in the surface layer of the soil was simulated. The structure of the MLP network was chosen using computer simulations based on minimization of the root mean squared error (RMSE). The model using the LM training algorithm showed the best accuracy. © 2018 Author(s)