Serum sodium changes in marathon participants who use NSAIDs

Introduction: The primary mechanism through which the development of exercise-associated hyponatraemia (EAH) occurs is excessive fluid intake. However, many internal and external factors have a role in the maintenance of total body water and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications (NSAIDs) have been implicated as a risk factor for the development of EAH. This study aimed to compare serum sodium concentrations ([Na]) in participants taking an NSAID before or during a marathon (NSAID group) and those not taking an NSAID (control group). Methods: Participants in a large city marathon were recruited during race registration to participate in this study. Blood samples and body mass measurements took place on the morning of the marathon and immediately post marathon. Blood was analysed for [Na]. Data collected via questionnaires included athlete demographics, NSAID use and estimated fluid intake. Results: We obtained a full data set for 28 participants. Of these 28 participants, 16 took an NSAID on the day of the marathon. The average serum [Na] decreased by 2.1 mmol/L in the NSAID group, while it increased by 2.3 mmol/L in the control group NSAID group (p=0.0039). Estimated fluid intake was inversely correlated with both post-marathon serum [Na] and ∆ serum [Na] (r=-0.532, p=0.004 and r=-0.405 p=0.032, respectively). Conclusion: Serum [Na] levels in participants who used an NSAID decreased over the course of the marathon while it increased in those who did not use an NSAID. Excessive fluid intake during a marathon was associated with a lower post-marathon serum [Na]

Sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of diagnostic imaging methods for the diagnosis of ectopic ureters in the dog

Σκοπός της αναδρομικής αυτής μελέτης είναι η διερεύνηση της ευαισθησίας, ειδικότητας και ακρίβειας των απεικονιστικών μεθόδων που χρησιμοποιούνται για τη διάγνωση του έκτοπου ουρητήρα στο σκύλο. Μελετήθηκε αρχειακό υλικό του νοσοκομείου ζώων Queen Mother Hospital for animals του Royal Veterinary College της Μεγάλης Βρετανίας από το Νοέμβριο του 1995 μέχρι τον Ιανουάριο του 2006. Μόνο σκύλοι με τουλάχιστον μία ακτινολογική μελέτη με χρήση σκιαγραφικής ουσίας, υπερηχογραφική εξέταση, εξέταση των ουρητήρων και χειρουργική διάγνωση συμπεριελήφθησαν. Πραγματοποιήθηκε συγκριτική αξιολόγηση της ενδοφλέβιας ουρογραφίας (ΕΟ), παλλίνδρομης ουρογραφίας (ΠΟ), υπερηχογραφικής εξέτασης (ΥΠΟ) και χειρουργικής διάγνωσης. Όλα τα περιστατικά αξιολογήθηκαν ανά ουρητήρα ξεχωριστά, αλλά και με βάση το περιστατικό συνολικά ανεξάρτητα από την απόληξη του κάθε ουρητήρα. Η ΥΠΟ βρέθηκε να έχει την υψηλότερη ευαισθησία, ειδικότητα και ακρίβεια ανά περιστατικό και με βάση την τελική διάγνωση, ενώ η ΕΟ είχε υψηλότερη ευαισθησία στην ανάλυση ανά ουρητήρα. Το κυριότερο μειονέκτημα της ΥΠΟ είναι η μη εντόπιση της σωστής θέσης του έκτοπου ουρητήρα. Όταν η ανάλυση πραγματοποιήθηκε με βάση την τελική διάγνωση του περιστατικού και ανεξάρτητα από την απόληξη του κάθε ουρητήρα, η ΥΠΟ είχε τέλεια ευαισθησία, ειδικότητα και ακρίβεια. Η χαμηλότερη ειδικότητα και ακρίβεια των μεθόδων ΕΟ και ΠΟ φαίνεται να σχετίζεται με τη δυσκολία αναγνώρισης της θέσης απόληξης των ουρητήρων. The clinical records of dogs with urinary incontinence, examined at the Queen Mother Hospital for animals between November 1995 and January 2006, were reviewed. Only dogs that had at least one contrast radiographic study, ultrasonographic examination of the ureters and surgical diagnosis were included. All the cases were examined on an individual ureter basis and on a case basis. The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy were calculated for intravenous urography, retrograde urethrography or retrograde vaginourethrography and ultrasonographic examination of the ureterovescicular junctions. Ultrasonographic examination of the ureterovescicular junctions had the higher sensitivity, specificity and accuracy from the imaging methods with only intravenous urography having mildly higher sensitivity when examined on a ureter base. The main failure of ultrasonographic examination of the ureterovescicular junctions was the identification of the correct side of ectopia. When evaluated on a case basis ultrasonographic examination of the ureterovescicular junctions had perfect sensitivity, specificity and accuracy. The lower mainly specificity and accuracy of intravenous urography and retrograde urethrography or retrograde vaginourethrography were probably related to the difficulty in identifying the location of the ureterovesicular junction

Sequence-aware watermark design for soft IP embedded processors

This paper describes a design approach for incorporating sequence-aware watermarks in soft IP embedded processors. The influence of watermark sequence parameters on detection, area and power overheads is examined, and consequently a sequence-aware method for incorporating sequence-aware watermarks in soft IP Embedded Processors is proposed. The intrinsic parameters of sequences, such as the activity factor and the overlapping factor are introduced, and their impact on correlation results is demonstrated. Measurement experimental results from FPGA and ASIC validate the design approach and demonstrate the resulting IP protection and subsequent costs for constrained embedded processors. Results presented in this paper show that the tradeoff occurs between the watermark robustness against third party IP attacks and hardware implementation costs. The analysis of this tradeoff is provided and an application specific watermark implementation is proposed

Monsignor Luigi Biraghi e i falsi di Cernusco

We present here some reflections on an inscription from Cernusco sul Naviglio (Milan) discovered by Monsignor Luigi Biraghi in 1849 and published by Mommsen among the falsae in CIL V 664*. This paper stems from the discovery of some private and unpublished letters by Biraghi that we consulted at the Archive of the Quadronno Institute of the Sisters of St. Marcellina in Milan. This correspondence informs us of Biraghi\u2019s personal and professional relationships with other mid-19th century classical scholars. The analysis of these documents will shed some light on the harsh judgment that Mommsen (along with others) expressed on Biraghi regarding some inscriptions that he had discovered in the Ager Mediolanensis

Dominance of Objects over Context in a Mediotemporal Lobe Model of Schizophrenia

Background: A large body of evidence suggests impaired context processing in schizophrenia. Here we propose that this impairment arises from defective integration of mediotemporal ‘what ’ and ‘where ’ routes, carrying object and spatial information to the hippocampus. Methodology and Findings: We have previously shown, in a mediotemporal lobe (MTL) model, that the abnormal connectivity between MTL regions observed in schizophrenia can explain the episodic memory deficits associated with the disorder. Here we show that the same neuropathology leads to several context processing deficits observed in patients with schizophrenia: 1) failure to choose subordinate stimuli over dominant ones when the former fit the context, 2) decreased contextual constraints in memory retrieval, as reflected in increased false alarm rates and 3) impaired retrieval of contextual information in source monitoring. Model analyses show that these deficits occur because the ‘schizophrenic MTL ’ forms fragmented episodic representations, in which objects are overrepresented at the expense of spatial contextual information. Conclusions and Significance: These findings highlight the importance of MTL neuropathology in schizophrenia, demonstrating that it may underlie a broad spectrum of deficits, including context processing and memory impairments. It is argued that these processing deficits may contribute to central schizophrenia symptoms such as contextuall

An Ecological Alternative to Snodgrass & Vanderwart: 360 High Quality Colour Images with Norms for Seven Psycholinguistic Variables

This work presents a new set of 360 high quality colour images belonging to 23 semantic subcategories. Two hundred and thirty-six Spanish speakers named the items and also provided data from seven relevant psycholinguistic variables: age of acquisition, familiarity, manipulability, name agreement, typicality and visual complexity. Furthermore, we also present lexical frequency data derived from Internet search hits. Apart from the high number of variables evaluated, knowing that it affects the processing of stimuli, this new set presents important advantages over other similar image corpi: (a) this corpus presents a broad number of subcategories and images; for example, this will permit researchers to select stimuli of appropriate difficulty as required, (e.g., to deal with problems derived from ceiling effects); (b) the fact of using coloured stimuli provides a more realistic, ecologically-valid, representation of real life objects. In sum, this set of stimuli provides a useful tool for research on visual object-and word- processing, both in neurological patients and in healthy controls

Neural Systems for Reading Aloud: A Multiparametric Approach

Reading aloud involves computing the sound of a word from its visual form. This may be accomplished 1) by direct associations between spellings and phonology and 2) by computation from orthography to meaning to phonology. These components have been studied in behavioral experiments examining lexical properties such as word frequency; length in letters or phonemes; spelling–sound consistency; semantic factors such as imageability, measures of orthographic, or phonological complexity; and others. Effects of these lexical properties on specific neural systems, however, are poorly understood, partially because high intercorrelations among lexical factors make it difficult to determine if they have independent effects. We addressed this problem by decorrelating several important lexical properties through careful stimulus selection. Functional magnetic resonance imaging data revealed distributed neural systems for mapping orthography directly to phonology, involving left supramarginal, posterior middle temporal, and fusiform gyri. Distinct from these were areas reflecting semantic processing, including left middle temporal gyrus/inferior-temporal sulcus, bilateral angular gyrus, and precuneus/posterior cingulate. Left inferior frontal regions generally showed increased activation with greater task load, suggesting a more general role in attention, working memory, and executive processes. These data offer the first clear evidence, in a single study, for the separate neural correlates of orthography–phonology mapping and semantic access during reading aloud

From sea monsters to charismatic megafauna: changes in perception and use of large marine animals

Marine megafauna has always elicited contrasting feelings. In the past, large marine animals were often depicted as fantastic mythological creatures and dangerous monsters, while also arousing human curiosity. Marine megafauna has been a valuable resource to exploit, leading to the collapse of populations and local extinctions. In addition, some species have been perceived as competitors of fishers for marine resources and were often actively culled. Since the 1970s, there has been a change in the perception and use of megafauna. The growth of marine tourism, increasingly oriented towards the observation of wildlife, has driven a shift from extractive to non-extractive use, supporting the conservation of at least some species of marine megafauna. In this paper, we review and compare the changes in the perception and use of three megafaunal groups, cetaceans, elasmobranchs and groupers, with a special focus on European cultures. We highlight the main drivers and the timing of these changes, compare different taxonomic groups and species, and highlight the implications for management and conservation. One of the main drivers of the shift in perception, shared by all the three groups of megafauna, has been a general increase in curiosity towards wildlife, stimulated inter alia by documentaries (from the early 1970s onwards), and also promoted by easy access to scuba diving. At the same time, environmental campaigns have been developed to raise public awareness regarding marine wildlife, especially cetaceans, a process greatly facilitated by the rise of Internet and the World Wide Web. Currently, all the three groups (cetaceans, elasmobranchs and groupers) may represent valuable resources for ecotourism. Strikingly, the economic value of live specimens may exceed their value for human consumption. A further change in perception involving all the three groups is related to a growing understanding and appreciation of their key ecological role. The shift from extractive to non-extractive use has the potential for promoting species conservation and local economic growth. However, the change in use may not benefit the original stakeholders (e.g. fishers or whalers) and there may therefore be a case for providing compensation for disadvantaged stakeholders. Moreover, it is increasingly clear that even non-extractive use may have a negative impact on marine megafauna, therefore regulations are needed.SFRH/BPD/102494/2014, UID/MAR/04292/2019, IS1403info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio