1,718 research outputs found
Diabetic ketoacidosis complicated by the use of ecstasy: a case report
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Ecstasy (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamin), a hallucinogenic amphetamine, is often used by young people, especially at 'raves'. This illicit drug can cause many metabolic changes and its use, when associated with prolonged exercise, may exacerbate ketoacidosis in type 1 diabetic patients.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>This is a case of ketoacidosis complicated by the use of ecstasy in a 19-year-old insulin-dependent diabetic Caucasian woman.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The use of ecstasy may trigger diabetic ketoacidosis in patients with a preexisting metabolic disorder</p
The mass area of jets
We introduce a new characteristic of jets called mass area. It is defined so
as to measure the susceptibility of the jet's mass to contamination from soft
background. The mass area is a close relative of the recently introduced
catchment area of jets. We define it also in two variants: passive and active.
As a preparatory step, we generalise the results for passive and active areas
of two-particle jets to the case where the two constituent particles have
arbitrary transverse momenta. As a main part of our study, we use the mass area
to analyse a range of modern jet algorithms acting on simple one and
two-particle systems. We find a whole variety of behaviours of passive and
active mass areas depending on the algorithm, relative hardness of particles or
their separation. We also study mass areas of jets from Monte Carlo simulations
as well as give an example of how the concept of mass area can be used to
correct jets for contamination from pileup. Our results show that the
information provided by the mass area can be very useful in a range of
jet-based analyses.Comment: 36 pages, 12 figures; v2: improved quality of two plots, added entry
in acknowledgments, nicer form of formulae in appendix A; v3: added section
with MC study and pileup correction, version accepted by JHE
Non-Global Logarithms in Filtered Jet Algorithms
We analytically and numerically study the effect of perturbative gluons
emission on the "Filtering analysis", which is part of a subjet analysis
procedure proposed two years ago to possibly identify a low-mass Higgs boson
decaying into b\bar{b} at the LHC. This leads us to examine the non-global
structure of the resulting perturbative series in the leading single-log
large-N_c approximation, including all-orders numerical results, simple
analytical approximations to them and comments on the structure of their series
expansion. We then use these results to semi-analytically optimize the
parameters of the Filtering analysis so as to suppress as much as possible the
effect of underlying event and pile-up on the Higgs mass peak reconstruction
while keeping the major part of the perturbative radiation from the b\bar{b}
dipole.Comment: 47 pages, 25 figures, 1 figure and a few comments added, version
accepted for publication in JHE
Hypercalcemia in a patient with disseminated paracoccidioidomycosis: a case report
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Hypercalcemia is well described in various granulomatous disorders, such as sarcoidosis, tuberculosis, berylliosis, leprosy and fungal infections. However, the association of <it>Paracoccidioides brasiliensis </it>and hypercalcemia is rare: to the best of our knowledge, only two cases have previously been reported, and neither had a clear documentation of the etiology of the hypercalcemia.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We report the case of a 22-year-old man in whom disseminated infection with paracoccidioidomycosis was associated with hypercalcemia. The patient had a high normal serum level of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D and a suppressed parathyroid hormone value, an indication that the hypercalcemia was not mediated by parathyroid hormone and might be associated with 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The episode resolved readily with administration of corticosteroids, an outcome suggesting that this is an effective treatment of hypercalcemia of this origin. On follow-up, while receiving antifungal therapy for <it>P. brasiliensis </it>the patient's calcium values remained normal.</p
Matched sizes of activating and inhibitory receptor/ligand pairs are required for optimal signal integration by human Natural Killer cells
It has been suggested that receptor-ligand complexes segregate or co-localise within immune synapses according to their size, and this is important for receptor signaling. Here, we set out to test the importance of receptor-ligand complex dimensions for immune surveillance of target cells by human Natural Killer (NK) cells. NK cell activation is regulated by integrating signals from activating receptors, such as NKG2D, and inhibitory receptors, such as KIR2DL1. Elongating the NKG2D ligand MICA reduced its ability to trigger NK cell activation. Conversely, elongation of KIR2DL1 ligand HLA-C reduced its ability to inhibit NK cells. Whereas normal-sized HLA-C was most effective at inhibiting activation by normal-length MICA, only elongated HLA-C could inhibit activation by elongated MICA. Moreover, HLA-C and MICA that were matched in size co-localised, whereas HLA-C and MICA that were different in size were segregated. These results demonstrate that receptor-ligand dimensions are important in NK cell recognition, and suggest that optimal integration of activating and inhibitory receptor signals requires the receptor-ligand complexes to have similar dimensions
Mortalidade infantil e acesso geográfico ao parto nos municípios brasileiros
OBJETIVO: Analisar o acesso geográfico ao parto hospitalar nos municípios brasileiros. MÉTODOS: Foram analisadas informações de óbitos e nascimentos quanto à sua adequação para o cálculo do coeficiente de mortalidade infantil no período de 2005 a 2007 para os 5.564 municípios brasileiros. O acesso geográfico foi expresso por indicadores de deslocamento, oferta e acesso aos serviços de saúde. A associação entre o acesso geográfico ao parto e o coeficiente de mortalidade infantil em municípios com adequação de suas informações vitais foi avaliada por meio de regressão múltipla. RESULTADOS: Dentre os municípios analisados, 56% apresentaram adequação das informações vitais, correspondendo a 72% da população brasileira. O deslocamento geográfico ao parto mostrou-se inversamente associado ao porte populacional, à renda per capita, e à mortalidade infantil, mesmo controlado por fatores demográficos e socioeconômicos. CONCLUSÕES: Embora tenham sido desenvolvidas estratégias importantes para a melhoria da qualidade do atendimento às gestantes no Brasil, as ações para garantir o acesso igualitário à assistência ao parto ainda são insuficientes. O maior deslocamento intermunicipal para o parto se mostrou como um fator de risco para a mortalidade infantil, aliado à desigualdade de oferta de serviços qualificados e à falta de integração com a atenção básica de saúde
Metal-macrofauna interactions determine microbial community structure and function in copper contaminated sediments
Peer reviewedPublisher PD
Forensic dentistry now and in the future
Forensic dentistry (odontology) deals with the examination, handling and presentation of dental evidence for the legal system. In the UK this work mainly involves criminal cases but in many other countries its remit also extends to civil litigation. There are four main aspects to forensic dentistry: single body identification, Disaster Victim Identification (DVI), age estimation and bite mark identification and analysis. This article provides a brief introduction to the topics and discusses potential future developments that aim to reduce the subjectivity in the analysis process and simplify presentation of evidence to non-dental parties.
CPD/Clinical Relevance: This article highlights ways that dental practitioners can assist legal investigations and, in particular, forensic dentists
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