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Post-traumatic pituitary apoplexy: Case presentation and review of literature
No full textAbstractPituitary apoplexy is a dramatic condition that can occur spontaneously or triggered by various precipitating factors. Head trauma is a rare but well-recognized cause of apoplectics events. We present the case of an 81-year-old woman, with negative past medical history and under antiplatelet agents, who experienced an isolated VI cranial nerve palsy 24h after a mild head trauma. Early brain CT revealed an unknown pituitary lesion without signs of intralesional bleeding. Only late brain MRI imaging revealed pituitary apoplexy together with a subarachnoid hemorrhage. After aggravation of neurological condition the patient, undergo endoscopic transsphenoidal decompression of cranial nerves with rapid deficits improvement. Our aim is to share our experience and to propose the first critical review of all cases of post-traumatic pituitary apoplexy described in literature. We also try to suggest some management advice for post traumatic pituitary apoplexy
MUSEUM: Debugging real-world multilingual programs using mutation analysis
No full textAbstractContext: The programming language ecosystem has diversified over the last few decades. Non-trivial programs are likely to be written in more than a single language to take advantage of various control/data abstractions and legacy libraries.Objective: Debugging multilingual bugs is challenging because language interfaces are difficult to use correctly and the scope of fault localization goes beyond language boundaries. To locate the causes of real-world multilingual bugs, this article proposes a mutation-based fault localization technique (MUSEUM).Method: MUSEUM modifies a buggy program systematically with our new mutation operators as well as conventional mutation operators, observes the dynamic behavioral changes in a test suite, and reports suspicious statements. To reduce the analysis cost, MUSEUM selects a subset of mutated programs and test cases.Results: Our empirical evaluation shows that MUSEUM is (i) effective: it identifies the buggy statements as the most suspicious statements for both resolved and unresolved non-trivial bugs in real-world multilingual programming projects; and (ii) efficient: it locates the buggy statements in modest amount of time using multiple machines in parallel. Also, by applying selective mutation analysis (i.e., selecting subsets of mutants and test cases to use), MUSEUM achieves significant speedup with marginal accuracy loss compared to the full mutation analysis.Conclusion:
It is concluded that MUSEUM locates real-world multilingual bugs accurately. This result shows that mutation analysis can provide an effective, efficient, and language semantics agnostic analysis on multilingual code. Our light-weight analysis approach would play important roles as programmers write and debug large and complex programs in diverse programming languages
More about unphysical zeroes in quark mass matrices
No full textAbstractWe look for all weak bases that lead to texture zeroes in the quark mass matrices and contain a minimal number of parameters in the framework of the standard model. Since there are ten physical observables, namely, six nonvanishing quark masses, three mixing angles and one CP phase, the maximum number of texture zeroes in both quark sectors is altogether nine. The nine zero entries can only be distributed between the up- and down-quark sectors in matrix pairs with six and three texture zeroes or five and four texture zeroes. In the weak basis where a quark mass matrix is nonsingular and has six zeroes in one sector, we find that there are 54 matrices with three zeroes in the other sector, obtainable through right-handed weak basis transformations. It is also found that all pairs composed of a nonsingular matrix with five zeroes and a nonsingular and nondecoupled matrix with four zeroes simply correspond to a weak basis choice. Without any further assumptions, none of these pairs of up- and down-quark mass matrices has physical content. It is shown that all non-weak-basis pairs of quark mass matrices that contain nine zeroes are not compatible with current experimental data. The particular case of the so-called nearest-neighbour-interaction pattern is also discussed
The analysis of scaling mechanism for water-injection pipe columns in the Daqing Oilfield
No full textAbstractAlthough water-injection in mature reservoirs is a promising low-cost method of enhanced oil recovery (EOR), in the process of development in the oilfield, scale has been produced in water-injection pipe columns. The ability to prevent and control the deposition of scale is critical to the efficient recovery of crude oil from hard environments, as part of the broader discipline of “flow assurance” in the petroleum industry. To this end laboratory-scale deposition tests have been useful to understand scale deposition mechanism. The process, mechanism and the main type of the scale in water-injection pipe columns of the fifth plant of the Daqing Oilfield were analyzed. The effect of temperature on the possibility of carbonate calcium formation on oil recovery was investigated experimentally. One of the scale samples was characterized by electron spectroscopy and the results of the element analysis were investigated. Moreover, the precautionary and control measures of scaling in oilfield pipe column systems are proposed
Plastrón apendicular y manejo clínico actual: una decisión a reconsiderar. A propósito de un caso
No full textResumenIntroducciónLa apendicitis es uno de los principales motivos de consulta e intervención quirúrgica en los servicios de urgencias. Debe tratarse oportunamente dado que puede evolucionar hacia una perforación apendicular y con ello a una peritonitis o un plastrón apendicular, en aproximadamente un 10%, e incrementando las morbilidades, como tiempo de reposo o estadía hospitalaria. Actualmente no existe consenso acerca del tratamiento del plastrón apendicular, por ello, el objetivo del presente trabajo es respaldar y promover la alternativa quirúrgica diferida, versus el manejo médico, como el tratamiento más idóneo del plastrón apendicular.Presentación del casoSe derivó al Hospital Base Valdivia a una escolar, de 8 años y 11 meses de edad, por dolor en hemiabdomen inferior de 3 semanas de evolución acompañado de sensación febril no cuantificada, vómito y diarrea; se diagnosticó un plastrón apendicular, optándose por el manejo médico; evolucionó favorablemente, dándole el alta. En controles posteriores se planificó una apendicectomía, llevándose a cabo con éxito meses después. La biopsia del apéndice extraído evidenció un carcinoma de apéndice cecal, por lo que se inició el estudio de extensión de neoplasia sin encontrar hallazgos patológicos.DiscusiónActualmente el manejo del plastrón apendicular depende del médico tratante y su criterio. Existen ventajas y desventajas entre la elección de un tratamiento médico o quirúrgico, sea inmediato o diferido; dentro de las ventajas del último destacan la prevención de apendicitis recurrentes y detección temprana del carcinoma apendicular, como en el caso presentado, permitiendo de esta forma un mejor pronóstico para el paciente y evitando el uso de terapias más agresivas.AbstractIntroductionAppendicitis is one of the main reasons for consultation and surgery in the emergency department. It must be treated promptly because it can evolve into a ruptured appendix and thus to peritonitis or an appendiceal plastron, by approximately 10%, and increasing the morbidity, as downtime or hospital stay. There is currently no consensus on the treatment of appendicular plastron, therefore, the objective of this work is to support and promote alternative deferred surgical versus medical management, as the most suitable treatment of appendiceal plastron.Case presentationA girl of 8 years 11 months old consult for pain in lower abdomen of three weeks of evolution, accompanied by feverish feeling, unquantified, vomiting and diarrhea; Is diagnosed a plastron appendiceal opting for medical management, evolving favorably and giving the discharge. In subsequent controls was planned appendectomy, taking place successfully months later. Biopsy of removed appendix showed a appendix cancer, reason why an extension study of neoplasia was initiated without pathological findings.DiscussionCurrently the management of appendicular plastron is dependent on the treating physician and judgment. There are advantages and disadvantages of choosing a medical or surgical treatment, immediate or delayed, inside the advantages of the latter include the prevention of recurrent appendicitis and early detection of appendiceal carcinoma, as in the case presented, thus allowing better prognosis for the patient and avoiding the use of more aggressive therapies
Electronic structure and spectroscopic properties of mixed sodium actinide oxides Na2AnO4 (An = U, Np, Pu, Am)
No full textAbstractMultireference relativistic post-HF and DFT calculations have been performed on four Na2AnO4 (An = U, Np, Pu, Am) molecules. Beyond the electronic characteristics of the ground and excited electronic states, the molecular geometries and vibrational frequencies have been determined
Potassium phthalimide as efficient basic organocatalyst for the synthesis of 3,4-disubstituted isoxazol-5(4H)-ones in aqueous medium
No full textAbstractPotassium phthalimide (PPI) is employed as an efficient and effective basic organocatalyst for the one-pot three-component reaction of β-oxoesters with hydroxylamine hydrochloride and various aromatic aldehydes. This cyclocondensation reaction was performed in water as an environmentally benign solvent at room temperature giving 3,4-disubstituted isoxazol-5(4H)-ones in good to excellent yields. PPI was found to be an effective organocatalyst for the synthesis of isoxazol-5(4H)-one system. The advantages of this method are efficiency, clean, easy work-up, high yields, shorter reaction times, inexpensive, and readily available catalyst
El copago de dependencia en España a partir de la reforma estructural de 2012
No full textResumenObjetivoEstimar el coste de la dependencia y su financiación. En particular, determinar el copago de los usuarios tras la modificación introducida por la Resolución de 13 de julio de 2012, según el grado de dependencia y la comunidad autónoma de residencia.MétodosSe estimó el grado de dependencia a partir de la Encuesta sobre Discapacidades, Autonomía Personal y situaciones de Dependencia de 2008. El coste de la dependencia por grado y comunidad autónoma se calculó a partir de la información del Sistema para la Autonomía y Atención a la Dependencia. El copago se calculó a partir de la renta de las personas dependientes. La valoración monetaria de los servicios y la aportación de los usuarios se hizo de acuerdo a la normativa de 2012 y con indicadores de referencia comunes para todo el territorio nacional.ResultadosEl coste total estimado en 2012 es de 10.598,8 millones de euros (1,03% del producto interior bruto), y son Andalucía, la Comunidad Valenciana y Cataluña las que mayores cuantías presentan. El porcentaje del copago medio nacional por usuario es del 53,54%, con diferencias por grados y comunidades autónomas, aunque en general los usuarios financian más de la mitad del coste de las prestaciones en todas ellas.ConclusionesEl cambio legislativo ha supuesto que el copago sea superior al tercio inicial establecido en la Ley y a los copagos anteriores a 2012, que eran en torno al 20%. Si a ello se añaden las diferencias por comunidades autónomas, sería conveniente reflexionar acerca de la desigual aplicación de la Ley.AbstractObjectiveThe objective of this piece of work is to establish the cost of dependency and the cost of financing it. Specifically, we will determine the cost of co-payment for individual users following the modification introduced by the 13th of July 2012 Resolution as well as its allocation by the autonomous regions.MethodsThe degree and level of dependency was established using the Survey on Disability, Personal Autonomy and Dependency Situations, 2008. The cost of dependency according to degree and level and autonomous regions was established with information from the System for Personal Autonomy and Care of Dependent Persons. The co-payment was established according to applicants’ purchasing power. The rating of these services, and the contribution of individual users were done in agreement with 2012 legislation and with common indicators and benchmarks for the whole national territory.ResultsThe total estimated cost is 10,598.8 million euros (1.03% of GDP), and Andalusia, the Valencian Community and Catalonia are those regions with the greatest costs. The average national co-payment per individual user is 53.54%, with differences due to degrees and levels of disability and autonomous regions, although, generally speaking, all of the users fund more than half of the care they receive.ConclusionsThis change in legislation has meant that co-payment is higher than the 33% established by this law and that co-payments prior to 2012 were about 20%. If we add to this the differences in autonomous regions, it would be useful to reflect on the uneven application of the law
Euclidean Distances as measures of speaker similarity including identical twin pairs: A forensic investigation using source and filter voice characteristics
No full textAbstractThere is a growing consensus that hybrid approaches are necessary for successful speaker characterization in Forensic Speaker Comparison (FSC); hence this study explores the forensic potential of voice features combining source and filter characteristics. The former relate to the action of the vocal folds while the latter reflect the geometry of the speaker’s vocal tract. This set of features have been extracted from pause fillers, which are long enough for robust feature estimation while spontaneous enough to be extracted from voice samples in real forensic casework. Speaker similarity was measured using standardized Euclidean Distances (ED) between pairs of speakers: 54 different-speaker (DS) comparisons, 54 same-speaker (SS) comparisons and 12 comparisons between monozygotic twins (MZ). Results revealed that the differences between DS and SS comparisons were significant in both high quality and telephone-filtered recordings, with no false rejections and limited false acceptances; this finding suggests that this set of voice features is highly speaker-dependent and therefore forensically useful. Mean ED for MZ pairs lies between the average ED for SS comparisons and DS comparisons, as expected according to the literature on twin voices. Specific cases of MZ speakers with very high ED (i.e. strong dissimilarity) are discussed in the context of sociophonetic and twin studies. A preliminary simplification of the Vocal Profile Analysis (VPA) Scheme is proposed, which enables the quantification of voice quality features in the perceptual assessment of speaker similarity, and allows for the calculation of perceptual–acoustic correlations. The adequacy of z-score normalization for this study is also discussed, as well as the relevance of heat maps for detecting the so-called phantoms in recent approaches to the biometric menagerie
O efeito de levobupivacaína intra‐articular na cartilagem do ombro em doses diferentes–estudo experimental
No full textResumoJustificativa e objetivoNeste estudo o objetivo foi examinar os efeitos histológicos e morfométricos sobre a estrutura da cartilagem da aplicação intra‐articular de levobupivacaína em articulação do ombro.MétodosTrinta e cinco ombros de 20 coelhos New Zealand, machos e adultos, foram usados para o estudo e divididos em cinco grupos de sete. Os grupos foram definidos como L1, L2, L3 e L4, consistiram em ombros direitos nos quais levobupivacaína a 0,25% e 0,5% foi administrada; o Grupo C, que consistiu em ombros esquerdos, foi o grupo controle; os grupos S1 e S2, que consistiram em ombros esquerdos, receberam solução salina a 0,9%. Os animais foram sacrificados no segundo e no 15̊ dia; as articulações glenoumerais foram avaliadas macroscopicamente e, em seguida, amostras de cartilagem foram coletadas. As amostras foram avaliadas com o escore de Mankin e histomorfometricamente. Mediu‐se a espessura da cartilagem entre a camada superficial e a “linha de maré” (tidemark) e a espessura da cartilagem calcificada entre a tidemark e o osso subcondral.ResultadosMacroscopicamente, observou‐se no 15̊ dia que o líquido articular havia reduzido em todos os grupos. Após a avaliação microscópica, o maior escore de Mankin (média: 3,14±2,1/14) foi observado no grupo L4 (15° dia levobupivacaína a 0,5%), considerado estatisticamente significativo (p<0,05). Nenhuma diferença estatisticamente significativa foi determinada entre os outros grupos.ConclusõesHistologicamente, como o maior escore de Mankin foi observado no Grupo L4, isso indica que em uma única injeção intra‐articular de levobupivacaína uma concentração baixa deve ser selecionada.Nível de evidênciaNível 5, estudo em animais.AbstractBackground and objectivesIn this study it was aimed to examine the histological and morphometric effects on cartilage structure of intra‐articular application of levobupivacaine to the shoulder joint.MethodsIn twenty New Zealand adult male rabbits, 35 shoulders were used for the study and prepared in 5 groups of 7. These groups were defined as Groups L1, L2, L3 and L4 which were right shoulders administered with 0.25% and 0.5% levobupivacaine, Group C which were left shoulders as the control group and Groups S1 and S2 which were left shoulders administered with 0.9% saline. On the 2nd and 15th days the animals were killed, the glenohumeral joints were evaluated macroscopically then cartilage samples were taken. These samples were evaluated with Mankin score, and histomorphometrically by measuring the thickness of the cartilage between the superficial cartilage layer and the tidemark and the thickness of calcified cartilage between the tidemark and the subchondral bone.ResultsMacroscopically, on the 15th day the joint fluid was seen to have reduced in all the groups. After microscopic evaluation, the highest Mankin score (mean: 3.14±2.1/14) was in the L4 group (15th day 0.5% levobupivacaine) and was found to be statistically significant (p<0.05). No statistically significant difference was determined between the other groups.ConclusionsHistologically, as the highest Mankin score was in the L4 group, this indicates that in a single intra‐articular injection of levobupivacaine a low concentration should be selected.Level of evidenceLevel 5, animal study