1,720,968 research outputs found
Psychosis exacerbation following group A Streptococcal pharyngitis: An immune-mediated phenomenon? A case report
No full textAccording to some theories that postulate an immune involvement in the pathogenesis of Schizophrenia (SCZ), autoimmunity and infections are risk factors for SCZ. We report the case of a 20-year-old female patient who received a diagnosis of SCZ at the age of 15, in concomitance with having contracted a streptococcal pharyngitis. Interestingly, since then, the patient repeated a number of Group A streptococcal (GAS) infections that, in each case, preceded recurrent significant psychotic exacerbation. GAS infections are a well-known cause of post-infectious immune-mediated conditions such as Syndeham's corea and PANDAS (Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections), in which a prominent SCZ-like symptomatology has been occasionally reported. The neurobiological basis of the emergence of psychotic symptoms in these cases remains largely elusive. We speculate in this article that psychotic exacerbations following GAS infections are linked to the pathophysiology of the streptococcal pharyngitis
SILTING-UP IN RESERVOIR: A RISK AND A RESOURCE
No full textAcquired experience in the field of Reservoir Sedimentation has allowed to strengthen the concept which careful management of sediments must be a fundamental point in reservoir management. Also Italian law (DM 30/06/2004) contains elements that give great attention to the total management of sediments in reservoirs, with indications for the desilting plans, the dispose of the sediments and the possible use. This paper introduces a new concept of the silting-up as a reservoir problem and resource. Bathymetric and stratigraphic monitoring, hydrology-management analysis, characterization of the river basin and sediments, studies and researches on the use of sediments in several productive fields, allow to define the Desilting Plan, as the synthesis of the silting-up problem and resource in the optimal reservoir management
Mechanical evaluation of new injection needles for dental anesthesia
No full textAIM: In this study Authors want to evaluate the static and dynamic flexural behaviour of innovative injection needles for dental anaesthesia comparing to the traditional needles. METHODS: Four kinds of innovative injection needles (Carpule Free Flow-Heraeus Kulzer), different for length and external diameter, have been evaluated in comparison with the traditional ones (Carpule-Heraeus Kulzer), dimensions being equal except for the internal diameter. Static stiffness tests (10 for each kind of needles, resulting in a totality of 80 tests) and fatigue bending test (10 for each kind of needles, each tested at 3 different bending angles, resulting in a totality of 240 tests) have been conducted following the ISO 9626 norms. The final comparison among the obtained data have been conducted using a one way statistical analysis of variance (ANOVA). RESULTS: After stiffness tests the Carpule Free Flow injection needles and the traditional ones showed the same static behaviour, resulting in statistical comparable values of mean deflection at the maximum load allowed by ISO norms tests, whereas the 0.4 mm external diameter showed a statistically significant difference because the Carpule Free Flow needles achieved lower deflection values. After dynamic bending tests at 20 degrees both needle types showed the same behaviour, whereas at 30 degrees bending the Carpule Free Flow injection needles showed a higher number of breaks comparing to normal type, up to a maximum value of breaks (10 out of 10) for the 0.4 mm external diameter needles. After 50 degrees fatigue bending tests the Carpule Free Flow needles came to the break point after lower number of cycles than the Carpule needles. CONCLUSION: This study pointed out that, among anaesthesia injection needles, the Carpule Free Flow needles not only showed better clinical characteristics but also a mechanical behaviour, both static and dynamic, statistically similar to traditional ones, according to international standards. After fatigue bending higher than 20 degrees, exclusively made in this research in order to simulate critical or extreme conditions, all analysed Carpule Free Flow needles have been broken after a lower number of cycles. It is concluded that it is recommended not to repeatedly bend this kind of needles at more than 90 degrees. At the end of this study it may be suggested that this kind of needles cannot be repeatedly bended at angles more than 90 degrees
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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