86,511 research outputs found

    A case report positive for synthetic cannabinoids: are cardiovascular effects related to their protracted use?

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    The use of synthetic cannabinoids is being increasingly recognised worldwide, but the chemical compositions and physiological effects of these drugs are poorly characterised and are continually changing. New substances are constantly being added to the content of synthetic cannabinoids and they are rarely identified on toxicological screening tests. Due to their structures synthetic cannabinoids and their effects have been compared to the psychoactive compound, Δ-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), found in marijuana. On the molecular level, they are potent cannabinoid receptor agonists that also may have affinity for other types of receptors such as those on platelets. Reported symptoms of toxicity include anxiety, agitation, paranoia, hallucinations, tachycardia, hypertension, excessive sweating, nausea, and vomiting. They can also be linked to serious adverse cardiovascular events and can affect the cardiovascular system causing hypotension and bradycardia, myocardial infarction, atrial fibrillation, prolonged QTc, and Mobitz type II atrioventricular block, as well as interfere with the aggregation of platelets. We present a case report of a cardiac tamponade with toxicological findings positive for synthetic cannabinoids. This case highlights the importance of testing routinely for novel psychoactive compounds, and recognising their potential to cause life-threatening conditions

    SCHEDE DI SOPRALLUOGO INTERGRUPPI: IL PROTOCOLLO DI PARMA

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    Il costante evolversi delle scienze forensi rappresenta una continua sfida per il medico legale, al quale sono richieste competenze sempre più ampie ed approfondite per la migliore interpretazione possibile del caso di interesse giudiziario, anche a fronte dell’impossibilità concreta di essere sempre affiancati da altri esperti forensi (antropologo, odontologo, genetista, entomologo e tossicologo). Per venir incontro a questa esigenza, partendo dall’attenta disamina dei protocolli operativi delle differenti discipline specialistiche, congiunta all’osservazione critica della pratica quotidiana del Servizio di Medicina Legale dell’Università di Parma, è stato elaborato un corpus di schede suddiviso in sei sezioni (Patologia forense, Antropologia, Odontologia, Genetica, Entomologia e Tossicologia) dal titolo “Protocollo di raccolta informazioni in sede di sopralluogo”. Sono state inoltre discusse le opportune procedure di conservazione dei campioni, nonché le modalità di compilazione delle schede specialistiche di accompagnamento da trasmettere all’esperto di riferimento. Le schede proposte sono state condivise dai Presidenti dei gruppi scientifici GIPF, GeFI, GTFI, GIEF e GIAOF e con i rispettivi direttivi. Successivamente, le schede approvate in via definitiva sono state presentate al I Convegno Intergruppi (Villasimius Settembre 2017) e, quindi, adottate dalla SIMLA che le ha condivise con i propri associati. La Consulta dei Giovani Medici Legali ha utilizzato le schede e i risultati sono stati presentati al II Convegno Intergruppi (Chia Maggio 2018). Le Schede che vengono presentate costituiscono il prodotto finale del confronto con tutti gli attori coinvolti

    Mephedrone and chemsex: a case report

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    The chemsex or slamsex phenomenon has attracted attention worldwide, with concerns also expressed by health professionals for the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Mephedrone or 4-methylmethcathinone, a substituted cathinone homolog of ephedrine, is one of the most popular substances used as a cheaper alternative to other traditional drugs. Fatal cases of chemsex are still rare. We present here the first case-report to the best of our knowledge of a mephedrone-related acute toxicity case in Parma (Italy) detected and quantitated in biological specimens (2.0 mg/L in urine sample, 1.1 mg/L in bile and 1.0 mg/L in central blood while 0.8 mg/L in peripheral blood). None of the other most common drugs of abuse could be detected. Autopsy findings such as facies edematosa, oedema and polyvisceral congestion, interstitial petechiae are compatible elements with a death from acute cardio-respiratory failure, with peri-mortem agony of few minutes in which the cardiac hypertrophy, the moderate aortocoronary sclerosis and mephedrone injection have played a substantial role in the evaluation of the final cause due to an accidental acute intoxication with mephedrone

    Diatom extraction: A new technique with heated H2O2. A technical note

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    The best method of diatom identification in animal and human tissues is still an important discussion topic, in terms of effectiveness and reliability. In this technical note, authors propose a new method of extraction of diatoms using heated hydrogen peroxide from animal and human tissue samples. This method has been compared with the traditional method of digestion with acids. The results of the comparison show that heated hydrogen peroxide extraction is more efficient in terms of reduction of sediment, extraction of the material and preservation of diatoms proving to be a viable alternative to conventional approaches with acids in terms of costs and operator safety

    Variations on the Author

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    “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

    [Newspaper Clipping: Author Claims Evidence of Second JFK Assassin #1]

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    Newspaper article titled "Author Claims Evidence of Second JFK Assassin." The article states that author Richard J. Whalen concluded "that there is circumstantial evidence to support the theory of a second assassin in the shooting of President John F. Kennedy.

    Also By The Same Author: AKTiveAuthor, a Citation Graph Approach to Name Disambiguation

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    The desire for definitive data and the semantic web drive for inference over heterogeneous data sources requires co-reference resolution to be performed on those data. In particular, name disambiguation is required to allow accurate publication lists, citation counts and impact measures to be determined. This paper describes a graph-based approach to author disambiguation on large-scale citation networks. Using self-citation, co-authorship and document source analyses, AKTiveAuthor clusters papers, achieving precision of 0.997 and recall of 0.818 over a test group of eight surname clusters

    John F. Kennedy telegram to Roosevelt

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    Jersey Homesteads (later the Borough of Roosevelt) was established in the 1930s as an agro-industrial cooperative community. It was established specifically for urban Jewish garment workers, many of whom had emigrated from Europe. President John F. Kennedy sent a telegram to the citizens of Roosevelt, New Jersey, apologizing for not being able to attend the memorial dedication in honor of former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. (Jersey Homesteads became Roosevelt in 1945 in honor of the president.) President Kennedy expressed his gratitude to the people of Roosevelt for constructing the memorial, and commented that it will serve as a constant reminder of Roosevelt's good works

    Logarithmic variance profiles and the corresponding f-1 spectra of temperature fluctuations in turbulent Rayleigh-Bénard convection

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    We report experimental results for the temperature variance 2(z) and the corresponding frequency spectra P(f) in turbulent Rayleigh-Bénard convection (RBC) in a cylindrical sample of aspect ratioT= D/L = 1:00 (D = 1:12 m is the diameter and L = 1:12 m the height). The measurements were conducted in the Rayleigh-number range 1011 < Ra < 1:35 1014 and Pr ' 0:8. For Ra = 1:35x1014, 2(z) could be described well by a logarithmic dependence on the vertical position z in a range of z 1 < z < z 2 with z 1 ' 70 and z 2 = 0:1L. Here L=(2Nu) is the thickness of a thin thermal sublayer adjacent to the horizontal plate where the heat flux (denoted by the Nusselt number Nu) is carried mostly by thermal diffusion. In the log layer, we found that the temperature spectra had a significant frequency range over which P(f) f with close to 1. As Ra decreased, increased so that the log layer became thinner. At Ra = 2:05 1011, z 2 < z 1 and therefore there was no range for a log layer. Correspondingly, the temperature spectrum near the horizontal plate did not have the f1 scaling form either

    Maine author Franklin F. Gould recalls his first glimpse of the outside world

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    Maine author Franklin F. Gould recalls his first glimpse of the outside world as he relates how, as a young farm boy in the late 1800\u27s, he drove his father\u27s horses on an errand to an icebound river
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