Reaction force constant as a descriptor of the principle of non-perfect synchronization.

CONTEXT: In this study, a small set of 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions that proceed at the same exothermicity is presented. Our main objective was to extend the application of the reaction force constant concept to gain an understanding of the reactivity principles. Inspired by a recent article where we show that the Bell-Evans-Polanyi principle is fulfilled under the condition of an equal degree of (a)synchronicity, here, we demonstrate that the reaction force constant is also a suitable descriptor to quantify the principle of non-perfect synchronization proposed by Bernasconi as a way to understand deviations from the Bell-Evans-Polanyi principle. METHODS: Reaction profiles V ( ξ ) , F ( ξ ) , and κ ( ξ ) were performed at the B3LYP/6-31G(d,p) level of theory. The stabilizing interactions were characterized using the energy decomposition analysis combined with the natural orbitals for chemical valence, EDA-NOCV, method. The present work was done using Gaussian 09 and Multiwfn programs.

Phytochemical, spectroscopic analysis and antifungal activity on bell peppers of hydrothermal bioactive metabolites of Humulus lupulus L. extracts.

This study aimed to evaluate the impact of temperature on the potential extraction of bioactive compounds from aqueous hop extract samples. The main bioactive components were characterised and analysed by LC-MS/MS, FT-IR, phenolic compounds and total flavonoids. Antifungal activity was evaluated in vitro and in vivo in bell peppers. LC-MS/MS analysis demonstrated increases and decreases of bioactive compounds in both extracts depending on the extraction temperature of 25 or 65 °C. The bioactive compounds showed significant changes in the bands between 2786 to 3600 cm-1 and 1022 to 1729 cm-1 in the FT-IR spectrum. The highest antifungal activity against the microorganisms was observed in the EkuanotMT extract at an extraction temperature of 65 °C. The in vivo test with bell peppers presented antifungal activity during five days of evaluation under normal environmental conditions without refrigeration, presenting ≤ 52% of the disease due to F. oxysporum and A. solani.

Correlations in the EPR State Observables.

The identification and physical interpretation of arbitrary quantum correlations are not always effortless. Two features that can significantly influence the dispersion of the joint observable outcomes in a quantum bipartite system composed of systems I and II are: (a) All possible pairs of observables describing the composite are equally probable upon measurement, and (b) The absence of concurrence (positive reinforcement) between any of the observables within a particular system; implying that their associated operators do not commute. The so-called EPR states are known to observe (a). Here, we demonstrate in very general (but straightforward) terms that they also satisfy condition (b), a relevant technical fact often overlooked. As an illustration, we work out in detail the three-level systems, i.e., qutrits. Furthermore, given the special characteristics of EPR states (such as maximal entanglement, among others), one might intuitively expect the CHSH correlation, computed exclusively for the observables of qubit EPR states, to yield values greater than two, thereby violating Bell's inequality. We show such a prediction does not hold true. In fact, the combined properties of (a) and (b) lead to a more limited range of values for the CHSH measure, not surpassing the nonlocality threshold of two. The present constitutes an instructive example of the subtleties of quantum correlations.

Task force of the Brazilian Society of Otology - evaluation and management of peripheral facial palsy.

OBJECTIVE: To review key evidence-based recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of peripheral facial palsy in children and adults. METHODS: Task force members were educated on knowledge synthesis methods, including electronic database search, review and selection of relevant citations, and critical appraisal of selected studies. Articles written in English or Portuguese on peripheral facial palsy were eligible for inclusion. The American College of Physicians' guideline grading system and the American Thyroid Association's guideline criteria were used for critical appraisal of evidence and recommendations for therapeutic interventions. RESULTS: The topics were divided into 2 main parts: (1) Evaluation and diagnosis of facial palsy: electrophysiologic tests, idiopathic facial palsy, Ramsay Hunt syndrome, traumatic peripheral facial palsy, recurrent peripheral facial palsy, facial nerve tumors, and peripheral facial palsy in children; and (2) Rehabilitation procedures: surgical decompression of the facial nerve, facial nerve grafting, surgical treatment of long-term peripheral facial palsy, and non-surgical rehabilitation of the facial nerve. CONCLUSIONS: Peripheral facial palsy is a condition of diverse etiology. Treatment should be individualized according to the cause of facial nerve dysfunction, but the literature presents better evidence-based recommendations for systemic corticosteroid therapy.

The quantum maxima for the basic graphs of exclusivity are not reachable in Bell scenarios.

A necessary condition for the probabilities of a set of events to exhibit Bell non-locality or Kochen-Specker contextuality is that the graph of exclusivity of the events contains induced odd cycles with five or more vertices, called odd holes, or their complements, called odd antiholes. From this perspective, events whose graph of exclusivity are odd holes or antiholes are the building blocks of contextuality. For any odd hole or antihole, any assignment of probabilities allowed by quantum theory can be achieved in specific contextuality scenarios. However, here we prove that, for any odd hole, the probabilities that attain the quantum maxima cannot be achieved in Bell scenarios. We also prove it for the simplest odd antiholes. This leads us to the conjecture that the quantum maxima for any of the building blocks cannot be achieved in Bell scenarios. This result sheds light on why the problem of whether a probability assignment is quantum is decidable, while whether a probability assignment within a given Bell scenario is quantum is, in general, undecidable. This also helps to understand why identifying principles for quantum correlations is simpler when we start by identifying principles for quantum sets of probabilities defined with no reference to specific scenarios. This article is part of the theme issue 'Quantum contextuality, causality and freedom of choice'.

Task force of the Brazilian Society of Otology — evaluation and management of peripheral facial palsy

Abstract Objective To review key evidence-based recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of peripheral facial palsy in children and adults. Methods Task force members were educated on knowledge synthesis methods, including electronic database search, review and selection of relevant citations, and critical appraisal of selected studies. Articles written in English or Portuguese on peripheral facial palsy were eligible for inclusion. The American College of Physicians' guideline grading system and the American Thyroid Association's guideline criteria were used for critical appraisal of evidence and recommendations for therapeutic interventions. Results The topics were divided into 2 main parts: (1) Evaluation and diagnosis of facial palsy: electrophysiologic tests, idiopathic facial palsy, Ramsay Hunt syndrome, traumatic peripheral facial palsy, recurrent peripheral facial palsy, facial nerve tumors, and peripheral facial palsy in children; and (2) Rehabilitation procedures: surgical decompression of the facial nerve, facial nerve grafting, surgical treatment of long-term peripheral facial palsy, and non-surgical rehabilitation of the facial nerve. Conclusions Peripheral facial palsy is a condition of diverse etiology. Treatment should be individualized according to the cause of facial nerve dysfunction, but the literature presents better evidence-based recommendations for systemic corticosteroid therapy.

Facial Paralysis Due to Brazilian Lyme Disease: A Case Report and Literature Review.

Lyme disease (LD) is a highly prevalent infection in the northern hemisphere, with an estimated incidence of 450,000 new annual cases in the United States and 65,000 new annual cases in Europe. Transmitted by the bite of a tick contaminated with a spirochete, the disease has three distinct stages. In the second phase of the disease, there may be neurological impairment, and the involvement of cranial nerve pairs occurs in this phase. Neuropathy of the seventh cranial nerve can occur in around 10% of adults with neurological involvement by Borrelia; in children, this incidence can reach 50%. A 32-year-old female patient presented with an abrupt facial paralysis that evolved into a difficult-to-resolve condition. With the appearance of probable contralateral involvement, LD was diagnosed. After the established treatment, the patient presented a good evolution of the symptoms.

Transcriptomic Analysis Reveals the Response Mechanisms of Bell Pepper (Capsicum annuum) to Phosphorus Deficiency.

Phosphorus (P) is an important nutritional element needed by plants. Roots obtain P as inorganic phosphate (Pi), mostly in H2PO-4 form. It is vital for plants to have a sufficient supply of Pi since it participates in important processes like photosynthesis, energy transfer, and protein activation, among others. The physicochemical properties and the organic material usually make Pi bioavailability in soil low, causing crops and undomesticated plants to experience variations in accessibility or even a persistent phosphate limitation. In this study, transcriptome data from pepper roots under low-Pi stress was analyzed in order to identify Pi starvation-responsive genes and their relationship with metabolic pathways and functions. Transcriptome data were obtained from pepper roots with Pi deficiency by RNASeq and analyzed with bioinformatic tools. A total of 97 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified; Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment revealed that metabolic pathways, such as porphyrin and chlorophyll metabolism, were down-regulated, and galactose and fatty acid metabolism were up-regulated. The results indicate that bell pepper follows diverse processes related to low Pi tolerance regulation, such as the remobilization of internal Pi, alternative metabolic pathways to generate energy, and regulators of root development.

A Monte Carlo Method for Calculating Lynden-Bell Equilibrium in Self-Gravitating Systems.

We present a Monte Carlo approach that allows us to easily implement Lynden-Bell (LB) entropy maximization for an arbitrary initial particle distribution. The direct maximization of LB entropy for an arbitrary initial distribution requires an infinite number of Lagrange multipliers to account for the Casimir invariants. This has restricted studies of Lynden-Bell's violent relaxation theory to only a very small class of initial conditions of a very simple waterbag form, for which the entropy maximization can be performed numerically. In the present approach, an arbitrary initial distribution is discretized into density levels which are then evolved using an efficient Monte Carlo algorithm towards the final equilibrium state. A comparison is also made between the LB equilibrium and explicit Molecular Dynamics simulations. We find that for most initial distributions, relaxation is incomplete and the system is not able to reach the state of maximum LB entropy. In particular, we see that the tail of the stationary particle distribution is very different from the one predicted by the theory of violent relaxation, with a hard cutoff instead of an algebraic decay predicted by LB's theory.

Generalized Bell Scenarios: Disturbing Consequences on Local-Hidden-Variable Models.

Bell nonlocality and Kochen-Specker contextuality are among the main topics in the foundations of quantum theory. Both of them are related to stronger-than-classical correlations, with the former usually referring to spatially separated systems, while the latter considers a single system. In recent works, a unified framework for these phenomena was presented. This article reviews, expands, and obtains new results regarding this framework. Contextual and disturbing features inside the local models are explored, which allows for the definition of different local sets with a non-trivial relation among them. The relations between the set of quantum correlations and these local sets are also considered, and post-quantum local behaviours are found. Moreover, examples of correlations that are both local and non-contextual but such that these two classical features cannot be expressed by the same hidden variable model are shown. Extensions of the Fine-Abramsky-Brandenburger theorem are also discussed.

Photobiomodulation in the Treatment of Bell's Palsy: An Integrative Review / Fotobiomodulación en el Tratamiento de la Parálisis de Bell: una Revisión Integradora

Bell's palsy is defined as a lower motor neuron palsy that develops from a non-suppurative inflammation of the facial nerve at the stylomastoid foramen. The objective of this integrative review was to determine the effects of photobiomodulation as a therapeutic method for Bell's palsy. This qualitative study provided a broader understanding of the subject studied. Searches for articles were carried out in PubMed databases via Medline, LILACS, IBES, Scopus, Web of Science, Embase, and CENTRAL using MeSH and DeCS descriptors to determine the search terms. A total of 143 articles were found. After applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 7 articles were included. Therefore, it can be concluded that the application of low-level laser in the treatment of Bell's palsy is effective since the studies indicated significant and relevant improvements for the recovery of these patients when associating the laser with other types of treatments.

La parálisis de Bell se define como una parálisis de la neurona motora inferior que se desarrolla a partir de una inflamación no supurativa del nervio facial en el agujero estilomastoideo. El objetivo de esta revisión integradora fue determinar los efectos de la fotobiomodulación como método terapéutico para la parálisis de Bell. Este estudio cualitativo proporcionó una comprensión más amplia del tema estudiado. Las búsquedas de artículos se realizaron en las bases de datos PubMed a través de Medline, LILACS, IBES, Scopus, Web of Science, Embase y CENTRAL utilizando los descriptores MeSH y DeCS para determinar los términos de búsqueda. Se encontraron un total de 143 artículos. Después de aplicar los criterios de inclusión y exclusión, se incluyeron 7 artículos. Por tanto, se puede concluir que la aplicación de láser de baja intensidad en el tratamiento de la parálisis de Bell es eficaz debido a que los estudios indicaron mejoras significativas y relevantes para la recuperación de estos pacientes al asociar el láser a otro tipo de tratamientos.

Bilateral peripheral facial palsy: A rare case report.

Peripheral facial palsy (PFP) is an inflammation of the facial nerve, which paralyses the face unilaterally or bilaterally, causing pain and discomfort to the patient. PFP affects the lives of compromised individuals not only due to the loss of essential facial functions (smiling, blinking, talking) but also their emotional state. When the face is paralysed, the lost ability to animate the face can be devastating and is often associated with depression, social isolation, and reduced quality of life. Bilateral involvement is extremely rare and as it occurs in unilateral cases, a thorough clinical and laboratory evaluation must be carried out to determine the etiology of the disease, which can be idiopathic, infectious, neoplastic, traumatic, or iatrogenic. In addition to these, in times of the pandemic, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the vaccine against it should be considered as possible causal factors. Drug therapy and physiotherapy are indicated to recover facial movements. The aim of the present study was to report a case of bilateral peripheral facial palsy due to herpes simplex virus reactivation in a 20-year-old female patient.

Laser acupuncture in the treatment of neuropathies in dentistry: a systematic review.

Laser acupuncture can be used to treat neurosensory alterations and motor disorders caused by dental treatments. This study aimed to review the existing literature on the effects of laser acupuncture on neuropathies in the context of dentistry and to search for treatment modalities in which this technique is used. This systematic review was conducted in accordance with the Cochrane Collaboration guidelines and the PICOS strategy. Randomized clinical trials that evaluated laser acupuncture as a primary intervention for facial neuropathy were included. We searched the database for relevant studies and manually searched the gray literature until April 2022, and finally included four studies. The study was considered eligible if it included patients with paresthesia, facial paralysis, or neuralgia, neuropathies within dentistry, and referred to the application of laser acupuncture as a treatment method. The risk of bias was assessed using the RoB 2 tool. It was observed that the recommended wavelengths ranged from 790 nm to 810 nm, with a frequency of at least two applications per week, and to a greater or lesser degree, all evaluated studies obtained an improvement in sensory or motor recovery of the facial nerves. The use of laser acupuncture presented itself as a viable alternative in dentistry for the treatment of paresthesia and facial paralysis due to its therapeutic potential in neuropathic treatment (CRD42022344339).

Endovascular repair of ruptured external iliac artery pseudoaneurysm and arteriovenous fistula using reversed bell-bottom technique.

Pseudoaneurysm and arteriovenous fistula can occur after iatrogenic trauma or penetrating injuries. Endovascular treatment is a minimally invasive method used to manage these complex vascular injuries. We have described the case of a 27-year-old male patient who had presented with progressively increasing pain and swelling of the left inguinal region after a gunshot injury 5 years earlier. The bell-bottom technique was used in a reversed fashion to exclude the pseudoaneurysm and treat the arteriovenous fistula, achieving symptom resolution without complications.

Prognostic role of neutrophil lymphocyte ratio and mean platelet volume in Bell's palsy: Comparison of diabetic and non-diabetic patients.

OBJECTIVES: A low Neutrophil Lymphocyte Ratio (NLR) has been shown to be associated with good prognosis in Bell's Palsy (BP). However, the effect of chronic diseases that may affect the NLR, including Diabetes Mellitus (DM), has not been clarified in this context. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between NLR and Mean Platelet Volume (MPV) in BP according to whether it is accompanied by DM, and their relationship with prognosis. METHODS: A prospective observational study was conducted from May 2014 to May 2020 in a tertiary referral center, of all 79 consecutive participants diagnosed with BP in department of otolaryngology and 110 consecutive healthy participants admitted to the check-up unit. Patients diagnosed with BP were divided into two groups according to whether they were diagnosed with DM: diabetic BP patients (DM-BP, n = 33) and non-diabetic BP patients without any chronic disease (nonDM-BP, n = 46). Neutrophil (NEUT) and Lymphocyte (LYM) counts, and Mean Platelet Volume (MPV) were assessed from peripheral blood samples, and the NLR was calculated. Prognosis was evaluated using the House-Brackmann Score (HBS) six months after diagnosis. RESULTS: The mean NLR was 2.85 ±â€¯1.85 in BP patients and 1.69 ±â€¯0.65 in the control group. The mean NLR was significantly higher in BP patients than healthy controls (p < 0.001). The mean NLR was 2.58 ±â€¯1.83 in the nonDM-BP group, 3.23 ±â€¯1.83 in the DM-BP group, and 1.69 ±â€¯0.65 in the control group. The NLR was significantly higher in the nonDM-BP and DM-BP groups than in the control group (p < 0.05). The recovery was 90% according to the HBS. The optimal cut-off value was 2.41 (p = 0.5). CONCLUSION: The NLR was increased in both diabetic and non-diabetic BP and had similar prognostic value in predicting the HBS before treatment in diabetic and non-diabetic patients with BP. MPV wasn't significantly different in diabetic and non-diabetic BP patients compared with the normal population.

Exogenous application of salicylic acid on the mitigation of salt stress in Capsicum annuum L / Aplicação exógena de ácido salicílico na mitigação do estresse salino em Capsicum annuum L

ABSTRACT: Salinity has limited conventional vegetable cultivation, especially in semi-arid regions. In this regard, the use of elicitors that act to induce tolerance to salt stress, such as salicylic acid, has emerged as a promising alternative. This study evaluated the effects of foliar spraying with salicylic acid on the mitigation of salt stress on the morphophysiology and production of bell pepper cv. All Big. The study was conducted in a greenhouse in Campina Grande - PB, Brazil, adopting a completely randomized design, in a 4 x 4 factorial arrangement, corresponding to four levels of electrical conductivity of irrigation water (0.8; 1.6; 2.4; and 3.2 dS m-1) and four concentrations of salicylic acid (0; 1.2; 2.4 and 3.6 mM), with three replicates. The foliar application of salicylic acid at a concentration of 1.6 mM attenuated the effects of salt stress in gas exchange, growth, mean fruit weight, and total production per plant, and decreased the percentage of intercellular electrolyte leakage of sweet pepper cv. All Big plants, at 80 days after sowing.

RESUMO: A salinidade tem afetado negativamente o cultivo de hortaliças, sobretudo em regiões semiáridas. Neste sentido, o uso de elicitores que atuem na indução de tolerância ao estresse salino, como ácido salicílico, tem se destacado como uma alternativa promissora. Objetivou-se com esse estudo, avaliar os efeitos da pulverização foliar do ácido salicílico na mitigação do estresse salino na morfofisiologia e produção do pimentão cv. All Big. O estudo foi conduzido em casa de vegetação em Campina Grande - PB, utilizando-se o delineamento inteiramente casualizado, em arranjo fatorial 4 x 4, sendo quatro níveis de condutividade elétrica da água de irrigação (0,8; 1,6; 2,4; e 3,2 dS m-1) e quatro concentrações de ácido salicílico (0; 1,2; 2,4 e 3,6 mM), com três repetições. A aplicação foliar de ácido salicílico na concentração de 1,6 mM atenuou os efeitos do estresse salino nas trocas gasosas, no crescimento, no peso médio de fruto e na produção total por planta, e diminuiu a porcentagem de extravasamento de eletrólitos intercelulares das plantas de pimentão cv. All Big aos 80 dias após o semeio.

Prognostic role of neutrophil lymphocyte ratio and mean platelet volume in Bell's palsy: Comparison of diabetic and non-diabetic patients

Abstract Objectives: A low Neutrophil Lymphocyte Ratio (NLR) has been shown to be associated with good prognosis in Bell's Palsy (BP). However, the effect of chronic diseases that may affect the NLR, including Diabetes Mellitus (DM), has not been clarified in this context. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between NLR and Mean Platelet Volume (MPV) in BP according to whether it is accompanied by DM, and their relationship with prognosis. Methods: A prospective observational study was conducted from May 2014 to May 2020 in a tertiary referral center, of all 79 consecutive participants diagnosed with BP in department of otolaryngology and 110 consecutive healthy participants admitted to the check-up unit. Patients diagnosed with BP were divided into two groups according to whether they were diagnosed with DM: diabetic BP patients (DM-BP, n = 33) and non-diabetic BP patients without any chronic disease (nonDM-BP, n = 46). Neutrophil (NEUT) and Lymphocyte (LYM) counts, and Mean Platelet Volume (MPV) were assessed from peripheral blood samples, and the NLR was calculated. Prognosis was evaluated using the House-Brackmann Score (HBS) six months after diagnosis. Results: The mean NLR was 2.85 ± 1.85 in BP patients and 1.69 ±0.65 in the control group. The mean NLR was significantly higher in BP patients than healthy controls (p < 0.001). The mean NLR was 2.58 ± 1.83 in the nonDM-BP group, 3.23 ± 1.83 in the DM-BP group, and 1.69 ± 0.65 in the control group. The NLR was significantly higher in the nonDM-BP and DM-BP groups than in the control group (p < 0.05). The recovery was 90% according to the HBS. The optimal cut-off value was 2.41 (p = 0.5). Conclusion: The NLR was increased in both diabetic and non-diabetic BP and had similar prognostic value in predicting the HBS before treatment in diabetic and non-diabetic patients with BP. MPV wasn't significantly different in diabetic and non-diabetic BP patients compared with the normal population.

A smart school routing and scheduling problem for the new normalcy.

One of the critical actions that emerged during the onset of the New Normalcy after COVID-19 lockdowns, is the safe return to schools and workplaces. Therefore, dedicated transportation services need to adapt to meet new requirements such as arrival reliability for multiple bell times, the consequent staggering of arrivals and departures, and the decrease in bus capacity due to the physical distancing required by regulators. In this work, we address these issues plus additional labor conditions concerning drivers for a university context; with the goal of optimizing social interests such as covering demand and travel time under limited resources. We propose a bi-level approach, where firstly a bus routing generation sub-problem is solved before a bus scheduling sub-problem. This (strategic) solution is then considered as the baseline for subsequent dynamic (operational) routing. The latter is based on real-time demand provided by the students via a mobile app and considers stop-skipping to further minimize travel time. This integrated transport solution was tested in a university case, showing that with the same resources, it can meet these new requirements. In addition, numerical experimentation was also carried out with benchmark instances to identify, among available and literature-recommended solution algorithms and an effective tailored Tabu Search implementation, those that perform best for this type of problems.

Facial paralysis after intraoral anesthetic injection: A systematic review.

Many complications can occur after the injection of local intraoral anesthetics (ILIA) before dental intervention. Facial paralysis (FP) is one of these complications. The purpose of this study was to systematically analyze the association between ILIA and FP. A systematic review was carried out taking into account the methodology of the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions and the PRISMA statement. The search strategy used "Palsy AND Facial" and "Paralysis AND Facial" as search terms. The ScienceDirect, PubMed and Scopus databases were searched using the "dentistry journal" filter. The inclusion criteria included studies describing FP after or during ILIA that were published in dental journals. The CAse REports (CARE) checklist was applied in evaluating the methodological quality of case reports. A total of 2,462 articles (algorithm) were identified. After reviewing titles and abstracts, 18 articles were deemed relevant taking into account the objectives of this study. Only 13 of them, after reading the full text, met the inclusion criteria and were analyzed. Case reports on 18 cases of FP were analyzed, 12 of which described the early development of FP (onset within 24 h) and 6 the late development (onset after 24 h). Acceptable compliance with CARE guidelines was observed in the included studies . Early FP CRs presented the effect of the administered anesthetic on the facial nerve, and the vascular effect of the vasoconstrictor included in the anesthetic formula, while more recent FP CRs focused on the reactivation of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) or varicella-zoster virus (VZV).