In a cross-sectional study, prevalence of dysfunctions of the central nervous system was assessed in 134 male workers exposed to different levels of carbon disulfide (CS2) in a rayon viscose plant and compared to 38 non-exposed workers. In three groups of workers from the same plant with different levels of CS2 (heavy, intermediate, none) estimated by personal samplers, disorders in the central...

Three-dimensional protein structures can be described with a library of 3D fragments that define a structural alphabet. We have previously proposed such an alphabet, composed of 16 patterns of five consecutive amino acids, called Protein Blocks (PBs). These PBs have been used to describe protein backbones and to predict local structures from protein sequences. The Q16 prediction rate reaches 40...

BACKGROUND Health literacy (HL) is defined as necessary competencies to make well-informed decisions. As patients' decision making is a key element of patient-centered health care, insight in patients' HL might help healthcare professionals to organize their care accordingly. This is particularly true for people in a vulnerable situation, potentially with limited HL, who are, for instance, at g...

The alpha and beta isoforms of the thromboxane A2 receptor (TP) mediate the actions of the prostanoid thromboxane A2 and its mimetics in humans. The amino terminal region of the TPs contains two consensus N-linked glycosylation sites at asparagine (N) residues N4 and N16. In this study, we explored the significance of N-linked glycosylation on the signaling and surface expression of the human T...

Abstract Recently, IBM has made available a quantum computer provided with 16 qubits, denoted as IBM Q16. Previously, only a 5 qubit device, denoted as Q5, was available. Both IBM devices can be used to run quantum programs, by means of a cloud-based platform. In this paper, we illustrate our experience with IBM Q16 in demonstrating entanglement assisted invariance, also known as envariance, an...

BACKGROUND This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the relationship between urinary pesticide residue levels and neurotoxic symptoms amongst women working on Western Cape farms in South Africa. METHOD A total of 211 women were recruited from farms (n=121) and neighbouring towns (n=90). Participant assessment was via a Q16 questionnaire, reporting on pesticide exposures and measurement...

OBJECTIVES The questionnaire 16 (Q16) is commonly used to study prevalences of neurotoxic symptoms among workers exposed to organic solvents. It has also been recommended that exposed workers reporting more than six symptoms should be referred for further examination of possible chronic toxic encephalopathy. It would be useful to know whether symptoms reported in the questionnaire also reflect ...

The objective of present study was to assess relationship between biomarkers of Manganese (Mn) and neuropsychological effects. The study was carried out on 27 welders and 31 ferroalloy smelters as Mn-exposed groups and 30 office workers as unexposed controls. Air Mn concentrations were determined according to NIOSH method 7300. The biological samples were prepared using microwave assisted acid ...

Deletions of the long arm of chromosome 6 were first described in 1973 by Mikkelsen et al. and they constitute rare genetic anomalies that usually occur de novo [1]. There are less than a hundred cases described worldwide and the phenotypes vary according to the size and location of the deleted region, although some common characteristics are frequently found, such as developmental delay, hypot...