872 research outputs found
Commercial Speech and Unhealthy Food Products: Conceptual Foundations
This article provides a critical and philosophical assessment of arguments invoked for and against the constitutional protection of commercial expression and the regulation of commercial speech with a focus on the commercialization of unhealthy food products.Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethic
Observational epidemiological study to identify the clinical profile of naïve patients starting antiretroviral (ARV) therapy in Spain
Purpose of the study: To identify the proportion of patients starting ARV treatment with NNRTIs or with a PI/r and to explore and compare their clinical profile establishing different factors whereby physicians select the initial ARV treatment in a Spanish clinical setting. Methods: An observational study was conducted in two different phases. In Phase I a cross-sectional registration was conducted for patients who initiated ARV treatment in a 6-month period in 65 Spanish hospitals. In Phase II clinical and social-demographic features were collected retrospectively of patients who visited HIV clinics between August and November 2010 who had started ARV treatment containing an NNRTIs or a PI/r in Phase I. Summary of results: In Phase I, 1,687 subjects who initiated ARV treatment were registered, of which 53% started with an NNRTI-based regimen whereas 42% started with a PI/r-based regimen. Two percent of the treatment initiations occurred in a clinical trial. In Phase II, 642 patients were paired consecutively and retrospectively. The group of patients was composed of predominantly male subjects (81% vs 19%). The median time between diagnosis and the start of ARV treatment was 3.6±5.3 years. At the initiation of treatment, 72% of patients had a CD4 count below 350 cells/µl. Although treatment based on NNRTIs in naïve patients is the most frequent option in Spain, the analysis of clinical profiles shows that PI/r-based therapy is more often used than NNRTIs with statistical significance in patients with high viral load, Fig. A (≥100.000 copies/ml) (58% vs 42%; OR:1,75; 95% CI: 1,26–2,43; p<0,01), with CD4 cell counts <200 cells/µl, Fig. B (68% vs 31%; OR: 2,92; 95% CI: 1,99–4,27; p<0,01), and in patients at CDC stage C (65% vs 35%; OR: 2,05; CI: 1,27–3,31; p<0,01). Conclusions: In Spain, HIV is still diagnosed late (as measured by CD4 count<350 cells/µl). Treatment based on NNRTIs are more frequently used in naïve patients, although PIs/r-based regimens play an important role being the preferred option in patients with high viral load (≥100.000 copies/ml) and low CD4 cell count (<200 cells/µl)
Microwave-assisted synthesis and electrochemical evaluation of VO2 (B) nanostructures
Understanding how intercalation materials change during electrochemical operation is paramount to optimizing their behaviour and function and in situ characterization methods allow us to observe these changes without sample destruction. Here we first report the improved intercalation properties of bronze phase vanadium dioxide VO2 (B) prepared by a microwave-assisted route which exhibits a larger electrochemical capacity (232 mAh g-1) compared with VO2 (B) prepared by a solvothermal route (197 mAh g-1). These electrochemical differences have also been followed using in situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy allowing us to follow oxidation state changes as they occur during battery operation
In situ surface coverage analysis of RuO<sub>2</sub>-catalysed HCl oxidation reveals the entropic origin of compensation in heterogeneous catalysis
In heterogeneous catalysis, rates with Arrhenius-like temperature dependence are ubiquitous. Compensation phenomena, which arise from the linear correlation between the apparent activation energy and the logarithm of the apparent pre-exponential factor, are also common. Here, we study the origin of compensation and find a similar dependence on the rate-limiting surface coverage term for each Arrhenius parameter. This result is derived from an experimental determination of the surface coverage of oxygen and chlorine species using temporal analysis of products and prompt gamma activation analysis during HCl oxidation to Cl2 on a RuO2 catalyst. It is also substantiated by theory. We find that compensation phenomena appear when the effect on the apparent activation energy caused by changes in surface coverage is balanced out by the entropic configuration contributions of the surface. This result sets a new paradigm in understanding the interplay of compensation effects with the kinetics of heterogeneously catalysed processes
Incorporation of Non-metal Impurities at the Anatase TiO(001)-(14) Surface
We use first-principles calculations to investigate the adsorption and
incorporation of non-metal impurities (N, C) at the anatase
TiO(001)-(14) reconstructed surface. We analyze in detail the
influence of the surface structure and local strain on the impurity binding
sites and incorporation pathways and identify important intermediates which
facilitate impurity incorporation. We find various subsurface interstitial
binding sites and corresponding surface subsurface penetration
pathways on the reconstructed surface. This surface also favors the presence of
subsurface oxygen-vacancies, to which adsorbed species can migrate to form
substitutional impurities. Most notably, we show that the non-exposed oxygen
sites just below the surface have a key role in the incorporation of nitrogen
and carbon in TiO(001).Comment: 5 figure
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