326 research outputs found
Experience in in-situ repair welding of steam turbine shrouds and blades
Cracking have been observed in the turbine shrouds and blades during routine maintenance shut down of power plants owned and operated by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. In-situ repair of these cracks were carried out using a welding procedure developed indigenously that employed gas tungsten arc welding process and austenitic stainless steel filler wire. Localised post weld heat treatment (PWHT) of the repair welds were also carried out. The turbine components thus repaired have been performing satisfactorily in service for more than three years. This paper presents the development of this welding procedure, its successful execution in the plant and performance of the repair weld in service
Depression and Insulin Resistance: Cross-sectional associations in young adults
OBJECTIVE - To examine the association between depressive disorder and insulin resistance in a sample of young adults using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview to ascertain depression status.
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS - Cross-sectional data were collected on 1,732 participants aged between 26 and 36 years. Insulin resistance was derived from blood chemistry measures of fasting insulin and glucose using the homeostatis model assessment method. Those identified with mild, moderate or severe depression were classified as having depressive disorder.
RESULTS - The 12 month prevalence of depressive disorder was 5.4% among men and 11.7% among women. In unadjusted models mean insulin resistance was 17.2% (95% CI 0.7-36.0%, P = 0.04) higher in men and 11.4%(1.5-22.0%, P=0.02) higher in women with depressive disorder. After adjustment for behavioral and dietary factors, the increased level of insulin resistance associated with depressive disorder was 13.2% (-3.1 to 32.3%, P = 0.12) in men and 6.1% (-4.1 to 17.4%, P - 0.25) in women. Waist circumference was identified as a mediator in the relationship between depression and insulin resistance, reducing the β coefficient in the fully adjusted models in men by 38% and in women by 42%.
CONCLUSIONS - A positive association was found between depressive disorder and insulin resistance in this population-based sample of young adult men and women. The association seemed to be mediated partially by waist circumference
Embedding environmental sustainability within oral health professional curricula—Recommendations for teaching and assessment of learning outcomes
The FDI World Dental Federation suggests that “dentistry, as a profession, should integrate Sustainable Development Goals into daily practice and support a shift to a green economy in the pursuit of healthy lives and wellbeing for all, through all stages of life.” This article reports on the recent activity of the Association for Dental Education in Europe Special Interest Group for Sustainability in Dentistry. Following on from the group's previous activities, which explored current educational practice, this work aimed to reach a pan-European consensus on a number of learning outcomes for environmental sustainability, in order to (i) support institutions in designing and delivering their curriculum, and (ii) to further harmonise the delivery of oral health professional education across Europe. This article presents specific learning outcomes relating to environmental sustainability and recommendations relating to curriculum development, including methods of teaching and assessment
Tuning σ-Holes: Charge Redistribution in the Heavy (Group 14) Analogues of Simple and Mixed Halomethanes Can Impose Strong Propensities for Halogen Bonding
Halogen bonding between halide sites (in substituted organic molecules or inorganic halides) and Lewis bases is a rapidly progressing area of exploration. Investigations of this phenomenon have improved our understanding of weak intermolecular interactions and suggested new possibilities in supramolecular chemistry and crystal engineering. The capacity for halogen bonding is investigated at the MP2(full) level of theory for 100 compounds, including all 80 MH4-nXn systems (M = C, Si, Ge, Sn, and Pb; X = F, Cl, Br, and I). The charge redistribution in these molecules and the (in)stability of the σ-hole at X as a function of M and n are catalogued and examined. For the mixed MH3-mFmI compounds, we identify a complicated dependence of the relative halogen bond strengths on M and m. For m = 0, for example, the H3C-I----NH3 halogen bond is 6.6 times stronger than the H3Pb-I----NH3 bond. When m = 3, however, the F3Pb-I----NH3 bond is shorter and ∼1.6 times stronger than the F3C-I----NH3 bond. This substituent-induced reversal in the relative strengths of halogen bond energies is explained
Predictor variables and screening protocol for depressive and anxiety disorders in cancer outpatients
Background
Cancer patients are at increased risk of persistent depressive and anxiety symptoms and disorders compared to the general population. However, these issues are not always identified, which may worsen the prognosis and increase morbidity and mortality. Therefore, the objectives of this study are to identify predictor variables (demographic and clinical) for the development of mood and anxiety disorders in cancer outpatients and to propose a probabilistic screening protocol considering these variables and certain standardized screening instruments.
Methods
A total of 1,385 adults, of both genders, receiving outpatient cancer care were evaluated using a questionnaire and screening instruments. Thereafter, 400 of these subjects responded to the Structured Clinical Interview for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (SCID-IV) by telephone to confirm or rule out the presence of a Current Major Depressive Episode (CMDE) or Anxiety Disorder (AD).
Results
Of the patients surveyed, 64% met the criteria for CMDE and 41% for AD. Female gender was found to be a risk factor for both disorders, and the presence of previous psychiatric history and marital status (divorced and widowed) were risk factors for anxiety disorders. When scoring above the recommended cutoff score, the screening instruments also indicated a risk of the studied disorders. Based on these findings, a screening protocol and nomograms were created for the quantification, combination and probabilistic estimate of risk, with accuracy indicators >0.68.
Conclusion
The prevalence rates for the disorders under study are extremely high in cancer patients. The use of the proposed protocol and nomogram can facilitate rapid and wide screening, thus refining triage and supporting the establishment of criteria for referral to mental health professionals, so that patients can be properly diagnosed and treated.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Mental disorders as risk factors: assessing the evidence for the Global Burden of Disease Study
Background: Mental disorders are associated with a considerable burden of disease as well as being risk factors for other health outcomes. The new Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study will make estimates for both the disability and mortality directly associated with mental disorders, as well as the burden attributable to other health outcomes. Herein we discuss the process by which health outcomes in which mental disorders are risk factors are selected for inclusion in the GBD Study. We make suggestions for future research to strengthen the body of evidence for mental disorders as risk factors
Software quality management improvement through mentoring: an exploratory study from GSD projects
Proceeding of: OTM 2011 Workshops: Confederated InternationalWorkshops and Posters: EI2N+NSF ICE, ICSP+INBAST, ISDE, ORM, OTMA, SWWS+MONET+SeDeS, and VADER 2011, Hersonissos, Crete, Greece, October 17-21, 2011Software Quality Management (SQM) is a set of processes and procedures designed to assure the quality of software artifacts along with their development process. In an environment in which software development is evolving to a globalization, SQM is seen as one of its challenges. Global Software Development is a way to develop software across nations, continents, cultures and time zones. The aim of this paper is to detect if mentoring, one of the lead personnel development tools, can improve SQM of projects developed under GSD. The results obtained in the study reveal that the influence of mentoring on SQM is just temperate
Amygdala Atrophy and Its Functional Disconnection with the Cortico-Striatal-Pallidal-Thalamic Circuit in Major Depressive Disorder in Females
Background
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is approximately twice as common in females than males. Furthermore, female patients with MDD tend to manifest comorbid anxiety. Few studies have explored the potential anatomical and functional brain changes associated with MDD in females. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the anatomical and functional changes underlying MDD in females, especially within the context of comorbid anxiety.
Methods
In this study, we recruited antidepressant-free females with MDD (N = 35) and healthy female controls (HC; N = 23). The severity of depression and anxiety were evaluated by the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D) and the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A), respectively. Structural and resting-state functional images were acquired on a Siemens 3.0 Tesla scanner. We compared the structural volumetric differences between patients and HC with voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analyses. Seed-based voxel-wise correlative analyses were used to identify abnormal functional connectivity. Regions with structural deficits showed a significant correlation between gray matter (GM) volume and clinical variables that were selected as seeds. Furthermore, voxel-wise functional connectivity analyses were applied to identify the abnormal connectivity relevant to seed in the MDD group.
Results
Decreased GM volume in patients was observed in the insula, putamen, amygdala, lingual gyrus, and cerebellum. The right amygdala was selected as a seed to perform connectivity analyses, since its GM volume exhibited a significant correlation with the clinical anxiety scores. We detected regions with disrupted connectivity relevant to seed primarily within the cortico-striatal-pallidal-thalamic circuit.
Conclusions
Amygdaloid atrophy, as well as decreased functional connectivity between the amygdala and the cortico-striatal-pallidal-thalamic circuit, appears to play a role in female MDD, especially in relation to comorbid anxiety
Micropropagation and conservation of selected endangered anticancer medicinal plants from the Western Ghats of India
Globally, cancer is a constant battle which severely affects the human population. The major limitations of the anticancer drugs are the deleterious side effects on the quality of life. Plants play a vital role in curing many diseases with minimal or no side effects. Phytocompounds derived from various medicinal plants serve as the best source of drugs to treat cancer. The global demand for phytomedicines is mostly reached by the medicinal herbs from the tropical nations of the world even though many plant species are threatened with extinction. India is one of the mega diverse countries of the world due to its ecological habitats, latitudinal variation, and diverse climatic range. Western Ghats of India is one of the most important depositories of endemic herbs. It is found along the stretch of south western part of India and constitutes rain forest with more than 4000 diverse medicinal plant species. In recent times, many of these therapeutically valued herbs have become endangered and are being included under the red-listed plant category in this region. Due to a sharp rise in the demand for plant-based products, this rich collection is diminishing at an alarming rate that eventually triggered dangerous to biodiversity. Thus, conservation of the endangered medicinal plants has become a matter of importance. The conservation by using only in situ approaches may not be sufficient enough to safeguard such a huge bio-resource of endangered medicinal plants. Hence, the use of biotechnological methods would be vital to complement the ex vitro protection programs and help to reestablish endangered plant species. In this backdrop, the key tools of biotechnology that could assist plant conservation were developed in terms of in vitro regeneration, seed banking, DNA storage, pollen storage, germplasm storage, gene bank (field gene banking), tissue bank, and cryopreservation. In this chapter, an attempt has been made to critically review major endangered medicinal plants that possess anticancer compounds and their conservation aspects by integrating various biotechnological tool
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