Multiple assessment methods of prenatal exposure to radio frequency radiation from telecommunication in the Mothers and Children’s Environmental Health (MOCEH) study

Objectives: To evaluate prenatal exposure to radiofrequency radiation (RFR) from telecommunication using a mobile phone questionnaire, operator data logs of mobile phone use and a personal exposure meter (PEM). Material and Methods: The study included 1228 mother–infants pairs from the Mothers and Children’s Environmental Health (MOCEH) study – a multicenter prospective cohort study ongoing since 2006, in which participants were enrolled at ≤ 20 weeks of pregnancy, with a follow-up of a child birth and growth to assess the association between prenatal environmental exposure and children’s health. The questionnaire included the average calling frequency per day and the average calling time per day. An EME Spy 100 PEM was used to measure RFR among 269 pregnant women from November 2007 to August 2010. The operators’ log data were obtained from 21 participants. The Spearman’s correlation test was performed to evaluate correlation coefficient and 95% confidence intervals between the mobile phone use information from the questionnaire, operators’ log data, and data recorded by the PEM. Results: The operators’ log data and information from the self-reported questionnaire showed significantly high correlations in the average calling frequency per day (ρ = 0.6, p = 0.004) and average calling time per day (ρ = 0.5, p = 0.02). The correlation between information on the mobile phone use in the self-reported questionnaire and exposure index recorded by the PEM was poor. But correlation between the information of the operators’ log data and exposure index for transmission of mobile communication was significantly high: correlation coefficient (p-value) was 0.44 (0.07) for calling frequency per day, and it was 0.49 (0.04) for calling time per day. Conclusions: The questionnaire information on the mobile phone use showed moderate to high quality. Using multiple methods for exposure assessment might be better than using only one method. Int J Occup Med Environ Health 2016;29(6):959–97

Effect of 2-Mercapto-5-benzimidazolesulfonic Acid in Superconformal Cu Electroless Deposition

Superconformal Cu electroless deposition is demonstrated in a CuSO4–EDTA–HCHO (where EDTA is ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid) electrolyte containing 2-mercapto-5-benzimidazolesulfonic acid (MBIS). MBIS reveals a concentration-dependent effect in the deposition rate on planar substrates, whereby acceleration at low concentration and suppression at high concentration are evident. The half-cell reaction experiments show that the acceleration effect of MBIS is mainly associated with the cathodic reaction, while MBIS inhibits the oxidation of HCHO in the anodic reaction. The addition of MBIS offers preferential Cu electroless deposition at the bottom of 500 nm wide trenches. Poly(ethylene glycol) improved the surface roughness, maintaining the shape evolution of superconformal feature filling.The authors are grateful to Dr. Thomas P. Moffat at NIST for helpful discussions. This research was supported by the Nano R&D program through the Korea Science and Engineering Foundation funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (no. 2008-02857

Construction of the Nursing Diagnosis Ontology in Obstetric and Gynecologic Nursing Unit using Nursing Process and SNOMED CT

PURPOSE: This study was performed to propose an ontology methodology based on standardized nursing process as framework in obstetric and gynecologic nursing practice. METHODS: The instrument used in this study was based on the nursing diagnosis classification established by North American Nursing Diagnosis Association (NANDA) (2009-2011), fifth edition of the Nursing Interventions Classification (NIC) (2008), forth edition of the Nursing Outcomes Classification (NOC) (2008) developed by Iowa State University and systematized nomenclature of medicine clinical terms (SNOMED CT). The nursing records data were collected from electronic medical records of one hospital from August to October 2010. RESULTS: One hundred and forty-one nursing diagnosis statements used in obstetric and gynecologic nursing unit were linked standardized nursing classifications and constructed nursing diagnosis ontology including interoperability. CONCLUSION: Not only will this result be helpful to complete nurse's lack of knowledge and experience, it will also help to determine nursing diagnosis logically by using standardized nursing process. It will be utilized as the method to construct ontology including interoperability in other nursing units. It will be presented nursing interventions according to nursing diagnosis and thus will be easier to establish nursing planning. This can provide immediate feedback of the nursing process application

Optimization of a Pretreatment for Copper Electroless Deposition on Ta Substrates

We investigated pretreatment methods for Cu electroless deposition on a Ta substrate. The native oxide on the substrate was effectively etched by the addition of HNO3 to a HF diluted solution and this was confirmed though X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and chronopotentiometry. To form the Pd catalyst for Cu electroless deposition, a two-step Sn sensitization and Pd activation was carried out. The oxide removal enhanced the adsorption of the Sn ions on the Ta substrate and led to well distributed Pd clusters through Pd activation. By measuring the resistivity of the film, the Sn sensitization time and the Pd activation time were optimized through changes in the incubation time, at which the sheet resistance abruptly decreased by the film formation via the coalescence of Cu grains. The resistivity of the Cu electroless film deposited using the optimized pretreatment conditions was 3.59 cm, which was further reduced to 2.7 cm through an annealing process.This work was supported by KOSEF through the Research Center for Energy Conversion and Storage RCECS , Dongbu Electronics, and by the Institute of Chemical Processes ICP

Two-step filling in Cu electroless deposition using a concentration-dependent effect of 3-N,N-dimethylaminodithiocarbamoyl-1-propanesulfonic acid

This paper describes electroless Cu filling of trenches with different widths ranging from 130 to 300 nm, using a concentrationdependent effect of 3-N,N-dimethylaminodithiocarbamoyl-1-propanesulfonic acid DPS . With a fixed DPS concentration, it is shown that these trenches with different dimensions cannot be superfilled simultaneously. This is presumably caused by different surface concentrations of the adsorbed additive, which depends on the feature size and surface area. A two-step filling method is employed to superfill those trenches, which is also effective in control of the deposited Cu amounts to obtain uniform growth front regardless of the trench dimensions.This work was supported by a Korea Research Foundation grant funded by the Korean Government MOEHRD grant no. KRF- 2006-352-D00052 . The authors are grateful for the support of the Research Center for Energy Conversion and Storage RCECS , Dongbu HiTek Company, Ltd., and the Institute of Chemical Processes ICP

Planalto barrosão

O concelho de Montalegre, situado no planalto Barrosão, é uma das regiões mais remotas e isoladas de Portugal Continental. É um território com baixa densidade populacional, em que cerca de um quarto da superfície do concelho se situa dentro do Parque Nacional da Peneda Gerês, a elevada altitude. É sobre este circunstancialismo geográfico, que permitiu preservar uma ruralidade vincada, que recai a representação fotográfica de paisagem do Planalto do Barroso. É uma representação da paisagem como uma construção cultural e pretende questionar as fronteiras de uma paisagem protegida e como se relaciona com questões de identidade e património.Montalegre, in the Northeast of Portugal, is one of the most remote and isolated areas of the country. The region is an important part of a National Park, the Peneda Geres, located at high altitude and with a very low level of human occupation. This geographic aspect, that led to the preservation and observation of a strong rurality, allowed a photographic representation of the landscape in Barroso´s Plateaus. It’s a photographic representation of the landscape as a cultural construction, questioning the frontiers of a protected landscape and how it relates to heritage and identity

PI3K-mTOR-S6K Signaling Mediates Neuronal Viability via Collapsin Response Mediator Protein-2 Expression

Collapsin response mediator protein (CRMP)-2 and the mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) signaling pathway are associated with common physiological functions such as neuronal polarity, axonal outgrowth and synaptic strength, as well as various brain disorders including epilepsy. But, their regulatory and functional links are unclear. Alterations in CRMP-2 expression that lead to its functional changes are implicated in brain disorders such as epilepsy. Here, we investigate whether changes in CRMP-2 expression, possibly regulated by mTOR-related signaling, correlates with neuronal growth and viability. Inhibition of mTOR and/or phosphoinositol-3-kinase (PI3K) led to deceased p-S6K, and p-S6 signals also reduced CRMP-2 expression. These changes corresponded to inhibition of neuronal viability and proliferation in cultured hippocampal HT-22 cells under both basal serum-free and serum- or insulin-induced mTOR pathway-activated conditions. CRMP-2 expression tended to be increased by mTOR activation, indicated by an increase in p-S6/S6 level, in pentylentetrazole (PTZ)-induced epileptic rat hippocampal tissues was also significantly reduced by mTOR inhibition. Knockdown of CRMP-2 by si-RNA reduced the neuronal viability without changes in mTOR signaling, and overexpression of CRMP-2 recovered the glutamate-induced neurotoxicity and decrease of mTOR signaling in HT-22 cells. In conclusion, CRMP-2 protein expression controlled by the PI3K-mTOR-S6K signaling axis exerts its important functional roles in neuronal growth and survival

Two different types of malignant fibrous histiocytomas from pet dogs

We describe 2 cases of malignant fibrous histiocytomas (MFHs) that spontaneously developed in young pet dogs. To classify these tumors, we applied a panel of antibodies (vimentin, desmin, α-SMA, and ED1) and Azan staining for collagen. The MFHs were most consistent with osteoclast-like giant and inflammatory cell types. The first case had positive staining for ED1 and vimentin, and given the osteoclast-like giant cells, calcification sites accompanying peripheral giant cell infiltrates. The latter case, the inflammatory cell type, exhibited a storiform-pleomorphic variant of neoplastic cells, including an ossifying matrix. MFHs are among the most highly aggressive tumors occurring in soft tissue sarcomas in elderly dogs; however, MFHs have been poorly studied from a diagnostic point of view. Herein, we describe the histologic and immunohistologic features of MFHs in detail, thus classifying the subtypes of these tumors

Anesthetic consideration for patients with severe tracheal obstruction caused by thyroid cancer -A report of 2 cases-

To achieve safe airway management, it is essential first to predict whether there will be difficulties in intubating or ventilating the patient's airway. An enlarged thyroid mass can produce a tracheal obstruction by compression or intraluminal invasion or both. We report two patients with thyroid cancer that obstructed the trachea by compression or invasion. There was no difficulty in endotracheal intubation of the patients with marked thyroid enlargement or in securing passage of the endotracheal tube through the compressed or narrowed portion of the trachea