Screening for body dysmorphic disorder in patients with acne

Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD), is a mental health disorder that is difficult to diagnose, causes much suffering and is a challenge to treat. The main symptoms are the preoccupation with the perceived defect and the actions taken to reduce accompanying feelings of distress. Prevalence of BDD is between 9% and 12% in dermatology patients. Although the onset of BDD is usually during adolescence, patients are usually diagnosed after many years of suffering, in part because patients are too ashamed to talk about their symptoms. The main objective of this multicenter study carried out in Spain, was to screen patients diagnosed with acne vulgaris for BDD by asking appearance-specific questions. A total of 403 patients were screened..

A Thermodynamics Analysis for Improvement of Carbon Dioxide Removal Technologies for Space

The carbon dioxide removal assembly (CDRA) has been used for the past two decades to continually remove carbon dioxide (CO2) as part of the air revitalization system onboard the international space station (ISS). The CDRA is an adsorption-based system that relies on sorbent materials that require a significant energy input to be thermally regenerated. Additionally, the system faces challenges in reliability and size/weight, so it is being re-evaluated for viability beyond-lowearth-orbit missions. The CDRA removes CO2 from the cabin air through a cyclical adsorption-desorption process that uses four molecular sieve beds. The main components include two desiccant beds to remove H2O, two CO2 zeolite sorbent beds, an air blower, two resistive heaters, and a cooling heat exchanger. Past studies on the CDRA primarily focus on predictive physics-based modeling of the sorbent beds to understand reliability, performance, and sorbent kinetics, with very few performing a thermodynamic analysis of the entire system. This study aims to improve the understanding of component-level losses of the CDRA using exergy destruction analysis and to quantify the losses. We developed a thermodynamics black-box model using a first and second law balances over each individual component over one operational cycle. The results indicate that the molecular sieve sorbent beds are major contributors to lost work within the CDRA. However, the total exergy destruction in the desiccant beds is greater than the sorbent beds. This indicates that the desiccant beds are the largest contributor of losses. Removing water prior to the removal of CO2 from the flow stream is a necessary step because the zeolite sorbent will preferentially adsorb water. Our findings motivate the use of alternative components that may offer direct separation of water at higher efficiencies

Single-molecule electrical contacts on silicon electrodes under ambient conditions

The ultimate goal in molecular electronics is to use individual molecules as the active electronic component of a real-world sturdy device. For this concept to become reality, it will require the field of single-molecule electronics to shift towards the semiconducting platform of the current microelectronics industry. Here, we report silicon-based single-molecule contacts that are mechanically and electrically stable under ambient conditions. The single-molecule contacts are prepared on silicon electrodes using the scanning tunnelling microscopy break-junction approach using a top metallic probe. The molecular wires show remarkable current–voltage reproducibility, as compared to an open silicon/nano-gap/metal junction, with current rectification ratios exceeding 4,000 when a low-doped silicon is used. The extension of the single-molecule junction approach to a silicon substrate contributes to the next level of miniaturization of electronic components and it is anticipated it will pave the way to a new class of robust single-molecule circuits

Public perceptions of forests across Italy: An exploratory national survey

In a context of progressive expansion of the Italian forest area, we present the results of a national survey exploring public perception of forests across different geographical scales in Italy. Perceptions of forests are assessed in rela-tion to popular beliefs on relevant environmental issues such as countering climate change, protecting biodiversity, and promoting social cohesion and environmental education. Participants (N = 1059) living in five different regions of Northern (Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, Piemonte), Central (Lazio, Molise) and Southern Italy (Puglia), were recruited in the survey and completed a paper-and-pencil questionnaire. Survey questions regarded the estimated percentage of forest cover, the perceived importance of different environmental issues and of different material and non-material forest products, as well as partici-pants’ perceptions regarding connectedness to nature. Results revealed a gen-eralized tendency to overestimate the extension of forest surface area in the participants’ region, in Italy, and in the European Union. Results also showed high scores for participants’ perceived importance of environmental issues, such as climate change and biodiversity protection, and in their belief that forests could play a positive role in addressing these issues and providing im-portant outcomes and benefits for the quality of human life, such as health and well-being or social cohesion