Nutritional therapy and infectious diseases: a two-edged sword

The benefits and risks of nutritional therapies in the prevention and management of infectious diseases in the developed world are reviewed. There is strong evidence that early enteral feeding of patients prevents infections in a variety of traumatic and surgical illnesses. There is, however, little support for similar early feeding in medical illnesses. Parenteral nutrition increases the risk of infection when compared to enteral feeding or delayed nutrition. The use of gastric feedings appears to be as safe and effective as small bowel feedings. Dietary supplementation with glutamine appears to lower the risk of post-surgical infections and the ingestion of cranberry products has value in preventing urinary tract infections in women

Wettability Switching Techniques on Superhydrophobic Surfaces

The wetting properties of superhydrophobic surfaces have generated worldwide research interest. A water drop on these surfaces forms a nearly perfect spherical pearl. Superhydrophobic materials hold considerable promise for potential applications ranging from self cleaning surfaces, completely water impermeable textiles to low cost energy displacement of liquids in lab-on-chip devices. However, the dynamic modification of the liquid droplets behavior and in particular of their wetting properties on these surfaces is still a challenging issue. In this review, after a brief overview on superhydrophobic states definition, the techniques leading to the modification of wettability behavior on superhydrophobic surfaces under specific conditions: optical, magnetic, mechanical, chemical, thermal are discussed. Finally, a focus on electrowetting is made from historical phenomenon pointed out some decades ago on classical planar hydrophobic surfaces to recent breakthrough obtained on superhydrophobic surfaces

Conditioning and development of the Holocene denudation in region of multiculture archaeological site in Panienszczyzna near Lublin

The research on conditions and development of the Holocene denudation was performed in a region of the multicultural site in Panieńszczyzna near Lublin. The natural environment of the site, diversified relief developed in loess cover favored denudation processes throughout the Holocene. However, denudation was significantly activated not earlier that the second half of the Holocene due to human impact, namely deforestation and land cultivation. There were two phases of high denudation rate: Neolith (mainly the KPL period) and since 19th century AD

CAMX - A High Performance Cutting Technique for Underwater Use

During the past years a new cutting technology, the CAMX-process-family (Contact-Arc-Metal-X [X is for Cutting, Grinding and Drilling]) was developed at the Institute of Materials Science in Hanover. These are electro-thermal underwater separation processes for metallic structures. The CAMX technology covers the Contact-Arc-Metal- Cutting (CAMC) with a sword-like cutting electrode, the Contact-Arc-Metal-Grinding (CAMG) with a rotating electrode and the Contact-Arc-Metal-Drilling (CAMD) with a wrap mechanism to fix and carry the workpiece. There are no limitations of CAMC concerning the capability of cutting complicated structures of workpieces. Undercuts and cavities in the workpiece do not affect the CAMC. The CAMG is a separation process for straight cuts with a very high cutting speed. The CAMD is a technology to drill holes or pocket holes of any geometry. With the integrated wrap mechanism it is possible to fix and carry workpieces, which are not to handle with conventional mechanisms