On-line fly ash characterization

Imperial Users onl

Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy vs. psycho-education for patients with major depression who did not achieve remission following antidepressant treatment

a b s t r a c t Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) showed efficacy for currently depressed patients. However, most of the available studies suffer from important methodological shortcomings, including the lack of adequate control groups. The present study aims to compare MBCT with a psycho-educational control group designed to be structurally equivalent to the MBCT program but excluding the main putative "active ingredient" of MBCT (i.e., mindfulness meditation practice) for the treatment of patients with major depression (MD) who did not achieve remission following at least 8 weeks of antidepressant treatment. Out of 106 screened subjects, 43 were randomized to receive MBCT or psycho-education and were prospectively followed for 26 weeks. MD severity was assessed with the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D) and the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II). Measures of anxiety, mindfulness, and quality of life were also included. All assessments were performed at baseline, 4, 8, 17 and 26-weeks. Both HAM-D and BDI scores, as well as quality of life and mindfulness scores, showed higher improvements, which were particularly evident over the long-term period, in the MBCT group than in the psycho-education group. Although limited by a small sample size, the results of this study suggest the superiority of MBCT over psycho-education for non-remitted MD subjects

Inhibition of vascular calcification by inositol phosphates derivatized with ethylene glycol oligomers

Myo-inositol hexakisphosphate (IP6) is a natural product known to inhibit vascular calcification (VC), but with limited potency and low plasma exposure following bolus administration. Here we report the design of a series of inositol phosphate analogs as crystallization inhibitors, among which 4,6-di-O-(methoxy-diethyleneglycol)-myo-inositol-1,2,3,5-tetrakis(phosphate), (OEG <sub>2</sub> ) <sub>2</sub> -IP4, displays increased in vitro activity, as well as more favorable pharmacokinetic and safety profiles than IP6 after subcutaneous injection. (OEG <sub>2</sub> ) <sub>2</sub> -IP4 potently stabilizes calciprotein particle (CPP) growth, consistently demonstrates low micromolar activity in different in vitro models of VC (i.e., human serum, primary cell cultures, and tissue explants), and largely abolishes the development of VC in rodent models, while not causing toxicity related to serum calcium chelation. The data suggest a mechanism of action independent of the etiology of VC, whereby (OEG <sub>2</sub> ) <sub>2</sub> -IP4 disrupts the nucleation and growth of pathological calcification

Study of deconfinement in NA50

The J/Ψ production in 158 A Ge V Pb-Pb interactions is studied, in the dimuon decay channel, as a function of centrality, as measured with the electromagnetic or, alternatively, with the very forward hadronic calorimeters. After a first sharp variation at mid-centrality, both patterns continue to fall down and exhibit a curvature change at high centrality values. This trend excludes any conventional hadronic model and finds a natural explanation in a deconfined quark-gluon phase scenario

Discursive Fields and Military Transformations: Poland and the Baltic States as Legitimate Members of NATO

Despite a wide array of normative statements assuming a yet-to-come homogenization of defence structures of the new members of NATO’s “common strategic culture”, Eastern European members, ten years on, have continued to develop their militaries mostly for territorial defence. Since few (but interesting) qualitative changes in their structures raise questions about the “homogenization” thesis, this article explores the cases of Poland and the three Baltic States. It sheds light on the fact that military reforms in a context of collective security, such as NATO enlargement, are best seen as a materialization of combined discourses of identity representations within a space allowed by the discursive field itself

Consolider les soins en santé mentale au Québec : le plan d’action en santé mentale 2005-2010

Le Plan d’action en santé mentale 2005-2010 vise la réorganisation des soins en santé mentale au Québec. Prenant ancrage sur une série de réformes récentes affectant tout le système de santé de la province, on y prévoit la consolidation des services médicaux et communautaires dans une démarche populationnelle localisée. Le plan aborde la problématique de la santé mentale de la prévention jusqu’au traitement. L’arrimage des soins offert à tous les niveaux d’intervention a pour but d’optimiser le système. Sa mise en œuvre inégale et ponctuée de rajustements démontre la grandeur du défi que représente le développement de soins de santé mentale complets et efficaces.  The 2005-2010 Mental Health Action Plan aims to reorganize mental health services in Québec. Building on previous reforms related to the overall health care system, this plan specifically outlines the collaborative adjustments needed to prevent and treat issues related to mental health. Its central proposition is for the consolidation of medical services and community groups working together under a local needs-based approach. Formal structures were designed to build sustainable partnerships for optimal care at different levels of intervention. The implementation of this plan did not achieve the desired results and needed adjustments in all regions. These results demonstrate the complexity in developing comprehensive mental health care

The Vibe as Peace

While discourses of peace abound in cultural, youth and EDMC studies, notably in relation to concepts like communitas, the dominant moral and modern conceptions of peace and conflict appear limited to tackling the inevitable conflict dynamics inside parties and around the vibe as a peak experience. Inspired by contemporary peace studies, Peter Sloterdijk’s psychopolitical-morphological argument known as spherology and participation in Montreal’s psytrance scenes, this paper offers an alternative understanding of productive conflicts at work in the vibe and outside of it. At the end, this paper seeks to offer observers and practitioners means to discuss the various peace-conflict dynamics nascent on dance floors with effects on global cultural formations