Arsenic detection project: electronics

This project is a collaboration with a team of bioengineers to adapt the functionality of laboratory equipment onto a platform which could be used in the field to determine the concentration levels of toxins in ground water. To this end, using a set of printed electrodes, a device was designed and fabricated with the constraints of field use in mind: low power, low cost, with a mobile user interface. An Android phone served as the mobile user interface, and also as the power supply for the circuit and microcontroller that performed the test. This circuit applied a stimulus voltage across the electrodes and generated an output signal using annodic stripping voltammetry. The microcontroller both generated that stimulus signal, and interpreted the output signal for transmission to the mobile phone where the user then interpreted the data. Testing showed that, in addition to running the expected test for arsenic, the device was able to communicate those results to the mobile phone. Subsequent visual inspection of these results confirmed that control and contaminated samples could be correctly identified from the phone

Thrombozytenhemmung und -aktivierung: Mechanismen und klinische Implikationen

Zusammenfassung : Die Empfindlichkeit der Aktivierung von Thrombozyten ist Teil des delikaten Gleichgewichts, welches Hämostase von Thrombose unterscheidet. Unter physiologischen Bedingungen wird es durch die Hemmung der Thrombozytenaktivität und Entfernung von Agonisten erhalten. Unter pathologischen prothrombotischen Bedingungen versucht der Mediziner, das Gleichgewicht mit Hilfe von Arzneimitteln wiederherzustellen. Die Resultate dieser Behandlungen verbessern sich stetig, aber dennoch sind ein besseres Verständnis der Mechanismen und die Suche nach alternativen Inhibitoren nach wie vor wichti

The State of Children's Dental Health: Making Coverage Matter

Examines states' progress since 2010 in meeting the dental care needs of publicly insured and soon-to-be insured children, including providing fluoridated water to 75 percent of residents and Medicaid reimbursements for preventive care.The state that children call home can make a big difference in the health of their teeth.  In this year's 50-state report card by the Pew Children's Dental Campaign, 27 states earned grades of an A or B, while 23 states and the District of Columbia received a C or lower grade. However, the 2011 grades for 22 states were higher than their 2010 grades, revealing that even in a time of fiscal distress, dental health policies can be improved.More than 16 million U.S. children go without even basic dental care each year. Pew's report card, The State of Children's Dental Health: Making Coverage Matter, assesses states' ability to serve insured and soon-to-be-insured children

Postpartum osteoporosis associated with proximal tibial stress fracture

A 33-year-old woman presented with acute nonspecific knee pain, 6months postpartum. MR imaging, computed tomography and radiography were performed and a proximal tibia plateau insufficiency fracture was detected. Bone densitometry demonstrated mild postpartum osteoporosis. To our knowledge these findings have not been described in this location and in this clinical setting. The etiology of the atraumatic fracture of the tibia is presumed to be due to a low bone mineral density. The bone loss was probably due to pregnancy, lactation and postpartum hormonal changes. There were no other inciting causes and the patient was normocalcemic. We discuss the presence of a postpartum stress fracture in a hitherto undescribed site in a patient who had lactated following an uncomplicated pregnancy and had no other identifiable cause for a stress fractur