Iron Oxide Nanoparticles Employed as Seeds for the Induction of Microcrystalline Diamond Synthesis

Iron nanoparticles were employed to induce the synthesis of diamond on molybdenum, silicon, and quartz substrates. Diamond films were grown using conventional conditions for diamond synthesis by hot filament chemical vapor deposition, except that dispersed iron oxide nanoparticles replaced the seeding. X-ray diffraction, visible, and ultraviolet Raman Spectroscopy, energy-filtered transmission electron microscopy , electron energy-loss spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were employed to study the carbon bonding nature of the films and to analyze the carbon clustering around the seed nanoparticles leading to diamond synthesis. The results indicate that iron oxide nanoparticles lose the O atoms, becoming thus active C traps that induce the formation of a dense region of trigonally and tetrahedrally bonded carbon around them with the ensuing precipitation of diamond-type bonds that develop into microcrystalline diamond films under chemical vapor deposition conditions. This approach to diamond induction can be combined with dip pen nanolithography for the selective deposition of diamond and diamond patterning while avoiding surface damage associated to diamond-seeding methods

Effect of cattle enterprise type on the rate of disclosure of TB reactors and the geographical distribution of the Irish cattle population.

End of project ReportThe prevalence of tuberculin reactors in the Irish cattle population has remained constant over the past 20 years. During each year some 30,000 reactors have been identified annually. • A study of the national cattle herd, over a 6-year period (1988-1993), was undertaken to determine the association between enterprise type and the prevalence of tuberculin reactors adjusted for herd size and geographical region. • The data were examined on a herd (n=165,000) basis according to the following enterprise types: Dairy - herds with a milk ring test result and no cows eligible for beef cow premia in 1993; Suckler - herds eligible for beef cow premia; Drystock - herds without cows but with other cattle. Other - herds with cows but not categorised as dairy or beef. • Herd size (no. of cattle) was categorised as: Small (<30), Medium (30 to 59), Large (60 to 99) and Very large (>100). Regional categorisation was: West (Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Mayo, Roscommon, Galway and Clare), South West (Limerick, Kerry, Cork, Waterford and South Tipperary), East (Louth, Meath, Dublin, Kildare, Wicklow and Wexford) and Midland (Cavan, Monaghan, Longford, Westmeath, Offaly, Laois, Kilkenny, Carlow and North Tipperary). • Enterprise type had no effect on the prevalence of tuberculin reactors for any herd size. The number of tuberculin reactors annually per 1000 animals was greatest in the Midland (7.3) and lowest in the South West (3.8). • It is concluded that the incidence of tuberculin reactors was independent of enterprise type within each of the four regions.European Union Structural Funds (EAGGF

Effect of cattle enterprise type on the rate of disclosure of TB reactors and the geographical distribution of the Irish cattle population.

End of project ReportThe prevalence of tuberculin reactors in the Irish cattle population has remained constant over the past 20 years. During each year some 30,000 reactors have been identified annually. • A study of the national cattle herd, over a 6-year period (1988-1993), was undertaken to determine the association between enterprise type and the prevalence of tuberculin reactors adjusted for herd size and geographical region. • The data were examined on a herd (n=165,000) basis according to the following enterprise types: Dairy - herds with a milk ring test result and no cows eligible for beef cow premia in 1993; Suckler - herds eligible for beef cow premia; Drystock - herds without cows but with other cattle. Other - herds with cows but not categorised as dairy or beef. • Herd size (no. of cattle) was categorised as: Small (<30), Medium (30 to 59), Large (60 to 99) and Very large (>100). Regional categorisation was: West (Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Mayo, Roscommon, Galway and Clare), South West (Limerick, Kerry, Cork, Waterford and South Tipperary), East (Louth, Meath, Dublin, Kildare, Wicklow and Wexford) and Midland (Cavan, Monaghan, Longford, Westmeath, Offaly, Laois, Kilkenny, Carlow and North Tipperary). • Enterprise type had no effect on the prevalence of tuberculin reactors for any herd size. The number of tuberculin reactors annually per 1000 animals was greatest in the Midland (7.3) and lowest in the South West (3.8). • It is concluded that the incidence of tuberculin reactors was independent of enterprise type within each of the four regions.European Union Structural Funds (EAGGF

Efficacy and side effects of praziquantel treatment in a highly endemic Schistosoma mansoni focus at Lake Albert, Uganda.

The aim of the study was to assess the efficacy and side effects following single and repeated (6 weeks apart) praziquantel treatment (40 mg/kg) in a Schistosoma mansoni-endemic focus with long-standing transmission at Lake Albert in Uganda between December 1996 and January 1997. The results were based on 482 individuals, randomly representing all age and both gender groups. The cure rate following the first and second treatments was 41.9% and 69.1%, respectively. The cure rate was higher in adults than in children, irrespective of intensity of infection. In addition, the cure rate declined markedly with increasing intensity of infection. The reduction in intensity of infection was marked, being 97.7% and 99.6% after the first and second treatments, respectively. A pre- and post-treatment symptom questionnaire revealed a broad range of side effects, including abdominal pain and diarrhoea. However, no serious or long-lasting complications affecting compliance were observed. The marked reductions in faecal egg excretion and the acceptable level of side effects point to a single praziquantel treatment (40mg/kg) as the strategy of choice in such a highly endemic S. mansoni focus

Scaling the Information Load of Occupations: Preliminary Findings of the Fit Between Individual Capacities and Environmental Demands

Person—Environment (P-E) fit models provide a conceptually powerful way to think about career development, vocational choice, and occupational success. The work reported here focuses on yet another pair of P-E criteria: self-reported individual capacity for information processing (the ability to tolerate information overload from a variety of stimulus sources), and the corresponding demand characteristics for information processing of the occupational environment. To achieve the aims of this project, the authors have borrowed from the literature on information processing, anthropology, and human factors to define the information load context of the occupational environment. The authors have constructed a P-E congruence scheme for five domains of information processing: information load, interpersonal load, change load, activity structure, and time structure, and employed the methods of psychophysics to quantify occupational environments across these domains. The results of this preliminary work, replicated across two cultures, are presented her

RESISTANCE TO OXAMNIQUINE OF A Schistosoma mansoni STRAIN ISOLATED FROM PATIENT SUBMITTED TO REPEATED TREATMENTS

A strain of Schistosoma mansoni (R1) was isolated from patient previously submitted to four treatments with oxamniquine, and to another one with praziquantel. The results obtained with chemotherapeutic test, by using oxamniquine in mice infected with the strains R1 and LE (standard), showed an evident resistance to the drug in worms of the strain R1. Thus, at the dose of 250 mg/kg oxamniquine, all mice (17) infected with the LE strain did not show surviving worms, whereas 12 out of 17 mice infected with the R1 strain presented surviving worms. At the dose of 200 mg/kg, the LE strain showed recovery rates of 1.06% and 20.58%, whereas the R1 strain presented 18.57% and 61.14%, for male and female worms, respectively. At the dose of 100 mg/kg, the recovery of male worms was 2.6% for the LE strain, and 29.9% for the R1 strain. At the same dose, the recovery of females did not show statistically significant differences between the two strains (LE = 76.38%, R1 = 79.12%). Praziquantel showed similar antischistosomal activity against both studied strains, when administered at the dose of 500 mg/kg<br>Resistência ao oxamniquine de uma cepa de Schistosoma mansoni isolada de paciente submetido a repetidos tratamentos Uma cepa de Schistosoma mansoni (R1) foi isolada de paciente previamente submetido a quatro tratamentos com oxamniquine e a um outro com praziquantel. Os resultados obtidos com o teste quimioterapêutico, usando oxamniquine em camundongos infectados com as cepas R1 e LE (padrão) mostraram resistência evidente à droga em vermes de cepa R1. Assim, com a dose de 250 mg/kg de oxamniquine, todos os camundongos (17) dos 17 camundongos infectados com a cepa R1 apresentaram vermes sobreviventes. Com a dosagem de 200 mg/kg a cepa LE mostrou taxas de recuperação de 1,06 e 20,58% enquanto a cepa R1 apresentou 18,57 e 61,14% para os vermes machos e fêmeas, respectivamente. Com a dose de 100 mg/kg a recuperação de vermes machos foi de 2,6% para a Cepa LE e 29,9% para a R1. Com a mesma dosagem, a recuperação de fêmeas não mostrou diferenças estatisticamente significantes entre as duas espécies (LE = 76,38%, R1 = 79,12%). Praziquantel mostrou atividade-esquistossomicida semelhante contra ambas cepas estudadas quando administrado na dosagem de 500 mg/k