Heterobimetallic conducting polymers based on salophen complexes via electrosynthesis

In this work, we report the first electrochemical synthesis of two copolymeric bimetallic conducting polymers by a simple anodic electropolymerization method. The adopted precursors are electroactive transition metal (M = Ni, Cu and Fe) salophen complexes, which can be easily obtained by direct chemical synthesis. The resulting films, labeled poly-NiCu and poly-CuFe, were characterized by cyclic voltammetry in both organic and aqueous media, attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, UV-vis spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and coupled energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The films are conductive and exhibit great electrochemical stability in both organic and aqueous media (resistant over 100 cycles without significant loss in current response or changes in electrochemical behavior), which makes them good candidates for an array of potential applications. Electrochemical detection of ascorbic acid was performed using both materials

Numerical and experimental analyses of biocomposites reinforced with natural fibres

n the last decades the biocomposites have been widely used in the construction, automobile and aerospace industries. Not only the interface transition zone (ITZ) but also the heterogeneity of natural fibres affects the mechanical behaviour of these composites. This work focuses on the numerical and experimental analyses of a polymeric composite fabricated with epoxy resin and unidirectional sisal and banana fibres. A three-dimensional model was set to analyze the composites using the elastic properties of the individual phases. In addition, a two-dimensional model was set taking into account the effective composite properties obtained by micromechanical models. A tensile testing was performed to validate the numerical analyses and evaluating the interface condition of the constitutive phases

Mood Disorder Due to a General Medical Condition with Manic Features

This case report describes a patient with manic and psychotic symptoms who had a history of neurocysticercosis and presented with an episode of hypertensive hydrocephalus in 2003. Despite her history, she was initially treated for primary psychiatric disease

A False Case of Clozapine-Resistant Schizophrenia

One of the subjects that most concerns physicians is treatment-resistance. About 30%–60% of schizophrenia patients do not respond adequately to antipsychotic treatment and are known as refractory schizophrenia patients. Clozapine has been the drug of choice in such cases. However, approximately 30% of them do not respond to clozapine either. Here, we describe a patient with an initial diagnosis of refractory schizophrenia who had a history of dramatic aggressiveness. However, in this case, “refractoriness” was a wrong diagnosis. A case of psychosis secondary to epilepsy had been treated as schizophrenia for almost 20 years. Reports like this one are important because they remind us of how a thorough investigation can lead to the correct diagnosis and improve the patient's prognosis

The Recruitment Agent in Internationalized Higher Education: Commercial Broker and Cultural Mediator

The internationalization and marketization of higher education has resulted in U.K. universities’ increasing reliance on recruitment agents to boost international student numbers. This places agents and agencies in a position of considerable influence with regard to the educational choices that students make. These institutional and individual relationships have been investigated from a marketing perspective, contributing knowledge about the influence of recruitment agents on student decision making. However, this approach has limitations with regard to understanding the impact of agents on an international student’s subsequent experience in U.K. higher education. The article suggests that theoretical work on mobility, migration, and ethnographies of communication, including the geopolitics of text production, can provide useful lenses for analyzing how agents help international students navigate the journey into and through U.K. higher education. The notion of “cultural mediator” is introduced to analyze the role played by agents alongside that of commercial broker. We argue that future research, shaped by these alternative theoretical perspectives, may help to bridge the apparent gap in understanding between those working in international offices and those involved in teaching in an internationalized university

Reducing corruption in a Mexican medical school: impact assessment across two cross-sectional surveys

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Corruption pervades educational and other institutions worldwide and medical schools are not exempt. Empirical evidence about levels and types of corruption in medical schools is sparse. We conducted surveys in 2000 and 2007 in the medical school of the Autonomous University of Guerrero in Mexico to document student perceptions and experience of corruption and to support the medical school to take actions to tackle corruption.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In both 2000 and 2007 medical students completed a self-administered questionnaire in the classroom without the teacher present. The questionnaire asked about unofficial payments for admission to medical school, for passing an examination and for administrative procedures. We examined factors related to the experience of corruption in multivariate analysis. Focus groups of students discussed the quantitative findings.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In 2000, 6% of 725 responding students had paid unofficially to obtain entry into the medical school; this proportion fell to 1.6% of the 436 respondents in 2007. In 2000, 15% of students reported having paid a bribe to pass an examination, not significantly different from the 18% who reported this in 2007. In 2007, students were significantly more likely to have bribed a teacher to pass an examination if they were in the fourth year, if they had been subjected to sexual harassment or political pressure, and if they had been in the university for five years or more. Students resented the need to make unofficial payments and suggested tackling the problem by disciplining corrupt teachers. The university administration made several changes to the system of admissions and examinations in the medical school, based on the findings of the 2000 survey.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The fall in the rate of bribery to enter the medical school was probably the result of the new admissions system instituted after the first survey. Further actions will be necessary to tackle the continuing presence of bribery to pass examinations and for administrative procedures. The social audit helped to draw attention to corruption and to stimulate actions to tackle it.</p

Halal market emergence and export opportunity: the comparative advantage perspective

The comparative advantage theory of international trade states that countries should export commodities for which they have high comparative advantage and import commodities for which they have low comparative advantage. Analyzing the Halal trade flows for Malaysia’s 11 food/foodrelated commodities from 1991 to 2012, this study finds an interesting development of the standard view of comparative advantage in the emerging Halal export market. It finds that the greater the country’s current comparative advantage in an exported good, the higher the risk of export diversion (one- or two-way causality) between the Halal market and the conventional market with the country’s expansion of Halal exports; while the diversion risk disappears with lower current comparative advantage. Thus, the study suggests that if a country wants to take advantage of the fast-emerging market, it should aim to expand export of commodities with relatively low current comparative advantage but high demand in the emerging market