451 research outputs found
Dexamethasone Bridging Versus the Hydrocortisone Standard
A concern for anesthesia providers is the risk of perioperative shock due to secondary adrenal insufficiency in patients receiving long-term glucocorticoid therapy who do not receive supplemental stress steroid coverage for surgery. Dexamethasone is currently used by anesthesia providers as a perioperative anti-inflammatory agent and as an antiemetic adjunct. Hydrocortisone is currently the most commonly used drug for bridging patients who have previously received long tem1 glucocorticoid therapy. The increased potency, duration of action, and antiemetic properties of dexamethasone may make it a desirable substitution for hydrocortisone . The purpose of this independent project was to review the current literature investigating whether the substitution of dexamethasone for the hydrocortisone standard would reduce the need for re-dosing of glucocorticoids. A comprehensive review of the literature was performed using PubMed and CINAHL databases. Current research findings on the topic of interest and related topics were reviewed. Relevant articles were reviewed along with their reference sections. Even though dexamethasone has many desirable properties, further research is needed for practitioners to safely bridge patients with dexamethasone. Many pharmacologic properties of dexamethasone have been identified to date, and the current use of the drug is ever changing as new studies confirm increasing beneficial effects. Anesthesia providers can take the pharmacologic properties of dexamethasone into consideration when formulating an anesthetic plan. Some properties may make it an attractive alternative to hydrocortisone and it may reduce the need for redosing of glucocorticoi
Les antécédents de la réponse empathique : le cas des publicités sociales antidiscrimination
Ă lâheure actuelle, la discrimination ethnique cause une variĂ©tĂ© de malaises dans diffĂ©rentes sphĂšres de la vie sociale. Dans le contexte de lutte contre les prĂ©jugĂ©s et la discrimination ethniques, il existe un Ă©ventail de techniques et de mĂ©thodes qui sâattaquent Ă ces phĂ©nomĂšnes. Parmi celles-ci, la publicitĂ© sociale â lâoutil communicationnel du marketing social â est celle qui a retenu notre intĂ©rĂȘt. Par ailleurs, les recherches relatives Ă la lutte contre la discrimination et Ă lâamĂ©lioration des relations intergroupes mettent en exergue que lâempathie non seulement peut attĂ©nuer la discrimination, mais quâelle permet dâharmoniser, de maniĂšre durable, les relations intergroupes. Nonobstant, dans le contexte de rĂ©ception des publicitĂ©s sociales anti-discrimination, les antĂ©cĂ©dents pouvant dĂ©clencher lâempathie nâont jamais Ă©tĂ© Ă©tudiĂ©s. Dans le but de pallier cette lacune empirique, la prĂ©sente thĂšse par articles se penche prĂ©cisĂ©ment sur les antĂ©cĂ©dents de la rĂ©ponse empathique dans le contexte de rĂ©ception des publicitĂ©s sociales antidiscrimination. Plus prĂ©cisĂ©ment, elle vise Ă approfondir les connaissances et la comprĂ©hension sur les antĂ©cĂ©dents propres Ă lâindividu (p. ex. : lâempathie dispositionnelle et le sexe) et inhĂ©rents Ă la production publicitaire (p. ex. : le ton publicitaire et le format mĂ©diatique) qui peuvent favoriser lâĂ©mergence du processus dâempathisation. Dans lâarticle intitulĂ© The interplay of trait-related antecedents and state empathy: Empathic responding to anti-discrimination public service announcements, nous examinons les antĂ©cĂ©dents de la rĂ©ponse empathique (cognitive et affective) inhĂ©rents Ă lâindividu (c.-Ă -d. lâempathie dispositionnelle et le sexe). Lâassociation entre les antĂ©cĂ©dents individuels a Ă©tĂ© examinĂ©e par une sĂ©rie dâanalyses de rĂ©gression multiple pour chacune des dimensions de lâempathie (affective et cognitive) et le score global dâempathie. Lâarticle Emotion framing and empathy in anti-discrimination public service announcements, quant Ă lui, sâintĂ©resse aux antĂ©cĂ©dents inhĂ©rents Ă la production publicitaire et, Ă cet effet, examine les effets du cadrage des Ă©motions (c.-Ă -d. le ton publicitaire) et du format de la publicitĂ© (c.-Ă -d. publicitĂ© audiovisuelle ou affiche) sur lâintensitĂ© des rĂ©ponses empathiques aux messages anti-discrimination. Nous avons effectuĂ© une analyse de variance par modĂšle mixte (ANOVA) pour examiner les diffĂ©rences entre les 16 publicitĂ©s sociales anti-discrimination et pour tenir compte des mesures rĂ©pĂ©tĂ©es pour chaque participant â les participants et les publicitĂ©s Ă©tant les effets alĂ©atoires. iii Enfin, lâarticle How to foster empathy in anti-discrimination initiatives? An implication for social interventions - A qualitative approach se penche Ă©galement sur les antĂ©cĂ©dents intrinsĂšques Ă la production publicitaire, mais cette fois-ci de maniĂšre qualitative en permettant de faire Ă©merger les antĂ©cĂ©dents inconnus. Nous avons effectuĂ© un codage mixte des donnĂ©es et nous avons analysĂ© les entretiens selon les principes de lâanalyse thĂ©matique. La thĂšse fournit un apport tant aux chercheurs quâaux praticiens intĂ©ressĂ©s par lâintervention en contexte intergroupe, mettant en lumiĂšre la pertinence de sây intĂ©resser de mĂȘme que les maniĂšres de susciter de lâempathie envers les membres des groupes discriminĂ©s.Ethnic discrimination causes a variety of problems on the individual as well as the societal levels. Thereis a myriad of techniques and methods used to tackle discrimination. Of particular interest here arepublic service announcements (PSAs) â which are part of a broader field of social marketing. Researchon the fight against discrimination and improving intergroup relations highlights the fact that empathynot only considerably reduces discrimination, but has a lasting effect on intergroup relations. However,in the anti-discrimination media reception context, antecedents of empathic responding have neverbeen studied before. To address this shortcoming, in this thesis we focus on the antecedents ofempathic responding in this particular context. More precisely, our aim was to explore and deepen theknowledge on trait-related antecedents (i.e. trait empathy and gender) and stimuli-related antecedents(i.e. emotion framing and the media format).In the article entitled The interplay of trait-related antecedents and state empathy: Empathic respondingto anti-discrimination public service announcements we examine trait-related (i.e. trait empathy andgender) antecedents of state empathy (affective and cognitive). The association between theantecedents of empathy (gender and trait empathy) was examined using a series of multiple regressionanalyses for each of the dimensions and the global score of empathy.In the study presented in the article Emotion framing and empathy in anti-discrimination public serviceannouncements, we investigated the effects of emotion framing (i.e. advertising tone) and the mediaformat (i.e. dynamic or static) on the intensity of the empathic responses to anti-discrimination PSAs.We performed a mixed model analysis of variance (ANOVA) to examine the differences between the16 anti-discrimination PSAs and to account for repeated measures for each participant - bothparticipants and PSAs being the random effects.Finally, in the article How to foster empathy in anti-discrimination initiatives? An implication for socialinterventions - A qualitative approach, we sought to qualitatively examine stimuli-related antecedents,and allow space for unknown antecedents of empathic responding to emerge. We transcribed the audiorecordings and analyzed data with NVivo software using an iterative process of thematic analysis.This thesis provides a significant contribution for both researchers and practitioners interested ininterventions in an intergroup context. On the one hand, results from the current study highlight the vrelevance of investigating empathy in an intergroup context and, on the other, they emphasize theimportance of investigating ways of arousing empathy toward discriminated groups
Numerical implementation of the exact dynamics of free rigid bodies
In this paper the exact analytical solution of the motion of a rigid body
with arbitrary mass distribution is derived in the absence of forces or
torques. The resulting expressions are cast into a form where the dependence of
the motion on initial conditions is explicit and the equations governing the
orientation of the body involve only real numbers. Based on these results, an
efficient method to calculate the location and orientation of the rigid body at
arbitrary times is presented. This implementation can be used to verify the
accuracy of numerical integration schemes for rigid bodies, to serve as a
building block for event-driven discontinuous molecular dynamics simulations of
general rigid bodies, and for constructing symplectic integrators for rigid
body dynamics.Comment: Shortened paper with updated references, 28 pages, 3 figure
Clostridium difficile genotypes other than ribotype 078 that are prevalent among human, animal and environmental isolates
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Characterising the overlap of <it>C. difficile </it>genotypes in different reservoirs can improve our understanding of possible transmission routes of this pathogen. Most of the studies have focused on a comparison of the PCR ribotype 078 isolated from humans and animals. Here we describe for the first time a comparison of <it>C. difficile </it>genotypes isolated during longer time intervals from different sources including humans, animals and the non-hospital environment.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Altogether 786 isolates from time interval 2008-2010 were grouped into 90 PCR ribotypes and eleven of them were shared among all host types and the environment. Ribotypes that were most common in humans were also present in water and different animals (014/020, 002, 029). Interestingly, non-toxigenic isolates were very common in the environment (30.8%) in comparison to humans (6.5%) and animals (7.7%). A high degree of similarity was observed for human and animal isolates with PFGE. In human isolates resistance to erithromycin, clindamycin and moxifloxacin was detected, while all animal isolates were susceptible to all antibiotics tested.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results show that many other types in addition to PCR Ribotype 078 are shared between humans and animals and that the most prevalent genotypes in humans have the ability to survive also in the environment and several animal hosts. The genetic relatedness observed with PFGE suggests that transmission of given genotype from one reservoir to the other is likely to occur.</p
Surface chemical changes of sugar maple wood induced by thermo-hygromechanical (THM) treatment
The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of heat and steam on the chemical
properties of thermo-hygromechanical (THM)-densified sugar maple wood. The THM densification
process was performed at two different temperatures (180 C and 200 C) with and without steam.
The functional groups, surface chemical composition and internal structure and components of the
control and densified samples were investigated using attenuated total reflection Fourier transform
infrared (ATR-FTIR), X-ray photoelectron (XPS) spectroscopy and pyrolysis gas chromatography-mass
spectrometry (Py-GC/MS). The obtained results suggest that the THM densification treatment resulted
in significant chemical changes on the wood surface. The results of the ATR-FTIR spectra confirmed
the decomposition of hemicelluloses and the relative increase of cellulose and lignin contents on
the wood surface. The Py-GC/MS and XPS results show an increase of the oxygen/carbon atomic
(O/C) ratio, which indicated that chemical substances containing oxygenated functionality were
formed through the densification process. The densification treatment favored the depolymerization
of hemicelluloses and cellulose as indicated by an increased anhydrous sugar (levoglucosan) release
during the pyrolysis process. Densification also facilitated the cleavage of the lignin side chains,
resulting in increased phenyl units with short chains released during the pyrolysis process
Dielectric Resonator Method for Measuring the Electrical Conductivity of Carbon Nanotubes from Microwave to Millimeter Frequencies
We describe a dielectric resonator-based measurement method for determining the electrical conductivity of carbon nanotubes at microwave to millimeter frequencies.
This measurement method is not limited by the metal conductor contact resistances or impedance mismatch commonly encountered in the measurement of single nanotubes.
The measurement of carbon nanotubes yielded conductivities of approximately 0.08Ă107 S/m
Chemical changes induced in Pinus radiata and Eucalyptus nitens following the densification process
Densification of wood leads to improvement of its mechanical properties. Specimens of Pinus radiata and Eucalyptus nitens wood were
densified using heat, steam, and pressure to improve their mechanical properties and thus enhance their utilization. At a maximum steam
pressure of 550 kPa and a maximum press hydraulic pressure ranging from 4.5 to 9 MPa, selected temperatures of 160°C, 180°C, and
200°C were used to check the mechanical properties and to identify the chemical composition of wood samples before and after densification.
Densified wood samples showed markedly reduced hygroscopicity. The chemical changes in the wood constituents occurring during
densification were characterized using FT-IR, Py-GC/MS, and XPS. According to the densification process between pine and eucalyptus,
the results obtained showed that the densification effects were better for Eucalyptus nitens than for Pinus radiata. The FT-IR analysis revealed
a high condensation index for pine lignin and the low condensation index for eucalyptus lignin, indicating easier formation of C-C
linkages by densification in pine lignin. Py-GC/MS analyses were performed to follow the lignin/carbohydrate ratio, and these revealed major
carbohydrate losses during densification at the highest temperature
ProBiS: a web server for detection of structurally similar protein binding sites
A web server, ProBiS, freely available at http://probis.cmm.ki.si, is presented. This provides access to the program ProBiS (Protein Binding Sites), which detects protein binding sites based on local structural alignments. Detailed instructions and user guidelines for use of ProBiS are available at the server under âHELPâ and selected examples are provided under âEXAMPLESâ
Experimental Test of a Two-dimensional Approximation for Dielectric Microcavities
Open dielectric resonators of different shapes are widely used for the
manufacture of microlasers. A precise determination of their resonance
frequencies and widths is crucial for their design. Most microlasers have a
flat cylindrical geometry, and a two-dimensional approximation, the so-called
method of the effective index of refraction, is commonly employed for numerical
calculations. Our aim has been an experimental test of the precision and
applicability of a model based on this approximation. We performed very
thorough and accurate measurements of the resonance frequencies and widths of
two passive circular dielectric microwave resonators and found significant
deviations from the model predictions. From this we conclude that the model
generally fails in the quantitative description of three-dimensional dielectric
resonators.Comment: 10 pages, 13 figure
Full-wave analysis of dielectric-loaded cylindrical waveguides and cavities using a new four-port ring network
â© 2012 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.âIn this paper, a full-wave method for the electromagnetic analysis of dielectric-loaded cylindrical and coaxial waveguides and cavities is developed. For this purpose, a new four-port ring network is proposed, and the mode-matching method is applied to calculate the generalized admittance matrix of this new structure. A number of analyses on dielectric-loaded waveguide structures and cavities have been conducted in order to validate and to assess the accuracy of the new approach. The results have been compared with theoretical values, numerical modeling from the literature, and data from commercial electromagnetic simulators. The method has been also applied to the accurate determination of dielectric properties, and we provide an example of these measurements as another way to validate this new method. © 1963-2012 IEEE.This work was supported by the Ministry of Science and Innovation of Spain under Project MONIDIEL (TEC2008-04109). The work of F. L. Penarada-Foix was supported by the Conselleria de Educacion of the Generalitat Valenciana for economic support (BEST/2010/210).Penaranda-Foix, FL.; Janezic, MD.; CatalĂĄ Civera, JM.; CanĂłs MarĂn, AJ. (2012). Full-wave analysis of dielectric-loaded cylindrical waveguides and cavities using a new four-port ring network. IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques. 60(9):2730-2740. https://doi.org/10.1109/TMTT.2012.2206048S2730274060
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